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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Amnesty: Tribal Pakistan is a 'rights-free zone'



Amnesty: Tribal Pakistan is a 'rights-free zone'

10 June 2010

Refugee camp in Mardan, north-west Pakistan 2008 Refugee camps have long been a fixture in north-western Pakistan

Millions of Pakistanis live in a "human rights-free zone" in the country's north-west, Amnesty International says. Residents of tribal areas face Taliban abuse and get no protection from the government, the rights group alleges. In a report, it says the Taliban secured their rule by killing elders and torturing teachers and aid workers.

Over one million people have been displaced by fighting between the Pakistani military and the Taliban in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Some 1,300 people were killed in the conflict during 2009.

'Abandoned'

The 130-page Amnesty report, As if Hell Fell on Me, was based on nearly 300 interviews with residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the surrounding areas. "Nearly four million people are effectively living under the Taliban in north-west Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government," said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty's interim secretary-general.

Map

A teacher quoted in the report, who fled the Swat valley with his family in March 2009, described how the Taliban operated. "[The Taliban] took over my school and started to teach children about how to fight in Afghanistan. They kicked out the girls from school, told the men to grow their beards, threatened anybody they didn't like." The teacher said the government failed to protect them. "What's the point of having this huge army if it can't even protect us against a group of brutal fanatics?"

Amnesty has documented what many civilians in north-west Pakistan have often been scared to openly say, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from Islamabad. The report talks of systematic human rights abuses by the Taliban and accuses militants of increasing the likelihood of civilian casualties by dispersing themselves among civilians during clashes with government forces.

But it also accuses the Pakistani army of not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties in its operations against militants, and the government of neglecting the basic needs of the millions of people living in the frontier regions close to Afghanistan. Amnesty has appealed to both the Taliban and the Pakistani government to end human rights abuses in north-west Pakistan.

It has also called on Islamabad to reform the Pakistani constitution, which excludes the Fata from the legal and parliamentary system of the country. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan's government.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10280687.stm



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[ALOCHONA] Nimtali Fire



Nimtali fire

Courtesy New Age 10/6/10

http://www.newagebd.com/2010/jun/10/oped.html


Habibur Rashid Ismail agrees with Sheikh Hasina that fires make people destitute (June 9). It is indeed a remarkable and unique observation by both. Perhaps they could both help us further by focusing on who is responsible for such fires starting in the first place.
   Ezajur Rahman
   Kuwait

 

 

Nimtali fire

Courtesy New Age 9/6/10

The dreadful fire which broke out at Nimtali in old Dhaka on June 3 and killed at least 118 people, including women and children, has left people across the country shell-shocked.
   While expressing her instant reaction to the tragedy, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, said, `Fire makes people destitute.' She is absolutely right.
   We want the survivors to be compensated soon. May Allah keep the departed souls in peace.
   Habibur Rashid Ismail
   Chittagong



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[ALOCHONA] War on Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman : Suppressing media freedom



War on Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman : Suppressing media freedom
 
By Dr. K. M. A. Malik

When the current Awami League (AL)-led government came to power in January 2009, they promised to allow freedom of expression, not to control media and not to interfere with the judicial process, and so on. But their policies and performance during the last one and a half years in office suggest that there is a wide gap between their public utterances and their actions.

The latest example of the government's dealing with the prestigious daily newspaper Amar Desh and its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman exposes the hypocrisy of the ruling group towards ‘embarrassing media’ in general and an extreme form of vengeance towards an ‘uncompromising editor’ in particular. This sort of actions against a national daily and its editor is totally unjustifiable and unacceptable.

Amar Desh was closed down last week (on June 1) and Mahmudur Rahman arrested after a night-long seize of the paper's headquarters and its printing press by strong contingents (about 200) of police and security personnel. These brutal actions were taken without any court order, but on the basis of an allegation extracted under duress by the National Security Intelligence (NSI) from the publisher of the paper. Mr. Rahman was sent to jail immediately after his arrest. The whole nation witnessed, with great apprehension and horror, another mid-night drama staged by the Awami League government during the closure of Amar Desh and arrest of Mahmudur Rahman.

According to media reports on June 7 (bdnews24.com), the government charged Mr. Rahman with grave charges of Ëœsedition (in addition to fraud, obstructing police in their duties, etc) and took him into police Ëœremandâ„¢ for questioning. The latest news on June 8 is that the remand period has been extended to twelve days and that he has been charged with another serious Ëœcrime of Ëœmilitancy. We do not know the exact language of these charges at the time of writing this article, but it looks like the government wants to Ëœfinish off Mahmudur Rahman by implicating him with Ëœsedition, Ëœconspiracy and ËœIslamic militancy. These are all very serious charges and the government would probably produce fabricated documents and false Ëœwitnesses to Ëœprove the allegations in a Ëœkangaroo court so that Mahmudur Rahman is awarded the heaviest punishment possible. The government does not seem to have an iota of shame in resorting to outright lies and nakedly using the state organs to demonise and destroy the strongest media voice in the country.

The AL leaders and their apologists, say that Amar Desh was closed by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka, who is theoretically in charge of permitting or canceling the publication of a newspaper and that the government has nothing to do with it. Nothing can be further from the truth. The DC could not take such a controversial decision without instructions from ‘higher authorities. In fact, the DC is as guilty as the ˜higher authorities for not acting upon the request of Amar Desh owners for the change of publisher's name in time. The facts related to the dispute between the government and Mahmudur Rahman on Amar Desh and leading to the latest episode has been described by eminent journalist Shafiq Rehman (http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/2010/06/06). It is evident from this report that it is not Mahmudur Rahman but the government itself which is guilty of creating such a dangerous situation with unforeseen consequences.

Sheikh Hasina's role

Is Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina beyond criticism for the government's latest crusade against their perceived enemies and Ëœdisobedient media? The answer is most probably Ëœno. It is no secret that the current government is basically Ëœone person show (a legacy of past Bangladesh history); she is surrounded by about sixty ministers and advisers but most of them are only Ëœpost holders and not decision makers. Top posts everywhere in the administration and security services are entrusted only to those who are Hasina loyalists and have pro-India leanings. This is very sad, but true.

