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Sunday, April 24, 2011

[ALOCHONA] China yearns for peace on southern flank



China yearns for peace on southern flank

By Peter Lee

Beijing embarked on a well-received charm offensive at the BRICS summit at the city of Sanya on China's Hainan Island. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on April 13 in a sidebar of the gathering of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa for a mini-reset of the oft-contentious relations between the two regional powers. [1]

China is obviously eager to repair some of the PR damage from the pummeling it took as the designated neighborhood bully on Diaoyutai Island, rare earths and South China Sea dust-ups.

But it also looks like the People's Republic of China (PRC) yearns for stability on its borders - and in the Tibetan Autonomous Region - as it nervously eyes the wave of popular protests sweeping the Middle East. Particularly in Syria, there is distinct - though vociferously denied - evidence that Bashar al-Assad's external enemies, both exiles and foreigners - are taking advantage of the unrest and the regime's faltering and brutal response to stoke violence, spread disinformation, and put the boot in on a hated foe. [2]

If and when popular unrest comes to China, Beijing would appreciate New Delhi's forbearance in making sure that its domestic political problems are not exacerbated by snowballing unrest in Tibet, fed by emigre agitation and the temptation of geopolitical competitors to meddle at China's expense.

The most significant Chinese concession at the Hainan forum was China's reported (in the Indian press) backpedalling on the arcane issue of stapled visas for residents of Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Chinese practice of stapling a piece of paper with a visa in a passport (instead of stamping it directly in the book) for some residents of Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh seeking to visit China dates at least to 2007.

It apparently was part of a Chinese campaign to formalize its position on the festering border conflicts between India and China by demonstrating in concrete form China's position that the status of these territories was disputed and not subject to the normal consular relations between the two countries.

India's stated posture has always been to refer the Sino-Indian border debate to the McMahon Line. The drawing of the McMahon Line was a bit of British mischief that shaved off parts of Tibet and present-day Pakistan, and included them in British India in order to create buffer zones.

Negotiated at the Indian town of Simla in 1914, the McMahon Line was apparently an egregious exercise in imperial cartography, defining the border only with a thick red line on a map without reference to the usual local landmarks employed to demarcate a border.

The negotiation of the Simla Accord gives a certain amount of aid and comfort to advocates of Tibetan independence because Sir Henry McMahon allegedly exceeded his instructions and concluded a deal with the Tibetan representatives after the Republic of China envoy left the talks.

By accepting the McMahon Line, the Tibetan team gave away a piece of territory in return for the transitory pleasure of negotiating directly with the British Empire. Having obtained the border deal it wanted, the British government occasionally but emptily asserted its right to deal with Tibet directly. However, in 2008, a British Foreign Office statement officially repudiated the implication of Tibetan independence contained in the Simla Accord.

No Chinese government has accepted the McMahon Line as the proper demarcation of the border. India, however, has embraced it.
Today, China occupies a fair amount of wasteland known as Aksai Chin in northern Kashmir that holds a strategic railroad linking Xinjiang and Tibet - claimed by India - and India occupies largely ethnic-Tibetan mountainland south of the McMahon Line in the northeastern province of Arunachal Pradesh - claimed by China.



Much is made of the militarization of the border as a source of tensions, but it is possible that the opposite is true. As the border regions on opposite sides of the Line of Actual Control are integrated by new roads and railroads and secured by mobile, better-equipped military forces, the incentive to meddle across the border is reduced.

Belligerent posturing is, of course, another matter.

Indian recalcitrance seems to have something to do with assuaging the military establishment's still-burning resentment over getting thumped in the 1962 border war - which was fought largely in Arunachal Pradesh - and the popularity of sticking it to Beijing as a national pride/electoral strategy. The fattening of defense budgets on the Indian side in response to the perceived Chinese threat is also, of course, not unwelcome.

The logical solution to this issue would seem to be an exchange of claims on these marginal lands - China keeps Aksai Chin and India holds on to Arunachal Pradesh. But it hasn't happened yet, despite the creation of resolution mechanisms and over a dozen meetings in recent years.

