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Friday, February 11, 2011

[ALOCHONA] How Hosni Mubarak Got So Rich



How Hosni Mubarak Got So Rich

There are no Mubaraks on the Forbes list of the world's richest people, but there sure ought to be.The mounting pressure from 18 days of historic protests finally drove Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from office, after three decades as his nation's iron-fisted ruler. But over that time, Mubarak amassed a fortune that should finance a pretty comfortable retirement. The British Guardian newspaper cites Middle Eastern sources placing the wealth of Mubarak and his family at somewhere between $40 billion and $70 billion. That's a pretty good pension for government work. The world's richest man--Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim--is worth about $54 billion, by comparison. Bill Gates is close behind, with a net worth of about $53 billion.

Mubarak, of course, was a military man, not a businessman. But running a country with a suspended constitution for 30 years generates certain perks, and Mubarak was in a position to take a slice of virtually every significant business deal in the country, from development projects throughout the Nile basin to transit projects on the Suez Canal, which is a conduit for about 4 percent of the world's oil shipments. "There was no accountability, no need for transparency," says Prof. Amaney Jamal of Princeton University. "He was able to reach into the economic sphere and benefit from monopolies, bribery fees, red-tape fees, and nepotism. It was guaranteed profit."

Had the typical Egyptian enjoyed a morsel of that, Mubarak might still be in power. But Egypt, despite a cadre of well-educated young people, has struggled as an economic backwater. The nation's GDP per capita is just $6,200, according to the CIA--one-seventh what it is in the United States. That output ranks 136th in the world, even though Egypt ranks 16th in population. Mubarak had been working on a set of economic reforms, but they stalled during the global recession. The chronic lack of jobs and upward mobility was perhaps the biggest factor driving millions of enraged Egyptian youths into the streets, demanding change.

Estimates of Mubarak's wealth will probably be hard to verify, if not impossible (one reason dictators tend not to make it onto Forbes's annual list). His money is certainly not sitting in an Egyptian vault, waiting to be counted. And his delayed exit may have allowed Mubarak time to move money around and hide significant parts of his fortune. The Swiss government has said it is temporarily freezing any assets in Swiss banks that could be linked to Mubarak, an uncharacteristically aggressive move for the secretive banking nation. But that doesn't mean the money will ever be returned to the Egyptian people, and it may even find its way to Mubarak eventually. Other Mubarak funds are reportedly sitting in British banks, and Mubarak was no doubt wily enough to squire away some cash in unlikely places. Plus, an eventual exile deal could allow Mubarak to retain some of his wealth, no questions asked, as long as he and his family leave Egypt and make no further bids for power.

Epic skimming is a common privilege of Middle Eastern despots, and Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were a bit less conspicuous than some of the Saudi princes and other Middle Eastern royals seen partying from time to time on the French Riviera or other hotspots. The family does reportedly own posh estates in London, New York, and Beverly Hills, plus a number of properties around the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, where Mubarak reportedly went after resigning the presidency.

Mubarak also spread the wealth far and wide in Egyptian power circles--another Middle Eastern tradition--one reason he incurred the kind of loyalty that allowed him to rule for a remarkable three decades. Top Army officials were almost certainly on his payroll, which might help explain why the Army eased him out in the end--allowing a kind of in-country exile--instead of hounding him out of Egypt or imprisoning him once it was clear the tide had turned against him for good.

That money trail, in fact, will help determine whether Egypt becomes a more prosperous, democratic country, or continues to muddle along as an economic basket case. Even though he's out of power, Mubarak may still be able to influence the Army officials running the country, through the financial connections that made them all wealthy. And if not Mubarak, the next leader may be poised to start lining his pockets the same way Mubarak did. For Egypt to have a more effective, transparent economy, all of that will have to be cleaned up. There are probably a lot of people in Cairo who have been checking their bank balances lately.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-Hosni-Mubarak-Got-Filthy-usnews-3723955512.html?x=0



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[ALOCHONA] "Our media ranks 126th in the world. Even Sri Lanka and the Maldives are higher than us."



Media, money and mission
 
Dhaka, Feb 11 (bdnews24.com) — Former head of a caretaker government, justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, says ownership posed a problem for press and media in Bangladesh, with money mattering more than ethics.

"Investing in media used to be considered an honest venture," the former chief justice told young reporters who cover Dhaka University. "Not any more."

"The missionaries used to publish news," he said at the silver jubilee of the DU Journalists Association, "now businessmen have taken the responsibility."

A commentator on social issues whose columns are published by leading outlets including bdnews24.com, the 1996 caretaker chief adviser sought to compare Bangladesh with other South Asian countries.

"Our media ranks 126th in the world. Even Sri Lanka and the Maldives are higher than us."

"Objectivity and freedom are the cornerstones of your profession," said journalism professor and DU vice chancellor A A S M Arefin Siddique, asking the reporters to pursue objective journalism in their quest for freedom.
 


