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Monday, August 9, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Will Britain's India charm offensive work?



Will Britain's India charm offensive work?
 
 
Can Britain charm India? wonders Spectator magazine with a cover illustration inspired by the oldest oriental cliché - a snake charmer (David Cameron, in this case, who is making his first visit as prime minister to India) trying to rouse a drowsy and a rather contended looking snake (India). Jo Johnson, former Financial Times Delhi correspondent and now a Conservative MP, writes in the magazine that Britain's relationship with India is outdated. A friend in Delhi says the cover cartoon is a good example: the inability to get over a colonial vision of a land of hippy snake charmers, lumbering elephants, sleepy hill stations and stubborn natives!

The magazine also hints at a confused UK view. On the one hand, it says, Britain's aid agencies tend to see India as an "impoverished aid recipient"; on the other, Mr Cameron and his ministers will be there "begging for India's money". Mr Cameron himself makes no bones about it. "Economic power is shifting - particularly to Asia - so Britain has to work harder than ever before to earn its living in the world. I'm not ashamed to say that's one of the reasons
why I'm here in India," he wrote in The Hindu newspaper.

So has India outgrown Britain? Or, as my colleague Sanjoy Majumder wonders, does
India really care? Or does the new India, as Mihir Bose suggests in an essay, value its British past but is no longer in awe of it?

Some of the colonial tradition endures - India's civil service (sluggish and in dire need of reform), its army (largely professional, non-sectarian and apolitical) and the English language (once the pan-Indian language of the elite which now everybody aspires to learn as a passport to jobs). Maybe even cricket, which sociologist
Ashis Nandy famously described as an "Indian game accidentally discovered by the English".

But many believe that the British - and Indians themselves - have always overestimated the influence of Britain on its former colony. As early as in 1964 British broadcaster and author
Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: "As the years pass, British rule in India comes to seem as remote as the battle of Agincourt."

One reason, many Indian analysts say, is that most of the colonial experience was extremely unsavoury. They point to the tendency of the British rulers to cultivate local elites, empowering some of them and dividing the masses. (
Lord Macaulay who spearheaded the founding of India's education system, suggested it set up natives who were "Indian in colour and blood, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect".)

The collaboration with entrenched elites strengthened feudalism in what was already a deeply hierarchical society. Income, urbanisation, education and health care stagnated. Average economic growth in the first half of the century under British rule was 1%. Colonial trade was extractive and exploitative, leaving India poorer. Sunil Khilnani, a leading scholar, says "the cultural reach of British rule was steady as far as it went, but it was never very deep". Even the colonial understanding of this complex nation was suspect, many say. Winston Churchill famously predicted that if the British left India the country "will fall back quite rapidly through the centuries into barbarism and privations of the Middle Ages".

Post-Independence, in Jawaharlal Nehru's "non-aligned" India, Americans were seen by India as the new colonisers. But Indians continued to flock to the US chasing jobs and businesses. In the mid-1980s when the first big rock concert came to India, the Delhi audience sang along to Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band's sardonic anthem, Born In the USA. "I didn't know you knew the lyrics!" the surprised singer said. Over the decades, as India has found its place in the world economy, the old distrust is gone, and the civilian nuclear deal has brought the two countries closer than ever before. Indians adore Bill Gates. The young love listening to Black Eyed Peas and Green Day and watching Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise.

It will not be easy for Mr Cameron to retrieve lost ground: America's trade with India is three times that of Britain's, India is not happy with restrictions on non-EU migration and politics - like the Labour Party's insistence on raising the Kashmir issue in the past - can end up souring relations. "I know Britain cannot rely on sentiment and shared history for a place in India's future," Mr Cameron says. Both India and Britain will he hoping that he walks the talk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2010/07/can_britain_charm_india_wonders.html



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[ALOCHONA] A necessary culture of criticism



A necessary culture of criticism
 
Faisal Hamid
 
I had a meeting with an Awami League minister a few days back. He was dressed in white, smiled widely, and was as congenial as could be. We spoke for over an hour, during which he laughed at consistent intervals and polished his words; predictable of a party big wig. While I expected polished words, I was blown away by how flawless the polish was—it was a conversation about Bangladesh after all.
 