There has been a witch-hunt in all government departments including the police and security agencies and those officers suspected to be disloyal to Hasina and India have been ruthlessly thrown out of service. It is also known that those within the ruling party most able to make controversial, crude and motivated comments against political opponents as well as a few with allegations of criminal acts are close to Sheikh Hasina. She is forgiving to the misdeeds of her own family members and followers but totally uncivil and hostile to her political opponents. She enjoys being called the so-called Ëœdaughter of democracy and Ëœchampion of human rights by her sycophants and blind followers, but in reality she is extremely autocratic in decision making, vitriolic to opposition leaders but indifferent to the crimes of her own party leaders and Ëœcadres.

Mahmudur Rahman has been a thorn in the flesh of Hasina government and her foreign patrons, but he is neither a ˜conspirator nor a ˜traitor as alleged by the government. He wrote powerful columns during the highly controversial Moeenuddin-Fakhruddin regime against the arbitrary arrest and detention of both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina (as well as hundreds of political and business leaders and thousands of grass-root political workers). He argued for quick restoration of democracy and the need for legitimacy by electoral mandate to govern the country. He was one of the very few journalists and columnists to unmask the evil designs of Bangladesh's foreign enemies and their local collaborators including the ‘gang of four Generals. Mahmudur Rahman earned nation-wide fame and respect by virtue of his knowledge, personal and intellectual honesty, analytical skill, and, above all, by his sincerity in belief and commitment to democracy and justice. But at the same time he earned the wrath of powerful quarters for being straightforward in expressing his views and exposing their deficiencies and misguided policies to make Bangladesh a vassal state of the Indian hegemons.

To many observers, the latest measures against Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman could not have been taken by the state organs/authorities unless ordered, instigated or allowed by Sheikh Hasina herself. She is the Ëœsupreme leader of AL and its allies, and nothing significant happens in Bangladesh today without her order or consent. This tradition of Ëœpersonal power exposes the bankruptcy of the major political parties, and intolerance and cruelty of our rulers as a whole, but especially of those under the AL flag. Their contempt for freedom of expression and rule of law has no parallel. According to one senior political analyst, Sheikh Hasina thinks that her father made Bangladesh and only she and her family have the natural right to own and rule the country. In her mind, no other leader or party have any right to rule the country even if they are elected by the people.

Mahmudur Rahman's life in danger

Everybody knows what the word Ëœremand means in Bangladesh. This dreadful word means psychological pressure, blackmail and physical torture on the detainees to extract confessional statements, extort money, and in extreme cases even to eliminate hostile witnesses. During the BDR investigations, for example, hundreds of detainees were tortured and many (about 70) of those allegedly died Ëœfrom heart attack or they committed Ëœsuicide as the government would claim. But those stories were received with skepticism by most human rights workers who believe that the detainees died due to carelessness and/or excessive torture by the interrogators. In the existing culture of torture in detention and the blanket impunity enjoyed by those responsible for such unlawful practices, we have every reason to be seriously concerned about the safety and life of Mahmudur Rahman.

The human rights organization, Odhikar, is also seriously concerned about the life of Mahmudur Rahman. In a statement issued on June 6, it says The chain of events is very alarming. Mahmudur Rahman has been physically attacked a couple of times. Heavy stones and bricks have been thrown at his car in Bangladesh and he was also attacked with a sharp object during his visit to London, which could have fatally injured him. Given this history the repeated attempts by the government to take him to remand is of grave concern to us.

Odhikar has always fought against custodial torture and death. Despite the fact that the government has made repeated promises to the international community regarding upholding human rights, gross violations of human rights have not abated in the country. In this context, Odhikar is deeply concerned about the life and safety of Mahmudur Rahman. We therefore, appeal to all the human rights defenders to write to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to ensure the safety of Mahmudur Rahman and to stop all attempts to take him into remand, against the fundamental principles of human rights and international norms.

It is to be noted that eliminating political opponents is nothing new to AL culture. Remember the murder of Siraj Shikder under detention in dubious circumstances on January 2, 1975, and the subsequent boasting by the topmost AL leader? How many people belonging to the opposition parties were killed during the first AL rule (1972-75) by the infamous Rakkhi Bahini and pro-government activists? The commonly quoted figure is twenty-five to thirty-five thousand. How many newspapers were banned? All but four daily newspapers under government control. Was there any guarantee of Ëœnatural death for journalists? No, not for those writing critical reports on the on-going AL corruption and violence, according to the legendary journalist Nirmal Sen.

People may be more conscious now than in 1970s about their political and intellectual freedom, but has the character of the ruling elite changed? Have they become more tolerant and less aggressive towards the opposing points of view and those perceived as contenders or threat to their power, position and privileges? The answer is ËœNo, if we consider the recent moves by the government.

All round condemnation

The banning of Amar Desh and taking into remand its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman have been seriously protested and condemned, both nationally and internationally. The British and US diplomats in Dhaka are reported to have expressed concerns at the government’s attempt to gag the media and to curtail freedom of expression.

Editors of 27 national dailies, weeklies, news agencies and periodicals in a joint statement on June 5 demanded immediate withdrawal of the order canceling the declaration of the daily Amar Desh and release of its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman. (New Age, June 6, 2010).

The statement reads, We think such steps of the government are a grave threat to the freedom of expression. The decision to close down a newspaper would send a negative message to international arena about tolerance towards others opinions, democratic values and culture in Bangladesh. At the same time it will be seen as an obstacle to practice of democracy and its nurture at home.

Besides, the decision would make seven hundred permanent and part-time staff of the newspaper jobless and throw their families into terrible hardships. We call for immediate withdrawal of the order canceling the declaration of the daily Amar Desh and release of its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman, it said.

Several international media watch-dogs and human rights organisations have also condemned the latest actions by the government against Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman.

Paris-based international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned Bangladesh authorities for closing Amar Desh and expressed concerns about the paper's detained editor. "The night-time raid by armed police on the daily's headquarters and the use of force to arrest editor Mahmudur Rahman are unworthy of a government that claims to respect the rule of law," the group said in a statement. It also said that members of the National Security Intelligence service had taken the publisher, Hashmat Ali, to their headquarters where he was forced to sign blank sheets of papers.

The Vienna-based (Austria) International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, expressed concerns. We are concerned that the Bangladeshi government is using administrative sanctions to limit the newspaper's ability to criticize its policies," said IPI Director David Dadge. "I urge Prime Minister Sheik Hasina to live up to her promises and ensure that journalists are allowed to distribute information and opinions free of harassment or intimidation," he added.

