Daily Online Alochona: Dec 17, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Wikileaks Expose': Bangladesh

Wikileaks Expose': Bangladesh

http://av.bdnews24.com/file/wiki/Wiki.pdf

__._,_.___

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

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Critics catapulting Dr Yunus to higher celebrity

Critics catapulting Dr Yunus to higher celebrity

by Maswood Alam Khan Maryland, USA

Most of the educated, liberal and mostly very pleasant people I met or talked to and the articles I read during the last few days on the recent allegations against Dr Yunus and Grameen Bank told it was unfortunate that of all people Bangladeshi writers, journalists and politicians made scurrilous remarks about a person who made Bangladesh known to the world by his role as 'a banker to the poor' and earned a Nobel prize for peace. Only a few who supported the onslaught of abuse on the Grameen Bank, I found out to my chagrin, were those who are afraid of Dr Yunus's meteoric rise to fame.

Last Sunday, Dr. Muhammad Yunus while speaking at a press conference that was arranged in the Grameen Bank Headquarters in Dhaka said certain quarters and individuals had been showing enthusiasm in fabricating news and misinterpreting the contents aired by the National Norwegian Television, NRK, spreading an impression that he had diverted foreign funds in an irregular manner and embezzled money. Terming such fabrication of fact sad and unfortunate Dr Yunus stated that the "Grameen Bank is a transparent institution".

One particular point of one of Dr Yunus's contentions that drew my attention as I could read from the news reports on the press conference, published in different Bangladeshi newspapers, on the question of Grameen Bank's fund transfer to Grameen Kallyan is:

"Grameen Bank, in Dr Yunus's language, had committed no wrong by transferring its money to Grameen Kallyan. The transfer was done to protect Grameen Bank from taxation just to reduce the company's expenses and for the best utilization of the fund to meet the purpose it was donated for. There was nothing in it for evading tax, but only taking the opportunity provided by the government as all other companies do."

My curiosity on Dr Yunus's assertion: Should Grameen Bank be equated with a company owned by a Tom, Dick and Harry? More than 80 percent private companies in Bangladesh evade tax in a variety of crude and unethical methods. Those unscrupulous companies sniff around for unholy opportunities such as 'lending money to a religious or philanthropic organization which is conventionally exempted from paying tax and then borrowing the same money from the recipient of the fund for a commercial purpose to hoodwink the tax authorities so that both the philanthropic organization and the commercial one---both in most cases owned by the same entity---are exempted from paying any tax: one showing the money as grant for charity and the other showing the borrowing as a liability burdened by interest. Such dubious transaction is what is termed by learned chartered accountants as "Lend and Leaseback".

But Dr Yunus must be honored as a real philanthropist and a true 'banker to the poor', very rare to find in our country, if Grameen Kallyan did pay in whole the tax payable to the government for gaining the fund or (if tax in whole was not paid by Grameen Kallyan) if Grameen Bank had lent the 'Grant' of US$ 100 million received from the donor agencies as microloans to the poor at no interest, or at best at effective nominal interest of 2 percent to cover the administrative cost, considering the fact that the Grant (if it was interest-free and not ever to be refunded back to the donors) was quite obviously handed to Grameen Bank as a revolving fund with a view to lessening the burden of interest on the shoulders of the poor.

When a bank builds up its funds for lending that are usually collected from depositors or borrowed from a third bank or an agency at a given rate of interest the cost of fund as well as its rate of interest for onward lending is high compared to that derived from a grant as the bank has also to pay interest to depositors or creditors. But when a bank gets a grant, which is interest-free and never to be refunded, the fund is almost cost-free and can easily be invested in onward lending at zero interest rate.

The readership and the audience of the news media would have been immensely relieved to hear from the mouth of Dr Yunus numeric details and breakups with a clear-cut percentile ranking of average profit Grameen Bank makes out of a unit of microloan disbursed and how Grameen Bank did actually evaluate the cost of fund of the $100 million-Grant and during the last 14 years what effective rate of interest was charged on the disbursed microloans derived from the same Grant.

Another point that perhaps circumvented many readers' attention but somehow touched a chord with me was when in reply to a question on interest rate Dr Yunus said the rate of interest of Grameen Bank is 20 per cent at the highest slab, which, he claimed, was much lower than that of many NGOs. But he didn't explain whether it was an effective rate of interest or a published rate of interest.

One should bear in mind that there is a huge difference between published rate of interest and its effective rate. A published rate of 20 percent interest rate may settle at 30 to 40 percent effective rate when interest is computed on flat rate basis irrespective of loan installments a borrower pays back periodically. Grameen Bank and other NGOs compute interest on flat rate basis. On the other hand interest computation on diminishing outstanding balance, as is practiced by the state-owned banks, yields lower than the published rate if the borrower pays back periodical installments resulting in diminishing balance in his/her loan outstanding.

It's a tragedy that the rural poor don't pay back collateral-free micro-loans taken from state-owned banks as there is not much pressure for loan recovery from those state-owned banks while the same borrowers religiously pay back loans taken from NGOs, thanks to intensive pressure the loan supervisors of NGOs exert on the micro borrowers to pay back their loan installments on weekly basis with a view to benumbing their pains of interest burden through quick recovery in the shortest possible span of time, lest the micro borrowers feel sacred on finding a high figure of loan outstanding at the end of a longer period of repayment schedule, say after month or a year.