The whys and wherefores have ignited entertaining and informative Internet flame wars between Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan advocates. [3]

However, a close look at the evidence appears to indicate that China has put an Aksai Chin for Arunachal Pradesh swap on the table for years - starting with Zhou Enlai in the 1950s - but the Indian government has found it in its interests to insist that the fate of the two regions be negotiated separately.

As India formalized its control over Arunachal Pradesh - it is now incorporated as an Indian state and not a border territory - the prospect of swapping recognition of Aksai Chin has become more remote. Instead, it became possible that India would simply hold on to Arunachal Pradesh and not bother to acknowledge the Chinese claim over Aksai Chin at all.

It appears that in 2010 the Chinese government was feeling its oats and decided it would try to play the separate negotiations game, too. If India insisted on discussing the problems separately, then China would try to get some two-on-one action on the Aksai Chin by pushing for India to talk with Pakistan on the overall Jammu & Kashmir issue.

China's search for alternate leverage led it to escalate its claims to both Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh by harping on the ongoing visa issue.

In July 2010, the Chinese government apparently attempted to issue a stapled visa to Lt Gen B S Jaswal, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Kashmir-based Northern Command, although it had given him a stamped visa in 2008. This emerged from the journalistic sausage-making machine as "China refuses visa to Indian general", and resulted in the breakdown in the high-level military exchanges between the two countries. [4]

In addition to the stapled visa shenanigans, China infuriated the Indian government by trying to interfere in Asian Development Bank deliberations on a US$2.9 billion Indian hydropower finance package because it included a $60 million Arunachal Pradesh component.

China also staked a claim to Tawang, a small market town of inordinate importance in Arunachal Pradesh because it was the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama and the place where the 14th Dalai Lama found Indian refuge after fleeing Lhasa in 1959. Tawang also hosts a large Gelugpa monastery that is reputedly the second-largest such installation in the world after Lhasa and enjoys the active patronage of the Dalai Lama.

In response, India rolled out the big guns.

Manmohan Singh made a high-profile visit to Arunachal Pradesh in October 2010 during the parliamentary election campaign, eliciting much unhappiness from the Chinese government. In November 2009, the Indian government allowed the Dalai Lama to make a rare visit to Arunachal Pradesh, and also to Tawang.

In an apparent recapitulation of the Tibetan delegation's sellout to the British at Simla in 1914, the Indian media reported that the Dalai Lama declared that Arunachal Pradesh and Tawang were "part of India".

The reference to Tawang is particularly striking because the Tibetan government, in its pre-exile days, had made repeated and intermittently successful efforts to maintain administrative control of Tawang, despite its location south of the McMahon Line.

In 1947, the Tibetan government wrote the Indian government to assert Tibetan authority over Tawang. But in 1950-51, the Indian government moved into the region and, from a facts-on-the-ground standpoint, settled the question of who ran Tawang for once and for all. [5] 

The Tibetan government-in-exile has historically accepted the McMahon Line - and the loss of what the Chinese call "South Tibet" - as the cost of doing business with the Indian government. It was, however, somewhat jarring for the Dalai Lama to accept India's control of Tawang instead of asserting its fundamental Tibetaness.

According to the Times of India, the Dalai Lama did so in categorical terms:

"My stand that Tawang is an integral part of India has not changed," the Dalai Lama said in defense of his host country. [6]
However, another outlet reported the Dalai Lama's position as being somewhat more nuanced. Instead of tackling the Tawang question head-on, he hypothesized that the Chinese pullback from Tawang after the People's Liberation Army occupied the town in the 1962 border war - meant to re-establish the ante-bellum status quo as a prelude to negotiations with India - implied that Beijing had surrendered its right to contest Tawang's nationality:
If China claimed Tawang, then the army should not have left. The Dalai Lama hinted that China's current claims are an afterthought. "The then Chinese government declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew [its forces]. Now the Chinese have got different views. This is something which I really don't know. I am little bit surprised," he said. [7]
In any event, the Dalai Lama's visit and his remarks as reported did send a useful message to China that restoring the territorial integrity of the Tibetan homeland by clumping parts of Arunachal Pradesh into the Tibetan Autonomous Region enjoyed no support from the Tibetan diaspora and was useless as a negotiating point.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, hopelessly transfixed on the cleft stick of its Afghanistan/Taliban/US war on terror disaster, showed itself uninterested in adding to its headaches by arguing with India over Kashmir. Therefore, China's attempts to match India's "separate negotiations" stance on Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh were going nowhere.