The New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued similar statements. It termed the shutdown as politically motivated. "Using 200 police to shut down a newspaper in the middle of the night over alleged publication irregularities is excessive and suggests the government is trying to suppress a critical media outlet,� said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.

The Hong Kong-based rights group Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urged the Bangladesh government to stop media repression. It urged the Bangladeshi authorities to restore the publication of the newspaper and also to release the detained media workers immediately and withdraw fabricated cases against them.

Other media outlets censored/closed

Amar Desh and its acting editor are the latest victims of the AL assault on free media, but not the only ones. According to AHRC, â€Å"the cancellation of the declaration of the daily Amar Desh was not an isolated incident in Bangladesh, it was, rather, part of a Ëœtrend that has happened as a continuous process in the closing of two private television channels and the blocking of Facebook in the country without any reasonable grounds.

During the last eighteen months, the government has closed down two TV stations, Channel One and Jamuna TV, and banned DeshCalling blog, Youtube and Facebook on various pretexts. It has closed several TV talk shows and imposed different restrictions on what can be telecast. There are informal instructions by the government agencies not to invite Ëœwrong kind of people in TV programmes. Newspapers editors have been asked not to print material critising government and its policies. Mr. Nurul Kabir, Editor of the daily New Age was attacked by pro-government hooligans for his strong criticisms of some government policies.

Many other political, media and community groups both in Bangladesh and abroad including The Voice for Justice World Forum, Justice for Bangladesh, Journalist Rights International, Amar Desh Readers Forum, Campaign for Freedom of Press and Media based in London have condemned the government actions and demanded withdrawal of ban on Amar Desh and release of Mahmudur Rahman.

The report on Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman got headlines in the foreign press including BBC, the Guardian in UK, The Hindu in India, and AFP.

Why close Amar Desh and punish Mahmudur Rahman?

It is now clear that the AL government has been suppressing the media in fear of criticism of its own actions that threaten the democratic process and rule of law in Bangladesh. But why the government has let loose such a reign of terror specifically on Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman when it is already under severe criticism on the recent Facebook ban?

According to journalist Shafiq Rehman, Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman are targets of government vendetta for five reasons: The paper has published (1) regular reports on the deteriorating law and order situation and exposing the criminal activities of its youth and student wings, (2) statistical reports on the crease in the price of essential items, (3) report on the connection of Sheikh Hasina's son Shajib Wajed Joy with the US oil giant Chevron and alleged corruption, (4) report that the father of Engineer Mosarraf Hossain, a minister and Sheikh Hasina's close relative, was a Ëœrazakar (a fact also confirmed by Hasina's deputy Sajeda Chowdhury), and (5) connection of state minister Kamrul Islam and his family with ËœHekimi or ËœIslamic medicine business and other allegations. (Daily Naya Diganta, June 6, 2010).

The reasons mentioned by Shafik Rehman are all fact-based and valid. But in my opinion, there are also other very crucial reasons (not discussed openly) which led to the government's deadly assault on Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman.

Firstly, Amar Desh has been publishing (in several installments), prior to its closure, the 'official' version of the Anisuzzaman Report on BDR Massacre, which clearly implicates the controversial roles of some AL leaders including Nanak, Taposh and Mirza Azam in the dreadful massacre, and the sheer incompetence and/or stupidity of some ministers including Faruk Khan and Sahara Khatun. The Report has raised more questions than providing credible answers on the roles of some AL leaders and some officers within the security/intelligence establishments. As is the usual practice, the government does not want the truth to be revealed, so that their own alleged involvement in the crime is not exposed. The agenda to destroy the BDR and Army has been implemented without people realising how deep was the conspiracy and who masterminded the whole scheme.

Publication of Anisuzzaman Report and other articles related to BDR conspiracy, BSF killings at the border, lowering the guard on the country's own defence and security, etc., could not be tolerated by leaders who have personal, family and political debt to pay to others. They have to strike back at those media and people who are considered as Ëœtrouble-makers and Ëœenemies.

Second, Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman, together with some other writers and analysts at home and abroad, have been in the fore-front to expose the imperialist and hegemonic agenda (led by India and supported by the US, EU and some international organisations including the rubber-stamp UN, IMF, World Bank, ADB) to turn Bangladesh into a vassal state like Bhutan (without any disrespect to the Bhutanese people).

Third, Sheikh Hasina is now giving away (for what?) genuine national, economic and strategic interests of Bangladesh to the New Delhi rulers in different fields such as permitting India transit/corridor facilities through Bangladesh at the latter's cost (money borrowed from India at much higher interest rate than available from other sources such as China, South Korea, WB, etc), offering sea port facilities for unknown gains, giving a free hand or preference to Indian citizens and businesses in different sectors including telecommunications, transport, health, media, entertainment, etc. Amar Desh as a media and Mahmudur Rahman as a columnist and campaigner have been constantly asking questions about these offers to India by the AL government without any concrete returns to Bangladesh.

Fourth, India's water aggression against Bangladesh (Farakka, Tipaimukh, Teesta, Brahmaputra, etc) is a topic AL wants not be raised and discussed. Amar Desh has become an enemy of AL, Hasina and India by raising this issue. Photographic depictions of the dry river beds of Padma, Teesta and Brahmaputra in recent issues of Amar Desh must have embarrassed the incumbent rulers and their Indian patrons.

Fifth, Amar Desh has given prominence to the news and views on the deployment of Indian Commandos (special forces) in different places in the country including its Embassy in Dhaka and bringing in Indian Ëœair marshals in Dhaka airport. These steps and also the arrests and handover of some leading Indian insurgent leaders in secret operations have been published in Amar Desh, to great annoyance of AL and India.

Sixth, Hasina under Indian pressure has distanced Bangladesh from China, entered into secret military pact with India in a scheme to turn Bangladesh army into a reserve force for India's ongoing wars in the north east and possible future conflict with China. Mahmudur Rahman has raised a strong voice against this evil design and also against Bangladesh becoming a Ëœjunior partner in the US-India-Israel led war on terror.