Notwithstanding the financial irregularities in Grameen Bank, true or false, Dr Yunus did stand on a very high moral ground when during the press conference he said: "I don't own a single share of Grameen Bank or any other institution of the Grameen family and I want to make it clear that I get no financial benefit, house, car or anything else from any institution established by me except from the Grameen Bank."

Does it mean that his close family members, like his wife and kids, also don't own any share of the Grameen family businesses? If so, we must shower Dr Yunus with tons of kudos. If such is the integrity of the Nobel peace laureate the critics who enthused in their spree of flinging harsh words at Dr Yunus must feel their faces now burning with shame. We now must give Dr Yunus a complete bow of our heads in profound respect.

Unlike the shallow-hearted politicians who have of late been enjoying a sadistic pleasure by suing their rivals in the courts of law in their spree for taking personal and political vengeances, Dr Yunus showed his Himalayan magnanimity when in reply to a question whether he would take legal actions against those who made him controversial he said: 'I do not want to go that way. What would be the benefit if we keep on quarreling?'

This is key moment for Dr Yunus to prove all the critics wrong and we are confident that he would make a clean breast of everything and make a clean sweep of Grameen family businesses, if there is any minor mistake here and there in the books of account. Dr Yunus must not be afraid of the critics who are sneering at him. These are the mean critics who are rather catapulting Dr Yunus to higher celebrity. These critics are small people; they are envious of Dr Yunus. They are weak and a sneer is their only weapon.

The nation needs a man or a woman of integrity, a man exactly like Dr Yunus who or whose family does not own a single share of any of those famous companies like Grameen Bank or Grameen Phone he had established with his sweat and blood.

Time is high when such a towering personality must take the helm of our leadership when our society is replete with greedy and corrupt elements, when the country is facing an acute leadership crisis, when the nation is veering like a ship without a radar, when we are not finding a statesman who could navigate us with a moral compass always in his hand and also with an iron fist always to beat the inept and the corrupt.

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1172/critics-catapulting-dr-yunus-to-higher-celebrity

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Shahrukh Khan's vulgar show in Bangladesh

Shahrukh Khan's vulgar show in Bangladesh

by Srabanti Majumder

December 12, 2010

People call him 'King Khan of Bollywood'! I would rather call him 'King of vulgarity'. The way he appeared in front of roughly 25,000 people at Dhaka's Army Stadium on December 10, 2010, which was also watched LIVE by millions of TV spectators, as Bangladeshi channel Boishakhi got this show on their LIVE broadcast, most of the time, the elders in the family were feeling so uncomfortable, when half nude Russian girls were exhibiting exposed bodies to public in the name of dancing. And of course, I felt ashamed for those Bangladeshi flop actresses like Shimla, who went at the Army Stadium wearing a Western type dress, almost exposing her body. I am sure; she wanted to get into the attention of Shahrukh Khan, hoping he would pick her up for any of his future shows anywhere in the world, where Shahrukh would love to lead the role of ring-master of a group of mere porn-star category performers.

And, Shahrukh Khan has shown his highest audacity to Bangladesh by uttering Bangla slang repeatedly while on the dais, which very clearly showed that this man has no respect for the host country, that brought him with huge amount of money [US$ 200,000]. During the month of liberation, Shahrukh Khan was trying to impose Hindi or English language on proud Bangladeshis. This was another huge audacity of this man.

Now let us look through the gross irregularities both by Shahrukh Khan and the local organizer of the event - Antar Showbiz:

1. To justify the reason, Swapan Chowdhury of Antar Showbiz repeatedly told Bangladeshi media that, Shahrukh Khan will vote for Sunderban during this visit and make an appeal to the world for voting in favor of Sunderban, which is the largest mangrove forest in the world. But, in reality, Shahrukh did nothing! This was a clear blackmailing attempt of Swapan Chowdhury, for which he should be definitely punished.

2. Swapan Chowdhury made public promises by calling press conference that, two sculptures of Shahrukh made by two poor rural students [both Hindus] in Bangladesh would be put on auction and the entire money received from the auction would be donated for education of these two poor brothers. On the day of the event, these two poor boys were waiting at the green-room of the dais for hours hoping Shahrukh Khan will do something in their favor and put the sculptures in auction. But, in reality, instead of doing that, the Bollywood Khan very shamelessly took both the sculptures with him as 'gift' without paying even a single bucks to the boys. The event organizer also did not pay anything. This was a huge deception both by Shahrukh and his organizers.

3. The organizers paid Valued Added Tax to the Bangladesh government for 15,000 spectators at the Army Stadium, while it was later even confessed by Swapan Chowdhury that, more than 27,000 tickets were sold.

4. Shahrukh Khan alone received US$ 200,000 for the show, while another significant amount of money was paid to other members of the team. Antar Showbiz mostly smuggled the amount through illegal means, which is a serious crime under Money Laundering Act of Bangladesh.

5. Indecent things took place at Dhaka's hotels, where the team members of Shahrukh Khan were housed [those females, especially Russian girls], who were reportedly engaged in illicit activities with the locals. It may be mentioned here that, most of the Russian girls, who accompanied the entourage of Khan are suspected to be sex-workers in Mumbai.

6. Shahrukh Khan violated Bangladeshi law by smoking in public in presence of TV cameras. Should he be even able doing this in India? No way! But, Shahrukh Khan did this, rather intentionally to show to Bangladeshi authorities that, he gives a damn to them.

7. Shahrukh Khan was allowed to use the VVIP terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. After checking facts, it is proved that, he does not enjoy any such privilege in any of the countries in the world, including his own country – India. It is a natural question as to why Bangladeshi government allowed Shahrukh Khan to use the VVIP terminal, when there were a number of VIP terminals at the airport? Who is the people showing over-enthusiasm in this matter?

