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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

[ALOCHONA] Prime minister’s overseas visits



Prime minister's overseas visits

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/dec/09/oped.html


I join Rashed Ahmed in questioning the manner of the prime minister's visits (New Age 4/12/09). I recently travelled with more than a hundred expatriate workers returning home on our national carrier. After landing at Dhaka they had to wait almost an hour on the plane because the prime minister was travelling and no buses were allowed to move in the airport. After finally disembarking they waited, in the heat of the sun, on the tarmac next to the plane. Finally, they had to walk in the sun, with their luggage to the terminal.
   Ezajur Rahman
   Kuwait

 

 

 

Prime minister's overseas visits
http://www.newagebd.com/2009/dec/04/fb.html

 

After letting her foreign minister do the jet setting, the prime minister herself has decided to do some of it herself. In the last few months, she has been to a number of countries, almost all for multilateral meetings. While the foreign ministry has heralded all these as successful visits, it would be worth the while if some bright journalists covering the foreign ministry would do some research to find out whether the foreign ministry was playing its usual role, playing up to the prime minister or has there been something at least that the prime minister has earned for the country from these visits that have been taken place at significant costs to taxpayers' money.
   Those with some knowledge of diplomacy and how foreign affairs are conducted would know that the multilateral forums are places where someone of the rank of a prime minister does not need an invitation to attend. Therefore, the prime minister did not need any invitation to undertake the visits she has so far made to address these multilateral forums. No real purpose has also been served by these visits. However, as it has now become a practice, in such visits, the prime minister is accompanied by members of her family who take precedence over all other members of her delegation that includes ministers, senior officials, etc. For example, when the prime minister met President Obama and Mrs Obama during a reception, it was her daughter who was with her when she was photographed with the US President and the First Lady. At her UN address, it was her sister who preceded the foreign minister in the seating arrangements. It is now known on authoritative sources that the prime minister's son has in his name card written that he is an adviser to the prime minister.
   For a party that came to office publicising the alleged interference of Tarique Zia in the activities of the government, the indulgences given to the incumbent prime minister's sister, son and daughter in affairs of the state is indeed unacceptable. In case of the sons of the former prime minister, notwithstanding the accusations that have been brought against them, it must be said that they were seldom seen in the affairs of the state in the manner we see the family members of the present prime minister.
   Referring back to the prime minister's foreign trips, it is not just the members of the prime minister's family are making merry at the expense of the taxpayers; a lot of the government officials and hangers-on of the party in power are also enjoying free travel at the taxpayers' expense without having anything substantive to do in these trips. Take Ambassador Ziauddin for example. After hanging on to the prime minister for a year, he has recently been given the title of Ambassador-at-Large with the rank of a minister without anyone explaining what this job entails where the prime minister has a foreign ministers and people with ministerial ranks galore to advise her on foreign affairs. The way the prime minister's overseas trips are arranged must be the best examples of squandering of public money without considering legality or ethics. Besides her family members, at least 40 people accompany her on these innocuous trips with almost all of them having nothing to do at all to be of assistance to her except being present at her press conferences and other engagements where they fill up the seats in the absence of foreign invites who see no point in coming to such meetings/engagements.
   It is true that the BNP did a lot of things that were not proper and the AL criticised the party rightly with the media in support. The AL is now doing everything for which it criticised the BNP and more openly. The strange thing is that a large part of the media that had put the BNP on the grill is letting the AL go free.
   Rashed Ahmed
   Gulshan, Dhaka




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[ALOCHONA] BSF kills Bangladeshi pilgrim ,Abducts 1



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

BSF kills Bangladeshi pilgrim

Abducts 1

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) yesterday gunned down a Bangladeshi pilgrim in West Bengal's Basirhat area and abducted a farmer from Jibonnagar upazila in Chuadanga Monday evening.

Our Satkhira correspondent reports: BSF shot dead an unidentified Bangladeshi pilgrim of Hindu community on Panitor border under 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, opposite to Bhomra border in Sadar upazila early yesterday.

Lt Col Iqbal Azim, commanding officer of 41 Rifles Battalion of BDR, confirmed the incident and said identity of the victim, who went to India for 'Ganga Bath' a few days back, could not be known immediately.

BSF jawans of Panitor camp opened two shots targeting the pilgrim while he was returning to Bangladesh crossing the Panitor border at about 3:30am leaving him dead on the spot, sources said.

BSF men took away the body.

BDR sent a letter to BSF protesting the killing and asked them to return the body, BDR sources said.

Meanwhile, BSF abducted a Bangladeshi farmer from Goeshpur border point in Jibonnagar upazila of Chuadanga Monday evening, our Kushtia correspondent reports.

According to BDR 35 Rifles Battalion, BSF men from Kanpur camp in Murshidabad district of West Bengal entered Bangladesh territory and picked up Muraf Malitha, 30, son of Samu Malitha of Goeshpur in Jibonnagar when he was working in the field at about 5:30pm.

On information, a BDR team from Dhopakhali camp under 35 Rifles Battalion rushed to the spot.

BDR sent a letter to BSF protesting the incident and asked for a flag meeting, BDR sources said.




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[mukto-mona] Re: [khabor.com] Arundhati Roy/ A True Muslim!



The world needs lots of Arundhati right now
All these years my younger daughter's desire to become Doctor, which I do not have any contribution behind her decision, today we found out she has been emailing story to her teacher almost every day and she is only seven years old and got highest reward as reader in her school,
Today she mention she likes to be an author,with out canceling her first decision, Now I am thinking why not an Arundhati in USA, .
WE need to make our world a better place
Thank you for welcoming me
 
Anis Rahman
Love and Commitment    


--- On Tue, 12/8/09, ROBERT GONSALVES <rgonsalves29@verizon.net> wrote:

From: ROBERT GONSALVES <rgonsalves29@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [khabor.com] Arundhati Roy/ A True Muslim!
To: khabor@yahoogroups.com, "khurshid" <mirza.syed@gmail.com>, turkman@sbcglobal.net, "asghar" <msa7011@yahoo.com>, "Alamgir" <malamgir1@aol.com>, "Ajmol ali" <ajmol.ali@treas.state.nj.us>, "Farid" <akhtergolam@gmail.com>, "furlovera@buet" <funloverbuet76@yahoogroups.com>, mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, "banglanari" <banglarnari@yahoogroups.com>, "Alochana" <alochona@yahoogroups.com>, "Dr.Prem" <premd11@aol.com>, "dabir" <md.dabiruddin@yahoo.com>, "Devdas sarkar" <dsarkar1@hotmail.com>, "Tasneem" <tasneembr11@yahoo.com>, "abid" <abidbahar@yahoo.com>, "abusayeeddr" <abusayeedr@yahoo.com>, "afsarbhai" <afsar_hossainbd@yahoo.com>, "Ashraf" <syguia@aol.com>, beautyanwar@hotmail.com, "celeti@aol.com" <celeti@aol.com>, "hannan" <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com>, himu.rozario@comcast.net, "jamil" <kaljatri@emailme.net>, "jiban" <imrulalqays@gmail.com>, "kamal" <kamal4000@yahoo.com>, "lal" <lalhgehi@yahoo.com>, "mahbub28se@yahoo.com" <mahbub28se@yahoo.com>, "mmozumder" <mmozumder@doeal.gov>, "mowla" <mowlam9906@yahoo.com>, "Munir" <captmunir@gmail.com>, "Safder" <safder9@gmail.com>, "saifpacific@yahoo.com" <saifpacific@yahoo.com>, "wahed" <wahedb@gmail.com>, "ulfat" <ukabir@hotmail.com>, "yousafzai" <well.kaleem@gmail.com>, "Anis Rahman" <anis90242@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 8:09 AM