Conclusion

Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahaman have become deadly targets by the AL government and their foreign patrons for many visible and invisible reasons. No body should think that this is a simple legal or procedural dispute. It is a declaration of war on free media by a regime, which is contemptuous to opposing political views and revenge-driven. We must realise that if they succeed in Ëœfinishing off Amar Desh and Mahmudur Rahman now, there would be more victims in the coming days and months.
----------------------
[The author is a former Professor, Dhaka University (Bangladesh) and Lecturer, Cardiff University, UK. Contact e-mail: kmamalik@aol.com]

http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=321781


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[ALOCHONA] Politics and politcians



"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason."



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[ALOCHONA] Re: The sky, the mind, the ban culture

Syed Badrul Ahsan is the Head of Awami League Current Affairs at the Daily Star. This piece is one of the best examples of what is wrong with intellectualism in Bangladesh today. This piece is deliberately diversionary and misleads the reader to a place far away from where the reader should be. It is political trickery posing as non partisan intellectualism.

It is appalling that he is in such an important position and it is appalling that he is getting away with this kind of journalism - a kind of yellow journalism that hides both its real origins and its real motives.

This is about as irrelevant and nonsensical a piece that you will find.

Just what the politicians love to see in our papers.

Instead of holding authorities to account Syed Badrul Ahsan has us reaching for our dictionary.

Hey Badrul! Nowka! Nowka!

--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Ezajur Rahman <Ezajur@...> wrote:
>
> The sky, the mind, the ban culture
> Sadat Uddin Ahmed AmilSyed Badrul Ahsan
> THE ban on Facebook could be lifted within days. Or perhaps by the time you read this in print, it might already have been withdrawn. But that is not what exercises our minds at this point. What we are upset about is the brusqueness with which the attack on Facebook was made. Of course, if there is anything obscene that has appeared on it, if the reputations of citizens, powerful or meek, have been ridiculed, all that the authorities needed to do was to go after those who indulged in such nefarious deeds. But to assume that an entire system can be done away with or simply run out of town only rekindles in us all the old thoughts of bygone rulers trying to govern us through control mechanisms that eventually did not amount to much. Control led to chaos. The mechanisms broke down.
> The trouble with the post-modern era is that you cannot have all your wishes come true. All this technology around you is really daunting. More importantly, there is the matter of citizens' increasingly powerful sensibilities coming into play. Think back on the Tagore centenary celebrations in 1961 here in this land. Much effort was put into the job of trying to disrupt the proceedings by the Ayub Khan regime because it and its toadies believed Bengalis were actually celebrating the genius of a Hindu bard. Nothing worked for the regime, though. The presence of Justice Syed Mahbub Murshed at the head of the Tagore programme warded off the sinister shadow of the regime. The wolves then lay low, until the time came a few years later when Khwaja Shahabuddin, Ayub's information minister, finally clamped a ban on Tagore music in East Pakistan. That victory proved pyrrhic, though. By the late 1960s, Tagore was back and with him, with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
> Rahman in the forefront, Bengali nationalism was in the ascendant.
> Banning has never been a solution to a problem. It has been a problem on its own. Look at the record. Military regimes in Bangladesh and Pakistan, having shot their way into power, have gone for imposing a ban on or a suspension of the constitution. That act was speedily complemented by restrictions on the way women would move around. It is rather curious that one of the first things coup-makers do is push civilised laws under the carpet and go for an inspection of female anatomy, in the latter instance, eventually deciding what women should be wearing or not wearing. Well, as history informs us so gleefully, constitutions have always come back and women have certainly refused to have their couture chosen by soldiers propping up illegitimate governments. Usurper regimes have gone for a ban on politicians and political parties. Yahya Khan thought banning the Awami League in 1971 would resuscitate a dying Pakistan in our lives. In the event, the Awami
> League only made sure that Pakistan was banned in Bangladesh for all time in December 1971.
> There is something about the mind that rebels, always. When you ban a book, you are not only stifling intellectual freedom but also you are, at the same time, provoking people into wanting to read it. It is then that clandestine ways are discovered for the book to be distributed to as wide a circle as possible. You can threaten a writer with beheading; you can force a writer into exile. But do not forget that such ham-fisted measures only make the writer that much more appealing and readers that much more demanding. You can come up with all the excuses you can muster about the absence of moral dimensions in a movie and then clamp a ban on it. Once you do that, you are helping in the creation of an insular world for yourself. Insularity, you will of course remember, was what brought down apartheid South Africa and white minority-ruled Rhodesia.
> There is a certain degree of arrogance which comes with banning. Turkey's generals, for all their appreciable role in upholding the country's secular traditions, made the mistake of arguing that women could not wear headscarves. The consequence was defiance. Watch the wife of President Abdullah Gul. She never lets go of her headscarf. And like her, other Turkish women have taken to ignoring the scowl of the army. Just as the state cannot decree what raiment people can get into, individuals or groups of individuals cannot and must not insist that a particular sect of believers be proscribed as a faith. You can observe your religion in all its totality, but you cannot turn it into a weapon to intimidate adherents of other beliefs. In much the same way, you cannot be self-righteous about your politics and then use it to hunt down people and destroy their reputations on spurious charges of treason. If you do, you will find the guillotine waiting for you. Do
> not forget America's Joe McCarthy.
> The mind is certainly wider than the sky. You cannot outlaw the sky, can you? Why must you then try putting the mind in fetters? Why not ban the ban culture itself?
> Syed Badrul Ahsan is Editor, Current Affairs, The Daily Star.
> Email: bahsantareq@...
>


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Re: [ALOCHONA] Assaulting Mahmud & Daily Amar Desh



Friends


WHAT ELSE THE BAL ACTIVIST CAN DO OTHER THAN SPREAD LIES AFTER LIES SINCE THEIR CHAMPION COMPEER IS THE GREATEST CONGENITAL LIAR OF THE MILLENNIUM THE KULANGAR  AGA CHOU

BE IT CLEAR THAT THE PEOPLE OF BANGLADESH KNOWS BAL VERY DEASRLY FOR THEIR QUISLING CHARACTERISTICS.

Faruque Alamgir

On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 11:28 PM, J.A. Chowdhury <Chwdhury@hotmail.com> wrote:
 


I don't understand why some of our forum friends are crying for Mahmudur Rahman. Who is Mahmudur Rahman? 2 takar so called Editor? Mahmudur Rahman is not a Jurnalist. Professionally he is an Engineer and a BNP Jaamati activist. Any body can buy a Editor post  with money????
 