The entire issue of this event should be immediately investigated for the sake of dignity of Bangladesh. Event organizer Swapan Chowdhury should be questioned for such series of illegal activities, including semi-nude show in the country during the month of liberation.

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1168/shahrukh-khan-vulgar-show-in-bangladesh

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Transit started without charges

Transit started without charges

http://budhbar.com/?p=3689

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] WikiLeaks cables: Rahul Gandhi warned US of Hindu extremist threat

WikiLeaks cables: Rahul Gandhi warned US of Hindu extremist threat

Scion of India's leading political family told ambassador radicalised Hindu groups could create religious tension and political confrontation

The Indian politician Rahul Gandhi, who a leaked cable said had claimed radical Hindu groups could pose a bigger threat than Islamic militants. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

A vicious political row has erupted in India after the publication today of leaked American diplomatic cables about Hindu extremism and human rights abuses.

The most explosive revelation has proved to be a cable reporting that Rahul Gandhi – the 40-year-old politician widely predicted to be India's next prime minister – told the US ambassador at a lunch last year that radical Hindu groups in India could pose a bigger threat to the country than Pakistan-based Islamic militants.

After a series of terrorist attacks by extremists from both religious communities over recent years, and a history of inter-faith violence, such views are deeply controversial.

Both the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and the ruling Congress party regularly accuse one another of playing on communal divisions for political aims.

Spokesmen for the BJP said Rahul Gandhi, who leads the youth wing of the ruling Congress party, had been "irresponsible".

"In one stroke, Rahul Gandhi has sought to give a big leverage to the propaganda of all terror groups operating from Pakistan and certain segments of the Pakistan establishment," Ravi Shankar Prasad, a BJP leader, said.

Prasad said the statement showed how little Gandhi, the son of the Italian-born Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi, knows about India.

The Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said the BJP "should act responsibly on the issues of national importance".

"[The] Bharatiya Janata party has a habit of communalising and politicising everything. Congress has always maintained that terrorism does not have any religion, terrorism does not have any caste and to fight terrorism is the duty of every Indian citizen," he told reporters.

Other cables published today also dominated the headlines.

One, from April 2005, reported how US diplomats in Delhi were briefed by a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the organisation's frustrations with the Indian government which, it said, had not acted to halt the "continued ill-treatment of detainees" in Kashmir.

The cable gave details of a presentation by the ICRC in which US diplomats heard of the systematic use of torture involving beatings, stretching and electric shocks in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004, based on research the humanitarian organisation had conducted in the violent former Himalayan princely state.

A spokesman for the ministry of external affairs in Delhi said India "is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law".

"If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms in an effective and transparent manner," the spokesman added.

"In India, there is a healthy tradition of democratic debate and freedom of expression on all issues that concern the welfare of our citizens anywhere in our country. Neither have we shied away from an open and candid discussion on such issues when raised by our international friends and partners."

The ICRC declined to comment on the cable.

The controversy over Rahul Gandhi comes at a bad time for the ruling coalition government, which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals that have badly dented its image.

Criticism of other senior Congress figures in the cables, including Sonia Gandhi, led to headlines describing India's first family as "Wiki-bombed" by a "twin Wiki-blast".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/india-wikileaks-cables-row

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Abuse Widespread In Kashmir Jails

Abuse 'Widespread' In Kashmir Jails

17 December, 2010

Leaked cable suggests US diplomats were briefed by the Red Cross of
continued torture in Indian-administered Kashmir

Torture has been routinely used in prisons in Indian-administered
Kashmir, a US cable released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks
has suggested.

The cable, released on Thursday, says that the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) had briefed US diplomats on widespread torture
in 2005.

The memo, titled "ICRC frustrated with the Indian government"dates
back to April 6, 2005, and outlines a confidential meeting in which
the ICRC told diplomats of "torture methods and relatively stable
trends of prisoner abuses by Indian security forces", based on data
derived from 1,491 interviews with detainees from 2002-2004.

ICRC was quoted as saying their staff made 177 visits to detention
centres in Jammu and Kashmir and conducted 1,296 private interviews,
but reported that "they had not been allowed access to all detainees".

Techniques included electric shock treatment, sexual and water torture
and nearly 300 cases of "roller" abuse in which a round metal object
is placed on the thighs of a sitting detainee and then sat on by
guards to crush the muscles, according to the cable.

The memo added that since torture and ill-treatment continues unbated,
"the ICRC is forced to conclude that the Government of India (GOI)
condones torture".

Prerna Suri, Al Jazeera's correspondent in New Delhi, said though
shocking, the allegations were not new.

"Human rights groups and activists have been bringing out all these
allegations in the last few years at various public fora," she said.

"The spokesperson of the government of India said that this is an
internal assessment of American diplomats, and for them isn't
something that would warrant a response to."

Suri added that India has consistently denied human rights abuses in
Kashmir, and that it is alleged that the root problem comes from a
special dispensation that governs Indian troops in Kashmir.

"The Armed Forces special Powers Act gives the army sweeping immunity
... They can pick up civilians who they think are perpetrators, and in
some cases they can also get away with killings and torture with any
prosecution ... and some say that this is where the rot actually stems
from".

Growing anger

Suri said the cable was likely to create more restlessness in the region.

"We have seen this year, some of the worst protests on the streets of
Srinagar ... Hundreds of thousands of people came out on to the
streets protesting [against] army rule."