At Hainan, the Chinese government appeared more willing to resign itself to the current border muddle, while tending to more important elements of its relationship with India: trade and security issues.

Calls for democracy in the Middle East have been unremitting, and the Chinese government is apparently acting pre-emptively on the assumption that something similar may break out in China. Activists, dissidents, and lawyers have been detained by the bushel-basket, and Internet censors are working overtime.

Although the examples of Egypt and Libya have demonstrated that negotiated forbearance between the Western democracies and authoritarian governments can evaporate almost instantaneously as popular unrest manifests itself, it appears that China decided this is not the time to be at loggerheads with India.
Therefore, four Kashmiri Indian journalists - of whom at least one had a passport issued in Kashmir and not New Delhi - were given conventional visas to go to Hainan, apparently giving rise to the report that China was moderating its stance on the "stapled visa" issue.

The Hindustan Times, reporting from the China-bashing quadrant, received a self-congratulatory background briefing from someone in the Indian government that made the case that the switch in policy was evidence of Chinese incompetence:
Indian officials are smiling like Cheshire cats as China quietly pulls back on a Kashmiri policy that roiled relations the past two years ... Today, Indian officials are coming around to the view that the Kashmir shift and unshift was really evidence of incoherence within the Chinese system. "Beijing is struggling to handle the demands of an increasingly demanding world," said one. China, superpower in the making, was more stumbling than sinister. ...
New Delhi, after a careful review of the information, has concluded the two Kashmiri moves arose from decisions at lower level bureaucrats designed to placate a weakening Pakistan. Little or no thought was given about the consequences. Worse, organizations like the Chinese foreign ministry who would have known better were out of the loop. Thus the Northern Command decision was taken by a low-level national ministry of defense. "May be the clerk had something against the Northern Command," said one official.

What there is no doubt about is that China was completely taken aback at the strength of Indian response. The Chinese, say sources, may have concluded the Kashmir policy would not be a big deal given India's track record of keeping quiet on many other issues with China.

Having made a blunder, the problem say Indian officials was that "Beijing didn't know how to walk it back."

Initial Indian complaints bounced off China. The real game-changer was when, at a foreign secretaries meeting in Sichuan last year, India hinted it would change its Tibet and Taiwan policies. India declined to endorse the one China policy when Premier Wen Jiabao came visiting in December last year. [8]
This allegation of Chinese disorganization and ineptitude may be gratifying to the Indian diplomatic service, which often faces accusations of disorganization and ineptitude itself.

However, the facts of the case - that stapled visas were given to weightlifters from Arunachal Pradesh trying to attend a competition in China (indeed, stapled visas were given to residents of Arunachal Pradesh as early as 2007) as well demanded for a general from Jammu & Kashmir - implies that more than purported resentment against "Northern Command" by a disgruntled clerk in the Chinese Ministry of Defense was at work.

And the intimidating character of India's representations to Premier Wen in December 2010 apparently did not deter China from issuing stapled visas to the two weightlifters in January 2011, less than a month after Wen's visit.

As the Economic Times put it:
In spite of Premier Wen Jiabao's assurance that China will take serious note of India's concerns over the issue of stapled visas, the handing over of such documents to two Arunchalis prevented them from flying to Beijing on Wednesday. [9]
Perhaps the purpose of this backgrounder is to make the case that the stapled visa issue was merely a blunder and China's change of posture therefore did not merit any reciprocation from India.

