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Monday, August 24, 2009

[ALOCHONA] The Art Of Firing Blanks



The Art Of Firing Blanks
 
Jaswant Singh's summary dismissal is a clear sign that the BJP is caught in the midst of an ideological crisis. Will the pragmatists prevail or will the party be claimed by the champions of insular Hindutva?
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SWAPAN DASGUPTA

Senior Journalist
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The Rebel Jaswant Singh has always ruffled feathers with his free thought
Photos: SHAILENDRA PANDEY
MEMBERSHIP OF a political party", a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party told me on phone from the venue of the Bharatiya Janata Party's chintan baithak in Shimla last Wednesday morning, "also involves personal compromises. You must be prepared to accept curbs on your individual rights."
 
The suggestion that political activism is not merely a set of entitlements but also involves genuflecting at the altar of the "party line" is known to all those who take the plunge into public life. It is to the credit of Jaswant Singh that he could persist with his individualism and free thinking and, at the same time, climb to the top rungs of the BJP leadership.
 
 To a large extent this was due to the remarkable indulgence of his angularities by three BJP stalwarts: Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and, most important, Atal Behari Vajpayee. It was Vajpayee who persevered with him despite the misgivings of the RSS and the exasperation of middle-rung BJP leaders who could never quite fathom what he was all about. The cumulative effect was that Jaswant remained his own man, never afraid of undertaking voyages into either uncharted or potentially hazardous waters.
 
Since 2004, however, the party's exasperation with his individualism had been mounting. The release of his autobiography A Call To Honour, was accompanied by huge controversies over his version of the Kandahar hijack of December 1999 and his suggestion that there was a "mole" in PV Narasimha Rao's Cabinet. On both counts Jaswant caused a huge embarrassment to the party, something he disregarded with disdain. He added to his offence by attempting to become a faction player in Rajasthan and campaigning openly for the then Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's ouster. Then, following the defeat in this year's Lok Sabha election, he took the injudicious step of teaming up with Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha to ask uncomfortable questions of the leadership. The points he raised weren't entirely invalid but it prompted too many people to retaliate with the query: "When has he lifted his little finger for the party? For 29 years he has eaten the party's cream."
The accusation against Jaswant was that he viewed his privileged status in the BJP as an entitlement, sans obligations.
 
That Jaswant was undertaking a political biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah was known since 2005. He had made that public during the row over LK Advani's misadventure in Pakistan. At that time, he had also let it be known that he would resign his primary membership of the BJP if it failed to back Advani on the Jinnah issue. It never came to that because the Advani tangle was settled — or, more accurately, brushed under the carpet — through some face- saving compromises.
 
In January this year, when news of the imminent publication of Jaswant's Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence broke, an alarmed party leadership pressed the author to delay publication till after the Lok Sabha poll. It was rightly calculated that the Congress would have a field day if the so-called "face of Kandahar" was now seen to be heaping lavish praise on the man who created Pakistan. Jaswant obliged. But never for a day did it enter his mind that the publication should be shelved for a time when he was no longer active in politics.
 
JASWANT'S ASTONISHING reassurance was not bravado; it was based on calculation. He was certain that the BJP faithful would take a dim view of any reappraisal of Jinnah that made him appear as just another canny politician. The demonization of Jinnah has, after all, become a part of the broad nationalist consensus, just as Jawaharlal Nehru always wanted. However, this storm, he believed, would be managed. The BJP, he believed, would dissociate from the book, perhaps drop him from the Parliamentary Board, but would then allow the storm to pass. Jaswant took solace from the belief that the BJP would not really like to resurrect the Jinnah debate because Advani too would suffer collateral damage.
 
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Price of Dissent Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah became the catalyst for his expulsion from the BJP
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No Meeting of Minds BJP President Rajnath Singh (left) and Jaswant Singh at a party function
Photos: VIJAY PANDEY
In hindsight it was a colossal miscalculation. The first part of the script went perfectly when BJP stalwarts stayed away from the book release at Teen Murti and so did the second act when, first Sushma Swaraj and then Rajnath Singh dissociated the party from Jaswant's views. But things had already started going wrong. Jaswant's interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN on Sunday night and its reports in the next morning's newspapers fuelled anger in the BJP ranks in much the same as when Advani uttered his praise of Jinnah at the mausoleum in Lahore four years ago.
The party faithful were incensed on a number of counts: the description of Jinnah as "secular", the suggestion that Muslims were yet to be regarded as equal citizens in India and, most important, the inclusion of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel as a man also responsible for the Partition. That Jaswant's view of the Muslim plight in India was actually a subtle indictment of a two-nation theory which had led to an unending spiral of minorityism was too subtle for ordinary comprehension need hardly be stated. Read in isolation and without reference to the arguments in the book, it seemed very much like an endorsement of religion-based fragmentation.
 
Of greater consequence was the inclusion of Sardar Patel among the architects of Partition, along with Nehru and Lord Mountbatten. Since 1989, the BJP had very consciously tried to appropriate the legacy of Sardar Patel by including him in their pantheon of national heroes. At one time, Advani had cast himself as another Iron Man in the mould of Patel and after 2002 Narendra Modi had been deified as the Chhote Sardar.
 
To be fair, Jaswant does not deal at length in his book on the culpability of Patel. He is included as a part of the larger Congress leadership that had to finally acquiesce to Partition as a way out of spiralling sectarian riots that followed the Muslim League's Direct Action Day in August 1946. Yet, the perception, gained from a reading of his interview with Thapar, that Jaswant had tarred Patel with the brush of ignominy proved too much for the volatile Gujarat unit of the BJP to stomach.
 
There was another political compulsion that Jaswant never factored: a set of seven by-elections to the Gujarat Assembly where the Patidar (the community to which Patel belonged) vote was crucial. The Congress, which had jumped gleefully into the controversy by dubbing BJP the Bharatiya Jinnah Party, was more than prepared to remind Gujaratis and the Patels in particular that a front-ranking leader of the BJP had insulted their greatest icon.
Had Jaswant confined his indictment of the Congress to a targeted criticism of Nehru — something the BJP does routinely — his worst punishment would have been the withdrawal of invitation to attend the Chintan Baithak and subsequent exclusion from all posts in the BJP. In fact, that is what was contemplated till Tuesday morning. However, by the time Rajnath Singh mustered the requisite self-confidence to communicate the order to stay away from Simla, Jaswant was already ensconced in the very agreeable Oberoi Cecil in Simla.
 