 
There are quite a few in the political limelight who dance in ther blood of innocents. They loot the country and deposit the booties in the swiss banks, banks in singapore, ME. Yet people place these culprits in the throne of supremacy. What would you boastfully call them? Define?
Zahed Khan of the Khans of Dhaka South

--- On Tue, 12/8/09, Anis Rahman <anis90242@yahoo. com> wrote:

From: Anis Rahman <anis90242@yahoo. com>
Subject: Re: [khabor.com] Arundhati Roy/ A True Muslim!
To: khabor@yahoogroups. com, "khurshid" <mirza.syed@gmail. com>, turkman@sbcglobal. net, "asghar" <msa7011@yahoo. com>, "Alamgir" <malamgir1@aol. com>, "Ajmol ali" <ajmol.ali@treas. state.nj. us>, "Farid" <akhtergolam@ gmail.com>, "furlovera@buet" <funloverbuet76@ yahoogroups. com>, mukto-mona@yahoogro ups.com, "banglanari" <banglarnari@ yahoogroups. com>, "Alochana" <alochona@yahoogroup s.com>, "Dr.Prem" <premd11@aol. com>, "dabir" <md.dabiruddin@ yahoo.com>, "Devdas sarkar" <dsarkar1@hotmail. com>, "Tasneem" <tasneembr11@ yahoo.com>, "abid" <abidbahar@yahoo. com>, "abusayeeddr" <abusayeedr@yahoo. com>, "afsarbhai" <afsar_hossainbd@ yahoo.com>, "Ashraf" <syguia@aol.com>, beautyanwar@ hotmail.com, "celeti@aol. com" <celeti@aol.com>, "gonsalves" <rgonsalves29@ verizon.net>, "hannan" <sahannan@sonarbangl adesh..com>, himu.rozario@ comcast.net, "jamil" <kaljatri@emailme. net>, "jiban" <imrulalqays@ gmail.com>, "kamal" <kamal4000@yahoo. com>, "lal" <lalhgehi@yahoo. com>, "mahbub28se@ yahoo.com" <mahbub28se@yahoo. com>, "mmozumder" <mmozumder@doeal. gov>, "mowla" <mowlam9906@yahoo. com>, "Munir" <captmunir@gmail. com>, "Safder" <safder9@gmail. com>, "saifpacific@ yahoo.com" <saifpacific@ yahoo.com>, "wahed" <wahedb@gmail. com>, "ulfat" <ukabir@hotmail. com>, "yousafzai" <well.kaleem@ gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 9:04 AM

Thanks Davdas
I love her

--- On Mon, 12/7/09, SAIF Davdas <islam1234@msn. com> wrote:

From: SAIF Davdas <islam1234@msn. com>
Subject: [khabor.com] Arundhati Roy/ A True Muslim!
To: "Khabor" <khabor@yahoogroups. com>, "khurshid" <mirza.syed@gmail. com>, turkman@sbcglobal. net, "asghar" <msa7011@yahoo. com>, "Alamgir" <malamgir1@aol. .com>, "Ajmol ali" <ajmol.ali@treas. state.nj. us>, "Farid" <akhtergolam@ gmail.com>, "furlovera@buet" <funloverbuet76@ yahoogroups. com>, mukto-mona@yahoogro ups.com, "banglanari" <banglarnari@ yahoogroups. com>, "Alochana" <alochona@yahoogroup s.com>, "Dr.Prem" <premd11@aol. com>, "dabir" <md.dabiruddin@ yahoo.com>, "Devdas sarkar" <dsarkar1@hotmail. com>, "Tasneem" <tasneembr11@ yahoo.com>, "abid" <abidbahar@yahoo. com>, "abusayeeddr" <abusayeedr@yahoo. com>, "afsarbhai" <afsar_hossainbd@ yahoo.com>, "Ashraf" <syguia@aol.com>, beautyanwar@ hotmail.com, "celeti@aol. com" <celeti@aol.com>, "gonsalves" <rgonsalves29@ verizon.net>, "hannan" <sahannan@sonarbangl adesh.com>, himu.rozario@ comcast.net, "jamil" <kaljatri@emailme. net>, "jiban" <imrulalqays@ gmail.com>, "kamal" <kamal4000@yahoo. com>, "lal" <lalhgehi@yahoo. com>, "mahbub28se@ yahoo..com" <mahbub28se@yahoo. com>, "mmozumder" <mmozumder@doeal. gov>, "mowla" <mowlam9906@yahoo. com>, "Munir" <captmunir@gmail. com>, "Safder" <safder9@gmail. com>, "saifpacific@ yahoo.com" <saifpacific@ yahoo.com>, "wahed" <wahedb@gmail. com>, "ulfat" <ukabir@hotmail. com>, "yousafzai" <well.kaleem@ gmail.com>
Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 8:55 PM

 
  Every Muslim knows that the real Qurbani (Sacrifice) is a practice of Detachment. Allah asked him to sacrifice his most precious thing.  What is the most dearest thing to a man on this earth? It is his money—isn't it? Doesn't he love money more than anything else on the face of the earth? For Abraham it was his Gold, Silver and interest income. Here is what happened when it came to sacrifice. For a start, God wanted to remind Abraham that he should not love his Money more than loving Him. So, He asked Abraham to sacrifice his most beloved thing in the world. He was tested and this Abraham fella failed the test miserably. He cheated God.  His love for God was a hoax. He could not detach from what he loved the most—his money, his Gold, and of course, his harem full of beautiful blondes. O' what a tangled web we weave when we intend to deceive! He managed to convince his equally greedy and lustful followers that this Cow is our most precious possession. We must slaughter these animals. Abraham knew full well that Allah wanted him to sacrifice his inner animal not that poor cattle! Every Muslim knows that slaying the animal  inside is the true meaning of sacrifice—yet his irrational nature always does the opposite. In my opinion, Arundhoti Roy is a true Muslim and here is why; She gave her Booker T Prize money—Million Dollar—to Normoda Bachaao Andolan. She gave her Sydney Prize money—all of it—to  Aborigine groups. She gave her Lennon Prize Money to fifty organizations across India . As a matter of fact, she gave away all her money to the charities of her choice across the world. Folks this is called 'Qurbani'.
 
SaifDevdas
islam1234@msn.com






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[ALOCHONA] India buoyed by Bangladesh gift



India buoyed by Bangladesh gift

By Sudha Ramachandran

Bangladesh has handed over to India two top leaders of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). The move not only marks an important turning point in India-Bangladesh relations, it opens the opportunity for the Indian government to initiate talks with ULFA leaders, possibly paving the way for a negotiated settlement to the three-decades-long insurgency in India's northeast.

Among those who have been handed over to India are the ULFA chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, and the "deputy commander-in-chief", Raju Baruah, and their families. Accused in several cases, including murder, extortion and waging war against India, Rajkhowa has an Interpol "Red Corner" notice against him. He has been out of India since 1992 and is said to have lived in Myanmar, Thailand and Bhutan, besides Bangladesh.

The ULFA has been fighting for an independent Assam since its founding in 1979. It has carried out scores of violent attacks over the past three decades and is an outlawed organization in India.

Bangladesh, which has hitherto denied the existence of anti-India militants taking sanctuary in or operating from its soil, has finally cracked the whip on them. The issue of action against anti-India terrorist outfits based in Bangladesh was caught in that country's domestic politics.

The more right-wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was loathe to act against India's northeastern militant groups operating from Bangladesh soil, given its anti-India bias, and against Islamist terror outfits, given its own fundamentalist leanings. The secular and more pro-India Awami League (AL), meanwhile, while expressing willingness to act against these organizations, failed to do so, fearing criticism from the BNP and others that its leaders were "Indian stooges".