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[ALOCHONA] Wael Ghonim:Revolution in the age of Internet



Wael Ghonim:Revolution in the age of Internet
 
A group of tech-savvy young Egyptians, including Google executive Wael Ghonim and opposition leader Ahmed Maher, who helped organize the protests can hardly believe their success.
 
Egypt upheaval
Graffiti in Tahrir Square hints at the importance of social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook in rallying protesters in Egypt. However, some observers cautioned against assigning too much credit to the role of the Internet.
 
By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times
 
They called themselves Revolution 2.0.They were film directors, protest organizers and computer whiz kids dressed in J. Crew and Ralph Lauren, men in their 20s and 30s who had come to embody Egypt's restive, tech-savvy youth. They sat in a Cairo living room waiting for the latest news about the upheaval they had helped foment.

They had been blindsided by President
Hosni Mubarak's speech the night before. Even as victory had felt so close, the longtime dictator had announced he wasn't going anywhere.Now, late Friday afternoon, they were gathered near the television, their laptops clicking. There was supposed to be another speech.

"This isn't like any revolution in history. It has two faces," said
Khalid El-Baramawy, 33, editor of masrawy.com, a popular news website that has covered corruption and police brutality. "The bad face is, we can't control it. We don't know the next step [after] the street." On the positive side, he said, "Mubarak doesn't know how to deal with us."

Waiting with him through the afternoon was
Wael Ghonim, the gaunt young Google executive who helped organize the anti-Mubarak protests through a Facebook page that drew more than 70,000 friends. Ghonim's recent detention by security services had transformed him into a potent opposition symbol. This was his family's home in an upscale Cairo neighborhood. His mom, wearing a traditional robe and head scarf, poked her head into the room now and then.

Alongside him was Ahmed Maher, 28, a construction engineer and protest organizer who had been active in Egypt's opposition since 2002, enduring repeated arrests. Nearby was Ahmed Salama, a film director. They were products of an Egypt that had opened its doors to Western commerce and Internet culture, shining lights in their respective fields. But they felt they had hit a glass ceiling in an autocratic one-party state."We have lived 30 bad years," Baramawy said. "We didn't want another 30 terrible years. We wanted this to stop now."

The news is on, someone said. People stopped typing and leaned toward the TV. The statement from
Vice President Omar Suleiman was terse: Mubarak would hand over power to the armed forces.

They all jumped out of their chairs screaming with joy. "Long live Egypt," they shouted in unison, clapping their hands. Ghonim's mother rushed into her son's arms and he squeezed her."You did it! You did it!" she shouted.
"Wael, Wael," his friends shouted.Ghonim ran around the room. He tapped on his keyboard. "We did it," he said. "Praise God."

In a way previous generations could never have imagined, the young protesters had helped nudge a dictatorship to its extinction. If previous revolutions had been hatched in mosques and smoky cafes, this one was hatched online, the spawn of computer geeks and old-fashioned protest organizers.

Or at least that was the giddy narrative embraced by the young activists. Already, there was a robust debate about how influential websites such as Facebook and
Twitter actually proved in the rebellion. The most prominent skeptic, the New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell, has argued that such online forms of communication did not affect the nature of the revolution.

"People protested and brought down governments before Facebook was invented,"
he wrote last week.But others made the case that technology amplified the protesters' message, helping build international support for their cause.

For months, Ghonim had been telling his family the Internet would change politics in Egypt. Friends joked that he made all his major decisions online. He met his American wife online. A year ago, he moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for Google. His mother,
Iman, saw that he would be crestfallen by the poverty when he returned for vacations.

"He wouldn't eat for three days," she said. "He didn't want me to know he was depressed by what was what was happening in his country."Ghonim met Maher met last April at a rally for opposition politician
Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate and former U.N. diplomat. Soon, both were tapped to attend a forum for activists — Ghonim for his technological savvy, Maher, part of the April 6 movement, for his experience in organizing.

For two months, the group met once a week for six hours. After a young man named Khaled Said was beaten to death, allegedly by police, in Alexandria, Ghonim made a Facebook page called "
We are All Khaled Said" that served as a networking tool for the group.

Eventually, the page gained more than 70,000 friends and announced plans for the Jan. 25 protests. Other young Egyptians advertised the demonstrations on their Facebook pages. Baramawy, a former member of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party who had quit in disgust, was drafted as an advisor.

Activist groups met under the umbrella name the Youth Movement for the Revolution of Anger. They shared a control room near Tahrir Square from where they sent messages via Facebook and Twitter messages.As they heard of Mubarak's ouster, the activists in the Cairo living room burst into the national anthem.