It was Vajpayee who persevered with Jaswant Singh despite the misgivings of the RSS about his individualism
When the order to stay away was finally communicated at 8.30 am or so on Wednesday morning, it was a case of too little and too late. The party leadership, influenced by reports of BJP cadres burning effigies of Jaswant, demanded exemplary action. This appealed to Rajnath who had seen his own authority successfully challenged by Vasundhara Raje the week before. He too wanted a scalp, if only to establish his claim as a tough, no-nonsense leader. Throughout Wednesday, the party president's spin doctors kept feeding a hungry media the assertion that it was Rajnath who had decided to crack the whip, emboldened by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's pronouncement that inner-party squabbling must stop immediately.
 
When the Parliamentary Board members met on the sidelines of the Chintan Baithak at 9 am on Wednesday, Jaswant's goose was cooked. The decision to expel him from the party was unanimous. Even Advani endorsed it.
From a public relations perspective, the Jaswant expulsion drama was a disaster for the BJP. First, there was the obvious discourtesy involved in communicating a decision of this magnitude by telephone and, if Jaswant is to be believed, with a chuckle from Rajnath. Secondly, the BJP leadership proved utterly insensitive to the perception that Jaswant was being expelled for writing a 600-page treatise which it was common knowledge almost none of the Parliamentary Board had actually read. To the faithful, the leadership had taken the right decision, albeit belatedly, but to the Indians (including BJP voters) unfamiliar with the innards of the party, it seemed an act of intolerance.
 
Rajnath's own authority had been challenged by Raje a week ago. He too wanted a scalp to establish himself
THE LEGITIMATE outrage over a party arrogating to itself the role of a thought police has, quite rightly, fuelled speculation about greater RSS control over the BJP and the formal
abandonment of all liberal pretensions. The BJP, it is being claimed, has retreated into the shell of a narrow, insular Hindutva and being an extension counter of Nagpur. It is said that it will no longer entertain the "overdose of democracy" that many leaders had in private complained of.
 
Are these fears real? At present, it is difficult to arrive at definite conclusions but certain factors are worth considering. For some years the BJP has been witnessing a tussle between ideology and politics. There are those who believe that the BJP exists as a Hindu party to uphold Hindu interests, even if such an approach proves electorally counterproductive. By this logic, the responsibility for organising the party should be entrusted to RSS functionaries and that lay RSS members should be encouraged to enter electoral politics in a big way and emerge as trusted mass leaders.
The pragmatists who prefer the political approach feel that the 2009 election is an eye-opener. The BJP, they insist, must focus only on those issues that are aimed at winning back the middle classes and the youth — segments that have deserted the party in favour of the Congress. In short, the BJPmust embrace modernity, be in a position to re-forge meaningful alliances and relegate identity politics to the backburner. Interestingly, it is the Chief Ministers who favour such an approach.
 
An interesting feature of this debate is that the adherents of one position are not necessarily always on the same side. Unfortunately for the BJP, a decision on political positioning has been derailed by unresolved leadership questions. Who will be the party president in January? Will Rajnath Singh manage to amend the party constitution and a procure third term for himself? Is Advani really going to play out his full term as Leader of Opposition? Will the RSS chief's desire for a younger leadership be translated into reality?
 
Today, the real BJP leadership is in the states. Yet, it is the Centre that pretends it wields authority
The answers to these questions are relevant because the redefined priorities of the BJPmust match with the image and personality of those who are entrusted with the leadership.
Tragically, the BJP has no institutionalised democratic mechanism to choose a leader who is most acceptable to both its ordinary karyakartas and, more important, ordinary non-attached voters. Traditionally, the party has left complex leadership questions to be settled by a small cabal that works closely with the RSS. The RSS would prefer if Advani drew up his own succession plans, but Advani has shown no inclination to redefine himself as an elder statesman. Does Bhagwat's clear preference for a younger leader mean that Advani will now be forced into revealing his hand? More important, does Advani still have the authority to not merely nominate his successor but ensuring he or she actually secures the post.
 
Alternatively, the BJP may decide that it will not rush things and wait for its next prime ministerial face to emerge at a time nearer the election. As of today, the real BJP leadership is in the states. Yet, it is the Centre that pretends it wields authority.
 
The chintan baithak may well help clear confusion in the minds of the top leadership and help forge something akin to a consensus. But that is assuming the participants speak their minds frankly and fearlessly. The kerfluffle over Jaswant and the abstruse non-debate over Jinnah may have defined politics in the age of swine flu – when voices are muffled by the most visible symbol of self-preservation, the ubiquitous mouth gag.
 
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 34, Dated August 29, 2009
 
 
 



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[ALOCHONA] Abundant Faith, Shrinking Space



Abundant Faith, Shrinking Space

Mosques Turn to Synagogues, Ballrooms to Accommodate Growing Membership

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 22, 2009

They stream in through the doors every Friday -- a sea of Muslims pouring into a synagogue in Reston.
 
The men roll out long prayer rugs on the synagogue floor. An imam stands up front and praises Allah. And as the faithful begin whispering their prayers in flowing Arabic, their landlord, a rabbi, walks by to check whether they need anything.
 
This unlikely arrangement between a burgeoning Muslim congregation and a suburban synagogue is what happens when you combine the region's rapidly growing Muslim population with a serious shortage of worship space.
As area mosques prepare for the start of Ramadan this weekend, many are simply bursting at the seams. Every available inch -- even in lobbies and hallways -- is being used. Parking is impossible. Traffic afterward is worse than postgame gridlock at FedEx Field.
 
Nobody knows how many Muslims are in America -- estimates range from 2.35 million to 7 million -- but researchers say the population is growing rapidly, driven by conversions, immigration and the tendency for Muslims to have larger families. One study by Trinity College in Connecticut shows the percentage nationwide having doubled since 1990. In the Washington area, the increase might be even sharper, local Muslim leaders say.
 