The cable said the ICRC revealed to US diplomats that in 852 cases,
detainees reported cases of ill-treatment, including various forms of
torture. As many as 681 detainees were said to be subjected to more
than one form of ill-treatment.

The memo added that the ICRC reported that ill-treatment and torture
"is regular and widespread" and "always takes place in the presence of
officers" and that the ICRC "has raised these issues with the
government of India for more than 10 years".

The cable added that while the ICRC reported that security forces were
rougher on detainees in the past, "detainees were rarely militants
[they are routinely killed], but persons connected to or believed to
have information about the insurgency".

Violence linked to insurgents in Indian Kashmir has eased since
nuclear-armed India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 over
the disputed Himalayan region.

But popular pro-independence protests since June have left more than
110 protesters and bystanders -- many of them teenagers - dead.India
and Pakistan each hold part of Kashmir but claim it in full.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/12/201012176626768258.html

------------------------------------

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

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

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

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

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ALOCHONA] US embassy cables: Bangladesh At a Crossroads

US embassy cables: Indian officials tell US neither Sri Lanka
government nor Tamil Tigers respect international community

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 December 2010

Friday, 27 April 2007
C O N F I D E N T I A L

SUBJECT: INDIAN OFFICIAL SEES BANGLADESH AT CROSSROADS, SRI
LANKA DETERIORATING, BURMA RELATIONS BECOMING UNIDIMENSIONAL
Classified By: PolCouns Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)

Summary

Indian officials warn US counterparts the situation in Sri lanka is
"beyond bleak" and that neither the government nor Tamil separatists
fighting in the island nation's north have any "regard" for the
international community ... and request a briefing on China's aid to
Colombo. Key passage highlighted in yellow

1. (C) Summary. In a meeting with PolCouns on April 26, MEA Joint
Secretary Mohan Kumar:

-- said that the caretaker government in Bangladesh has reached a
crossroads by allowing Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to return,
stating such a move weakens the government and will force it to
reassert itself in some way; -- suggested the U.S., UK and India agree
on a core message to give the Bangladeshi caretaker government, one
that supports the government while it remains on a path toward
credible elections but clarifies that the military needs to remain out
of politics; -- provided his assessment that Chief Advisor Fakhruddin
is not in control of the government, but rather the executor for a
military which looms in the background; -- praised the progress which
has been made between the Indian Border Security Forces and the
Bangladeshi Rifles; -- asked for U.S. assistance in getting Bangladesh
to open its economy; -- stated Indian influence in Burma is waning,
suggesting that U.S. pressure to bring Burma before the UN Security
Council was

counterproductive; -- denied reports that India had provided Rangoon
with T-55 tanks; -- offered to verify whether India will fulfill a
request by a Burmese general to provide infantry weapons and
ammunition; -- confirmed that the Indian Navy is stepping up patrols
in the waters between India and Sri Lanka; and -- expressed concern
over China's participation in the port project in Hambantota, Sri
Lanka.

End Summary.

Bangladesh At a Crossroads
--------------------------
2. (C) PolCouns met April 26 with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
Joint Secretary (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar) Mohan
Kumar to discuss India's assessment of recent events in the region.
Also initially in attendance was British High Commission PolCouns Alex
Hall-Hall, who had coincidentally been discussing Bangladesh with
Kumar when PolCouns walked in. Kumar and Hall-Hall described their
conversation, agreeing that the recent decision by the caretaker
government (CTG) in Bangladesh to allow Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia
to return had put that country at a crossroads. The government had
gone back on its strategy to remove the two women from the political
scene, they assessed, would be weakened, and the question now was
whether the government will reassert itself by pushing the election
schedule forward, or by digging in its heels and seeking to remain in
power longer. Kumar presented a third option, that either the military
or one of the

women would stir up civil unrest, which could then be used as a
pretext by the military to step in and take political control,
although he admitted he did not believe a military coup was likely.
Kumar suggested that now would be an opportune moment for the U.S., UK
and India to agree on a core message to take to the caretaker
government, pressing for elections and voter list reforms, providing
support for the government as long as it sticks to a schedule for
elections, and making clear that the military needs to remain out of
politics. Hall-Hall noted that any coordination needed to remain
invisible to the Bangladeshi public in order to avoid the perception
of some sort of conspiracy.

3. (C) Kumar said India is concerned with the time frame for
Bangladeshi elections, given -- in his analysis -- that the government
has been weakened. He believed the interim government would benefit by
moving up elections to the first quarter of 2008. He noted that he had
been the notetaker for the April 4 meeting between Prime Minister
Singh and Chief Advisor Fakhruddin, and his impression was that
Fakhruddin "was not a free agent." Fakhruddin made no commitments and
could not clearly explain the government's strategy, leading Kumar to
believe Fakhruddin was merely the executor of the military's political
control.

4. (C) Kumar stated that good progress had been made in talks between
India's Border Security Forces and the Bangladesh Rifles. The five-day
February meeting between high-level officials was "fantastic," he
said, adding that guards on both sides of the border have cooperated
better since the meeting. (Note: Kumar's comments echo what Bangladesh
Embassy Political Minister Mashfee Binte Shams told Poloff earlier in
the week, that the BSF and BDR have relieved border tensions and
improved communications. End Note.)