Everyone hugged and shouted. Ghonim and his friends suddenly ran out. They raced down the stairs. They pumped their fists and shouted as they ran: "Mubarak stepped down!" They were on their way to Tahrir Square.

ned.parker@latimes.com

Times staff writer Matea Gold in Washington contributed to this report.
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] Egypt : The Revolution Makers



Egypt : The Revolution Makers
 
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have been mobilized to press for an immediate removal of President Hosni Mubarak from power.

However, questions are being raised about who were the key players behind the popular revolution in the Arab world's most populous state.OnIslam.net gives its readers a glimpse into the main groups that have played a major role in instigating the youth-led upheaval in Egypt.

April 6 Movement

The Facebook group is named after a day that saw a general strike in Egypt in 2008 in protest at low wages and rising food costs. The group, which has over 92,000 members, started in the spring of 2008 to support the workers of El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town where the strike call first appeared.

Growing in popularity since its formation, the group drew thousands of young Egyptians who had not been politically active before.

The group is using the left-wing symbol of the raising fist, similar to that adopted by Serbia's Otpor movement which helped bring down the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. Yet, the symbol prompted pro-government figures to accuse the group of encouraging violence and unrest.Last year, the founders of the April 6 Movement were arrested while the page itself was subjected to attacks, suspected to have been orchestrated by the government.

Ahead of January 25, the day when the anti-Mubarak protests started, the group called for Egyptians in millions on the streets of Cairo to demand the ouster of President Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.One of the leading members, Asmaa Mahfouz, was also seen as one of those spearheading the protests.

"We Are All Khaled Said"

It's an anti-torture Facebook group that has over 484,500 registered users.The group was named after a young Egyptian, who was killed by police in the northern coastal city of Alexandria.

Run by Google's executive Wael Ghonim, the page started with posts about Said's case developments. Yet, it quickly developed into an all-out campaign against police brutality and rights abuses in Egypt, publishing information, posting graphic photos and videos, and divulging the names of abusive cops.

The group then moved to adopt a much bigger cause – uprising against Mubarak's rule, which the page creators accused of fomenting the torture phenomenon at police stations.The group called on its members to take to the streets on January 25, the day when the Egyptian Police are honored, to protest against police brutality.

Ahead of the January 25 protests, the Facebook group spread the word of a large-scale demonstration in Cairo, with demands ranging from ending police abuses to dissolving parliament.Thousands of the page users positively responded to the call, posting plans to take to the streets to avenge Said's murder as well as to restore their perceived infringed rights.

National Coalition for Change

It's a bloc spearheaded by former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei.The coalition features a host of Egypt's opposition groups, which are campaigning for democratic reforms in Egypt.

ElBaradei has emerged as the most prominent opponent to Mubarak's regime and a possible presidential candidate. His Facebook page attracted over 314,600 users.The coalition supporters have collected about a million signatures in support of his campaign for reforms.ElBaradei's petition lists seven demands, including allowing independents to run for president, judicial supervision of elections and lifting three-decade-old emergency laws that critics say are used to stifle dissent.

Two days after massive protests against Mubarak's regime, ElBaradei returned to Cairo saying he would be willing to lead a transitional government if the public asked him to. He later joined the protests.

Egyptian Movement for Change (Kefaya)

Working under its trademark banner of Kefaya (Enough), the Egyptian Movement for Change has been active in opposing Mubarak's regime and a government-orchestrated scenario to transfer power to his son Gamal.

The group first came to public attention in summer 2004, mobilizing spectrum of political activists who have been calling for major changes in Egypt's political system and for more steps towards democracy.Kefaya's first rally, held on December 12, 2004, was an unusual event in Cairo, given the fact that it was the first occasion a protest had been organized solely to demand that Mubarak steps down.

Outnumbered by police forces, hundreds of protestors gathered on the steps of the High Court in Cairo, remained mostly silent and taped their mouths up with a yellow sticker emblazoned with one word; Kefaya.

The group gained more ground in 2005, a year which saw two major events in Egyptian politics; a referendum to approve constitutional amendments that allowed the first-ever direct, multi-candidate presidency elections and the presidential vote itself.

During the run-up to the referendum, scheduled for May 25, Kefaya held regular protests, calling for the cancellation of the state of emergency and all special laws that restrict freedoms.On the day of the referendum, Kefaya organized two demonstrations in Cairo, which were attacked by plain-clothes policemen.

Maintaining the pressure on the government ahead of the presidential poll on September 7, Kefaya staged a protest on July 30 against Mubarak's intention to seek a fifth term. As usual, the activists were attacked by uniformed and plain-clothed police wielding truncheons.

Despite emerging as a promising opposition power in the country where no political party enjoys popularity on the streets, the group was shaken by internal disagreements and frequent leadership shake-ups.

Ahead of the January 25 protests, Kefaya announced it would join the uprising that had been initiated by younger agitators.
 