Well he is an (jobordost) editor. An Editor can write anything in his newspaper without any prove? Especially against some one? If answer is no, Govt. doing nothing wrong with Mahmudur Rahman.He is associated with Jongi Prof.Mohiuddin. Hijbut Tahri use to print all their lift-let in Amar Desh press. So Mahmudur Rahman deserve it.
 
Kind Regards
 
J.A.Chowdhury
 
 


To: alochona@yahoogroups.com; WideMinds@yahoogroups.com; dahuk@yahoogroups.com; abidbahar@yahoo.com; delwar98@hotmail.com; sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com; history_islam@yahoogroups.com; Bangladesh-Zindabad@yahoogroups.com; amra-bangladesi@yahoogroups.com; zoglul@hotmail.co.uk; mmk3k@yahoo.com; aminul_islam_raj@yahoo.com; udarakash08@yahoo.com; mahmudurart@yahoo.com; farhadmazhar@hotmail.com
From: faruquealamgir@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 23:41:28 +0600
Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] Assaulting Mahmud & Daily Amar Desh




Friends

Please be assured that the courageous of all time in the History of Bangladesh journalism "Mahmudur Rahman" will survive the fascist BAL's tricks of Remand n might meet the fate of Tareq Rahaman surly. As the BAL always fear the people so, they always coerce the people n keep them under continuous threat of concocted stories of "Jongibad"(like Bagh ailo Bagh Ailo of the Rakhal balak) so they fear the Manush Rupi Bagh the Mahmudur Rahman.
Be it sure that anything otherwise happens with this "OKUTO BHOI NIR BHIK KOLOM SOINIK" will have long long effect on the politics of BAKSAL strangulating the freedom of expression etc etc.

Let the heroic sacrifice of the Martyrs remain ever glowing in the "Akash Batash Nodi Prantor" of BANGLADESH  n the Lal Sabuj Pataka to fly high with right dignity n honour forever n ever.

 

BANGLADESH  ZINDABAD
ZINDABAD 
BANGLADESH ZINDABAD


Faruque Alamgir



On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 5:54 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
 

  • Assaulting Mahmud & Daily Amar Desh

  • http://www.chintaa.com/index.php/campaigndetails/index/5/english

    Punishing the dissenter

    Chintaa Report
    Sunday 06 June 10
     

    Concerns about Safety of Mahmudur Rahman

    The chronology of events that lead to the arrest of Acting Editor of Amar Desh is scandalous by the very nature by which government has abused executive power and misused legal instruments. This will create serious problem in the efforts of the people to go by the rule of law and create a reasonable space within the present nature of power to practice democratic values. Silencing the dissenting voice is also embarrassing for Bangladesh development partners who often sermon on human rights, freedom of thought, conscience and press. As we could notice, from the media the diplomatic community has expressed their concerns within the paradigm of their foreign policy objective in Bangladesh. But it is also clear that the blatant interventions that we used to the see during the past regime for wrong causes, of which Mahmudur Rahman was critical and vocal, is now pathetically timid and shy.
    The government is filing one case after another against Mahmudur Rahman in order to keep him in the jail. A transparent judicial process free from the manipulation of the ruling regime could definitely conclude that all these allegations are simply fabricated, nasty tricks of politics. Nevertheless, what concerns us gravely is the repeated attempt to take Mahmudur Rahman for remand. Human Rights Defenders of Bangladesh are worried, because there was series of attempts on his life on several occasion. There is a culture of custodial torture and death in Bangladesh. In its latest update on Mahmudur Rahman the internationally acclaimed human rights organisation Odhikar in a statement issued on 6 June 2010 expressed their concern about the safety and life of Mahmudur Rahman. The Statement says:
    Mahmudur Rahman, the Acting Editor of the Bengali Daily Amar Desh, was arrested under sections 419, 420 and 500 of the Code of Criminal Procedure under the Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station Case No. 1(6)2010 and again under sections 143, 342, 332, 353, 186, 506, 114 of the Code of Criminal Procedure under the Tejgaon Police Station Case No 2(6)2010 on June 2, 2010. Mahmudur Rahman got bail in the first case but in the second case, which was filed after his arrest, he was not granted bail and sent to prison. However, today on June 6, 2010, a third case has been filed against him, Case No.5 (6)2010 at the Kotwali Police Station. He was charged for obstructing government officials in their function, while he was already in custody. The prosecution prayed for seven days remand. On top of this, according to newspaper reports, the government is preparing a sedation case against him. The chain of events is very alarming. It is to be noted that Mahmudur Rahman has been physically attacked a couple of times. Heavy stones and bricks have been thrown at his car in Bangladesh and he was also attacked with a sharp object during his visit to London, which could have fatally injured him. Given this history the repeated attempts by the government to take him to remand is of grave concern to us.
    Odhikar has always fought against custodial torture and death. Despite the fact that the government has made repeated promises to the international community regarding upholding human rights, gross violations of human rights have not abated in the country. In this context, Odhikar is deeply concerned about the life and safety of Mahmudur Rahman. We therefore, appeal to all the human rights defenders to write to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to ensure the safety of Mahmudur Rahman and to stop all attempts to take him into remand, against the fundamental principles of human rights and international norms.
    Ms. Sheikh Hasina
    Honorable Prime Minister
    Prime Minister's Office
    Old Sangsad Bhaban
    Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh
    Tel: +880 2 8151157 (PS-I to PM)
    Fax: +880 2 8153846
    Email: info@pmo.gov.bd
    According to the reports published in today's newspapers, another case has been filed against Mahmudur Rahman in Uttara police station, and the petitioner asked to take him to remand for 10 days. The repeated attempts to take Mahmudur Rahman to 'remand' is a very bad sign Unless human rights defenders mobilise opinion and protests we might be guilty of allowing a repressive government to indulge in grave human rights violation.
    We have below recall the chronology of events that led to the arrest of Mahmudur Rahman to dispel government's claim that Amardesh has violated existing law regarding press and publications.
    Chronology of Events