A building boom has brought new mosques to suburbs such as Manassas and Ellicott City, but many have been full from the moment they opened. So, desperate for room, Muslim communities have started renting hotel ballrooms, office space and, yes, even synagogues to handle the overflow.
"We say our prayers, and a few hours later they meet for Sabbath and they say their prayers," said Rizwan Jaka, a leader at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) mosque in Sterling, which added services at two synagogues last year. "People may think it's strange or odd, but we are simply grateful for the space."
 
The extra room will prove crucial this weekend with the beginning of Ramadan -- a month of fasting that often draws hundreds to mosques in addition to regular members. Anticipating the throngs, many mosques have hired off-duty police and rallied volunteers to handle the traffic.
"Just like you have Easter Christians, Hanukkah Jews, we have what we call Ramadan Muslims. They just come out of the woodwork on the holy days," said Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church.
 
Last year at the height of Ramadan, Abdul-Malik had to turn many away to avoid violating occupancy rules, which limit his mosque to 2,000 worshipers. When asked how many he expects this year, the imam chooses his words carefully: "I'd rather not say because of the fire marshal."
Things weren't always so tight.
 
The ADAMS mosque -- which now rents space in two hotels and a wedding hall along with the two synagogues -- began in 1985 in a Herndon school cafeteria with a handful of Muslims. But since 2000, its numbers have swelled from 300 people to 4,000 attending services throughout Northern Virginia on Friday afternoons, a sacred time for prayer and sermons.
 
At first, leaders tried adding two Friday prayer times at the Sterling mosque. Then they created overflow rooms upstairs and downstairs. They designated choice parking spots "HOV-only" to encourage carpooling, expanded the parking lot and constructed a second entrance.
 
But none of it was enough.
As they looked for a place to expand in Reston, members of Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation learned of their plight. Although some in the congregation had reservations about leasing space for Islamic services, longtime members recalled that a Catholic church opened its doors to them years before they had built their synagogue. Their rabbi weighed in with biblical support.
 
"The prophet Isaiah said our houses would be houses of prayer for all people," said Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk. "Now, I don't know if Isaiah could have imagined us hosting Ramadan in the synagogue, but the basic idea is there."
 
It turned out to be relatively easy. Their new Muslims friends didn't need much: wide-open space, carpet to cushion the floor and a place for their shoes. The synagogue's social hall suited them perfectly.
 
The arrangement has led to the unexpected benefit of cultural exchange. There have been pulpit swaps, with the imam and rabbi preaching to each other's congregation and interfaith visits as well.
David Fram, 72, who sings in the synagogue's choir, was recently invited to the Sterling mosque for daily prayers. It was an amazing, if somewhat awkward, experience. "I didn't know quite what to do; there was a lot of bending and kneeling in their prayers," he said.
 
Standing quietly in the back of the prayer hall, Fram decided to simply bow his head in reverence. He ate lunch ("some kind of spicy meat and rice") afterward. And a few weeks later, he found himself at Barnes & Noble buying a Koran, out of curiosity.
 
"It's not like the U.N. here. We're not looking to draft some final settlement agreement between Israel and Palestine," Nosanchuk said. "But we're learning from each other, and we're trying to give them the space they need and make them feel at home."
 
ADAMS and other congregations are unlikely to solve their space problems anytime soon because of the long lag time usually required for new mosques. Because the Koran prohibits borrowing money at interest, congregations don't use bank loans for construction. Instead, they fundraise over many years and then pay in cash.
 
The process can be excruciating.
It took Muslims in Prince William County 10 years before they accumulated enough money for a new home. While they waited, they crammed into a one-story house off Route 234. Each week, they somehow fit 50 cars into a space meant for 20. When services got too full, people knelt outside and prayed on the grass.
 
Women working minimum-wage jobs donated their family's jewelry to the new-mosque fund. When construction finally began in 2004, families often drove out to the site just to watch and dream about a future of plentiful parking and prayer space.
 
But it wasn't meant to be.
Almost as soon as the new mosque, Dar Al-Noor, opened three years ago during Ramadan, the building was packed with 1,200 people. So this year throughout Ramadan, members will continue praying and fundraising for further expansion, said the community's president, Mohammad Mehboob.
"We are a community with many people but not so much money," Mehboob said. "But Allah has always provided for us. It's amazing we have this mosque now, and, inshallah, we will continue to build and grow."
 



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[ALOCHONA] Why people burn trains in Bihar



Why people burn trains in Bihar

 
A train burning in Bihar (Photo: Prashant Ravi)
A number of train have been attacked and burnt in recent months

By Amarnath Tewary
BBC News, Patna

A group of students travelling without tickets in an air-conditioned railway coach in the northern Indian state of Bihar were recently asked by the ticket examiner to vacate their seats.
Nothing unusual about that, but, in this case, the students took umbrage, and set four coaches on fire.
Panic-stricken passengers on the train travelling between the Indian capital, Delhi, and Rajgir in Bihar, ran out with their bags at Bihta station while the police and railway security looked on helplessly.
Railway authorities totted up the losses: each air-conditioned coach costs eight million rupees ($161,000; £98,000) to manufacture, and the losses from the Bihar incident cost the railways nearly $650,000.
This incident again proved that burning trains have become a popular form of protest and vandalism in Bihar.
Rising violence
In June, two passenger intercity trains were attacked and six coaches burnt down by a mob at Khusurupur station - the attackers were angry with the railways after it scrapped an illegal "halt" for an intercity train at the station.
In Bihar, people routinely hop on to trains from such illegal "halts" where trains are forced to stop.
Last October, a mob burnt down two air-conditioned coaches of an express train connecting Bhagalpur with New Delhi at Barh railway station.
People destroying railway property in Bihar
The police are often helpless in face of widespread vandalism
They were protesting against violence against migrant workers from Bihar in the faraway western city of Mumbai.
Train travel in Bihar has been always fraught with dangers with aggressive ticketless travellers and train robbers looting passengers. Burning down trains is just the latest threat.
Multiple dangers
But why do people in Bihar vent their ire on trains and set them on fire?
A senior police official, Neelmani, says people think authorities will take note of their grievances if they burn important public property like trains.
"When you target railways, you disrupt movement of trains for several hours and then your voice reaches the concerned authorities," he said.
Railway official Gyan Prakash Srivastava says people who attack trains have no respect for public property.
"I believe it is because of the lack of public awareness and respect for government property."
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is dismayed by the train burning spree in his state.
"Railways are our lifeline and a government asset. I have asked my officials to go through station video footage and arrest the vandals," he told the BBC.
In fact, trains are attacked in Bihar over every other issue.
Earlier this month, students protesting the murder of an owner of a private teaching institute ransacked the Lakhisarai railway station and disrupted the movement of trains.
A train in Bihar
Train travel is unsafe in Bihar
The very next day, four passengers were shot inside an inter-state train at Punpun railway station after a row between two groups over seat sharing.
Locals say travelling by train in Bihar is becoming increasingly dangerous.
"Anything can happen to you - you could be robbed, drugged, shot for a seat, thrown out of the coach for refusing a bribe to the police, or have your coach burnt down by an angry mob," says Sanoj Kumar, a bank official who is a daily intercity passenger.
There is even a gang going around whose members routinely rob passengers after spiking their food and drink with sedatives.
Every day, five to six passengers drugged and looted by the gang are reported in Bihar, says Umesh Sinha, railway superintendent of police.
Some of these victims have died of an overdose or have been admitted to hospital, he said.
Then there is the problem of illegal "halt stations" where trains are forced to stop by local people - there are more than 100 of them in the state, many with actual names: some are named after local politicians and one even after a former president.
And yet while rail travel is unsafe in Bihar, seven federal railway ministers have come from the state.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8213488.stm