The goal of my interview was to glean some insight to problems in Bangladeshi government that could be helped if brought to light. Try as I might with every rhetorical tool I had, I found a sealed chest. He listed certain "challenges" the government was facing but was quick to highlight the innovative approaches it had already adopted to meet them.
 
I was troubled upon hearing this Awami League commercial. He urged me to come back to the country after my studies at Yale because Bangladesh was quickly coming to the "top." His proof, however, was quite revealing of a critical problem with the Awami League and Bangladesh's political culture—the utter lack of critical self-examination.
 
He cited the fact that Bangladesh was a leader in the anti-climate change campaign. Rather than being a point of pride, that fact should be a reminder of how vulnerable we are. He proudly cited the fact that Bangladesh has already collected Tk 800 billion in taxes and planned on increasing that amount to Tk 950 billion—both of which are abysmal to anyone else. The fact that we are the world's number one contributor of UN troops (almost all of our countrymen in this category are also desperately poor) and the fact that we don't have a major problem with terrorists were all listed as proof of why Bangladesh was going places.
 
If these are the medals one of our top politicians wore proudly, I am worried. The signs of Bangladesh going places would be nine percent economic growth, a significant reduction in poverty, and a fall in corruption. Whether or not a lot of our troops are wearing blue helmets seems almost trivial.
 
The Bangladesh I know is desperately poor, desperately corrupt, and desperately in need of innovative leadership. The minister was boastful of almost irrelevant accomplishments, revealing a startling complacency with Bangladesh's severe problems. If our leaders have such low expectations of our country, we may eventually go places but we'll move slowly.
 
The minister's complacency has reason—he and rest of the ruling party leaders are not used to being critical of their party. Bangladeshi politics lacks a culture of self-criticism necessary for development. Our politicians would be astonished to hear President Obama's closest advisers, like Vice President Joe Biden and the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel publicly criticise Obama's policies. This culture of self-criticism allows for real debate within the ruling party, where it matters most.
 
The current government has disturbingly continued this dangerous precedent. Instead of being self-critical, our government seems very interested in magnifying and publicising incremental improvements upon the last government's track record. Incremental change is unacceptable, so are 5 percent or 6 percent growth rates. The deterioration of our judicial system is unacceptable. The reason why our slow rate of development is unacceptable is that there are so many examples of countries that were poorer but are now leapfrogging above us. They are our model. Malaysia is our model, as is Indonesia and India, not the previous BNP government.
 
As the world becomes flatter, our standard needs to become international. While our government's efficacy is certainly improving and our economy is inching upwards, we are being left behind. China's quarterly growth "slowed down" to 10.3 percent. India has introduced an array of social security measures. Even Pakistan maintains a GDP double the size of ours.
 
We don't have to reinvent the development wheel. There are different wheels of different sizes out there and Bangladesh needs to craft its own. As of now, the process is often awry and only somewhat corrected every five years with the change of power. However, if our government adopted a culture of self-criticism, we could correct our development process much sooner.
 
The current government's top leadership needs to adopt the most critical eye possible on its policies and hold this critical eye to an international standard. Catching up to our impressive neighbors will require us to be nimble.  Right now this eye is blindfolded by apathy rooted in pure clientele politics.
 
Voters have all the power to alleviate political danger associated with bold, constructive criticism by rewarding such courage. As the renowned American historian Howard Zin said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
 
Faisal Hamid works as an intern to aviation and tourism minister G M Quader
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] Experts divided over benefits of billion dollar deal



Experts divided over benefits of billion dollar deal

The billion dollar Indian credit line agreement has come up for critical scrutiny apparently on the merit of the projects as to how much they are having national priority to be implemented by taking a commercial loan.

The 14 projects to be executed under the loan are on top of the list of India for opening its transit route through Bangladesh to the northeast.

The Awami League-led government has taken the political decision to this effect but critics wondered why it has taken the decision to finance basically Indian projects with a huge loan.

The projects in the list are aimed at developing supportive infrastructures to create necessary conditions to create transit through Bangladesh.