    26 April, 2009: Amar Desh Publications Ltd informed the District Commissioner of Dhaka by a written letter stating that according to the decision of the Board of Directors the chairman of the Company Mahmudur Rahman is appointed as the Acting Editor of Amar Desh. It may be mentioned here that according to the Printing Press and Publication Act, 1973 the Ditrict Commissioner must be informed about appointing – withdrawal of Editor of Newspaper.
    16 June, 2009: The Special Police- Super of Dhaka on behalf of District Commissioner informed Amar Desh Publications Ltd. that the District Commissioner has No Objection to the appointment of the Acting Editor.
    3 September, 2009: The Amar Desh Publications Ltd applied to the District Commissioner to change of the name of Publisher, as per the Printing Press and Publication Act, 1973 and declared that in the court. At the same time, the replacement of the old publisher with the name of Mahmudur Rahman as the new publisher was formally notified to the District Commissioner in accordance with the law.
    11 October, 2009: The Publisher Hasmat Ali Hashu went to the District Commissioner's office and signed the appropriate form stating his resignation as the publisher. This information was given by the District Commissioner in BBC interview.
    5 November, 2009: The Film and Publications Directorate gave a No Objection Certificate for the change of publisher. The letter signed by Deputy Director Masuda Khatun stated, "The name of Alhaj. Hashmat Ali, publisher of Daily Amar Desh can be replaced with the name of Mahmudur Rahman".
    15 March, 2010: The District Commissioner of Dhaka enquired to Amar Desh Publications Limited why the name of Hashmat Ali Hashu is still on the printer's line of the newspaper? In reply, Amar Desh informed that they were still waiting for the reply from the District Commissioner's office for their letter of notification to the District Commissioner. So they were compelled to continue the name of the earlier publisher according to the Printing Press and Publication Act, 1973. Accordingly, the company requested the DC office to expedite their decision.
    1 June, 2010: The Tejgaon Thana Officer-in-Charge (OC) raided the press of the daily Amar Desh with armed forces and declared its closure by sealing the Press. They reported to the news media that since there was no legal publisher of the newspaper the declaration has been cancelled by the District Commissioner. However, they could not produce any paper in this regard. The papers were not even received by Amar Desh authorities from 1 June to 2nd June.
    BBC (Bangla) Radio interview of the District Commissioner Mr. Muhibul Haque on 2nd June, 2010 is the only government version on the government action regarding the cancellation of the Declaration of Amar Desh.
    The english translation of the transcript of the BBC interview
    DC: Actually there is no publisher of Amar Desh at present. It means, there is no legal publisher. According to the Article 5 of the Press and Publication Act, 1973, any news paper must have a publisher and according to article 7, he must sign a declaration in our office. The publisher of this newspaper has signed a paper about his resignation as the publisher.
    BBC: when did he do that?
    DC: He signed on 11 October, 2009. The publisher was Alhaj Md. Hashmat Ali.
    BBC: 11 October, 2009 ... and now it is 2010. So what happened all these days. Did you ask the Amar Desh the reason ......
    DC: Yes, we wanted to know; we have given an official letter. They responded to us. They informed that there was no publisher; so this newspaper cannot be allowed ...... So I cancelled the declaration. I have done that.
    BBC: So when you sent a letter to Amar Desh, did they agree in writing that that they did not have any publisher?
    DC: yes, they did not have any publisher; they told us that they did not have a publisher.
    BBC: And when did they inform you?
    DC: They have informed us few days before
    BBC: But who responded to your letter on behalf of Amar Desh. If they did not have a publisher?
    DC: The Acting Editor
    BBC: Amar Desh has told us that they sent a letter to you for your approval of the change of the publisher's name. Then what happened?
    DC: Not for the change of publisher. The earlier publisher signed a form of resignation. Then another person wanted to become the publisher, but it did not fit into our criteria, therefore was refused. So now there is no publisher of Amar Desh.
    BBC: What does it mean that it did not fit into your criteria? If you could explain the process of your refusal of the request for change of publisher's name...
    DC: The process is that according to the Act, they have applied for approval, then we gave it for investigation. There was a negative response from the investigation. So we could not give approval to the publisher who has applied. Mahmudur Rahman has applied, but we could not appoint him...
    BBC: Why was his application rejected? Can you please tell us, what was the problem found against him in the investigation...
    DC: We have given an official letter regarding this. There are many issues here. This cannot be explained in such a short time....
    BBC: When did you let him know about it?
    DC: Today, we informed him....
    ..........................................
    Amar Desh's communication with DC
    We have the letters that Amar Desh provided to the district administration to go by the existing Press and Publication Act. Till today, 7 June 2010, the interview given by the District Commissioner to BBC Bangla is the only position one could guess as government's position, that could hardly stand the court of law. This is the reason why government is desperate to fabricate various other cases against him.
    In response to BBC's 1st question the DC admitted that in 11th October 2009 the ex-publisher resigned formally. But what he hided is, 3 months before the resignation of ex-publisher, in 3rd September 2009 the authority of the Amar Desh Publications Ltd. formally informed district administration by written letter that, the company has changed the publisher and it is applying for the no-objection letter from the administration in this regard. The Deputy Commissioner is conspicuously silent on this matter in order to justify fabricated charge against Mahmudur Rahman. The claim that Amar Desh dos not have a publisher implies that through administrative inaction the District Commissioner intended to efface the existence of an editor as well as the on going administrative and legal process to regularise the change of ownership and appoinment of editoror other matters. The DC should either have clearly notified to the authorities of Amar Desh that Mahmudur Rahman is not acceptable. In that case the Amar Desh could come up with different name.
    The DC said, "They informed that they (Amar Desh) have no publisher". Nevertheless, in response of administrations 15th march's letter there is no such word in Amar Desh's letter. Furthermore, the newspaper authority reminded the administration that as they did not say anything at all about Amar Desh's 3rd September 2009 letter regarding the alteration of publisher, they are writing the name of their old publisher. According to the Press and Publication Acts this was the only option available to Amar Desh.
    The farce of the whole drama reaches the apex when DC told that, "we informed today (1st June)". What it implies? It means by sending riot police into newspapers office to shut down the press and illegally breaking and entering into newspapers office without any warrant, beating journalists and later snatching the editor, the govt. indeed brutally communicated to Amar Desh authority that, "we could not approve Mahmudur Rahman to be the publisher".
    Reporters from Chintaa were present throughout the night along with other reporters from various media to witness the midnight raid and the brutality with which a dissent voice has been silenced. There was no official letter sent to Amar Desh's office. It was blatantly an operation to demonstrate that government does not care about the rule of law, and have absolutely no hesitation to violate human rights, particularly the violation of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of thought, conscious and expression.
    Prime Minister took charge of District Deputy Commissioner!
    The information minister told parliament in 2 June, "It is the duty of DC to postpone newspapers declaration". According to 1973 Printing Press and Publications act it is the duty of DC indeed. But, after the application of Amar Desh to the Film and Publication office of the government, although the intelligence agency gave clearance, the DC office was not giving clearance on the ground that Prime Ministers office did not give clearance. Off the record, the DC office officials admitted the fact that this issue was under judgment in prime ministers office. Our question is that when did the Prime Minister take the charge of Deputy Commissioner?
    The fact might be that exclusively in the case of Mahmudur Rahman the prime minister has degraded her to the office of District Commissioner, a shame for both the government and the country. As if that was not enough she had to finally send police, disconnect satellite TV connection and escalator, create blockade, refuse food and water to be supplied to the people in the Amar Desh office, beat the journalists by batons, and vilently snatch the editor Mahmudur Rahman without any papers or warrant. Defiance of all constitutional rights, law and international norms of human rights the act of the government is hardly different from any armed criminals or terrorists. Proving again, that the state terrorism is the first and foremost evil people must confront if they are determined to create a democratic polity.
    Whereas the police was supposed to be tried because of breaking and entering into a private establishment of newspaper illegally, the police filed new case against Mahmudur Rahman on the ground, what they call preventing police from their duties.
    The closure of Amadesh and arresting Mahmudur Rahman signals the rapidly deteriorating political scenario of Bangladesh. It is urgent that the grievous threat to democracy and freedom of speech and media is condemned globally. It happened in a row of the closure of 2 TV channels and Facebook for so called sensitive reasons. This govt. did ban YouTube in the February 2009 as well.
    Arresting the editor of Amar Desh by Riot Police and trying to take him to remand for the so called 'interrogation' at any cost demonstrate elements of virulence within certain section of the government and it is urgent that government is warned of this move. The remand system is notorious for inhuman torture and sometimes it makes lifetime trauma. The journalists and other democratic activists fear that the repeated remand application by a section of the people in the government is only to brutally assault Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, rsponsibility of which consequently will have to be shoulderd by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government as a whole.
    Government should come to its senses.