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[ALOCHONA] Re: [Diagnose] FW: [bdresearchers] How Bangladesh Became Captive



It is my humble estimate that the statement of Prof. chowdhury is accepted by hardly 20% of our literate population - BNP + AL supporters = 75% , 5 to 10% uncared for and 10 to 20% may accept this as people with concious mind having love for our common people.
 
Dr. Abul Barakat being an economist manifested all the unspeakable and unthinkable to the AL's election constitution so that they can led people with falso hope and greater aspiration that was impracticle and fallacious. This economist went far too much than many of his colleagues who generally misguide the nation.
Today when AL is in trouble with its professed economic agenda, Mr. Abul Barakat has no explanation and no remedy to their rescue.
We may see another version of Abul Barakat before the next election who will muster with yet more rhetorics with flashy ideas to churn votes for BNP.
A greater majority of AL supporters do not see any wrongdoing or any failure in AL's performance that is the worst think happening to the nation and to AL as well.
Mr. Chowdhury should come forward more often analysing current issues.


--- On Thu, 10/2/11, Hares Sayed <hares.sayed@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Hares Sayed <hares.sayed@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Diagnose] FW: [bdresearchers] How Bangladesh Became Captive
To: "Safeschool" <diagnose@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, 10 February, 2011, 6:40 PM



Prof Chowdhury's comments, "Bangladesh is facing serious crises in crucial areas such as, severe gas and electricity shortage (which continues to threaten daily life and investment), rising inflation, unemployment, rampant corruption, political murder, campus riot, law and order deterioration, and climate change effect. Instead of collaborating or working to address these critical issues, the ladies of the land persist on grappling for things like establishing or reestablishing whose predecessor were more relevant, gaining or regaining their personal property and legal protection rights, naming or renaming the national airport, writing or rewriting history books, and most importantly harassing each other by inciting riots or by using state machineries to confirm one's superiority. All of these heinous acts have come at a tremendous cost in terms of property and human lives, and there is no end in sight for such tit for tat actions. Whereas, economists believe that with better governance, Bangladesh economy could grow at a respectable rate of 7 percent or even more per year, which would indeed go a long way in reducing its poverty level."

 

This one paragraph tells all.  Price hike of essential commodities, crisis of gas, potable water and electricity, severe food shortage, law and order situation, manmade stock market crash making the situation uncontrollable.  "Price of rice is now Tk 35 to Tk 40 as the Awami League is in power. But the price would have increased to Tk 80 to Tk 90 per kg had the BNP stayed power," PM said in Parliament yesterday.  We don't want to hear the blaming each other anymore.  But general people want to have a better life, a better future for their next generation.  A holistic planning and implementation of that plan is the key for the future of the country. 

 

What will happen with the country in coming years can be viewed from various published data by the Bangladesh government agencies.  Although most of the information are not valid, such as there is a severe food shortage in Bangladesh and government is trying to buy food from international market. Based on 2010 data I tried to see what will happen in 2030 in Bangladesh taking the same rate of population growth, rate agricultural land loss and per capita food consumption rate at current level.

 

Bangladesh in 2010:

Population: 144 million

Population Growth: 1.5%

Cultivable Land: 11 million hector

Land loss due to infrastructural development: 77,000 hectors/year

Food Growth: 26 millions MT

Food Demand: 23 millions MT

Trade Imbalance: Exceeds $10.0 billion

 

 

Bangladesh in 2030:

Population: Exceeds 200 million

Cultivable Land: 8 million hector (due to loss of land referred above)

Food Growth: 19 million MT

Food Demand: 31 million MT

Cost for Food Import: $5.3 billion (2010 cost)

 

Does not matter how government tries to grow more food but there will always be a limit on that and we will be obligated to buy food from international market. After 2008 in February 2011 the food price (especially rice) has jumped exponentially and based on information by various international organizations this crisis of food shortage will raise further.  Other issue is serious for Bangladesh is that expatriates are sending over $10 billion a year to Bangladesh, but the recent findings are that we are losing that market also. It also demand immediate attention.

 

Therefore, a holistic planning and implementation of that plan is the key for the future of the country.  No more blame games. All party should work together for the future of the nation. Some of the approaches recommended by the American Association of Bangladeshi Engineers and Architects, Inc., are provided below:

 

 

-          Industrial Sector Improvement: Reduce dependency on importing products to meet the domestic needs. Conduct research and identify industrial sectors having export potentials. Develop controlled market -be master in those identified sectors with quality products, efficient production with the ability to control the global market segment.

-          Energy Sector Development and Improvement: Planned exploration of natural resources and adding power to the national grid with a goal of electrification of the whole nation.

-          Human Resource Development: Train human resources to meet the demand of manpower shortage in various countries; improvement of diplomatic relations to open new markets of manpower export --increase the foreign currency remittance.

-          Agriculture Development & Water Resources: Planned agricultural development, modern irrigation, use of technology for maximum food growth and minimize food wastage.