BIDS research director Dr KAS Murshed in a recent work on India-Bangladesh-Northeast: Transit and Strategic Configuration ruled out the claim that Bangladesh will anyway benefit from the opening of transit.

Many people here toeing the government policy line tend to say that Bangladesh would fetch up to US$ 3.0 from transit related activities annually.

The Indian team visiting Ashuganj after the signing of the loan agreement to see the riverine spot to develop the port of call there made similar claim. But all such claims are misleading and having no basis of any cost-benefit calculation, knowledgeable sources said.

Even the World Bank and such other organisations promoting the transit corridor is yet to carry out such cost-benefit estimate and people wonder why they are not doing it. Murshed, however opined that railway may have some relevance to transit but the revenue prospect from railway transit will also remain limited up to US$ 30 million. But the country may stand to lose market in the northeast from such opening to direct Indian traffic, he maintained.

People wonder if the country is really buying troubles with the credit line and moreover how will it repay the money without viable revenue income from the facilities.

Akbar Ali Khan, a former secretary and adviser of the caretaker government wondered whether the projects to be funded under the loan are really essential for Bangladesh.

He told the press that taking such loans is not something new, but the nation must have critical assessment on the merits and demerits of such loans to be used for funding projects.

He said India always remained a critical factor to Bangladesh politics. So before doing anything the country should have its own critical exercise.

He said the serious question is not the rate of interest at 1.75 percent per annum with 0.50 commitment fees on unutilized credit after 12 months or the 20 repayment period is enough or not.

It is reported that under the agreement, Bangladesh has the obligation to buy 80 percent of the merchandise from Indian suppliers, in addition to sourcing hundred percent consultancy services.

It means the tied loan will make sure the recycling of the money to the Indian economy, except making some payment to local labours.

The higher commitment fees for the loan is moreover, focused on making sure that the entire loan should be used in time to avoid penalty and to achieving total Indian strategic goals without failing.

This is why the Prime Minister is reported to be partly unhappy with the terms of the loan, news reports said.

BNP and the major opposition termed the loan as quite 'disgraceful' and landed sharp criticism against it. But Finance Minister AMA Muhith said it would help create condition to making Bangladesh a 'best servicing transit nation' in the region.

Pranab Mukherjee speaking after the signing of the agreement here said, he is "confident that this credit line will be the stepping stone for a shared destiny to transform our bilateral engagement."
 


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[ALOCHONA] Kuakata dokhol



Kuakata dokhol
 
 
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] India seeks an exalted global profile



India seeks an exalted global profile

Praful Bidwai

A characteristic of India's ruling elite is its insatiable appetite for symbols of grandeur and obsession with exclusivity. Witness the jubilation over India joining the global Nuclear Club, New Delhi's smug satisfaction at being invited into the Group of 20, and its tireless effort to get a permanent Security Council seat.

Such craving for status comes naturally to our upper crust which spends millions of rupees on exhibitionist weddings and local gymkhana or golf course membership. Status fetishism drives it to buy its children's admissions to super-expensive schools.

Of a piece with this is New Delhi's decision is to create a new sign for the Rupee. "With this", said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Rupee "will join the select club of currencies such as the U.S. Dollar, British Pound sterling, Euro and the Japanese Yen…." Even China's Yuan doesn't enjoy such status.

It's doubtful if the new Rupee symbol "captures the Indian ethos", as claimed. It's an amalgam of the Roman and Devanagari scriptsand lacks high recognition value given the world's unfamiliarity with Devanagari.

The Dollar, Pound and Yen have been convertible for decades. The Euro sign is new, but its stylised "e" conveys continuity with the Greek letter epsilonand with the European civilisational heritage. The Rupee sign lacks such attributes.

It's hard to see the world readily adopting a new sign for a non-convertible currency in which very little trade occurs. India's foreign trade represents only 1.3 percent of the global totalin contrast to the US's or China's one-tenth.

Currencies in which governments hold their foreign reserves, and oil, gas, minerals and metals are traded, enjoy a special status. Here, the Dollar remains dominant although the Euro is growing.