Also, the concession was framed in terms of Jammu & Kashmir alone - not addressing any Arunachal Pradesh factor - indicating that the Indian government was happy to advertise that China was backing off on interfering in Kashmir just as New Delhi and Srinigar brace themselves for the possibility of another long, hot summer of rock throwing, head cracking, and the intemperate use of various lethal and occasionally lethal non-lethal ordinance by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

However, if India helps keep a lid on dissent, criticism, and incitement in the southwest as China nervously enters its own season of dissent, with those warm, dry days and nights so well suited to marching, camping, and other activities, enduring some self-congratulatory preening by India - and the erosion of China's bargaining stance on the contentious border issues - might be an acceptable price to pay.

Notes:
1. Hu steps forward, Indian Express, Apr 15, 2011.
2. Syria and the Delusions of the Western Press, CounterPunch, Apr 15 – 17, 2011.
3. A Brief History of the Sino-Indian Border Dispute and the role of Tibet, Fool's Mountain, Mar 26, 2010.
4. Lt Gen BS Jaswal had visited China in 2008, Daily News Analysis, Aug 28, 2010.
5. McMahon Line, Wikipedia.
6. Dalai Lama lands in Tawang, hits out at Beijing 'hard line', Times of India, Nov 9, 2009.
7. Dalai Lama questions China's claim to Tawang, Daily News Analysis, Nov 9, 2009.
8. China's flip-flop on Kashmir, Hindustan Times, Apr 15, 2011.
9. China issues 'invalid' stapled visas to Arunachal Pradesh residents, The Economic Times, Jan 13, 2011.

Peter Lee writes on East and South Asian affairs and their intersection with US foreign policy.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/MD22Ad01.html


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[ALOCHONA] AL violence



AL violence



http://jugantor.us/enews/issue/2011/04/25/news0091.php


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[ALOCHONA] Post-Polls Violence 2001:355 killings, 3270 other offences



Post-Polls Violence 2001:Probe body detects 355 killings, 3270 other offences


http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2011-04-25/news/149376


http://www.dailykalerkantho.com/?view=details&type=gold&data=Forum&pub_no=501&cat_id=1&menu_id=13&news_type_id=1&index=0

A judicial probe body has identified 355 incidents of political killing and 3270 more serious offences including rape, arson, loot and asset grabbing in the aftermath of the parliamentary elections in 2001 that the BNP-led alliance won.
The three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission on the post-polls violence in 2001 submitted the report to Home Minister Sahara Khatun at her office on Sunday.

The text of the report was not made public immediately.

However, a Home Ministry press release said the Commission identified a total of 3,625 incidents of violence committed between October 2001 and December 2002.Member secretary of the commission and a Home Ministry Deputy Secretary Monwar Hossain Akhand submitted the report as chairman of the Commission and former district judge Muhammad Shahabuddin was not present.

Asked who committed the crimes specified in the report, the home minister claimed that the BNP-Jamaat alliance government carried out such crimes.

"They (BNP-Jamaat) tortured, raped and killed minority people and leaders and activists of the Awami League and its front organisations," she said during the briefing on submission of the report.Sahara said she just received the report and after going through it, the ministry would publish the findings and recommendations soon.Legal steps will be taken against the offenders, the minister said adding that directives would also be sought from the court on how to resolve the issue.

Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, present at the briefing, said after the 8th parliament elections in 2001, a number of incidents including killing and rape, occurred across the country. Some victims filed cases and some others could not do so, he said.

Following the High Court order in 2009, the Awami League government on 27 December 2009 formed the three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission.On behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, advocate Monjil Morshed filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking investigation into the causes of violence and identifying the persons involved.

The judicial probe report said the commission received a total of 5571 complaints. Of them, as many as 3625 complaints were taken into consideration.The Commission reportedly recommended that the government should form a committee or commission in every district to further investigate these incidents.

Bdnews24.com adds: The report claimed that incidents, ranging from militant attacks in the name of Islam to the 21 August 2004 grenade attack on the current prime minister, were linked.

The report is said to have pointed out that no such violence did occur at the instigation of the leaders of the party that won the ninth parliamentary elections."Post-election violence can be avoided if the top leaders of political parties are conscious this way," the agency quoted the report.