-          Create atmosphere to encourage NRBs to invest in Bangladesh. Use their expertise.

-          Provide opportunities to grow IT and Biotechnological industries and use the expertise to take the advantage of western countries out-sourcing requirements.

-          Trade Balance: Reduction of trade gap: reduction of import and increase of export. Impose import tax and provide subsidies to viable industries for national industrial growth.

 

Regards

 

Hares Sayed

 

From: bdresearchers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bdresearchers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Msa40
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 12:07 PM
To: bdresearchers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [bdresearchers] How Bangladesh Became Captive

 

 

I  need a clarification:

 

In 1970, the population of the present-day Pakistan was 55 million, while the population of what is today known as Bangladesh was 75 million.

 

Today, the population of Pakistan is over 160 million. Bangladesh claims its population to be 150 million, though both the countries have almost identical birth and mortality rates. How is it possible that 55 million became 160 million, whilst 75 million stays only at 150 million and also, is it possible to complete census in 7 days in a country, like Bangladesh?

 

I will appreciate a clarification from one who knows this subject well. Thanks.

 

Mohammad Asghar

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Feroz kabir <feroz_kabir@hotmail.com>
To: BD Researchers <bdresearchers@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 31, 2011 8:48 am
Subject: RE: [bdresearchers] How Bangladesh Became Captive

 

Dear Professor Mahfuz R. Chowdhury,

 

You touched on very important issues. The points you raised are equally important, however, your observation and analysis lags facts and scientific basis (don't take this comment as negative or personal rather take it as a reviewer's comment). Since you are an active thinker in this area I would like you to look into the most probable factors (among the multiple possible factors with varying wattage) that lead to this current situation which is ofcourse not healthy. It seems that the political community and the short term administrator (Fakruddin care taker) have/had no real representation of the general public of the country as a whole which is a danger for the wellbeing of the general public.

 

At this point in time, various models of democracy are coming to surface. Some of them, particularly representative form of democracy, evolved over 100 years of practice where citizens are actively participating (not the civil society, which is recognized as a representative of interest group but not the citizens) in forming the governing bodies and running the country. This type of democracy is more productive in terms of providing the service and looking after the wellbeing of the general public. There are tons of research materials out there on this subject, which you may review to enrich your article in terms of quantitative facts to be more specific. The other form, i would call it notoriously evil, is the participation form of democracy (this term may be different in different text books) where civil society are the key component in forming the government and running the country.

   

Regarding democratic process of independence, there are lots of research papers talking about the definition and interpretation of democratic process of independence. You may do some literature search on this subject and interpret the independence of Bangladesh in that context- which will have some scientific basis and facts.

 

I hope you will continue research in the area and keep us educated with facts and numbers.

 

Regards,

 

Feroz

 


 


From: Chowdhury1@aol.com
To: bdresearchers@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:45:21 -0500
Subject: [bdresearchers] How Bangladesh Became Captive

 

 

How Bangladesh Became Captive

 

Professor Mahfuz R. Chowdhury

 

The rule of Bangladesh, a country of 150 million people, has pretty much turned into family affairs. The center of power now clearly revolves around two prominent families – one is of former civilian authoritarian ruler and the other is of former military autocrat. Both families currently lead the country's two dominant parties and pursue the same goal – grabbing state power by any means and using that power to promote their interests. They exercise similar autocratic rule in their parties and government, when in power, as their respective predecessors once did. They have been alternating state power since 1991. But when one family gains state powers the other consistently opposes everything that it does and takes up deadly agitation to bring down the government. The great irony is that they are doing all this in the name of democracy, and the country seems utterly paralyzed to change course.

 

Bangladesh began its liberation movement to separate from Pakistan through a democratic process. After independence in 1971, the country flirted with democracy for a while but quickly abandoned the democratic process by imposing one party rule. One party rule was supplanted by military rule after the assassination in 1975 of the authoritarian ruler, who also played a pivotal role in the country's independence struggle. The military ruler himself was a popular freedom fighter and gave his government a democratic label by luring the disgruntled politicians to establish his political party. But his autocratic government also fell like a house of cards following his own assassination in 1981. Then, another military ruler took over and perpetrated his autocratic rule for nine years and quit only when the nation's democratic forces mobilized an all out movement.

 

Many have come to believe that, following the election of 1990, the country has re-established democracy. Although the democratic process is in place, the reality may be somewhat different. Having gone through various changes and alignments over the years, the country's politics is now firmly under control of two political parties - Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party. These were the parties of the two most celebrated leaders; one who led the nation to freedom fight and the other who led the fight itself. When they were slain, for lack of intra-party democracy, no leader could emerge from within the party as the popular choice of rank-and-file party members to replace them. As a compromise, one party then inducted the daughter and the other the wife of their supreme leaders to take the party leaderships, though both were thought to be inept.