5. (C) The U.S. and UK could help India by pressing Bangladesh to open
its economy and trade, Kumar suggested. Companies such as Tata, which
have made efforts to enter the Bangladeshi manufacturing market, are
reporting to Kumar that the CTG is impeding its entry into Bangladesh.
Kumar said he has met with representatives of the Asian Development
Bank, who have been positive regarding the potential for
infrastructure projects in the region, but in terms of assisting with
India-Bangladesh trade have only suggested some smaller connectivity
projects.

6. (C) PolCouns referred to press accounts of the recent visit to New
Delhi by Burmese Quartermaster General Lt. Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung
Myint Oo, which reported that Lt. Gen Tin had come requesting infantry
weapons and ammunition in return for the junta's help in flushing out
insurgents based along the border. Kumar said he was unaware of any
promises India made to provide such materiel, but would check on the
report's veracity. He stated India is losing influence -- and gas
deals -- in Burma to China, and suggested that American pressure on
India to press the junta on democracy and human rights was
counterproductive. The more the U.S. presses India to bring Burma
before the UN Security Council, he said, the more the Burmese tell
India to "go to hell." PolCouns strongly countered, pointing out the
junta's horrible record on human rights and democracy dating back
years, and stressed to Kumar that any assistance to the Burmese regime
by India would be poorly received by Washington.

7. (C) India-Burma relations have deteriorated to being
unidimensional, Kumar said, with the only cooperation being on the
anti-insurgency campaign along the border. India is not getting any
gas contracts from Burma ("We're getting screwed on gas" were Kumar's
exact words, reflective of his candid nature), nor is it getting the
transit rights it seeks which would open a bridge to East Asia.
Burmese officials have told Kumar that they "hate" the Chinese and
would prefer not to cooperate with China, but do so because they feel
Beijing is more reliable than New Delhi. He claimed a recent report
that India was planning to provide Burma with T-55 tanks was untrue.

8. (C) The situation in Sri Lanka is "bad, really bad - beyond bleak"
in Kumar's judgment. Characterizing the government and the LTTE as two
sets of people with scant regard for the international community,
Kumar was skeptical that political progress could be achieved anytime
soon. He confirmed reports that the Indian Navy has stepped up patrols
in the Palk Strait, and said that India and Sri Lanka are doing
coordinated patrolling to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the
Tamil Nadu coast. Kumar said it would be helpful to get the American
assessment of the port being built in Hambantota, which he estimated
China was willing to spend $500 million to help develop. He noted that
China has increased its influence with President Rajapaksa, opining
that Rajapaksa had a "soft spot" for China following his visit to
Beijing in March.

9. (SBU) Bio note. Kumar confirmed he has been selected to become the
Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Paris, likely to
assume the position in August.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/106051

------------------------------------

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

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

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

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ALOCHONA] Fw: RE: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

--- On Fri, 12/17/10, Zoglul Husain <zoglul@hotmail.co.uk> wrote

Torture in Kashmir:

Thank you for circulating the report. As India is trying to reduce Bangladesh to an occupied Kashmir or Sikkim or Bhutan or a vassal state, we need to think, we need to act, we need to unite and we need to resist politically the hegemonism that has been unleashed on us since 1/11 2007. While the entire report needs to be assessed carefully, I highlight the following lines:

The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) staff told the US diplomats they had made 177 visits to detention centres in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India between 2002 and 2004, and had met 1,491 detainees. They had been able to interview 1,296 privately.

In 852 cases, the detainees reported ill-treatment, the ICRC said. A total of 171 described being beaten and 681 said they had been subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.

These included 498 on which electricity had been used, 381 who had been suspended from the ceiling, 294 who had muscles crushed in their legs by prison personnel sitting on a bar placed across their thighs, 181 whose legs had been stretched by being "split 180 degrees", 234 tortured with water and 302 "sexual" cases, the ICRC were reported to have told the Americans.

"Numbers add up to more than 681, as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT [ill-treatment]," the cable said.

The ICRC said all branches of the Indian security forces used these forms of ill-treatment and torture, adding: "The abuse always takes place in the presence of officers and ... detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency".

This is only a small sample of people who were allowed to be interviewed. This gives an easy guess of what kind of genocide that has been going on in occupied Kashmir! And this is precisely what will happen to us if we fail to protect our independence and sovereignty!!

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:37:00 -0800
From: bd_mailer@yahoo.com
Subject: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir
To:

WikiLeaks: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

Beatings and electric shocks inflicted on hundreds of civilians detained in Kashmir, US diplomats in Delhi told by ICRC

Jason Burke in Delhi

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 December 2010 21.30 GMT

Unrest in Kashmir, where a leaked cable said the Indian government 'condoned torture'. Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images

US officials had evidence of widespread torture by Indian police and security forces and were secretly briefed by Red Cross staff about the systematic abuse of detainees in Kashmir, according to leaked diplomatic cables released tonight.

The dispatches, obtained by website WikiLeaks, reveal that US diplomats in Delhi were briefed in 2005 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the use of electrocution, beatings and sexual humiliation against hundreds of detainees.

Other cables show that as recently as 2007 American diplomats were concerned about widespread human rights abuses by Indian security forces, who they said relied on torture for confessions.

The revelations will be intensely embarrassing for Delhi, which takes pride in its status as the world's biggest democracy, and come at a time of heightened sensitivity in Kashmir after renewed protests and violence this year. Other cables released tonight reveal that:

• The Dalai Lama has told US officials that combating climate change is more urgent than finding a political solution in Tibet, which "can wait five to 10 years".

• Rahul Gandhi, the crown prince of Indian politics, believes Hindu extremists pose a greater threat to his country than Muslim militants, according to the American ambassador to India.