China has just displaced Japan as the world's Number Two economy. If China sells off its enormous $2 trillion-plus holdings of US government bonds, it can cause the US economy's collapse. Yet, the Yuan isn't the world's reserve currency. And India's GDP is only one-fourth that of China.

The Rupee symbol, then, is less about global acceptance of India's economic superpowerdom than about its ruling elite's grandiose self-image. The world sees India as an emerging power, not even as The Next China. China is an industrial and manufacturing giant. India isn't. India is seen asand in reality, remainsa poor country.

However, New Delhi's policy-makers obsessively want to raise India's profile. Consider India's hubris-driven attempt to transform itself from an official development assistance (ODA) recipient to an aid-donor.

The attempt goes back to the India Development Initiative announced in 2003, when India kicked out all aid-donors barring sixUS, UK, Russia, Germany, Japan and the European Union (EU). It declared it wouldn't accept tied aid. And it launched a tiny ODA programme for poorer countries.

The BJP-led government did this in a fit of pique at the worldwide criticism of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom and some EU countries' effort to fund the victims' rehabilitation. The move was political. Thus, US and Russian aid was retained although it's minuscule. But substantial Dutch and Nordic aid was stopped.

This is morally reprehensible. A government which has failed to eradicate poverty and huge income divides in 60 years has no right to refuse aid which could benefit the poor.

The United Progressive Alliance continued this policy. In 2004, it launched a power-projection drive by sending relief material in naval ships to several tsunami-affected countries.

India has since stepped up loan guarantees, technical training and ODA to some poorer countries. This was done partly to balance growing Chinese influence in Africa. But China is in an altogether different league. Its ODA is $25 billion. India's is under $1 billion.

Yet, India continues to depend on aid, including annual $2-billion bilateral assistance. Some of this is well-targeted: two-thirds of British aid goes to health and education. India is also the World Bank group's biggest borrower, on which for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and metro railway depend.

Indian aid has doubtless done some good in Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Especially relevant are Indian training programmes for legislators, judges, police, diplomats and technicians. India's $1.7-billion aid for Afghanistan has attracted praise because of its fine targeting, emphasis on capacity-building, and elimination of middlemen.

However, much of India's aid is tied to Indian goods and services. This contrasts with India's own refusal to accept tied aid!

Double standards also prevail in India-Africa economic relations, based on the extraction of oil, gas and minerals. India, like China, is practising mercantile colonialism in Africa, for which it rightly criticises Western imperialists. India must rethink its Africa relations and aid policy.

Today, neither India nor China presents a model worthy of emulation by poorer countries. India's rapid growth has extracted a high price: ecological destruction and explosive disparities.

India's social sector record is abysmal. The UN Development Programme has just released its Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) estimates, which assess deprivations in education, health, assets and services, besides income.

There are more MPI-poor (421 million) in eight Indian statesBihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengalthan in the 26 poorest African countries combined.

India can set a worthy example through an equitable, balanced, climate-responsible development model which assures basic needs and dignity for all its people, including food security, safe drinking water, sanitation, healthcare, education and public participation.

India can also put its growing global power to good use by representing underprivileged peoples and nations and demanding reform of today's unequal global order.

Tragically, there's no domestic debate about the purposes of India's power and how India should contribute to making the world a better place.

India will be ultimately judged by the world not on the basis of GDP growth, IT achievements or number of billionaires, but success in combating poverty, creating a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood, and making a better world possible. To do this, its elite must give up its delusions of grandeur.end--

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.

Email:
bidwai@bol.net.in
 


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[ALOCHONA] FW: Shoe-throwing pictures drowned in Pakistan




 


Subject:

Committee to Protect Journalists

330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA     Phone: (212) 465‑1004     Fax: (212) 465‑9568     Web: www.cpj.org     E-Mail: media@cpj.org

http://www.cpj.org

Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator 

bdietz@cpj.org

+1 609 647 3075

 

Amid massive flooding, government shuts down two Pakistani news stations

 

New York, August 9, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the Pakistani government to allow GEO TV and ARY News stations back on the air. The shutdown, coupled with demonstrations by government supporters outside the cable companies' facilities Saturday night came soon after the stations aired news about a protester throwing shoes at Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari during a speech in England.