The report recommended that the government should file new cases, revive old ones and compensate the affected people on the basis of the probe.

http://www.daily-sun.com/?view=details&type=daily_sun_news&pub_no=197&cat_id=1&menu_id=1&news_type_id=1&index=2


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[ALOCHONA] All charge-sheeted accused use ruling party links; one home minister's cousin



Govt moves to let off 7 indicted for murder

All charge-sheeted accused use ruling party links; one said to be home minister's cousin, Sahara neither denies nor confirms

Chaitanya Chandra Halder and Kailash Sarkar

The government has made several moves in recent months to see a murder case withdrawn against seven charge-sheeted accused, citing political affiliations.
The latest came on April 19 when the metropolitan public prosecutor directed the special PP of Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 to take necessary steps towards withdrawal of the case, filed for the murder of Ashikur Rahman Khan Apu.

The special PP, Abu Abdullah, has told The Daily Star that an application will be submitted to the Tribunal-1 on April 27 for withdrawal of murder charges against all the seven accused.The case was filed with the capital's Sutrapur Police Station on May 24, 2008, a day after Apu, a private university student, was shot dead and his two brothers were injured in Wari.

In October that year, charges were pressed against the seven--Monjurul Abedin Russell, Mahbub Alam, Mohammad Ali alias Munna, Nawshad Hossain Mollah alias Robin, Iftekhar Beg alias Jhalak, Biplob Chandra Das and Atiq Ahmed Shiplu.Of the accused, Russell, Jhalak and Munna are behind bars, Biplob and Robin on the run, and Mahbub and Shiplu are out on bail.

Shiplu and Biplob are activists of Jubo League, the youth front associated with the ruling Awami League; and Munna is said to be a cousin of Home Minister Sahara Khatun.Mahbub and Russell are charge-sheeted accused also in a case for a double murder in Tantibazar in 2005, and Jhalak is an accused in an arms case.

Contacted yesterday over the phone, Sahara Khatun declined to confirm if Munna is really her cousin.She also would not make any comments about the case, which her ministry considers to be "politically motivated and meant for harassment".Close relatives of the minister and Munna, however, said that their mothers are indeed siblings.State Minister for Law Kamrul Islam, also head of the committee reviewing the "politically motivated cases", told The Daily Star, "I cannot remember if Munna is home minister's cousin, as I deal with 8,000-10,000 such cases."

Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar said that since he was not present in the last two meetings of the committee, he does not know of any move to save a cousin of the home minister.Asked about separate moves to have charges dropped against seven individuals in a single case, the state minister for law said it is because the applications were submitted at different times by different people.

In the first move, the home ministry on July 5 last year decided to drop charge against Shiplu. The court, however, rejected the withdrawal petition on grounds that the trial was about to be completed.

Then on November 25, the committee for withdrawal of "political cases" decided to have the entire case withdrawn. The application to that end is pending with the court.

The next move came on January 25 this year when the government decided not to proceed with the trial of Biplob who has remained a fugitive since the murder.Atia Khan Keya, complainant of the case and sister of the victim, told The Daily Star that their family is worried over the bid to withdraw charges against the accused.
"None of my brothers was involved with any political parties. How could the government portray the case as politically motivated and try to withdraw it?" she asked.
Her mother Dr Tofatun Nahar said the accused attacked her sons, killing one and crippling the two other in front of her Hare Street house in Wari and in presence of the locals."The attack was meant to serve the purpose of my tenant Jhalak. And there was nothing political about it," she said."My family is already in ruins. I have quit my job as a gynaecologist at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University because I was too demoralised to continue," said Dr Nahar.

To make life even more miserable, she added, the accused out on bail are issuing death threats.Of those on the run, Biplob has fled to India during the last caretaker rule, said locals of Purbo Para of Suvadda village in South Keraniganj where his family home is.Legal experts say the law does not allow any fugitives to petition with the authorities for withdrawal of murder charges against them.The home secretary, however, differed. He said there is no legal bar to trying to have charges against an accused withdrawn, be he fugitive or behind bars.