• Five doctors were coerced by the Sri Lankan government to recant on casualty figures they gave to journalists in the last months of island's brutal civil war.

The most highly charged dispatch is likely to be an April 2005 cable from the US embassy in Delhi which reports that the ICRC had become frustrated with the Indian government which, they said, had not acted to halt the "continued ill-treatment of detainees".

The embassy reported the ICRC concluded that India "condones torture" and that the torture victims were civilians as militants were routinely killed.

The ICRC has a long-standing policy of engaging directly with governments and avoiding the media, so the briefing remained secret.

An insurgency pitting separatist and Islamist militants – many supported by Pakistan – against security services raged in Kashmir throughout the 1990s and into the early years of this decade.

It claimed tens of thousands of lives, including large numbers of civilians who were targeted by both militants and security forces.The ICRC staff told the US diplomats they had made 177 visits to detention centres in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India between 2002 and 2004, and had met 1,491 detainees. They had been able to interview 1,296 privately.

In 852 cases, the detainees reported ill-treatment, the ICRC said. A total of 171 described being beaten and 681 said they had been subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.

These included 498 on which electricity had been used, 381 who had been suspended from the ceiling, 294 who had muscles crushed in their legs by prison personnel sitting on a bar placed across their thighs, 181 whose legs had been stretched by being "split 180 degrees", 234 tortured with water and 302 "sexual" cases, the ICRC were reported to have told the Americans.

"Numbers add up to more than 681, as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT [ill-treatment]," the cable said.

The ICRC said all branches of the Indian security forces used these forms of ill-treatment and torture, adding: "The abuse always takes place in the presence of officers and ... detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency".

The cable said the situation in Kashmir was "much better" as security forces no longer roused entire villages in the middle of the night and detained inhabitants indiscriminately, and there was "more openness from medical doctors and the police."

Ten years ago, the ICRC said there were some 300 detention centres, but there are now "a lot fewer". The organisation had never however gained access to the "Cargo Building", the most notorious detention centre, in Srinagar.

The abuse continued, they said, because "security forces need promotions," while for militants, "the insurgency has become a business".In the same cable, American diplomats approvingly quoted media reports that India's army chief, Lieutenant-General Joginder Jaswant Singh, had "put human rights issues at the centre of an [recent] conference of army commanders".

The ICRC said a "bright spot" was that it had been able to conduct 300 sessions sensitising junior officers from the security forces to human rights.

The cables reveal a careful US policy of pressure in Kashmir, while maintaining a strictly neutral stance.

Two years after the cable on torture was sent, US diplomats in India argued strongly against granting a visa request from the government of India on behalf of a member of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly who was invited to a conference organised by a think-tank in America.

Usman Abdul Majid, a cable marked secret said, "is a leader of the pro-GOI [government of India] Ikhwan-ul-Musilmeen paramilitary group, which ... is notorious for its use of torture, extra-judicial killing, rape, and extortion of Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists."

The diplomats admitted that denying Majid's application might have some repercussions with Indian officials, "especially those from India's Intelligence Bureau who have been close to his case" but said it was essential to preserve a balanced approach to the Kashmir issue following the prior refusal of a visa to the leading separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The cable notes that officials are "unable to verify with evidence the claims against Majid".US diplomats repeatedly refer to human rights abuses by security and law enforcement agencies within India. In a cable from February 2006, officials reported that "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or, in some cases, torture".

A year later a brief for the visiting acting coordinator for counter-terrorism, Frank Urbancic, described India's police and security forces as "overworked and hampered by bad ... practices, including the widespread use of torture in interrogations.".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] WikiLeaks – Indian assessment and influence over Bangladesh during 1/11 intended

WikiLeaks – Indian assessment and influence over Bangladesh during 1/11 intended to favour Awami League

http://deshcalling.blogspot.com/2010/12/wikileaks-indian-assessment-and.html

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Burqa bungle in Australia

Seems persons/events like these are a perfect set-up for those who want ban the burq a altogether for racist reasons. I dont like or approve of the burqa at all but if someone wants to were it on their own free choice without pressure from elders, religious figures they should be allowed to.
Robin

From: Ishtiaq Ahmed <> [Edit Address Book]
To: Back to the Bible
Subject: Burqa bungle - Making a Police Job More Difficult
Date: Dec 17, 2010 3:46 PM
The Burqa debate,
Kindly have a look below at the TV clip which shows how the burqa serves the interests of the lawless and liars.

Best regards,
Ishtiaq

The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. This actually took place in Australia … and was caught on tape.

This is one of the big news items on tonight's news over here. The woman In the burqa was pulled over by the police because she was a "P" plate (provisional) driver and the plates weren't displayed correctly. He asked her for her license and asked her to remove her burqa so that he knew it Was her license. She then accuses him of being racist and that the only reason he pulled her over was because she was wearing a burqa. She then tells him he will be sorry and that she would take him to court. Then she contacted the media and says that he was very racist and touched her burqa and she was intimidated by him. However luckily for the policeman The police car's video camera was operating and it was all caught on film. She has now been charged and supposedly is going to be jailed for 6 months And the judge said she was the racist one. Now her solicitor is saying it wasn't her who made the complaint but someone else in a burqa and they
Are now saying she shouldn't go to jail as she has 7 children.