 

According to ARY News' Washington correspondent Jamal Khan Baluch: "On Saturday evening in Karachi, the staff of President Zardari called cable operators and ordered them to block ARY News transmissions all over Pakistan. When some cable operators refused to do so, they started threatening and sent their armed people to different cable operators' locations, where they started firing towards their offices and their staff." There were no serious injuries reported. Staffers at Geo News in Pakistan confirmed the story. Both networks' news desks said the ban is still in effect. According to Pakistani media reports, the demonstrators outside of the cable companies' facilities were supporters of Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

 

The shoe-throwing incident occurred in Birmingham on Saturday night, as Zardari was speaking to a closed meeting of Pakistanis who live in England. The official Pakistani government news service issued a story stating the reports were not true, citing "the sensational and unverified reporting by media." The Associated Press reported from Birmingham that the unnamed heckler was apparently angered by the government's poor response to widespread flooding in the country that has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

 

Soon after the Saturday incident, GEO's website reported that some PPP leaders and government officials had warned cable operators across the country to cease transmission of GEO, but most refused to do so. As of this morning, "most of the cable companies in all the large cities have been forced to stop carrying ARY and Geo—it's not just in Karachi," Baluch told CPJ today.

 

"With Pakistan in the middle of the civil calamity brought about by massive flooding, the country needs its news media more than ever," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "Shutting down two leading cable operators during a critical time in Pakistan is frankly a selfish attempt by the government to protect itself. The order to take GEO TV and ARY News is a monumental error, and should be rescinded immediately."

 

The Associated Press of Pakistan reported today that 1,204 have died and 1,309 have been injured, with 4,772 villages and more than 3 million people affected by the flooding. The United Nations put the number of affected considerably higher. The U.N. estimates that 6 million people have been affected by the floods, which have inundated villages, killing people and destroying homes, crops, the infrastructure, and other property. Continuing rainfall has been hampering the emergency humanitarian response.

 

Today, journalists demonstrated in front of Karachi Press Club, protested the shutdown of the stations, demanding they be allowed back on the air.

 

 

CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.   

 

 

Bob Dietz

Asia Program Coordinator

Committee to Protect Journalists

330 Seventh Ave, 11th floor

New York, NY 10001

+1 212 465 1004    ext 140

www.cpj.org

 

The Committee to Protect Journalists is a

New York-based, non-profit, non-partisan

organization dedicated to defending

press freedom around the world.

 

 



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[ALOCHONA] Re: Bolshie Bangladesh



RE: 'Bolshie Bangladesh'

 

Zoglul Husain

zoglul@hotmail.co.uk

 

In my view, the writer is utterly confused and his sweeping comments are not at all tenable. His view that the 'left-leaning' thinking is the root cause of all economic ills and that capitalism is the panacea, is not supported by the history of economic development of the world.

 

He wrote, "Bangladeshis wonder why their country can't attract even a fraction of the funds that flow to Vietnam." But he does not explain why the 'left-leaning' government of Vietnam attracts 'funds'. He does not explain why the 'left-leaning' governments of China, as many loosely claim, have achieved more economic developments in thirty years than what Europe achieved in three hundred years. Or how China has already become the second largest economic power in the world, next only to the US. He does not explain why Russia, one of the most backward economic powers in Europe before 1917, achieved very fast and spectacular economic development to become the second super-power in the world by the 'left-leaning' governments and why, when the Russian governments followed the 'right-leaning' policies and developed into an imperialist power to move army into Afghanistan, brought about their own downfall as well as the implosion of the Soviet Union.

 

The writer does not explain why the imperialist globalisation and the so-called free market economy fell flat on the ground after the world economic crisis of 2008-09 and why the US as an economic power is now downhill and why we have already entered an Asian century from the economic point of view.