In the process, neither party while in power heeded India's pleas to act against anti-India militants based in Bangladesh. Delhi provided successive Bangladeshi governments with maps and other details of terrorist training camps in Bangladesh, but to little avail.

That has now changed. Bangladesh is acting on Indian security concerns and there are strong signs that counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries is robust.

Two days after the AL's landslide victory in general elections in December last year, party chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that "no one will be allowed to use this land to carry out terrorism in India". She began acting soon after a major crackdown was launched on the ULFA. Last month, its foreign secretary, Sashadhar Choudhury, and finance secretary, Chitraban Hazarika, were pushed into Indian territory by Bangladeshi authorities.

Last week, Bangladesh also handed over two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants wanted in India for their role in serial blasts in Bangalore last year.

Prime Minister Hasina will visit India in January, when she will be honored with the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development. She will be hoping that India, often looked on by its neighbors as a big bully, will be more of a gentle giant. Besides the terrorism issue, differences on transit rights, sharing of river waters, a trade imbalance and demarcation of a maritime boundary have dogged India-Bangladesh ties for decades. Bangladesh's action on the ULFA leaders could see India treating Dhaka with more generosity.

Rajkhowa's arrest is the latest in a series of blows suffered by ULFA. But for Paresh Baruah, its "commander-in-chief" who is believed to be somewhere in Myanmar, all other members of the organization's executive council are now in Indian custody. The "general secretary", Anup Chetia, is in jail in Dhaka and is expected to be handed over to India soon.

In June last year, the ULFA's 28th Battalion, which is the outfit's most potent strike force, split down the middle, with two of its three companies announcing a unilateral ceasefire with Indian authorities.

Indian authorities believe that with Rajkhowa's arrest, a window of opportunity has opened up to engage in talks with ULFA. "The ULFA has been seriously weakened; its bargaining capacity is low," say officials. In earlier talks with the ULFA, officials had to engage with the outfit's second and third rung leaders. That has changed with Rajkhowa in their custody. Rajkhowa has for long been regarded as the ULFA's moderate face and is believed to be pro-talks.

Rajkhowa and Paresh Baruah, who is still at large, have said that talks with the Indian government will be possible only if the issue of Assam's sovereignty is on the agenda.

In the past, the ULFA put forward three conditions for talks - sovereignty, negotiations in a foreign country and mediation by the United Nations. Over the years it has dropped the latter two conditions. But it continues to insist on sovereignty figuring in any talks.

Indian officials have said that while the government is ready to hold talks with the ULFA, "talks on Assam's sovereignty are ruled out".

Will the Indian government's inflexibility on the issue stand in the way of negotiations starting?

There are instances when India has engaged in talks with insurgent groups and not insisted on them abjuring independence explicitly ahead of talks.

This has been the case with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), a Naga insurgent group. A ceasefire between security forces and the outfit has held for about 13 years, and talks are in progress. And while the group has not renounced independence in any statement, its position has "diluted naturally over time on the issue in negotiations", Indian officials who have engaged in talks with the Nagas say.

"If the government can talk to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) despite its insistence on sovereignty, there's no reason [why] the ULFA issue cannot be handled similarly," says senior advocate, Arup Barbora, a member of the People's Consultative Group that the ULFA set up in 2005 to mediate in talks with the Indian government. "Discussing sovereignty does not mean granting it," he points out.

While both the government and the ULFA are talking tough at the moment, it does seem that Delhi is looking for "some way" to get the ULFA to the negotiating table. It cannot say that sovereignty is negotiable, as that undermines its own sovereignty and the authority of the Indian constitution.

Still, neither side mentioning the sovereignty issue, whether insisting on its inclusion or exclusion from the talks agenda, could be a way out.

To get the Nagas to the negotiating table, for instance, the term "unconditional talks" was used. This allowed both sides to discuss all issues raised by the rebels as well as objections the government had to these issues.

While the Indian government is in a position of strength at the moment, given the ULFA's much weakened current state, its bungling could see it fritter away the advantage.

The day Rajkhowa was to be brought to court, speculation was rife that the government would accord him political prisoner status, instead of treating him like a terrorist or criminal, since it was keen to engage in talks with him. But it was a handcuffed Rajkhowa that appeared in court.

"There cannot be any peace talks with the government under handcuffs, as prisoners cannot negotiate," Rajkhowa said as he was taken to court.

"If the government was at all serious in utilizing Rajkhowa's services for peace talks, then what was the need for bringing him to the court handcuffed," a human-rights activist, Lachit Borodoloi, has observed.

Initially, the government claimed that Rajkhowa surrendered. On his way to the court, the ULFA chairman said he had "not surrendered and would never surrender before the government and sovereignty cannot be compromised". Officials then backtracked, and said he had been arrested.

This shoddy treatment of Rajkhowa and the claims and denials by the government on the circumstances of his falling into India's hands have earned the ULFA leader sympathy among sections of the Assamese people and painted the government in a negative light.

Experts also point out that the government is wrong if it thinks it can successfully negotiate a peace settlement without including Baruah. The arrest of Rajkhowa no doubt is a blow to the ULFA, but Paresh Baruah is believed to be the one who calls the shots in the organization. And he is still at large.

A hardliner, firmly opposed to talks, Baruah retains the support of a large number of ULFA fighters. Will ULFA moderates defy his diktat and engage in talks with the government? Following Rajkhowa's arrest, Baruah has issued statements that there is no rift in the ULFA. Even if the moderates were to defy him and engage in talks, he has the capacity to disrupt the peace process through acts of violence.

As a noted Assamese litterateur and former facilitator for peace talks, Indira Goswami, warns, "Peace talks without Baruah will be futile and counter-productive."

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KL09Df03.html



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[ALOCHONA] Look out! You are drinking poison



Look out! You are drinking poison
By DEEPAK ACHARJEE

Nearly 10 lakh (1 million)people out of a total population of one crore ( 10 million ), in Dhaka city have been suffering from various life-threatening diseases. including cancer, by taking for a long time water supplied by the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). A large number of them, who have been already afflicted with various diseases, are gradually heading towards death.(The Indpendent )

As chlorine, which is very harmful for human consumption, is used for the treatment of the highly polluted water of the river Shitalakkha, most of the city people who consume water supplied by Dhaka WASA are suffering from colon cancer, gastric ulcer, kidney, liver, lung, heart, brain and nervous diseases, according to doctors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital and the National Institute of Cardiac Vascular Disease (NICVD).

Residents of the old city, Dhanmondi, Moghbazar, Malibagh, Khilgaon, Green Road, Plassy, Tejgaon and Farm Gate localities are consuming water supplied from the Syedabad Water Treatment Plant-1 (SWTP) of Dhaka WASA and they have been suffering from many complicated diseases, according to competent sources.

Though Dhaka WASA is aware of the fact, it is less bothered about informing the authorities concerned and is not taking any remedial action. Rather, it has taken the initiative to install another treatment plant (phase-II) at Syedabad soon to supply water to the city dwellers as a top priority project.

As the same chemical will be used for purification of water in the second plant at Syedabad, 10 lakh more people totalling 20 lakh people will be pushed to the brisk of death.

Abul Hasnat, superintending engineer of the Syedabad Water Treatment Circle of Dhaka WASA, told The Independent that the water of the river Shitalakkh was treated with liquid chlorine gas, alum sulphate and cold lime by the SWTP process.