This video appears in

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=burqa+bungle&scope=video&filt=all&sk=&docid=326580961415&mid=0F21EB31AC195F3076570F21EB31AC195F307657&FORM=LKVR1#

------------------------------------

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

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

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

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Re: [ALOCHONA] DER SPIEGEL: Microfinance Guru under Pressure - Muhammad Yunus Fights to Save His Reputation

This is hardly exposing anything new that we do not already know. Let me see now, this is published in an anglo-saxon news paper/magazine so it must be worthy of reading and it must have credibility.

This report suggests that Dr. Yunus is under massive pressure - oh really - don't tell me, let me guess, Dr. Yunus has a got Swiss bank account with huge fund diverted from the Grameen bank. His family members are all multi-millionaires living in Swiss chalets just like many corrupt criminals, drug dealers, contract killers and dictators from all over the world.

Grameen bank as a business model is not perfect but at least it tried to help the people of Bangladesh long before it become fashionable in the western media or (dare I say) with our politicians. I remember when I was in Bangladesh few years ago, my sister tried to open an account with the HSBC and she was asked to deposit a minimum of 1 lakh taka if she wished to open an account.

Even in the UK there are millions of people who do not have bank accounts because the banks do not consider them credit worthy and they can not afford the cost of banking. As the division between rich and the poor getting wider there is an underclass of people who are prayed on by loan sharks, which is completely unregulated.

News on the BBC website reported that Dr. Yunus has been exonerated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11947902

If our politicians were looking after the interest of Bangladesh then we would not have to go to foreign donors with our begging bowl for few Euro and Kroner. It appears they are more interested in maintaining their family legacy than helping the people of Bangladesh to stand on their own feet.

--- On Wed, 15/12/10, Robin Khundkar <rkhundkar@earthlink.net> wrote:

From: Robin Khundkar <rkhundkar@earthlink.net>
Subject: [ALOCHONA] DER SPIEGEL: Microfinance Guru under Pressure - Muhammad Yunus Fights to Save His Reputation
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, 15 December, 2010, 20:25

12/14/2010 05:15 PM
Microfinance Guru under Pressure
Muhammad Yunus Fights to Save His Reputation
By Hasnain Kazim in Dhaka, Bangladesh
DER SPIEGEL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,734650,00.html

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is under pressure after critics accused him of misusing development aid. The father of microfinance told SPIEGEL ONLINE the allegations are "a total fabrication."

Muhammad Yunus looks tired. The headlines are obviously taking their toll. "No," he says, "these allegations are not true." In recent days, it's a denial he has had to repeat often -- to friends, to colleagues and probably even to himself.

As the press conference gets underway at the headquarters of his Grameen Bank, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the hall is packed, with some journalists forced to stand in the hallway outside. Reporters had even been waiting for him at Dhaka airport when Yunus arrived from Paris, where he had met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss Yunus's favorite topics: globalization, its social consequences and possibilities for combating poverty.

Now Yunus must once again face the distressing allegations and plead his innocence.

Massive Pressure
In 2006, Yunus and the Grameen Bank ("rural bank") were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, Yunus has become something approaching a national icon in Bangladesh. But now he is under massive pressure: In late November, the Norwegian television station NRK aired a documentary produced by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann in which Yunus was accused of accounting irregularities. According to the program entitled "Fanget I Mikrogjeld" ("Caught in Microcredit"), Yunus's bank funneled money earmarked for development purposes into other Yunus-led projects without the knowledge of donors from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States.

In 1996, Yunus founded the subsidiary Grameen Kalyan ("rural well-being") to finance social aid projects and the construction of apartment buildings. According to Heinemann's research, Yunus at the time transferred some $100 million (€74.5 million) from Grameen Bank to Grameen Kalyan. The money had been intended for microloans, small sums of money that the impoverished could use to purchase a cow, seeds or a cell phone so that they could produce milk, raise crops or open up their own phone kiosk.

A year later, in 1997, the Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka caught wind of the transfer. According to the documentary, then-Ambassador Hans Fredrik Lehne criticized Grameen Bank not only for passing on the funds to Grameen Kalyan in contravention of the stipulations attached, but also for then borrowing the money back. The bank, as a result, suddenly owed its own subsidiary a huge sum of money. In December 1997, Lehne noted that Yunus's explanation that "tax reasons" were to blame for the transaction was "neither illuminating nor particularly credible." As a non-profit entity, after all, the Grameen Bank had no tax obligations.

'A Total Fabrication'
Yunus told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the accusations against him are "a total fabrication and baseless." According to Yunus, Ambassador Lehne confronted him with his objections at the time, and he had answered Lehne in a letter dated Jan. 8, 1998. In the letter, a copy of which Yunus showed to SPIEGEL ONLINE, Yunus explained that the money transfer had been made to establish the subsidiary as a sort of control body for the bank. In this way, Yunus hoped, bank executives would be forced to have more "financial discipline" because they would become accountable to Grameen Kalyan.

The matter seemed to have been settled. According to the Norwegian government, its part of the funds -- 170 million kroner, or roughly $30 million -- was transferred back to Grameen Bank in May 1998. Other donors did not complain about the original transfer. Even so, Yunus told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the complete $100 million total was wired back to Grameen Bank so as to avoid any further criticism.

In the wake of the documentary, Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim ordered his ministry to take another look at the episode. In the 12-page report it produced, the Norwegians concluded that the matter should be closed. "According to the report," Solheim said, according to a statement on the report on the Norwegian Foreign Ministry website, "there is no indication that Norwegian funds have been used for unintended purposes, or that Grameen Bank has engaged in corrupt practices or embezzled funds."

Still, the criticism continues. The media is fond of destroying that which they previously praised. And Yunus has no shortage of enemies.