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[ALOCHONA] Food tender hijacked : Jubo, Chhatra Leagues men obstruct others to drop schedules; Rab, police remain inactive



Food tender hijacked : Jubo, Chhatra Leagues men obstruct others to drop schedules; Rab, police remain inactive
 
 

 
Jubo League and Chhatra League cadres snatched tender schedules from a number of contractors inside the Khadya Bhaban of food ministry in presence of police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel yesterday noon.

The hired cadres also destroyed the schedules of a number of contractors and beat up them when they went to drop the schedules around 12:30pm at the boxes kept there.

Though a huge number of Rab and police were present on the spot, they played the role of silent spectators.

Ramna zone Deputy Commissioner of DMP Atiqul Islam said he was not aware of such incident. But Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station, said a scuffle took place at the end of dropping the tender schedules and it was out of the office building.

Sources said the last date of dropping tenders for repairing of food godowns under Dhaka Division was yesterday. The work was worth Tk 2.70 crore.

But the cadres hired by some contractors, who belong to Jubo League and Chhatra League, took position in the office area since yesterday morning so that others could not submit the schedules.

Witnesses said when the contractors who do not belong to their group went to drop the schedules, the cadres swooped on them around 12:30pm and snatched their schedules by beating them.

At one stage, the contractors left the area failing to drop their schedules.

Talking to The Daily Star, Pius Costa, director general of Food, admitted that a scuffle took place between two groups.

"They locked in the scuffle on Abdul Gani Road, which is out of the building premises", the DG said adding, "One of the contractors informed me over phone that his tender schedules were snatched and torn up. But no one lodged any written complaint."

Asked, the DG said a huge number of schedules were dropped and the box would be opened today.
 
 



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[ALOCHONA] Offshore deals okayed for ConocoP, Tullow



Offshore deals okayed for ConocoP, Tullow

Dhaka, Aug 24 (bdnews24.com)—Bangladesh has approved offshore oil, gas exploration deals with two international companies, ConocoPhillips and Tullow Oil plc, in three sea blocks. The companies will not be able to operate in any disputed waters of the blocks in the resource-rich Bay of Bengal. "Proposals from the two companies seem worthy. So, we decided to award them three blocks, 5, 10 and 11," finance minister AMA Muhith said after chairing a meeting of the cabinet committee for economic affairs on Monday that approved the deals.

ConocoPhillips, the third largest energy company in the US, will get deep-sea blocks 10 and 11. Shallow-sea block 5 will be awarded to Irish company Tullow that already operates in Bangladesh's Bhangura gas field.

Muhith said the mineral resources ministry has been recommended to sit with the two companies on the new deals. "The ministry will inform the companies that they will not be able to explore in the areas of the three blocks disputed with India and Myanmar," he told reporters. Muhith said results of the exploration are expected within the next four to five years, depending on the depth of the blocks.

Foreign minister Dipu Moni, who also attended the meeting, was optimistic about concluding the exploration within the stipulated period. "Discussions are on to resolve disputed waters with India and Myanmar in bilateral talks and also in international forums," she said.

Monday's decision ends some of the year-long uncertainty regarding the allotment of offshore blocks previously selected by state-owned Petrobangla for IOCs to explore under production sharing contracts. A total of 28 Bay of Bengal blocks, eight in shallow water and 20 in deepwater, were offered for competitive bidding last year under the past caretaker government. The government received a total of 22 bids from seven companies for 15 offshore blocks—three shallow-sea and 12 deep-sea.

It marked the third time Bangladesh had invited international oil companies to explore for oil and gas in the country, with earlier international bidding rounds in 1993 and 1997 for onshore explorations. ConocoPhillips and Tullow were shortlisted for exploration deals in nine of offshore blocks after last year's bidding. Conoco won bids for eight deep-sea blocks in all (DS-08-10, DS-08-11, DS-08-12, DS-08-17, DS-08-15, DS-08-16, DS-08-20 and DS-08-21). It proposed to invest about $450 million for exploration of all eight blocks Tullow submitted the winning bid for shallow-water block SS-08-05 offering to spend $50 million. Both companies reportedly wrote several times to the energy ministry since then to know the fate of the blocks they were selected for.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, after coming to power in January, said Bangladesh was planning to move ahead with offshore exploration deals with IOCs after proper scrutiny of all proposals. A summary on the proposed deals was sent to the prime minister in June. She referred them to the economic affairs committee for further scrutiny at the start of July.

Bangladesh, with about 15 trillion cubic feet (425 billion cubic metres) of proven and recoverable gas reserves, is currently facing around 100 million cubic feet of gas shortages a day.