As the water of Shitalakkha is more polluted in the dry season than during the rainy season, three to four times more chemicals are used for the treatment of its water in the dry season than during the rainy season for making the water more clear, he said adding that 100 kilograms of liquid chlorine gas per hour, 12 tons of alum sulphate and four tons of cold lime are used per day from January to April.

The WASA official said 32 kgs of liquid chlorine gas per hour, 4.3 tons of alum sulphate and one ton of cold lime are used per day for the purpose from May to December in the rainy season.

"As the water of the Shitalakkha contains harmful chemicals, including human waste, dyes and other chemicals, it requires mixing of more quantities of chemicals for treatment," the source said adding that instead of maintaining the standard of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bangladesh standard is followed in the plant for the purification of water. He added that in accordance with the WHO standard for water turbidity 5 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity unit) and for Bangladesh standard 10 NTU are used in the Syedabad water treatment plant.

Md Serajuddin, project director of the Syedabad Water Treatment Plant Phase-II project, also superintendent engineer of Dhaka WASA, said that same chemicals would also be used in the project like that of the phase-I project for purification of water. He added that nearly 15 lakh people of Mirpur, Gulshan, Banashri, Kazipara, Sheorapara, Mohakhali and the old city would use 22.5 million litres of water supplied from the project.

It has been mentioned in the feasibility study of the Syedabad Water Treatment Plant-II that "Break Point Chlorination (BPC) is by for the cheapest with marginal capital and operational costs."

BPC, however, is normally not used for drinking water treatment with these levels of ammonia and organic carbon. We tested one sample of raw water for BPC. by adding 70 mg-CI/I (chlorine per litre) but found no reduction in the ammonia concentration.

This indicates that the organic carbon in the water constitutes a very high chlorine content and this will almost certainly form tri-halomethans and other haloforms which are carcinogenic and highly organoleptic."

Despite thin, Dhaka WASA has decided to use chlorine for water treatment. It was recently approved at its board meeting. It has been sent to the ministry concerned for approval by the purchase committee.

According to a journal 'Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. No. 2, 2000', "Long term risks of consuming chlorinated water include excessive free radical formation which accelerates aging, increases vulnerability to genetic mutation and cancer development, hinders cholesterols metabolism and promotes hardening of arteries.

Chlorinated water appears to increase the risk of gastro-intestinal cancer over a person's lifetime by 50 to 100 per cent. Thousands of cancer deaths were reported in North Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin and Louisiana in the USA after the use of chlorinated water.

Chlorine in swimming pools reacts with organic matter such as sweat, urine, blood, faeces, mucus and skin cells to from more chloramines. Chloroform risk can be 70 to 240 times higher in the air over indoor pools than over outdoor pools. Canadian researchers found that after an hour of swimming in a chlorinated pool, chloroform concentrations in the swimmer's blood ranged from 100 to 1,093 parts per billion (ppb). If the pool smells very much of chlorine, don't go near it. So one will absorb and inhale more chlorine in a ten-minute shower than by drinking eight glasses of the same water.

The journal also said that a public notice issued in 2000 in Washington DC, warned that a high level of bacteria in the (chlorinated, fluoridated city system) water made it unsafe for dialysis patients, AIDS patients, organ transplant patients, the elderly and infants.

The journal suggested that instead of chlorine, if the authorities use Hydrogen Peroxide and Ozone they could destroy infections, organisms and impurities in water 4,000 times better than chlorine.

A 35-per cent technical grade Hydrogen Peroxide and Ozone will promote bacterial growth to break down sewage and enhance the dissolved oxygen level in discharge water entering lakes and streams.

The largest water treatment plant in Europe uses potassium permanganate instead of chlorine in the water treatment plant for treating organic water.

Professor Dr SM Imamul Huq, chairman of the Bangladesh Council of Science and Industrial Research (BCSIR), told this reporter yesterday that chlorine is an oxidized and very harmful element for the human body. It will decay human body slowly after use.

"Organic water treatment using hydrogen per oxide or ozone is a better option but it is expensive. This system would protect human body from decay," he said adding, "So, we should go for by hydrogen peroxide or ozone based water treatment plant in future."

"Such water treatment plant can be set up under public private partnership (PPP)," he opined.

Engineer Dr Golam Mostafa, chairman of Dhaka WASA, said: "Though chlorine is very much harmful for human body, it is being use for water treatment. The same chemical will also be used in the second phase of slowly Syedabad Water Treatment Plant.

"We are trying to meet the water crisis at minimum costs," he said.

The Saidabad Water Treatment Plant (SWTP) is supplying of 22.5 million litres of treated water to the capital's north-south pipeline that runs from Postogola Bridge to Farm Gate, and to the east-west pipeline which supplies water to the vast area from Goran through Old Dhaka to Dhanmondi. The intake point of the Saidabad plant is located at Sharulia, Demra and 500 metres upstream from the intake point, Balu River falls into Shitalakkhya River.

This means water from both the Balu River and the Shitalakhya River is used for treatment at the Saidabad plant. But because of the water pollution both water sources are unfit to be treated through the conventional treatment plant, especially during the dry season.

Ammonia concentration in the Saidabad Water Treatment Plant treated water has been found to be ten times higher than the standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the dry seasons between January and April.

A study by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), found concentration of diluted ammonia in SWTP treated water reaching up to 5.7 milligramme (mg) per litre compared to the WHO's 0.5 mg per litre safety limit.

According to a study, everyday 3,500 cubic metres of waste water containing waste load of 1,850 kilogramme with a high level of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or the propensity to absorb oxygen from water containing organic waste, gets drained into the low lying lands of eastern Dhaka, which subsequently end up in the Balu river via Begunbari and Norai canals.

And during the dry season, the river carries only domestic wates and industrial effluents that highly pollute the Shitalakkhya River.

A more alarming face is that most of the industrial zones in the Tejgaon Industrial Area and Hazaribagh Tannery and many industries located on the banks of the Balu River, the Shitalakkhya River and the Buriganga River do not have Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). That is why industrial wastes containing toxic heavy metals such as chromium, lead, cadmium, and magnesium mix into these rivers.

A high official of Dhaka Wasa told this reporter on condition of anonymity that none of the treatment plants could neutralise ammonia and harmful heavy metals, as they are not equipped to treat extremely polluted water.

The official said provisions for treating exceptional parameters were not put in place in SWTP because the rivers were not as polluted during the first phase of the plant's installation in the early 1990s.

"There is a demand for around 200 crore litters of water per day but WASA's production capacity is 190 crore litres a day. We can only supply 170 crore litres a day now," according to a WASA official.

Dhaka is dependent primarily on groundwater for the urban water supply and about 87 per cent of the present municipal water supply comes from groundwater and 13 per cent from surface water.

And the rate at which the groundwater level is decreasing on an average is one metre per year. Too much use of deep tube wells is not at all good but until we have an alternative, there is no other option other than using them.




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[mukto-mona] Comments Re. Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Nadeem Paracha: One-unit-faith



 
 
Re. Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Nadeem Paracha: One-unit-faith
 
Re. "Islamabad"
 
From: Ashrafmogh
 
 "Never before these belated intellectual derivations we heard from even the minorities. The only complaint heard was from families of civil servants and beaurocrats "It is too cold
here than Karachi".
Does Mr. Piracha have an issue with the city called DarEslam as well?"
 
---------
 
 
I would respectfully disagree with this "never before" thing! For I distinctly remember the different names being proposed for consideration in the Urdu and English press in letters to the Editor pages on almost daily and very frequent basis. I was a medical student at the time. A few names from what I can recollect were: Jinnahabad, Qaidabad, Ayubabad, Rawal (as a twin name for the commonly known city of "Pindi" and a frequent favorite, Pothohaar, and of course Islamabad was there too. 
 