On May 17, 2009, Biplob submitted a prayer to Dhaka district authorities, seeking withdrawal of the charge against him. He wrote, "I'm an active member of Jubo League. The case against me was filed during the BNP-Jamaat regime and the caretaker government rule as part of a conspiracy and [for] harassment."He made the claim of harassment by political rivals even though the case was filed during the last caretaker government rule.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=183075


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[ALOCHONA] 10 Lost Cities Of The World



10 Lost Cities Of The World

These ancient wonders are well worth a visit, even in troubled times.

By Morgan Brennan

Gazing at the Andean peaks soaring above the Lost City of the Incas and the lush valley below, it's easy see why it was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. The 15th century A.D. Peruvian site was abandoned shortly after Spanish conquistadors invaded the neighboring areas, falling to ruin until 1911, when an American scholar stumbled across the remains.

 

History's once glorious metropolises have become ever more sought-after destinations as Americans get back into travel mode. Machu Picchu welcomes as many as 1 million tourists annually, and that number is said to be growing as much as 6% per year.

The Americas offer travelers dozens of lost cities to explore. Mexico has the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, with Mesoamerica's largest ball court and the hulking pyramidal remains of Teotihuacan, with its well-preserved, color-splashed murals. There's Tical in Guatemala and Copan in Honduras. Even the the Western U.S. boasts the tumbleweed-strewn ghost towns of two centuries ago.


In Pictures: 15 Lost Cities Of The World



1. Petra, Jordan

Country: Jordan

Civilization: the Nabataeans

Inhabited: sixth century B.C.

This rose-colored city carved from cliffs garnered fame in the West thanks to the 1980s blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.


2. Chichen Itza, Mexico

Country: Mexico

Civilization: the Mayans

Inhabited: 600 to 1000 A.D.

Site of one of Mesoamerica's largest ball courts, this royal city is located near a massive underground cenote, or sinkhole, where the bodies of human sacrifices were dropped.


3. Derinkuyu Underground City, Turkey

Country: Turkey

Civilization: possibly the Phrygians

Inhabited: Approximately eighth century B.C.to 10th century A.D.

This underground network has more than 10 floors and room for up to 50,000 people, plus livestock. It is rumored to have been a hideout for early Christians escaping Roman persecution.


4. Machu Picchu, Peru

The results of the survey suggest that ease of learning the local language and adapting to the local culture are areas in which the U.S. fares well in as an expat destination--despite low scores in organizing finances and health care.


5. Angkor, Cambodia

Country: Cambodia

Civilization: the Khmer Empire

Inhabited: ninth century to 15th century A.D.

More than a thousand temples, including Angkor Wat, populate this long-time Khmer capital. It declined after a successful attack by invaders from what is now Thailand.

6. Pre-Roman Carthage, Tunisia

Country: Tunisia

Civilization: the Phoenicians

Inhabited: 650 to 146 B.C.

Carthage was home to the Roman Empire's arch-nemesis, Hannibal. It was burned and the earth salted during the final Punic War.

7. Pompeii, Italy

Country: Italy

Civilization: the Roman Empire

Inhabited: seventh/sixth century B.C. to 79 A.D.

Pompeii was a cultural center and vacation destination for Roman high society until it was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Left behind are naturally ash-encased mummies.

8. Memphis, Egypt


Country: Egypt

Civilization: the Ancient Egyptians

Inhabited: third millennium B.C. to seventh century A.D.

Located at the mouth of the Nile delta, Memphis thrived for centures as a center of trade, commerce, religion and royalty. Foreign invasions, including one by Alexander the Great, let to its demise.

9. Teotihuacan, Mexico


Country: Mexico

Civilization: possibly the Totonac people

Inhabited: 100 B.C. to 250 A.D.

This city, the founders of which remain a mystery, is home to some of the largest pyramids in pre-Columbian America. It inspired several major empires, those of the Zapotec and Mayans.

10. Mosque City of Bagerhat, Bangladesh


Country: Bangladesh

Civilization: Khan Jahan Ali

Inhabited: 15th century A.D.