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[ALOCHONA] AABEA's 25th anniversary celebration on October 10, 2009 with Tahsan, Mithila, Tony Dias, Priya Dias, Jamaluddin Hussain, & Rowshan Ara Hussain [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Mahfuzur Rahman included below]


American Association of Bangladeshi Engineers & Architects (AABEA)

Washington DC Chapter

presents

 

~AABEA's 25th ANNIVERSARY~

&

~ANNUAL FAMILY/FRIENDS EVENING~

 

 

When & Where:

October 10, 2009 (Saturday) from 2:00 pm to midnight

University of Maryland at Shady Grove, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850                         

 

In this gathering, you will enjoy the performances of the following famous and well-known Bangladeshi celebrities.

 

  • Tony Dias (actor & director of television dramas; leading member of "Nagorik Natya Shomprodai")
  • Priya Dias (actress, dancer, choreographer, model, & emcee of various television programs)
  • Tahsan (singer, actor, & model)
  • Mithila (singer, actress, & model)
  • Jamaluddin Hussain (actor & director of dramas; leading member of "Nagorik Natya Shomprodai"; founder of "Nagorik Natyangan")
  • Rowshan Ara Hussain (actress & director of dramas; leading member of "Nagorik Natya Shomprodai"; founder of "Nagorik Natyangan")

This event is NOT limited to engineers and architects only.  All of you are requested to attend.  All of your presence is highly expected.

 

Admission Price:  $20.00 per person by online purchase 
                             (please go to "www.aabeadc.org/Events" to purchase tickets)
                             $30.00 per person at the gate
                             Free for children under 12 years old

(Courtesy dinner is included in the admission price)

 
~ The auditorium does not have capacity for large crowd.  So, all tickets may be sold out early.  When the room capacity is reached to its max, we will NOT sell tickets online or at the gate.  Therefore, please purchase your tickets immediately through online. ~ 
 
Event Highlights:
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm:  Technical Seminars on different topic (you do not want to miss the seminars; very interesting, outstanding, & informative topic wil be presented; you won't be bored)
6:40 pm:  Maghrib Prayer (for them who want to pray)
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm:  Courtesy DINNER for ticket holders only
                                           {SERVING OF DINNER SHALL CLOSE AT 8:00 PM, SORRY, NO EXCEPTIONS!}
8:00 pm to 9:00 pm:  Welcome Speeches & Recognitions  (please show your wrist band before entering the auditorium)
9:00 pm to midnight:  Very attractive Entertainment program  (please show your wrist band before entering the auditorium)  
 
Please open the attachment or look at the colorful flyer at the end of this email to see the wonderful photographs of the Bangladeshi celebrities you will see at our October 10 program.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Direction: From I-495 take I-270 North towards Frederick.  Take Exit 8 to Shady Grove Rd.,  At exit ramp keep left and turn left at signal on Shady Grove Road – West towards Hospital.  Pass the Hospital.  Next signal is Rte 28 (Darnestown Road).  Pass Rte 28, then turn immediate first right at Gudelsky Drive.  After entering to Gudelsky Drive, turn left and continue, you will see the Auditorium Building at your right.  Parking is on your left.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

Please bring your family, relatives, & friends on October 10, 2009 (Saturday) and stay with us from 2:00 pm to midnight to enjoy AABEA's 25th anniversary celebration with lots of fun & entertainmentThank you very much for your outstanding help & support and remember, we can achieve great things, if only you are with us.

 

Best Regards,

 

Faisal Quader, President, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 301-990-7363; 301-526-7888 (cell)
Nasreen Chowdhury, President-Elect, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 703-493-9219; 703-944-4604 (cell)
Ajhar Nakib, Secretary, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 703-760-9616; 703-953-4788 (cell)
Mahfuzur Rahman, Treasurer, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 410-796-0577; 301-646-3475 (cell); 703-875-4054 (work) 
Shah "Raja" Ahmed, Executive Member, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 301-873-1440 (cell)
Zia Karim, Executive Member, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 352-383-1582; 410-807-6160 (cell)
Imran Feroz, Executive Member, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 443-756-9858
Nancy Hoque, Executive Member, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 202-558-6756
Masrifa Tasnim (Misu), Executive Member, AABEA Washington DC Chapter: 240-462-4000 (cell)

Hares Sayeed, President, AABEA Central Committee: 202-841-6269
Ahmedur Ali, Executive Member of AABEA Central Committee and Liaison to Washington DC Chapter: 301-404-5567
 

American Association of Bangladeshi Engineers & Architects (AABEA) 

 

 

 


Attachment(s) from Mahfuzur Rahman

1 of 1 Photo(s)


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[ALOCHONA] CM NAIM - In A La-La Land



Are many of the pieces posted/written by some Bangla writers any different?

 

Opinion
In A La-La Land
C.M. Naim
Outlook Magazine
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261284

 

C.M. Naim is Professor Emeritus of Urdu and Persian, University of Chicago


Some of the most popular Urdu Columnists in Pakistan seem to function in a world of their own creation—it challenges rational thinking. 

For the past five or six months I've been reading fairly regularly the web pages of three Urdu newspapers from Pakistan: Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt and the Express. I glance at the headlines cursorily then immediately turn to the columnists. Most days, each of the three carries a minimum of six columnists. Some of them are big names; they frequently appear on TV shows, get regularly invited to the President's residence, and travel with the Prime Minister on important trips. These gentlemen never let you forget all that. One or two even give details of the food served on such occasions—there is always plenty of food served, not just a cup of tea, when they visit with any dignitary.

Some of them repeatedly tell us how uniquely they know the "history" of everything—how things actually happened, be it in Pakistan of here and now or any country in the past. They also inform us that had their advice been properly understood or taken, the disaster that followed in many cases could have been avoided. None of the sages has ever made a serious error of judgment. And if one of them ever makes a rare acknowledgment of that nature, it is always as a charge of betrayal on the part of some other party.

Conspiracy theories naturally abound in these columns, with three dependable conspirators: America, India (i.e. Bharat in Urdu; never Hindustan), and Israel. The labels may change and become CIA, RAW, and Mossad, or Nasara (the Christians), Hunud (the Hindus), and Yahud (the Jews), but their axis of evil remains unchanged. The alliteration of the last two—hunud and yahud—makes them a favourite and indivisible pair; they generate an assertion that no one questions in Urdu in Pakistan.