The one I liked best as most appropriate, original, indigenous, non sectarian and subcontinental was the actual name of a village on the site: "Nurpur (which I and my brothers had actually visited and treaded upon its soil), a purely indo-persian name with a beautiful meaning and 'noor' also coming from Arabic roots. But the political desire to appease the Islamist mind set prevailed over the more prudent human , inclusive and civilizational considerations with an eye on the past the present and future realities and possibilities, and, as a result there you have it, a divisive name for the capital of a diverse country from East Pakistan to the West Pakistani plateau.
 
There was another pitfall of giving the future capital of Pakistan the name 'Islamabad'. Unbeknownst to the Islamist geniuses, I believe it had never even occurred to their insular little minds. And it relates to the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which Pakistanis had desperately hoped to annex after a UN sponsored plebiscite as par the UN Security Council Resolution of 1949 was held. It is strange about these geopolitical chess players. Were they expecting the Hindus of Jammu to volantarily vote to join a state with its capital called Islamabad!
 
Thus by choosing this name, obviating a much needed Hindu vote, they effectively closed the door on this dream of theirs, already appeared to have given up on Kashmir, if ever in the unlikely chance of a plebiscite coming to fruition. One could justifiably say, What were they thinking?
 
As for the question about "DarEslam, pronounced 'Daarru-ssalaam' in Arabic ( دار السلام ), it has nothing to do with 'Islam' the religion. Daar or (abode, if you will) means 'house' and salaam means 'peace' i.e. 'house of peace' not 'Islam (the religion itself). For that kind of meaning it had to be spelled and pronounced as "daar-ul-Islam". And, that's the big, important and a profound difference and distinction between the spelling and the pronunciation of the name of this Tanzanian city.
 
Best Regards,
 
-Kalim
 
P.S.  Another subject: Pakistan's, essentially, Persian National Anthem.  Which became a an object of joke and satire in the Bengali speaking East Pakistan, with over half of country's  population
 
--------------------
 
Subj: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Nadeem Paracha: One-unit-faith
 
 
From: Ashrafmogh
 
This has been an interesting Intellectual second guessing with
hindsight 20/20 vision, without any suggesteted alternate name for
Islamabad. Has Mr. Piracha ever written about Hindus' proclamations
after religious riots in India "Hindustan Hindu Ka - Nahee Kisi Ke Baap
Ka". Did they make minorities feel like First Class citizens?
Mr. Piracha's rendition seems merely a rationalization of the failures
of Pakistanis in particular. Have they done anything so far in a
professional manner? Even the "lafanga" business of film industry they
have botched up and now languishing in ignominy. On the other extreme
end likewise, even the highest achievement with the efforts of Dr. A.Q.
Khan was botched up politically!
For the name of Islamabad, I was in Gordon College when Islamabad's
foundation was being laid. Never before these belated intellectual
derivations we heard from even the minorities. The only complaint heard
was from families of civil servants and beaurocrats "It is too cold
here than Karachi".Does Mr. Piracha have an issue with the city called
DarEslam as well?
As for the mention of Armed forces in the article, the complaint should
be that everytime they stepped in to save the country from unscrupolous
civilian politicians, they stabilized it only to give it bach to the
same thieives. They ought to have instituted the Armed forces
stewardship just like that in Turky who have gained acceptance and
respect in Europe, at least more than many other nations. Rememer that
Ayub had to take over shortly after Pakistan's wretched democrats had
killed the Assembly speaker on the job. And the last one handed over
the country through the intrigue of NRO to the same renowned thiefs and
artisans of unsscupulous legal trickery - Benazir & Company and
especially Sharif Brothers (who manipulated to make Ishaque Khan,
Leghari resign turning on a dime, later Gen Karamat, and then,
miscalculating his skills, cooked up the elaborate scheme to fire
Musharraf, but got picked up like a mouse by the tail in two hours).
It is quite understandable Mr. Piracha's article coming from
"asiapeace" (on India's terms, of course).
A.M.

 
------------------
 
Re. ---New Pakistan <newpakistanblog@gmail.com> wrote:
 
 <<...The lack of democracy and its many institutions — initially discarded
by the secular military dictatorship of Ayub Khan — is also a
prominent reason why the military and the establishment were left
stumped by the religious parties' mantra in this respect.
 
What was being repressed in the discourse by the military and the civil
establishment was
the glaring fact that Pakistan, even as a Muslim
country, was
a land of great ethnic and sectarian diversity...>>
 
 
If one were to surgically incise and psychologically analyze the second part of this, unfortunately, well entrenched schizophrenic mind set, only then one could (perhaps) begin to understand the reasons behind the cynical choice of the "new" name "Islamabad" for the brand new, grounds up capital of a diverse country, that included a sizable number of Hindus in the then East Pakistan and Sind, some in Balochistan and the NWFP, also, not to forget some Sikhs and Christians as well.  For any rational, thinking, prudent and forward looking society,  starting anew, this was a golden opportunity to be inclusive for integrative emotions and feelings of the minorities that one hoped would become part of shared ethos, a growing gluing and bonding of 'new nation', with budding seedlings and feelings of a new 'Pakistani-hood.'
 
But sadly and unfortunately that was not to be. By our insensitive and imprudent decision and action, in which the minorities and their sentiments were totally ignored and excluded, they were  told: You all are lesser Pakistanis, because Islamabad belongs to the Muslims and only they alone could relate to it as 'their' capital at an emotional level as citizens of the state. You guys are 'Pakistani-lite' at best, therefore, as such, you are not equally deserving to have the same right to be able to emotionally invested and relate to the capital of a country of which you happen to be equal citizens under the law. 
 
It's a tragic historic irony that 'the secular military dictatorship of Ayub Khan', for shortsighted relgio-political correctness and gains squandered an opportunity and left such a permanent imprint blocking blossoming of a hopefully inclusive and cohesive nation-hood.
 
I am sure this is an incomplete and inconclusive subject, for as far as I know, not many gave it much thought then or now, nor have written about it.
 
Regards,
 
-Kalim
 
In the end to quote from Nadeem Paracha:
 
"state-sponsored Islam is not an organic construct. Thus, it is an insecure ideology that continues to blame outside forces, secularism and democracy for its own, very obvious, failures."
 
 
Comments?

 
From: omarali502000@yahoo.com
To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 12/7/2009 3:15:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Asiapeace (ACHA) Fw: Nadeem Paracha: One-unit-faith
 



--- On Mon, 12/7/09, New Pakistan <newpakistanblog@gmail.com> wrote:

From: New Pakistan <newpakistanblog@gmail.com>
Subject: Nadeem Paracha: One-unit-faith
To: "New Pakistan" <new-pakistan@googlegroups.com>
Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 9:36 AM

http://www.new-pakistan.com/2009/12/7/nadeem-paracha-one-unit-faith

Recently, while giving a speech to the Peshawar police, General Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani said that no one could separate Islam from Pakistan. One
wonders what prompted the army chief to digress, and start assuring
his audience about Pakistan's Islamic credentials.

I guess he chose the occasion to comment on the military's take on a
(albeit unsubstantiated) news report stating that the Awami National
Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) wanted to change
the country's name from Islamic Republic of Pakistan to People's
Republic of Pakistan. Even though both the ANP and MQM were quick to
refute the news, General Kayani's reassurance in this respect yet
again underlines the dilemma the military and the state of Pakistan
have been facing for years.

The dilemma constitutes political and ideological factors in which the
military has had the biggest stakes; but unfortunately it is also a
dilemma which the military has been rather reluctant to resolve.
According to respected historians, like the late K. K. Aziz and Dr
Mubarak Ali, the whole idea that 'Pakistan was made in the name of
Islam' and/or as an 'Islamic state', was nowhere to be found in the
ideological discourse of the state before 1962, when it was first
raised by the Jamat-i-Islami — a party that was opposed to the
creation of Pakistan.