 

These ladies, by taking full advantage of popular sentiments for their slain predecessors and by also getting the needed support from unscrupulous politicians, assumed total dictatorial power within their parties. They determine their parties' electoral nominations and are brutal in their approach. Earlier, they sacked their parties' well admired Secretary Generals, deprived the independent minded party stalwarts from holding any party or government posts, and in one extreme case, even compelled the President of the country to leave the office in disgrace shortly after inaugural because he tried to rise above party politics. Obviously, they find themselves invincible and others treat them as permanent political fixtures as well. So the election is mainly to decide which lady to rule. There are also ominous signs that their young sons are being groomed to replace them in due course.

 

Bangladesh is facing serious crises in crucial areas such as, severe gas and electricity shortage (which continues to threaten daily life and investment), rising inflation, unemployment, rampant corruption, political murder, campus riot, law and order deterioration, and climate change effect. Instead of collaborating or working to address these critical issues, the ladies of the land persist on grappling for things like establishing or reestablishing whose predecessor were more relevant, gaining or regaining their personal property and legal protection rights, naming or renaming the national airport, writing or rewriting history books, and most importantly harassing each other by inciting riots or by using state machineries to confirm one's superiority. All of these heinous acts have come at a tremendous cost in terms of property and human lives, and there is no end in sight for such tit for tat actions. Whereas, economists believe that with better governance, Bangladesh economy could grow at a respectable rate of 7 percent or even more per year, which would indeed go a long way in reducing its poverty level.

 

The world is quite aware how these ladies' power capturing maneuvers had brought the country to the brink of anarchy in early 2007. Then, a military backed care-taker government tried to deport both of them, failing which it held them under house arrest. The same government also initiated badly needed reforms in structuring political parties, administering election, enacting power decentralization, and making the judiciary independent. Although its actions received immediate praise, it soon had to give in under tremendous pressures from both inside and outside.

 

In the end, by arranging an election the care-taker government was obliged to hand over power to the lady who won the election. Yet, hopes were raised that after the election the long awaited reforms that were initiated would somehow take hold. But apparently nothing has changed and no true reform has materialized. Both ladies are back to their old politics again, and continue to fight to preserve their personal interests. Bangladesh has thus became captive to the two politically dynastic families, and the impact of their family feud is being felt almost everywhere. Some observers believe that the situation cannot go on like this, so the country would inevitably face another upheaval. But if that were to happen its outcome remains very much uncertain.

 

(The author teaches Economics at Long Island University and SUNY Farmingdale, and publishes articles on issues concerning Bangladesh and developing economies)

 





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[ALOCHONA] Political reform and the civil society [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Isha Khan included below]

Political reform and the civil society

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[ALOCHONA] AL manifesto 2008 [2 Attachments]

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AL manifesto 2008
 
 

Attachment(s) from Isha Khan

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[ALOCHONA] Freedom Rings in Egypt

Friends,

The 18 days of non-violent demonstrations for a secular non-sectarian Egypt have borne fruit. A new world is possible away from false choices of Bushian vs Bin Laden world order. Gandhiji would have been proud.

Robin

Egypt's joy as Mubarak quits
With Hosni Mubarak's departure, the age of political reason is returning to Egypt and the wider Arab world
Tariq Ali
The Guardian
Friday 11 February 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/11/egypt-cairo-hosni-mubarak

Egypt's turning point: Anti-government protesters in Tahrir square. Photograph: Andre Pain/EPA
A joyous night in Cairo. What bliss to be alive, to be an Egyptian and an Arab. In Tahrir Square they're chanting, "Egypt is free" and "We won!"

The removal of Mubarak alone (and getting the bulk of his $40bn loot back for the national treasury), without any other reforms, would itself be experienced in the region and in Egypt as a huge political triumph. It will set new forces into motion. A nation that has witnessed miracles of mass mobilisations and a huge rise in popular political consciousness will not be easy to crush, as Tunisia demonstrates.

Arab history, despite appearances, is not static. Soon after the Israeli victory of 1967 that marked the defeat of secular Arab nationalism, one of the great Arab poets, Nizar Qabbani wrote:

Arab children,
Corn ears of the future,
You will break our chains.
Kill the opium in our heads,
Kill the illusions.
Arab children,
Don't read about our suffocated generation,
We are a hopeless case,
As worthless as a water-melon rind.
Don't read about us,
Don't ape us,
Don't accept us,
Don't accept our ideas,
We are a nation of crooks and jugglers.
Arab children,
Spring rain,
Corn ears of the future,
You are the generation that will overcome defeat.

How happy he would have been to seen his prophecy being fulfilled.

The new wave of mass opposition has happened at a time where there are no radical nationalist parties in the Arab world, and this has dictated the tactics: huge assemblies in symbolic spaces posing an immediate challenge to authority – as if to say, we are showing our strength, we don't want to test it because we neither organised for that nor are we prepared, but if you mow us down remember the world is watching.