    http://www.chintaa.com/index.php/campaigndetails/index/5/english





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    [ALOCHONA] Khaleda, Iajuddin plot 1/11: Ashraful



    Khaleda, Iajuddin plot 1/11: Ashraful
     

    Awami League on Wednesday claimed that opposition leader Khalada Zia and former president Iajuddin Ahmed were the masterminds behind the 1/11 political changeover in the country."They must be brought to justice for bringing an unconstitutional government in the country," AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said this at a news conference at the AL president's political office at Dhanmondi.

    Referring to the opposition's demand for holding trial of the key players and collaborators behind the 1/11, Ashraful said if the trial starts, Khaleda and Iajuddin will have to face the charge at first.

    Ashraful claimed that shielding war criminals from the trial has become the main task for the opposition leader.Creating political instability, conspiracy against democracy and enforcement of Hartal are the factors to foil the war crimes trial, he added.

    http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=24134



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    [ALOCHONA] 60 days of blockade: Manipur's food, medicine crises deepen



    60 days of blockade: Manipur's food, medicine crises deepen


    IMPHAL: Manipur faces an acute shortage of food and medicines with supplies of essentials cut off for the 60th day Wednesday following an indefinite economic blockade by several tribal groups. "The food crisis is simply acute and also there is a severe shortage of life saving medicines with the blockade entering the 60th day and still no chance of breaking the deadlock," N. Biren Singh, Manipur government spokesperson and a senior minister of the Congress party ruled state, told IANS.

    Several Naga groups called an indefinite blockade of National Highway 39, Manipur's main lifeline, April 11 to protest against the decision of the state government not to allow separatist leader Thuingaleng Muivah to visit his birthplace.
    The Manipur government had banned 75-year-old Muivah's trip to his home village, saying it could stoke unrest. The non-stop blockade has led to an acute food crisis in the northeastern state with trucks carrying essentials and medicines stranded in the adjoining state of Nagaland as protestors lay siege on National Highway 39.

    Landlocked Manipur depends on supplies from outside the region with trucks from the rest of India carrying essentials passing through Nagaland. "The entire life support system of Manipur has literally collapsed with many hospitals putting on hold routine surgeries due to lack of oxygen cylinders," Babloo Loitongbam, a rights leader representing Human Rights Alert, said. "Life is
    hell for people like us with prices of all essentials shooting up manifold; even if we are ready to pay a price we don't get what we want," said Aruna Devi, a housewife.

    A kilogram of rice is selling at Rs.70 (compared to the Rs.20-Rs.24 earlier), a litre of petrol at Rs.200, while a cooking gas cylinder in the black market is priced at Rs.1,000-Rs.1,200. "Muivah is holding the state to ransom and it is surprising that New Delhi is silent on the issue. The central government should have intervened long back to break the deadlock," Biren Singh said. "People are getting restive and there is every reason to be so - when people get hungry they naturally get angry," the minister added.

    The Manipur government got some supplies by airlifting rice and medicines, besides escorting about 500 trucks through National Highway 53 via the adjoining state of Assam. "The road condition of National Highway 53 is deplorable and the supplies that came in from this route were simply not sufficient to meet the requirements," Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said.

    On May 6, six tribal Naga protestors were killed and up to 70 injured in clashes with police as Muivah tried to defy a ban on him returning to his village. Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), has since deferred his visit. Muivah's group signed a ceasefire deal with the Indian government in 1997. Since then, he has held more than 60 rounds of talks to end one of the country's longest running insurgencies.

    The NSCN had been campaigning for a Naga homeland carved from three of India's seven northeastern states. Amid the woes of the people of Manipur, Muivah is adamant on visiting his birthplace in Ukhrul district. "I have every right to visit my birthplace and I would do so," Muivah said.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/6...how/6027851.cms


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    Re: [ALOCHONA] National Security Bangladesh



    We Bangladeshis are excellent at producing copious volumes of prose analysing our situation and opining on changes - see my own history of posts in this forum. We are also masters of developing solutions for problems that have no real significance or impact on our real afflictions.

    What we have zero track record in is actually changing the things that need to be changed.