Though the civil-bureaucracy conglomerate that presided over the
affairs of the state and the government in the 1950s decided to
officially start calling the country an 'Islamic Republic' (in 1956),
there was really no mention of such a republic in the early years of
the new country. Scholars like Aysha Jalal and Pervez Hoodbhoy suggest
that right from the beginning the concept of Islam being a part of
Pakistan's nationhood and the state carried contradictory messages.

The country's founder was a secular Muslim, married to a non-Muslim
and a strong defender of the notion that the state should confine its
authority to the secular sphere. Throughout the Pakistan Movement, Mr
Jinnah's party, the Muslim League, overwhelmingly had secular-minded
leaders who treated the Muslims of the subcontinent as a separate
cultural (as opposed to a strictly politico-religious) entity. Their
demand was for a separate Muslim state and not an Islamic state.

There is no way that Pakistan was conceived as an Islamic state by its
founding fathers. This becomes apparent by the way orthodox Islamic
parties like the Jamat-i-Islami reacted to the creation of Pakistan.
Had Jinnah pictured the new country as an Islamic state, there was no
reason why parties like the Jamat would oppose its creation. It's as
simple as that.

However, unable to convincingly define its ideology, the state started
to capitulate in the face of the mounting pressure exerted by the
religious parties. Thus, from 1962 onwards, the largely synthetic
ideological construct of Pakistan being an Islamic Republic requiring
an Islamic state began taking shape.

The lack of democracy and its many institutions — initially discarded
by the secular military dictatorship of Ayub Khan — is also a
prominent reason why the military and the establishment were left
stumped by the religious parties' mantra in this respect. What was
being repressed in the discourse by the military and the civil
establishment was the glaring fact that Pakistan, even as a Muslim
country, was a land of great ethnic and sectarian diversity.

Its people constituted Urdu-speakers (Mohajirs), Sindhis, Pathans,
Siriakis, Baloch, Bengalis, and many others; and also people belonging
to various Islamic sects and sub-sects. By imposing the ruse that
Pakistan was 'one unit' (a collective body of homogenous Muslims) was
a naïve evaluation that only ended up alienating the many ethnically
distinct strains of Muslims and the minorities that made Pakistan
their home.

In other words, Pakistan's identity and ideology should have been
squarely based on a democratic acceptance of its ethnic, religious and
sectarian diversity, instead of the establishment's rather convoluted
'one ideology for all' brand of Islam. We are not an ethnically and
culturally homogenous nation following a singular version of Islam, or
of the state for that matter as far as religious minorities are
concerned.

We are a nation of various groups of diversified people who can remain
united as a country with the help of democracy alone. Only democracy
can achieve such a state of unity. But such a state usually has not
gone down well with Islamists and the military — even after years of
ethnic, political and religious turmoil and cleavages that the one-
unit-Islam has caused across the long dictatorships Pakistan has had
to suffer.

It is time our military and religious parties let go of the fear of a
democratically accepted, diverse Pakistan; especially the military,
which is now fighting a vital battle in the northwest — ironically
with the monstrous pitfalls of the synthetic state-sanctioned Islam
imposed through years of undemocratic rule and a crass undermining of
what Pakistani nation and society are really about: i.e. ethnic and
religious diversity requiring an uninterrupted stretch of democracy.

So what if some Pakistanis want to change the name of the country? It
is only the synthetic nature and fragility of the one-unit-Islam that
causes hearts to flutter, because state-sponsored Islam is not an
organic construct. Thus, it is an insecure ideology that continues to
blame outside forces, secularism and democracy for its own, very
obvious, failures.

--

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[mukto-mona] The Swiss ban on minarets: Muslims dismayed, Islamists thrilled



The Swiss ban on minarets: Muslims dismayed, Islamists thrilled

By Tarek Fatah
AverroesPress.com

While Muslims around the world recover from the shocking news that the Swiss have voted to ban all minarets, trust me, there is glee and joy among the leaders of the world jihadi movement. 

Osama and Zawahiri must be giving each other high fives as they get fresh ammunition to depict their worldwide terrorist jihad as merely a response to West's so called war against Islam.

The bigots and xenophobes in Switzerland may be relishing in their unexpected victory, but it begs the question: what have they accomplished other than strengthening the very forces they sought out to weaken?

If the objective of the Swiss Right was to fight Islamism in Europe, one of the sharpest critics of Islamism in Switzerland disagrees with their strategy. Roy Brown is the spokesperson of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) in Geneva, where he has been a thorn in the side of the Islamists. Reacting to the vote, Brown expressed outrage, describing the result as "the most stupid decision ever made by the Swiss."

"What were they thinking," he mused over the phone. "This sets us back in our fight against hate and bigotry that is a hallmark of the Islamists, not the West," he added.

The lead up to the referendum was marked by a controversial poster put out by the far right Swiss Peoples Party, which showed mosque minarets in the form of missiles. Switzerland's Federal Commission against Racism banned the poster in October as a racially prejudiced message, saying "The commission believes that this could threaten social cohesion and public peace. 

The government commission asserted that the posters "feed prejudices, are over-simplistic and presents Islam overall in an unfavourable manner." In fact the cities of Basel and Lausanne earlier described the poster as racist and banned it in publicly owned spaces.

The poster, which read "Stop! Yes for the ban on minarets," was without doubt xenophobic, and played on the fears of the ordinary Swiss. However, it is also a fact that it was not the Swiss Far Right who had made the link between the minaret and the missile. That honour belongs to Turkey's current Prime Minister Recep ErdoÄŸan who in 1998 read this poem in public:

"The mosques are our barracks, 
the domes our helmets, 
the minarets our bayonets and 
the faithful our soldiers..."

Mr. Erdogan was sentenced to 10 months in jail by a Turkish court for spreading religious hatred, but was freed after serving only four. Today, thanks to such foolish utterances by Islamist politicians and clerics, the Swiss Muslims are today paying the price. 

Ultra nationalism and xenophobia reside below the surface in all societies. In Europe it is manifested by the rise of fascist tendencies while in developing countries one can see hatred of the 'other' manifested by tribalism. Giving in to xenophobia or staying silent in the face of such hatred is the first step towards far more serious tragedies. 

Having said that, it would also be foolish to portray the vote as a reflection of the supposed inherent bigoted nature of the Swiss. Depicting them as racist and intolerant of racial and religious minorities would not be fair. While xenophobia must be confronted, genuine concerns and fears of a people also need to be heard.

The vote should be an eye-opener for both the chattering classes in Switzerland who said it would never happen and the Muslim population in Europe who seem to have surrendered their leadership to the Islamists among them.

We need to ask, why did a very highly educated and affluent section of European population feel that banning the minaret was some sort of an answer to their fear of a rise of Islamism in their country? 

The vast majority of the Swiss who voted to ban the minaret were not the urban marginalized neo-Nazis expressing their racist anger at foreigners. Of course, some did act our of hate, but most seem to be saying to their leadership, "we feel insecure and we feel you are not doing enough to address our fears." This sense of insecurity, even if it is not based on facts, must be addressed by the elites, otherwise the future does not bode well.

Swiss fears of the rise of Islamism may or may not be rational, but the pronouncements of some Swiss Muslims have not helped. Geneva has been the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood since the 1950s and is home to the radical Islamic Centre of Geneva founded by the father of Switzerland's most famous Muslim, Tariq Ramadan. His brother Hani heads the Saudi-funded mosque, which received 18 million Saudi Riyals in one year alone.