In these columns one discovers that M. A. Jinnah and Muhammad Iqbal were never correctly understood by except the particular columnist. They also offer amazing bits of 'history'—often with a grand flourish. You can be sure to face something remarkable soon if the paragraph begins with the words: "Tarikh gavaah hai" "History is My Witness." Fairly often a column might appear to have been written, not to communicate some idea or information, but for the sheer joy of writing those pretty words that, for plenty of Urduwalas, make it the "sweetest" language in the world.

Urdu newspapers—or for that matter, the English language ones—do not seem to employ fact checkers or copy editors for their columnists; they seldom carry any correction except of the most minor kind. One, in fact, wonders if their editors read them. One can be quite certain that the English newspaper editors and columnists in Pakistan don't read them, not even if these Urdu columns appear in a sister publication brought out by their own publisher. In my limited experience of reading the columns in the Daily Times and the News fairly regularly—and in Dawn, infrequently—I have not come across any column in English that commented in any fashion on some Urdu column or columnist. But the Urdu columnists are certainly read by a huge number of people, who save them and treat them as gospel truth. Recently one of them published a call for people to send him their saved cuttings of his column so that he could put together a book; in no time he had more than enough.

I must now offer some illustrations. But first I must hasten to add that not all Urdu columnists in Pakistan write in that manner. Quite a few—Hameed Akhtar, Zaheda Hena, Munno Bhai, Tanwir Qaisar Shahid, Asghar Nadeem Sayyad, Abdullah Tariq Suhail, Kishwar Naheed, Rafeeq Dogar, to name my own favourites—consistently write with clarity, sober reasoning, and in a manner that is both eloquent and passionate. As for the others—the majority—meet a few below.

Hamid Mir writes a regular column in Jang; he writes with passion but is usually quite careful. I was taken aback when I read his column on April 27. He gave it the title "Children, True of Heart." In it he described a meeting he addressed where school children were present, and where one child stood up and told him something that he had not known before. The child pointed out, Mir wrote, that America was such a sworn enemy of Pakistan that when Pakistan was born in 1947, the United States refused to recognize it for two years. The U.S. did so, according to the child, because it expected Pakistan to collapse and disappear any day. Mr. Mir was so moved by the child's fervour and knowledge about Pakistan that he decided to write a column and acknowledge his ignorance of the truth that even a child knew. (In fact the U.S.A. recognized Pakistan on August 15, 1947, and opened an embassy the same day; the first American ambassador arrived six months later.)

Dr. A Q Khan of Kahuta fame writes regularly in both Jang and its sister English journal, The News. In his Urdu column on April 29, Dr. Khan claimed that President Obama had no authority of his own, that he was in fact totally controlled by the white men who stood to his right and left in photographs. He then asserted, without naming his sources, that President Obama had once asked that the Ka'ba should be destroyed, for that would put an end to all the conflicts the world was faced with. When I checked the English version I found it contained no mention of the Ka'ba. On inquiry, an editor at The News informed me that it had been deleted because it was based on hearsay. Apparently, hearsay was all right so long it was in Urdu.

Safir Ahmad Siddiqui, not a regular columnist, wrote a piece in Jang on May 17, denouncing any possible attempt on the part of the government to allow transit facilities to India in its trade with Afghanistan. Mr. Siddiqui reminded the readers: "what the Indians did to the Pakistanis POWs after the war of 1971-2 was of such cruel nature that historians forgot what Hitler and Mussolini had done in their prison camps." He then presented an analogy whose logic, not to mention factual accuracy, was mind-boggling. According to him Pakistan should learn something or other from Hitler and Poland. According to Mr. Siddiqui, Hitler wanted back his two lost seaports Alsace and Lorraine from Poland—no, I'm not making it up—and resorted to force only when Poland refused him even transit facilities. Therefore, Mr. Siddiqui concluded, Pakistan should also refuse India any transit facility.

The difference between the Urdu and English sister papers nurtured by the same family of publishers also stood out in stark contrast with reference to the reporting on a fatwa issued by some convention of Sunni 'Ulema on May 17. According to Jang, the learned men of God had declared that it was haraam to commit suicide bombings, or cut the throats of Muslims. According to The News, however, the Sunni scholars had "termed the suicide attacks and beheadings as haraam." The sages most likely meant what was said in English, but the Urdu version carried its own slant recklessly and never made it clear that the fatwa covered the necks of Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Abdul Qadir Hasan is a top-slot columnist in The Express—despite the name the paper is in Urdu. On May 17, he wrote:

"In 1948, 1965, and 1971, and now again in 2009 we are fighting a fourth war with India. In this war we fight not only India but also its two patrons, USA and Israel. This triad is bent on destroying us. And this war is much more dangerous than the first three wars. In those wars, armies faced and fought armies, but this time it is a clandestine war, in which one side consists of Bharat-trained and armed guerrillas, i.e. Taliban, and facing them on the other side stands the regular soldiers of Pakistan."

This theme, common to so many columnists, was given its most perfervid interpretation five days later (May 22) by Dr. Ajmal Niazi, who is a top-slot columnist in Nawa-i-Waqt. He entitled his column: ''Pakistan will be the battlefield of the Third World War." He made three powerful assertions—he did not use the word mubayyana ("alleged") anywhere. (The word is rarely, if at all, used in Urdu columns.).

Seymour Hersh, Dr. Niazi claimed, had disclosed that Benazir Bhutto was killed at the orders of Vice President Dick Cheney, and by a death squad commanded by Gen. Stanley C Crystal. He further claimed that Z.A. Bhutto, Murtaza Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto were all killed by the Americans. Finally, Dr. Niazi claimed that Benazir Bhutto had given an interview to Al-Jazira on Nov. 2, 2007, in which she had said that Osama bin Laden was already dead, and that he had been killed at the orders of Shaikh Umar Sa'id. But the Americans ordered [whom?] to have the remark deleted, because if bin Laden were already dead they—the Americans—would have had no reason to do what they did in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Having thus established to his own and his readers' satisfaction a chain of reasoning, Dr. Niazi concluded his column with a scary flourish.