Egypt's vice president Omar Suleiman makes the announcement that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down Photograph: AP This dependence on global public opinion is moving, but is also a sign of weakness. Had Obama and the Pentagon ordered the Egyptian army to clear the square – however high the cost – the generals would have obeyed orders, but it would have been an extremely risky operation for them, if not for Obama. It could have split the high command from ordinary soldiers and junior officers, many of whose relatives and families are demonstrating and many of whom know and feel that the masses are on the right side. That would have meant a revolutionary upheaval of a sort that neither Washington nor the Muslim Brotherhood – the party of cold calculation – desired.

The show of popular strength was enough to get rid of the current dictator. He'd only go if the US decided to take him away. After much wobbling, they did. They had no other serious option left. The victory, however, belongs to the Egyptian people whose unending courage and sacrifices made all this possible.

And so it ended badly for Mubarak and his old henchman. Having unleashed security thugs only a fortnight ago, Vice-President Suleiman's failure to dislodge the demonstrators from the square was one more nail in the coffin. The rising tide of the Egyptian masses with workers coming out on strike , judges demonstrating on the streets, and the threat of even larger crowds next week, made it impossible for Washington to hang on to Mubarak and his cronies. The man Hillary Clinton had referred to as a loyal friend, indeed "family", was dumped. The US decided to cut its losses and authorised the military intervention.

Omar Suleiman, an old western favourite, was selected as vice-president by Washington, endorsed by the EU, to supervise an "orderly transition". Suleiman was always viewed by the people as a brutal and corrupt torturer, a man who not only gives orders, but participates in the process. A WikiLeaks document had a former US ambassador praising him for not being "squeamish". The new vice president had warned the protesting crowds last Tuesday that if they did not demobilise themselves voluntarily, the army was standing by: a coup might be the only option left. It was, but against the dictator they had backed for 30 years. It was the only way to stabilise the country. There could be no return to "normality".

The age of political reason is returning to the Arab world. The people are fed up of being colonised and bullied. Meanwhile, the political temperature is rising in Jordan, Algeria and Yemen.

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[ALOCHONA] Fw: [Ovimot] Where is Felani`s Father?



Where is Felani`s Father?
 by:Abu Zafar Mahmood,USA
(Attached the Picture of Rashu murder a follow up of Felani murder)

 
Introduction: Where is Felani`s father? Is Felani`s father detained in Indian Custody or murdered? No one could say his whereabouts now-a-days. Is Hasina government taped his mouth and locked him in unknown dark place for unlimited time? The doubt of eliminating him is growing. Felani is our daughter too! We hear her cry do not matter where of the earth we live!! Strange! Felani`s Father lost his right to live in his home in Kurigram.Unnanamed mighteous authority kidnapped and detained under their custody after some very important government officials visit at Felani`s village home. Some local sources suspect RAB picked him up and others finger toward BSF.

What is behind such joint visit: Home Minister Sahara compelled to visit him under public pressure after one month of Felani was killed. She gave him 3,00,000.00 (Three thousand taka) to stop crying for his 15 years daughter anymore who was dishonored and killed by Indian BSF in West Bengal-Kurigram border.The DG of BGB(BDR),IG of Bangladesh police and the DG of RAB went Felani`s home. These very important officials definitely made a group visit can’t be considered a tiny matter. As India and Bangladesh government consider this family very special important to wipe out and these heads carried out the order passed through home Minister as the security analysts says.

144 imposed to oppose sympathizers: Kurigram district administration is ordered to maintain extreme hard line against the sympathizers to Felani`s family. Hamidullah Khan Bir proteek, a sector commander of Bangladesh liberation war and Ekeshey award winner poet Abdul Hye went in Kurigram from Dhaka to support Felani`s father. It was media news that they were opposed to get out of the hotel Ornob palace in Kurigram city by the government administration and stopped them to go to Felani`s home to hand over taka to Felani`s father.

144 has been imposed around Felani`s house at Ramkhana of Nageshwari that is around 32 miles from the said hotel. Local Awami league and their cadres are active in terrorizing. One (Retired) Major General of Bangladesh Army that is much respectable in the area is the president of Kurigram district Awami league. He is capable enough to successfully guide the government to back out from hard-line that misguides the public. Demand for justice in international court is raised from so many places.

In the meantime Foreign Minister Dipu moni and Home Minister Sahara Khatun have been advocating non-stop for Indian murdering authorities and the Central government of their warm love affairs with dramatic dialogue that proven rejectable and lie. BSF continues killing Bangladeshis. Indian strategy is to escalate more horror to the un-armed Bangladeshis.