 

The writer does not seem to understand why the modern world goes for free labour and rejects un-free labour, such as slavery, serfdom, bonded labour, prison labour, etc. He is far from understanding the meaning of the principles of the 1776 declaration of American Independence, in which the second sentence is a sweeping human rights declaration: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' He does not understand why modern welfare states in the West try to go for an equitable wage floor for all. He does not seem to have a clue of the principles of equality laid down in Prophet Muhammad's (SAWS) Last Hajj Sermon!

 

Coming back to Bangladesh, the writer does not seem to understand that we wanted the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 for one reason, but India wanted to divide Pakistan for a different reason. He does not seem to understand that the Mujib regime was fully under Indian control and that the nationalisation, done then, was firstly because the West Pakistani owners of industries had left Bangladesh and there was no ready capitalist class in Bangladesh to take over, and also because there was conspiracy by India to impede economic development of Bangladesh. In this period India registered a sharp growth in their jute business, while the Bangladesh jute mills were in ruins. The words 'democracy', 'socialism' and 'secularism' in Bangladesh constitution were taken from the Indian constitution and no government of Bangladesh was anywhere near 'socialism', indeed Mujib killed 15 thousand JSD 'socialists' and 15 thousand other patriots and 'leftists'. As regards India, there was no government in India, which was anywhere near 'solialism'. On the other hand, Indian 'secularism' means BJP's great domination in Indian politics and a BJP government for about six years and the communal forces perpetrating riots after riots in India. Thus, apart from slogans to hoodwink the people, India in reality is neither 'democratic', nor 'secular', nor 'socialist'.

 

On the wage questions of RMG sector in Bangladesh, may I refer to Arshad Mahmud's (a journalist in the US, probably non-political) article in bdnews24.com, published on 4 August 2010, as follows:

 

Can the garment workers be subdued?
 by Arshad Mahmud
 
 


On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Bolshie Bangladesh
 
Stoking anticapitalism sentiment is a sure-fire way to stay poor.
 
By K. ANIS AHMED
 
As Chinese wages rise, other developing Asian nations have an opportunity to attract industries that are being priced out of the mainland. Vietnam and Indonesia are already benefitting from shifting investment, and Bangladesh should too. But the country is being held back by one critical shortcoming—hostility to the free market.
 
The Bangladeshi economy has plenty of other handicaps, to be sure. Some pin the blame for slow growth on political corruption and poor governance. Others cite power shortages and the lack of good roads and efficient ports. All this is true.
 
However, after decades of reform and tweaking policies, it's time we admitted that the problem with the business environment goes deeper. Socialist thinking pervades public-policy circles and the public debate.
 
This might surprise outsiders, as Bangladesh was never a communist state. But socialism was one of the country's four founding principles, and many industries were nationalized in the 1970s. Leftist intellectuals who pushed Bangladesh toward socialism four decades ago continue to have an outsized influence in their new incarnations as heads of nongovernmental organizations, think tanks and media outfits.
 
These thought leaders mean well, and they don't see themselves as opposing investment. Indeed, no one argues for outright socialism anymore; rather they agitate in the name of worthy goals such as "rights" or "social equity." The dialogue goes awry, however, because the intelligentsia don't recognize wealth creation as the ultimate solution to welfare.
 
The government often includes left-leaning civic leaders on committees to review laws, while excluding industry representatives. The resulting laws are hostile to investors. For example, new legislation in the higher education sector would impose harsh restrictions and penalties on the institutions. Private universities are forbidden from collateralizing any assets, even for the university's development, though the same law requires them to build expensive campuses.
 
In the housing sector, a new "Detailed Area Plan" has finally been published. Almost two decades in the making, it has been outpaced by a doubling population and unplanned sprawl. It no longer answers the housing needs of one of the world's most densely populated capitals. While the government is now trying to broaden the dialogue to find practicable solutions, a segment of the activists and media seem more interested in punishing developers.
 
More puzzling perhaps is a new telecommunications law that imposes astonishing fines and leaves little room for appeals. It also grants the ministry sweeping powers to change licensing terms. This sector has drawn millions in foreign investment in recent years. In all these cases, the regulators' need for control seems to override any concern about investor reaction.
 