"The Western and American media are in an uproar over Pakistan's nuclear bombs, but they should also listen to me. I'm telling them that if the nuclear weapons of Pakistan were put in any danger the third world war will immediately start. Then both India and Israel will cease to exist. What will the United States do then? The battlefield of 'World War III' will be Pakistan."

Then there are the wonderful "insider's exclusives" about the great ones. Here is Mr. Majeed Nizami, the chief editor and owner of Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation, in a letter to his main rival Jang (May 23), explaining a remark he reportedly had made.

"The bomb-exploder prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had called a meeting of some 60 or 70 journalists and editors to seek their advice before deciding to have the nuclear tests. Many people of I.A. Haqqani's ilk opposed the idea, and tried to frighten him by warning of America's wrath. He clearly seemed to waver. At that time I was indeed forced to speak to him firmly. 'Miyan Sahib,' I said to him, 'explode the bomb otherwise the nation will explode you. We will explode you.' And Almighty Allah gave him the ability to explode the bomb. But before that could happen President Clinton phoned him five times, offered millions in bribe, and [finally even] threatened him [personally]."

And here is a charming vignette from one of Mr. Mahmud Sham's columns—I regret my failure to note the date; it was sometime in May—that contained excerpts from his book of interviews.

"Dr Fahmida Mirza has vacated her seat for me and taken another chair. Now I'm seated on the chair next to the Daughter of the East, the first Muslim woman Prime Minister in the Muslim World, the Life Chairperson of P.P.P., Honourable Benazir Bhutto. Also present are other senior journalists, TV anchorpersons, newspaper proprietors, and her party's senior leaders. She wants to know if she should take part in the elections... It's a good thing that she is seeking advice from people who are outside her party. Most of us want her to take part in the elections. She is asking each person individually. The tea has come, together with Chaat. She herself enjoys Chaat. Her dupatta keeps slipping, but she never lets it fall. I'm seeing her after many years and so my feelings are intense."

In this la-la land of column writing in Urdu in Pakistan three names stand out in my view: Irfan Siddiqui, Dr. Aamir Liaquat Husain, and Haroon-al-Rashid. All three are regular columnists for Jang. The first two surpass everyone in finding 'facts' where facts may not exist; they also write with great verve in an Urdu that has all the flourishes and graces required in a ghazal. The third, Mr Haroon-al-Rashid, is in a class by himself. I cannot put into English his pyrotechnical Urdu and his riffs of free-association. He must be read in the original. But here is one sample each of Mr. Siddiqui's and Dr. Husain's insightful writings.

In a column in May—I apologize again for not noting the date—Dr Husain first defended himself against the charges of faking his doctorate degree, then wrote:

"Those who invoke the name of the Qaid-e-Azam should first show they have the same nafs ["lower self" in mystical thought]. He was educated in England, grew up surrounded by Western culture, and started his political life from the platform of a secular party. But when he became the leader of 'those who were his own' he never took removed his cap from his head or took off sherwani; he did not let his nafs rule over him for a moment; he did not use the broom of greed to sweep the yard of his desires (sic). He knew he was the leader of the Muslims, and so he always looked like them among them. He knew how to wear a suit much better than many who wear suits; he knew how to cross his legs and smoke cigars. He had seen such scenes many times in the durbar of the British, but he also understood that millions of people oppressed by the Hindus had whole-heartedly claimed him as their own. And so he gave all his wishes and desires the name of Pakistan, and never looked back to that Muhammad Ali who perhaps had some personal desires too."

And here is Mr Irfan Siddiqui on a topic that was hot for a couple of days in May. He wrote in his column in Jang (May 23):

"President Zardari was in Washington. A schoolmistress named Hilary Clinton had him and the Clown of Kabul sit on her either side, and then lectured them. In every gathering, every meeting, and every function it was specially arranged that Hamid Karzai should be on the right hand [of the American dignitary] and President Zardari on the left. I do not recall any occasion in the past when an American Secretary of State conducted a meeting of two presidents in such a fashion."

Finally, since I come from India, I must point out that Urdu newspapers in India are in no way better. Their columns and editorials carry similar feats of conspiratorial thinking and convoluted reasoning. And in rhetorical passion they can match any Pakistani columnist. I have written about them in the past, most recently in 2007 in a note concerning the treatment meted out to Taslima Nasreen at Hyderabad



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Re: [ALOCHONA] AL move to end caretaker system gains momentum



If next time BNP comes to power due to touch of some miracle, you would see Awami League on the street again to re-introduce the Caretaker Government System. Same "Budhijibis" will turn their arguments 180 degrees around.

SH
Toronto


From: Ezajur Rahman <ezajur.rahman@q8.com>
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 5:43:42 AM
Subject: [ALOCHONA] AL move to end caretaker system gains momentum

 

AL move to end caretaker system gains momentum
The system of non-party supervision of elections is a product of our political parties and their immaturity and absolute inability to come to power through fair and public participatory methods. The situation could be worth changing if the situation had improved but, remarkable as it may seem, our political parties have remained as unable to be part of a democratic process as they were two decades back
in 1990, writes Afsan Chowdhury