    The overriding threat to National Security is the political parties. Until such time as someone chooses to deal with that, this book like so many others is no more than an academic treatise that like the hopes and aspirations of most ordinary Bangladesh, will sit on a shelf gathering dust and rot.

    Emanur Rahman | m. +447734567561 | e. emanur@rahman.com


    From: Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com>
    Sender: alochona@yahoogroups.com
    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2010 17:32:32 +0600
    ReplyTo: alochona@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [ALOCHONA] National Security Bangladesh

    BOOK REVIEW

    Sheikh Md Monirul Islam (ed.), National Security Bangladesh 2008, University Press Ltd, Dhaka, 2009
     

    The book titled National Security Bangladesh 2008, produced by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) is an annual report on national security of Bangladesh, the second in the series, covering developments in the sector during the year 2008. It focuses on five key areas of security concern in Bangladesh - systemic aspects, especially external dimension; traditional sources of insecurity from internal perspective; thirdly, the linkage between issues of foreign policy with national security; fourthly, non-traditional security, the issue of food security in particular; and finally the role of civil society organizations in addressing security concerns with particular focus on human trafficking.

    The list by itself is impressive and the book has succeeded in dealing with the relevant issues in details and depth. The book is replete with evidences of a high standard of research and hard work put in by the authors and the editor. It meets the felt-need for a compilation of the knowledge produced by the institute throughout the year on various aspects of national security in Bangladesh. The book adds a significant stock of value to the existing literature. Consistent with the standard of the books's publisher, the University Press Limited, it is also decently produced. Having said that, while reading the book one gets an impression that on occasions, it loads the reader with value judgment and subjective statements. It says for instance: "… our present operational concept is (also) based on purely defensive posture. The concept puts emphasis on causing maximum attrition to the enemy from prepared defensive positions, taking advantage of the obstacle systems and gradually bringing enemy offensive to culmination point, so as to set a stage for a counter-offensive…"

    One can question who is this addressed to and does a book like this need such polemics, which could be more dispassionate. The issues covered by the book are pertinent to the discourse on security in Bangladesh, and indeed quite extensive, which will impress the reader. What one finds missing, however, is the rationale for the selection of the specific areas and sub-themes, which is expected of a research product of this standard. In the absence of an analytical statement on the logic behind the choice of contents, one gets an impression that the topics were selected on the basis of the available expertise and their interest rather than what the title of the book demands. This being a series, hopefully the next year's volume will fill this gap. There is much to be desired, for instance, in the book's treatment of internal threats.

    The authors have picked up only two elements to deal with - terrorism and proliferation of small arms, which is quite reasonable. But a reader of the book would obviously look for updates on the situation with respect to such aspects as Chittagong Hill Tracts. The year 2008 like 2007 was a period when the armed forces were deployed under emergency to "assist" the civil administration. What role was played by them in this period and what implications it had on security - both traditional and non-traditional? Even on the two selected elements, militancy and small arms proliferation the book falls short of addressing the root causes. What are the forces that have created, and continue to create, the space for the growth of terrorism and more specifically religious militancy, which is now increasingly becoming one of the most important sources of conventional insecurity? What are non-traditional factors leading to such conventional insecurities? Is it simply because Bangladesh is on a transit route of movement of inputs to militancy and terrorism, like weapons and ideas? How is the scope and incentive for religious militancy being created in a country born on a secular platform and rejection of the use of religion in politics and statecraft? To what extent is the space attributable to failures of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies; is it the confrontational politics and a politics of zero-sum game that also account for the space?

    The book would be much richer by treating such questions. In terms of the non-traditional security (NTS) issues, it is quite logical that the book concentrates on food insecurity as the key thrust. But there are a number of other issues that could have received better treatment in the book. The chapter on NTS mentions human security indicators and very rightly points to six categories - political, economic, societal, health, environmental and cross-border security issues, but hardly dwell with any of these with much depth. The authors could pick up issues of such human security concerns in the period like the state of citizens' access to justice and law enforcement; how about the state of violation of human rights, custodial tortures, deaths and extra-judicial killings; how about the state of rights and securities of the many disadvantaged sections of the society - women, children and the disabled, as well as communities in disadvantaged situations for ethnic, religious and other identities; what prevented people from getting the basic entitlements and services provided by the state like education, health, safety nets and humanitarian assistance, and what would be the scenario if such data could be disaggregated by income levels?

    The sixth chapter of the book dealing with the role of civil society is very interesting. It also picks up one particular area as thrust - human trafficking, which is quite important. Again, the logic behind selecting this instead of many other areas that the civil society and NGOs are active on is not sufficiently explained. The authors do provide a snapshot of the issue-areas that civil society organisations are engaged in with implications for NTS. The attempt made in the section to show the "Frequency of CSOs Role in Insecurity Events" (table 5.1), is commendable. But it is not clear why only one and a quarter newspapers were relied upon to monitor the vast range of CSO activities. More so, a paper picked for the survey that accounts for a far lower proportion of readership than many others. This is not to question the credibility of the paper though, but to suggest that, in future, the information base for such assessment should be more representative. A more pertinent approach could be to assess specific contributions the CSOs have made not only in service deliveries with human security implications, but also in terms of the whole range of legal, institutional and policy reforms that had to do with civil society activism in Bangladesh.

    Finally, the book is on national security, and quite a lot of it is about non-traditional and human security. It is about a paradigm shift in favour of putting the people first. It is very useful and appropriate that BIISS produces such rich literature. But the question is, whether it is reaching the people in a useful manner? To what proportion of people does this publication in English make sense? I may also be blamed for the same folly not only because this review is in English, but also because during my own association with BIISS from early 1980s to mid-90s, all its publications also used to be in English. But we need to learn from past mistakes. If not the whole book, a substantive summary of the publication preferably in a manner that can be understood by readers outside the confines of academe and research for circulation not only in the capital but also local levels as deeply and widely as possible. Security discourse remains an exclusive domain of a very limited number of researchers and professionals, mainly because of our failure to inform and engage the people in whose interest this discourse is supposed to be.

     It is about issues of their security, their life, living and well-being, in which they must have a voice to raise, demand to create, and a critical role to play. This extremely useful production of knowledge on security will be more meaningful if the people are informed and engaged. Reviewed by Iftekharuzzaman Executive Director, Transparency International Bangladesh.

    http://www.biiss.org/BIISS_JOURNAL.php?filename=journal/Octoberl2009_issue.html



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