As an example of the insensitivity shown by the Ramadan family towards the Swiss, in December 2002, Hani Ramadan triggered an outcry in the country when writing for the French newspaper, "Le Monde" he defended stoning to death as a punishment for adults engaging in consensual sex outside a marriage. He defended his utterance saying he was following Islamic Sharia law. It is shocking statements like this that have accumulated over the years and have triggered Swiss fears of its Muslim citizens and Islam.

The Swiss Commission Against Racism publicly reprimanded Hani Ramadan, saying he had damaged the image of the Muslim community in Switzerland. Nine years later, that warning has been proven right.

Also contributing to this fear of Islam in Switzerland are the hate mongering diplomats from Iran and the Arab world who descend in Geneva every few months and use the UN Human Rights Council there to mock at western values while promoting Sharia Law as an alternative to Universal Human Rights. The statements of Islamic delegates get published in the Swiss media and cause concern among the population who wrongfully associate the Islamic government representatives led by Saudi Arabia and Iran as representative of the Swiss Muslim population.

Reaction

Unlike their British and French counterparts, Muslims in Switzerland responded to the ban on minarets with grace. There was no burning of flags or cars, just a dignified statement that did justice to a peaceful community that is largely secular and well integrated.

However, some North American Islamist groups did not want to miss the opportunity. They tried to capitalize on the issue by beating the time-tested drum of victimhood. The Council of America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has been labelled as an unindicted co-conspirator in a recent terror trial, wrote to President Obama urging him "to repudiate the decision of Swiss voters to deny Muslims in that nation the same religious rights granted to citizens of other faiths." 

Such rhetoric begs the question: When Saudi Arabia bans not just church steeples, but churches itself, does CAIR or any other American Islamist outfit demand that the US president intervene? Muslims who are comfortable with the ban on non-Muslim places of worship in Arabia have no moral grounds to question the Swiss vote banning minarets. North American Muslims who have benefitted financially from the Saudis or who take inspiration from the Iranian Islamist regime make matters worst when they cry 'discrimination' and 'Islamophobia' at the drop of a hat.

Did CAIR write to President Bush asking him to intervene when the Taliban government in Afghanistan destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhist statues? Have they ever expressed outrage at the Iranian government's mistreatment of Baha'is in Iran? Have these North American Islamists uttered a single worked at the attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt?

On what grounds then do they write to President Obama asking him to intervene in Switzerland?

Muslims who are at ease with the 15th century occupation and conversion of the St. Sophia Church of Constantinople into the Hagia Sophia Mosque (now a museum) should first admit to the monstrosity of this action by their forefathers before lecturing the Swiss on pluralism. Will they appeal to President Obama asking him to intervene and ask the Turkish government to hand back the Hagia Sophia to its rightful owners-the Eastern Orthodox Church?

The Minaret

Lost in this debate has been the role of the Minaret in Islam. This, like so many subjects in contemporary Islam, has become a taboo no one wishes to talk about. It is true, the minaret today symbolizes the Mosque, but it is untrue that the minaret is a requirement under any Islamic law ranging from the Quran or the sayings of Prophet Muhammad.

The fact is that The Prophet never built a minaret over his own mosque. The fact is the most holy of Muslim places; the Kaaba in Mecca had no minaret for centuries. Most Muslims are oblivious to this fact and most clerics who are aware of this are unwilling to ever speak on this issue for fear of being seen as lacking a commitment to their fate.

Here are the names of the people who alongside Muhammad had a hand in shaping Islam and who never once in their lives saw a minaret over the mosque.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (d. 632), 
Caliph, Abu Bakr (d. 634), 
Caliph Umar (d. 644), 
Caliph Osman (d. 656), 
Caliph Ali (d. 661), 
Caliph Hasan bin Ali (d. 670), 
Caliph Muawiya (d. 680), 
Caliph Yazid (d. 683), 
Caliph Abdullah bun Zubair (d. 692), and I could go on.

Muslims need to know that even after the Kaaba was destroyed in the civil war between two competing caliphs in 684, the rebuilt Kaaba had no minarets. In one of Islam's most spectacular mosques, today known as the Dome on the Rock built in 687, there was no minaret.

The first minaret to appear as part of a mosque came nearly a century after the advent of Islam and was adopted from orthodox churches in Damascus. It was the steeple of the church that inspired the minaret, not some teaching of the Quran or the saying of Muhammad. 

Today, Muslims in Europe and America should look eastwards toward Singapore for a solution to the dilemma they face. Singapore's Muslim make up a substantial minority in that island country. At the first whiff of resentment towards tall minarets in Buddhist and Christian neighbourhoods, the Muslim leadership decided to change their design of the mosque and to make it resemble the Kaaba cube. Their latest mosque is spectacular in sight.

If the design of the mosque can change when we moved from Medina to Damascus in the 8th century, why cannot we adapt the mosque to suit the cityscape of Toronto and Zurich in the 21st century? After all the mosques in India do not look like the mosques in Turkey.

RE: [ALOCHONA] RE: [khabor.com] Re: Re: Bangladesh/Failed/State



      What a brilliant piece of syllogism!
 
"Do you see Islamic lifestyle in any of the killers of Mujib? The killers belong to inner circles of Mujib himself".

         So, those who flaunt "Islamic lifestyle" are non-killers of Sheikh Mujib. We should love them. May be try to emulate the "lifestyle" of liars, cheaters, munafiqs and 'geebot'mongers and call it Islamic and  shun the BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL.
 
          Isn't this a roundabout confirmation of the fact that the Islami-pasand (or the 2-nation theory-wallas) undertook the heinous act of murdering Mujib and his family? It is a classic case of finger-pointing to the victim as the accused by the perpetrators of a crime.
 
          Farida Majid



To: khabor@yahoogroups.com; alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: shumonoh@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:09:07 -0800
Subject: [ALOCHONA] RE: [khabor.com] Re: Re: Bangladesh/Failed/State

 
Saif, Mujib didn't remove Muslim from Awami League, it was Bhashani who removed Muslim. You know what is your problem - your problem is to give credit to Mujib for everything, even if it requires you to distort the history. It wasn't sauds or Islamists who killed Mujib, it was a joint effort of RAW and secularist forces of Bangladesh who killed Mujib. Do you see Islamic lifestyle in any of the killers of Mujib? The killers belong to inner circles of Mujib himself.

--- On Wed, 11/18/09, SAIF Davdas <islam1234@msn.com> wrote:

From: SAIF Davdas <islam1234@msn.com>
Subject: RE: [khabor.com] Re: Re: Bangladesh/Failed/State
To: "Khabor" <khabor@yahoogroups.com>, mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, "Nizam" <nzh.biman@gmail.com>, "Nizam" <nizam_moer@sky.com>, "asghar" <msa7011@yahoo.com>, "Farid" <akhtergolam@gmail.com>, "Alamgir" <malamgir1@aol.com>, "Shamim" <veirsmill@yahoo.com>, turkman@sbcglobal.net, "Tasneem" <tasneembr11@yahoo.com>, "kamal" <kamal4000@yahoo.com>, "Dr Khalida" <drkbegum2021@yahoo.com>, "onasis" <cdm@dhaka.net>, "jiban" <imrulalqays@gmail.com>, "Ashraf" <syguia@aol.com>, "MOZUMDER" <mozumder@aol.com>, "Mushtaq" <mushtaq1@msn.com>, "ulfat" <ukabir@hotmail.com>, "Munir" <captmunir@gmail.com>, "M. A Solaiman" <abusol123@hotmail.com>, "Mir" <jjmchowdhury@optonline.net>, "SULTAN" <rascx@yahoo.com>, "Jashim" <jashimuddin@comcast.net>, "SajjadBhai" <sajjad.rahman@acdi-cida.gc.ca>, "Shomee" <samireaz@hotmail.com>, kaljatri@emailme.net, "Ajmol ali" <ajmol.ali@treas.state.nj.us>, "anis90" <anis90242@yahoo.com>, "lal" <lalhgehi@yahoo.com>, "afsarbhai" <afsar_hossainbd@yahoo.com>, "Kazi Masud x ambassador" <kamasud@dhaka.net>, "khurshid" <mirza.syed@gmail.com>, "banglanari" <banglarnari@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 3:26 PM