Courtesy New Age 24/8/09


AWAMI League leaders of the middle variety as well as a few of the top ones – or should we say ex-top ones – have recently started to deride the caretaker government system which has been in place for almost two decades. It is stated to have been an experiment that has lived out its purpose and time, and is ready to be discarded.
   The Awami League has, of course, said that it is not a decision and that the issue should be debated and even the Election Commission should be part of the debate but the intentions are clear – it does not want the caretaker government system anymore.
   The caretaker government system was introduced as an interim measure in 1990 after the fall of Ershad following the mass movement. The movement had been on for nearly a decade against the somewhat feeble regime of Ershad because the two contenting parties – the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League – were so antagonistic to each other that they never even managed to get together to fight their common enemy jointly, allowing Ershad to go on for so long.
   Once Ershad had fallen, there was no succession and so the concept of 'neutral caretaker government' under Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, then the chief justice of the Supreme Court, took over, a concept born out of necessity. It was supposed to be an interim, short-term arrangement in view of the complete lack of trust of the political parties in each other at that time. The arrangement worked the first time but trust in each other never increased. The arrangement was incorporated into the constitution in 1996.
   The arrangement was never popular but everyone accepted it because it was convenient for the two warring parties during an election. The neutral tag of the caretaker government soon disappeared as the interim members of the government were largely split between representatives of both the parties but it swayed and rolled on till in 2006-7 when it faced its worst crisis when the BNP abused the mechanism to an absurd level. Its very transparent manipulation attempt exposed the fact that even this system could itself cause a crisis. That such action by politicians can hurt the system so badly that political options can disappear from the table leaving only violence behind. The inevitable result was the military-backed civilian takeover and the rest is well known. The Awami League had even then expressed unhappiness and now is doing so again. Why the sudden acceleration of dislike of the system which has brought them to power through the 2008 elections is not well understood. Meanwhile, the BNP has already expressed opposition to the idea as expected.
   The system of non-party supervision of elections is a unique system in the world and product of our political parties and their immaturity and absolute inability to come to power through fair and public participatory methods. The situation could be worth changing if the situation had improved but, remarkable as it may seem, our political parties have remained as unable to be part of a democratic process as they were two decades back in 1990. The reason which had led to the birth of the neutral caretaker government system remains as valid as it was then. So what has changed since then that the Awami League is keen to replace it with a party-in-power- based election is not understood?
   Speculation one – the Awami League wants to do a BNP in future, that is just as the BNP distorted the system to try to stay on in power in 2006 by manipulating the mechanism. It couldn't face the idea of handing over power after only a term and it was very unsure that it could win on a popular ticket. It was a desperate move that backfired on them.
   The Awami League till now has been having a very bad time since elections and its performance is not winning vote points. Many of the problems it faces have grown over the years under both party regimes and by ignoring such issue they have now become huge and perhaps unmanageable. If the Awami League can't handle them, unpopularity is inevitable and that may translate into an electoral disaster the next time. The party may not want to risk a free and fair election under the present system. Hence, it wants to do away with it and reduce risk unlike the BNP which wanted to keep the system but manipulate it.
   Speculation two – the Awami League believes that the time is right for making a move that will further push the BNP into a corner. The BNP doesn't resemble a winner's party anymore and the tag of corruption and support to terrorist elements is a major burden for the BNP. It does have a degree of dependence on these elements for its political clout but, as the regional concern for extremist violence grows, the Awami League may find itself as a facilitator of clamping down on such forces. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's main ally, is basically a Pakistan-based party of its ancestors, and its brothers in Pakistan aren't doing too well as all extremists get lumped together there as 'enemies' as the fight against the Taliban expands. These parties while varying in their extremism are all ideologically anti-Indian and if that is an ideology, then it will soon become involved in regional politics, if not terrorism. Should the security scenario become more dangerous, there may be a nod to the Awami League to at act tough against such elements and both the BNP and Jamaat may be at the receiving end of the AL stick with regional and global support behind it. So if the Awami League emerges as the only goods on the political shelf the neutral caretaker government system will lose relevance.
   Speculation three – the Awami League knows that the BNP is weakened and after the war crimes trials which will be held most probably even if in a diminished manner, both the BNP and Jamaat will be on the back foot and the Awami League will be able to push through a series of changes suiting its politics. If the BNP can be shown to have consorted too closely with Jamaat, which is certain to be linked with war crimes, if not tried as such, the Awami League will hope to cut down the level of street opposition and push its new plan. The time may be right according to them.
   These may well be what the Awami League is thinking and it doesn't matter if they are speculation or not but the fact of the matter is, the Awami League is on the move to cut down a system which, given our political performance, should stay much longer. The people of Bangladesh have shown that they have political maturity but the BNP's action during its last regime and the Awami League's action since coming to power in its last incarnation can hardly make anyone think that Bangladesh has reached a state of political stability under which fair elections will be or can be held.
   Of course there are two factors that can make or unmake the argument. One is the function of the Election Commission and the other is the role of the army.
   It can be argued that the caretaker government is not necessary as the Election Commission is strengthened enough. This is a key question but there have been doubts about the level of power the commission enjoys and if those powers actually allow it to supervise the entire electoral process and the conducting of related business. The tirade of the BNP politician Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury against the commission after it declared him guilty of misinforming it about his educational qualifications the people and his refusal to resign followed by threats are indicators that the commission is still far short of the powers that would give it the kind of clout needed to ensure a free and fair election even when a party is in power.
   Apart from that, given the history of our politics, there is little evidence that the government will make the Election Commission so strong and independent that it can call the shots in an election no matter who rules the roost. Since our political parties have, in fact, systematically weakened the judiciary and the political institutions, it would take an unrealistic optimist to think that our parties will make any institution stronger than the party in power. In that case, we would not need the caretaker government but right now the Election Commission is nowhere near empowered to make a difference that will see an unpopular government thrown out by the voters even if in power.
   Right now the most organised and strengthened institution in the country is the army and it is their tilt to a proper election managed by the Election Commission saw the results that we have now. It's no secret that the ex-army chief General Moeen's actions in this regard hurt the BNP which is why the plethora of cases and condemnations of this man by BNP leaders. However, still now, it's the military guarantee that ensures civilian rule. That will be so in the future unless some major incident occurs or any new factor is introduced. Is the Awami League hoping that the military will also support this move to end caretaker government thinking that the army has gone pro-Awami League?
   The army wears olive uniforms and not the black coat of the Awami League and its support to the Awami League was strategic given in the best interest of self-preservation. If the AL decision to end the caretaker government system makes it unpopular, a generator of instability and again returns the kind of situation which forced the army to act as protector of the state and the army itself, the Awami League may find a friend missing, the friend that matters.
   The decision to try to shift away from an established system that has provided and can provide stability, if both parties decide to respect it, is a matter of great concern. It seems that the Awami League has decided to do so and is now making dry runs but there is no evidence to suggest that it can be carried off because the BNP will certainly oppose it on the streets and the situation is not so strong for the Awami League that it can override them.
   Simply put, Bangladeshi parties don't have the political maturity, intent or will to have free and fair elections when in power. The Election Commission can do a much better job and by strengthening the commission much can be improved and even moved towards a system where the caretaker government will not be required. But, to decide that, a system which is designed to protect the people from the political parties and their antagonism shouldn't be done away with simply because it looks a good time to act in a way that will ensure the favourite fantasy of Bangladeshi parties – endless rule.

 


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