The city formerly known as Khalifatabad was founded by a Turkish general. It boasts more than 50 Islamic monuments and the Sixty Pillar Mosque, constructed with 60 pillars and 80 domes.

 http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-39274939



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[ALOCHONA] Re: Muslim women should be thankful to France.--Your disparagement show you lack civility; you lack decency in your language.

While personally I would not consider to follow the practice of Nikab or Hijab, I believe fundamentally it should be up to the women. I disagree that a person's mode of dress should be limiting and considered demeaning unless you are referring to the girls who expose their bodies in periodicals like Playboy or Hustler or on the streets and in certain men's entertainment establishments for money. That practice is demeaning to all women.

What France has done has created an emotional outcry from all Muslim nations, sensationalizing this issue. I believe though its intent refers back to the coercion of women to wear the niqab and hijab, rather than the voluntary donning of the same from what I have read.

I hope our Muslim sisters in France will be rightly guided in the best course of action.

Respectfully,


--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "ANDREWL" <turkman@...> wrote:
>
> Yeah but if Moslims were happy in Hell of their countries, a million of them would not be emigrating to West legally and illegally every year and hundreds of them would not be dieing in trying to do so.
> How many French a longing to live in Moslim countries for happiness?
> How many Moslims can live a better life than they are living in France even on Charity of French in Moslim Countries?
>
> --- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "S A Hannan" <sahannan@> wrote:
> >
> > Per capita income does not determine happiness or peace. Most French and for
> > that matter ultra-materialized western people live like animals, just eat
> > and drink and die, no higher objective in life.
> >
> > People in my own village are much happier though they are just lower middle
> > class people.
> >
> > Akbar Hossain, it does not behove you to say that French are not investing
> > in Jannat, none has requested them to do so. Your disparagement show you
> > lack civility; you lack decency in your language.
> >
> >
> >
> > Shah Abdul Hannan
> >
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
> > From: alochona@yahoogroups.com [mailto:alochona@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
> > Of Akbar Hussain
> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 1:05 AM
> > To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] Muslim women should be thankful to France.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > France has a population of 65 million and a few thousand of them
> > occasionally goes naked in the secluded areas. This you know very well
> > because this is very sensational for people like you. But you do not know
> > that they have a per capita income of 33000.00 USD and only 6.2 pc lives
> > below poverty line. I hope you know their standard of poverty line. If today
> > France announce that they will take 5 million Muslim immigrants from
> > Indonesia to Morocco how may of your imander brothers and sisters are going
> > to apply to migrate? The reason for your anger may be that the French
> > people are not investing in the jannats where you want to go after death.
> > When this burden of ignorance will go away?
> >
> >
> >
> > Akbar Hussain
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 2:49 AM, Mohammed Ramjan <mramjan@>
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Mr. Akbar Hussain
> >
> > Long writing no time to read.
> >
> > Mulla is follower of Islam. Islam is the only way of life piece for the
> > human being in all respects.
> >
> > French Ban Veil, they will , because they decayed, one island in Frence for
> > nudity, man and women run in the jungle in nude state so how they will allow
> > veil ?
> >
> > Know thyself
> >
> > Mohamed Ramjan
> >
> > Kuwait
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
> > To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
> > From: akbarh1950@
> > Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:15:26 -0400
> > Subject: [ALOCHONA] Muslim women should be thankful to France.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The French ban on Islamic veil is in effect from 11 Apr. By law it has been
> > prohibited and any violation will face penalties. The mullahs are cursing
> > France by asking Allah's wrath in the country. As per the statistics the
> > handful of Muslim women who wear niqab or veil are numbering around 2000
> > only. But the western world, especially France has taken such a stern
> > measure against this primitive practice? The rise of extremist Islam since
> > 9/11 has taken a vow to establish a brand of Islam rooted in the 7th century
> > Arabian culture and according to them veil is an essential part of it. The
> > social and cultural history of the Arabs does not essentially mention this
> > practice.
> >
> > Veiling did not exist in early Arabia, but Mohammed admonished women to
> > cover them modestly, and his own wives were veiled in public. Mohammed's
> > wives set the example, and gradually the veil became a sign of prestige.
> >
> >
> >
> > Adherence to traditional dress varies across Arab societies. Saudi Arabia is
> > more traditional, while Egypt is less so. Women are required to wear abayas
> > in only Saudi Arabia; this is enforced by the religious police. This
> > restricts their economic participation and other activities and also demeans
> > them as equal citizens. In most countries, like Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
> > Jordan, Syria and Egypt, the veil is not mandatory. In Tunisia, the secular
> > government has banned the use of the veil in its opposition to religious
> > extremism. Former Tunisian President called the veil sectarian and foreign
> > and has stressed the importance of traditional Tunisian dress as a symbol of
> > national identity. Islamic feminism counters both sorts of externally
> > imposed dress codes.
> >
> >
> >
> > Outside the Arab world veil was never a dress for the women. When Islam was
> > shipped to those lands the preachers made the Arab culture an essential part
> > of it.In the contemporary world where the importance of an individual has
> > become an important issue this veil negates the very foundation of the
> > principles of individualism. In the western world the practice wearing veil
> > in public simply voids the existence of a person.
> >
> >
> >
> > The enlightened and open minded Muslims denounce veil as oppressive and
> > shameful. The important reason to denounce it because any dogmatic Islamic
> > practice gives encouragement to the Islamic extremists. Despite full
> > throated claims Islam does not really believe in the equality of men and
> > women. A pre medieval practice to subjugate women is not a matter of faith;
> > it's a tribal culture which does not exist any more.
> >
> >
> >
> > Akbar Hussain
> >
>