Picture (attached) of Bangladeshi Rashu is the follow up of Felani murder: On Saturday, January 15th 2011 they kidnapped man when he was gossiping with his Indian friend at morning. His friend was on Indian land and Rashu was on Bangladeshi Land and between them there is Barbed Wire Fence (Masudpur Border of Chapainawabgonj). Suddenly BSF kidnapped Rashu and took to their camp at Shuvapur. Two hours later they drop Rashu to the land of Bangladesh, but before that they broke two legs of Rashu and 2/3 place of left hand. Rashu left us on 15th January night for eternal peace at Rajshahi Medical College.

Felani murder witness might also be murdered: However, Indian government might advice to kill the witness of Felani murder as because this poor girl gained the world wide sympathy and shaken the consciousness of the nations that was beyond the Indian expectation. So, on Behalf of Indian government their staff officers become busy to misguide the public attention. The God fathers of these border murders who stay in dark are scared of facing legal action in court also. But the reality is that Felani is our daughter that awakening the backward Bangladeshis on Indian inner face and forcing the global power’s attention in Bangladesh-India border region. International Journalists are visiting for actual facts in this Indian killing zone. Felani`s father might be killed in the meantime or handed over to the Indian Authority to hide him from the news media as some observer pointing their Fingers. But the flow of the wind will not stop here anyway!
 
Volcanic smoke in Grassroots: A new movement has started from grassroots in Jessore. Women are awakening. Thousands of women head up in a huge public meeting. The women’s tears are creating strong flows of erosion that might create a volcanic power based in bordering belt. Women have stood for resistance. Their symbol of spirit is the murder of Felani. Indian Army strengthened their might through out Bangladesh border for future war against Bangladesh. This resistance movement is treated terrorism by the Indian Government and the Chief Minister Manik Sarker on behalf of Indian side propagates once again accusing Bangladesh for terrorism.

Where as Hasina government arrests the protesters blaming of carrying Felani posters. So, Hasina government politics stands for Indian government and on the other hand the local women already have started their resistance Journey. BNP initiated the important responsibility.

Protests against BSF`s cruelty: On the other hand, The Indian Human Rights organization Manabadhikar Suraksa Manch from India also protests against the cruelty of BSF. Chairman of this organization Kiriti Ray said that there is no rule to kill people by shoot at India, whether it is India or another Law Enforcement Organization. But BSFs are not obeying rule. But almost every day they are killing Bangladeshi people. In every case they show the same reason Bangladeshi Smugglers, they attack BSF first. The chairman rise the question "Was this girl smuggler? She was tangled, how can she attack BSF?"

Some protests have also been made in the district of Koch Bihar, India. Secretary of Association for Protection of Democratic Rights - APDR Suman Goshwami started to make people awareness against this ruthless action of BSF inside India.

According to Moktar Ahmed, member, Amnesty International not only BSFs are killing Bangladeshi People but also they are killing Indian farmers at Border area. They (BSF) become maniac. Letters are sent to Indian government regularly but no result.

In the word of Reporter Ameet Bose, the photo accompanied report of Felani killing hurts every audience of the report. If anyone illegally crosses the border then punishment should be according to the law. But such an incident of killing unarmed people by BSF has destroyed the so called human rights powered face of India.

Protests against Felani murder in Bangladesh & abroad: The protests against Felani murder by Indian force has been seen almost everywhere in Bangladesh and abroad. Though some political leaders talk on it as an issue the analysts’ finger toward the Indian military strategy. As India treats Bangladesh as their enemy that has been mentioned in their military goal clearly, India already to enforced military strength in supporting their front line fighter BSF. Unfortunately Bangladesh government represents now the Indian interests, misinforming the nation and demoralizing the Defense-BDR-Police-RAB-Intelligence Agencies.

Indian Military design: The Maoists and other freedom fighters have been confronting the Indian sovereignty and they control almost 40% percent of the country. Indian Arm forces are fighting them now whereas they already designed Bangladesh within their war zone. So, BDR has been dishonored, renamed and BGB is formed with Indian loyalists as the critics comment confidently.

Conclusion: Felani murder unmasked the real face of Hasina government and other political gamblers that are crazy for political power of Bangladesh sacrificing the interests of the country, those are already been identified by their own Hippocratic political drama. Felani`s father must get the right living at his home with all human and civil rights and the legal and proper justice of Felani murder must be demanded by Bangladesh government from international court.So called Indian love affairs with some Leaders and professionals have been exposing clearly.Felani murder and new game regarding her poor father highlighting the Indian military intention toward Bangladesh.Rasha murder added the confirmation of Indian strategy.Let`s research to find the real uncovered facts.

Bangladeshis have the right to be united in inside and abroad to resist such murders and if necessary to find the appropriate revenge encountering the illegal mighty acts.

The Writer is free-lance Journalist and freedom fighter.
E-mail:  azmnyc@gmail.com & rivercrossinternational@yahoo.com)



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