All this has created a culture in which companies can be attacked with impunity, with certain NGOs and the media stoking workers' grievances. Last Friday, a mob of garment workers rioted in central Dhaka, smashing vehicles and attacking police. This despite the fact that the government just raised the minimum wage by 80%. A number of garment-industry owners have sold off their stakes in the industry citing violence by workers, even though their factories were compliant with local and international regulations.
 
The Bangladeshi people are naturally entrepreneurial. From the hundreds of garment factories to the innumerable workshops and tea-houses lining the roads and highways, the sheer irrepressible desire of the people to work is evident everywhere. Yet this urge is suppressed. It is almost as if the country is divided against itself.
 
Society puts the highest value on being an intellectual, so that the brightest students compete to get into the public universities. They then join a tiny elite, who imbibe the leftist ideology at school, enter the bureaucracy and NGOs, and keep promoting retrograde policies and ideas.
 
As long as most local intellectuals consider a capitalist identity or ideology a terrible stigma to avoid at almost all costs, there is little hope for a more pragmatic dialogue. No country that constantly disavows the principles of capitalism can become prosperous. The burden of anti-business laws affects millions of micro-decisions and actions that make up a day's commercial activity. Even a tiny hesitation at every turn can add up to a large difference between competing economies.
 
Bangladeshis wonder why their country can't attract even a fraction of the funds that flow to Vietnam. Fixing infrastructure and tackling corruption will help. But the country won't succeed until deeply rooted hostility toward business is repudiated.
 
Mr. Ahmed is vice president of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Foundation.
 



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[ALOCHONA] Islam is transformation, so is Ramadan. Happy Ramadan.

Islam is transformation, from dark to the light. To more light in innerself and outerself in gradual proposition.
We need to establish a culture, our own culture that is Islamic.
Ramadan is transformation, transformation to brighter proposition; culture, culture of sacrifice, devotion, polity, humbleness, humanity, sanity and compassion.
Our hunger , deprivation of sleep, hardship that we endure or strive to endure during the month of Ramadan let not go it astray because we failed to put it on real perspective – earning His guidance and blessings only.
May Allah accept your all deeds for Ramadan. May Allah guide the Islamic Ummah.


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[ALOCHONA] Survival of dynasties in south Asia attests to the legacy of British rule



Survival of dynasties in south Asia attests to the legacy of British rule

It was always an unlikely location for the crown prince of Pakistan to be formally presented to his nation. Birmingham is a long way from the bustle of Karachi, the bazaars of Peshawar or the barracks of Rawalpindi.But it was in the Midlands city that President Asif Ali Zardari, the current leader of Pakistan, was supposed to watch over the political coming out of his son Bilawal today.

In the event, the investiture of the 21-year-old scion of the Bhutto dynasty was postponed – due to the humanitarian crisis back home in Pakistan. But that it will one day take place seems inevitable. The south Asian dynasties remain strong.

In India, the great local democracy, Rahul Gandhi, 40, is almost certain to succeed the incumbent Manmoham Singh at some stage to become a fourth-generation prime minister, or at least principal candidate. In Bangladesh, the decades-old rivalry between Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wazed for control of the country continues that between the late husband of one and the father of the other. Both died bloodily.

In Burma, Nobel prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of assassinated nationalist leader Aung San. In Sri Lanka, the son of controversial president Mahinda Rajapaksa has just won a seat in the family fief of Hambantota. At state or provincial level in all these countries, similar dynamics are at work.

Experts point to different reasons for the tenacity of dynastic politics in the subcontinent. One is the need for any successful politician to bolster the hold on power by recruiting loyal retainers who will not defect for material gain; another is the importance of personalities in contests stripped of ideological content; a third is high levels of illiteracy, which make a famous name a determining factor for tens of millions of voters.

One common strand uniting the dynasties is that most of them speak English as a first language. Along with railways and a swollen bureaucracy, it may be that British rule bequeathed something else too: a taste for hereditary power.

The UK may not be so inappropriate a location for the crown prince of Pakistan to receive his sword and sceptre after all – if, of course, he does eventually decide to enter politics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/08/bilawal-bhutto-pakistan-dynasty



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