Folk-Hero Status
Upon winning the Nobel Prize, Yunus assumed folk-hero status in Bangladesh. At last, one of their own numbered among the greats, someone from this country, which otherwise only gets attention in association with poverty, natural disasters and cheap textiles. Now, the entire world was shown a different Bangladesh.

"It was a great moment for the whole nation," Yunus says. "It was a sudden explosion of pride and joy for every Bangladeshi. All Bangladeshis felt as if each of them (had) received the Nobel Peace Prize." From that moment on, people fawned over Yunus and watched his every move. "Previously, if we screamed, people didn't listen," Yunus told SPIEGEL ONLINE in 2006. "Now, if we whisper, the whole world will hear."

What made Yunus famous was his idea to offer tiny loans to the poor so that they could start their own businesses and, in doing so, escape poverty. The story goes like this: In 1940, Yunus was born in the port city of Chittagong to a jeweler and a goldsmith. He went on to study economics, earn a Ph.D. and work as a professor in Tennessee, before returning home to head the economics department at Chittagong University.

In 1976, while on an outing with students, he met a group of women who wove bamboo furniture for a living. They said that they had to pay such high interest rates on the money they borrowed to buy bamboo that they didn't profit from their labors. Yunus made a loan of $27 dollars out of his own pocket at a low interest rate -- and, in doing so, broke the vicious debt cycle. The idea of microfinance was born.

A Man with Many Critics
Yunus has told the story of how a student project led to the Grameen Bank hundreds of times. Indeed, since co-winning the Nobel Prize, the bank has grown into a formidable empire. Yunus is proud of everything that has been achieved. On display at the bank's headquarters in Dhaka are photos of Yunus meeting with prominent individuals from around the world: Yunus with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Yunus with Bill Clinton, Yunus with Hillary Clinton, Yunus with the Swedish royal couple.

This outward display of Yunus's debut on the stage of the world's most powerful stands in stark contrast to his otherwise reserved and unassuming appearance, to the Yunus who always shows up in public wearing simple knee-length robes and baggy pants.

Still, the man has many critics. For example, there are the advocates of more classic development aid, who dislike Yunus for his outspoken and strict opposition to merely handing out money. And then there are the critics of globalization, who don't like Yunus because he claims that no recent developments have helped mankind more than globalization. Likewise, there are those in his own country who envy Yunus for having attained hero status through his own efforts, unlike those politicians in Bangladesh who owe their power to their influential family ties.

Take Sheikh Hasina, for example, the prime minister of Bangladesh, who has made little effort to conceal her antipathy toward Yunus. In 2007, when Bangladesh was ruled by a transitional government, Yunus showed his own political ambitions by founding a new party. It wasn't long before he retreated from the intrigue-ridden world of politics -- but not before making a few enemies that have lasted until today. For example, after the recent accusation surfaced against Yunus, Hasina stated publicly that Yunus's efforts to grant micro loans was nothing more than "sucking blood from the poor in the name of poverty alleviation."

Microfinance Sector in Disrepute
Many of Yunus's enemies are taking advantage of the criticism surrounding the financial transaction to attack him. The microfinance sector has already fallen into disrepute, particularly in India, where numerous Grameen Bank imitators are trying to make large profits and eventually go public. By charging horrendous interest rates, they have driven people to suicide who couldn't make payments on their micro loans and were pressured by debt collectors.

In blogs and newspaper articles, Yunus is labeled a "bloodsucker of the poor" in mocking imitation of his autobiography entitled "Banker to the Poor." Grameen Bank admits that it charges an interest rate of 20 percent on loans, though that is still much lower than average commercial banks in South Asia, and considerably less that the outrageous rates of private moneylenders.

One bank employee justifies the interest rate by saying it is important to bear in mind that the large number of micro loans, some of which are smaller than $100, give rise to "significant administrative costs." Moreover, he adds, the bank does not check the creditworthiness of its clients, who are almost exclusively women, and it even refrains from charging interest in cases of exceptional hardship. "All profits flow right back into the company," he says, explaining that borrowers own 95 percent of the bank's shares, while the government owns the other 5 percent.

These days, Yunus regrets having ever worked with any support funding. He says it was a mistake to have accepted funds from donors as part of the bank's start-up financing. Already in 1995, Grameen Bank decided to no longer accept any donations or borrow any more money, choosing to finance itself through its own efforts instead.

But that was apparently still too late: As it happens, it is the very last tranche of the money that the company received as development aid that is causing Yunus all these problems.

__._,_.___

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

__,_._,___

Daily Online Alochona

Banner Advertiser

Friday, December 17, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Wikileaks Expose': Bangladesh

[ALOCHONA] Critics catapulting Dr Yunus to higher celebrity

[ALOCHONA] Shahrukh Khan's vulgar show in Bangladesh

[ALOCHONA] Transit started without charges

[ALOCHONA] WikiLeaks cables: Rahul Gandhi warned US of Hindu extremist threat

[ALOCHONA] Abuse Widespread In Kashmir Jails

[ALOCHONA] US embassy cables: Bangladesh At a Crossroads

[ALOCHONA] Fw: RE: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

WikiLeaks: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

[ALOCHONA] WikiLeaks – Indian assessment and influence over Bangladesh during 1/11 intended

[ALOCHONA] Burqa bungle in Australia

Re: [ALOCHONA] DER SPIEGEL: Microfinance Guru under Pressure - Muhammad Yunus Fights to Save His Reputation

Blog Archive

Link List

Addvertise

Reffaral Link