Jamil Saheb>

Fact:   Mujib removed the word 'Muslim' from Awami Muslim League thereby giving it a secular character in 1949. Fact:  Six points was all about economic exploitation of East Pakistan by West Pakistan, nothing to do with religion. Mujib was a Nationalist. Islam rejects ideology of nationalism. When Mujib took power he immediately introduced secularism as a state principle. That hurt the feelings of Muslim majority in Bangladesh and the Muslim world at large--particularly the house of Sauds. Had Mujib declared Bangladesh a Muslim country, he would probably have been alive today. To understand this mind set one must study the history of Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. The defeated soldiers of Allah got the opportunity of life time when the brain-dead secular forces of scientific socialism unknowingly gave the opportunity to unite and overthrow the Mujib government. Zia changed the constitution by way of Fifth Amendment—established the rule of Allah---destroyed secular ideals and helped in establishing the Communal Republic of Bangladesh. Islam was saved from the Kafir and it became the State Ideology. In 1982, a most corrupt individual in the annals of history took power in Bangladesh . This slave of Allah surpassed even Zia in licking the boots of the Islamicists in Bangladesh . By way of 8th amendment he fulfilled the will of Allah and declared Islam the State Religion, thereby guaranteeing for himself 72 virgins in heaven. Have you forgotten what happened to that whiskey sipping madam? Who she went to bed with to become the prime minister? As the saying goes, the rest is history. To be sure, the other lady is no less corrupt. Her shameful record of sleeping with the slaves of Allah is surely turning her deep-at-heart-secular-father turning profusely in the grave.

 
SaifDevdas
islam1234@msn.com

To: khabor@yahoogroups.com
From: kaljatri@emailme.net
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:07:50 +0530
Subject: [khabor.com] Re: Re: Bangladesh/Failed/State

 
WRT: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/khabor/ message/25278

>Bongobondhoo's cherished dream of building the foundation of the
>nation on the >basis of a secular ideology, has gone up in the smokes.

   Let me give some bitter pills of truth here. As much I share with
   you the concern about "the proliferation of the Islamic extremism
   and fundamentalism" , I disagree that nation based on secular
   ideology was Mujib's cherished dream. Secularism was never a part
   of AL manifesto ever before independence. You will not find it in
   AL's 6 point programme that Mujib had always championed. The
   secularism clause was added by leftist student leaders of DUCSU
   during the student/mass movement prior to March 25, 1971.
   Secularism was a selling point then as both the Hindu and Muslim
   Bengalis had a common enemy in Pakistan. So sure it made political
   sense to Mujib to adopt secularism, although he did not himself
   initiate it nor was it his idea, as I mentioned above. In fact he
   never championed socialism either. Secularism and socialism were
   both imposed on the AL manifesto by the hot blooded leftist
   students. Secularism for them and Mujib was an idea that came from
   political expediency, not from heart. To justify a mass movenemt
   against Pakistan they had to adopt an ideology that went aainst the
   ideology that Pakistan symbolized. Hence secularism and socialism.
   I can bet my last dollar that had Pakistan been a strictly secular
   and a Soviet leaning state and exploited East Pakistan and
   dominated it like it did, then AL's manifesto would have been to
   end the evils of secularism and socialism, restoring the rule of
   Islam and free market. After all Sheikh Mujib was a devout Muslim,
   he always bragged about him being a Muslim and not fearing anyone
   except Allah (He used to state that in rallys to indicate he wasn't
   afraid of Pakistani police crackdown on him/AL). He also used to
   end his affirmations with Insha Allah. AL/Mujib must have felt bad
   for not being able to use Pro islam and pro capitalism slogan as
   thet had already been hijacked by the Pakis!, so they could not use
   those slogand to sell their cause against the Pakis to the mass.
   When the expediency dictates otherwise they will morph and adopt a
   different ideology. No wonder AL's motto now is Allahu Akbar now,
   and not too long ago they had allied with Khilafat Majlish (A much
   more radiacal Islamic group than Jamat). Here are some more bitter
   pills. If you think that Islamization had happened due to Mujib's
   elimination consider the following :

  1. It was Mujib's gov. established Madrasha Board and Islamic
  Foundation, Bangladesh Seerat Mission, allocated land for Tablig
  Jamaat at Tongi, handed over Kakrail Mosque and its adjacent lands
  to Tablig Jamaat and registered three acres of land to Baitul
  Mukarram mosque. (never happened under Pakistan before Bangladesh's
  indpendence)

  2. It was Mujib's gov. who enacted laws banning gambling at racecourse
     and import and sale of liquor. (Prior Pakistan gov never did this)

  3. It was Mujib's gov that aggressively pursued membership in OIC
     to boost it's image as a Muslim nation. He even offered Bhutto(An
     atheist albeit) a red carpet reception in 1974(The then Idina HC in
     Dhaka Subimal Dutta resigned in protest), SO he could get Pakistan's
     recognition, SO he could join OIC, SO he could project BD as a
     Muslim state.

  As J.N. Dixit mentions in his book "Liberation and Beyond" about
     Mujib:
     "He was also clear in his mind that the national identity
     of the newly created Bangladesh can be sustained only if the
     Muslim identity of Bangladesh forms a primary ingredient in
     Bangladeshi nationalism" (Quoted in the New Nation of 25 August
     1999)


Now consider the following about Hasina's AL. (If Hasina could do
these, imagine what Mujib would have done had he been alive today
considering 1-3 above, if he faced the same challenge to stay/grab
power):

  1. She bragged about all that mentioned in 1 above.
  2. After return to power in 1996, Hasina government allocated Tk 33
     crore 9 lakh for religious affairs against Tk 31 crore 35 lakh of
     previous BNP government.

  3. The number of gov enlisted Madrashas increased to 7146 during
     Hasina's Awami League rule from 5977 of BNP times.

  4. It is during the Awami League government that a welfare trust was
     constituted for Imams and Muazzins. Besides, a Madrasha Teachers
     Training Institute was established at Gazipur at a cost of Tk 1.37
     crore.

  5. She allied with Jamat prior to 1996 election to topple Khaleda Zia.
     Even in 1994 Al had accepted Jamat as a legit political group and
     sent AL presidential Noninee Badrul Hasan Choudhury to sit with
     Golam Azam for possible alliance against BNP. Motiur Rahman Nezami
     even apologized to the people in a meeting in Chapai Nababganj for
     having acted in cohort with AL against BNP in the past.
     (Prothom Alo Dec 12 1998) in a mass meeting. All these paved the
     way for and made it legit for BNP to ally with Jamat later in 2000
     election.

  6. She did nothing in 1996-2001 (no sign of doing that now either) to
     reverse the Ershad amendment of constitution declaring Islam as the
     state religion nor the Ershad's introdcution of Friday as a holiday,
     causing huge loss to busineeses dealing with export/import
     (Mounong Shommoti Lokkhonong). Not only that AL now has
    Allahu Akbar  as their motif slogan.


  - Jamil Asgor




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