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[ALOCHONA] Martial law or civil law, share market thieves are above all laws



Martial law or civil law, share market thieves are above all laws

Afsan Chowdhury

How long did it take to cast aside the much awaited share market probe report and focus all attention on whether its author Ibrahim Khaled wanted martial law and why? It was a stroke of luck or brilliance on the part of the scammers to turn the tables and let everyone argue about something quite irrelevant forgetting the report. Not that it says much.

But what does a report matter when the scammers are above all laws, civil or military and in 40 years of Bangladesh have never even once been in serious trouble. What martial law? What civil law? They are a law unto themselves. Let us bow our heads and praise such great men.

* * *

Stock market rip-off or any scandal followed by reports which have no value is common in Bangladesh like all other probe reports. The purpose of such reports is not to clear the air but create an impression that something is being done. Public attention is focused on what the report will say which is always very little and soon something else will happen and everyone will pay attention elsewhere till the next crash. If reports had any intent, there should be one on the last share market scam and action taken. Everyone is safe and will be till the next scam, the next report and the next batch of idiots thinking the authorities do want to do something.

* * *

Theft, corruption, economic crimes, etc. do not happen in isolation or without history. They are deeply rooted in us in our tradition. The Mughal bureaucracy was institutionally corrupt and its members were expected to make money through payment by people who came to them to be served. During the Pakistan era this practice was hugely strengthened and became socially acceptable.

After liberation, the loot of Pakistani homes and goods, taking over abandoned industries through government order or occupying houses in Mohammadpur and Mirpur played a foundational role in extralegal wealth making. But the greater corruption was not prosecuting the economic criminals. By not doing so, the much more stable tradition of impunity for corruption by the ruling class was established. That goes on.

* * *

Of course the ruling class considers us stupid. In fact that is the other tradition. Since 1972, corruption has been a general trend in every regime. After 1975, Zia used corruption to buy support and stack the anti-AL barricade with friends. The use of aid money and financial institutions were key elements of that BNP regime and what was built in the Mujib era flourished under Zia. Under Ershad era… ahem… followed by ahem and then by another ahem…

* * *

It is interesting that in the latest editions, the Awami League seems to have chosen share market scams to distribute favours to followers. In the present edition of the same with largely the same players, it is obvious that share market scamming is the Awami method of quick- money-making-for-friends scheme. A share scam each time they come to power cannot be a coincidence. The same sounds were made earlier, the same reporting, the same lack of action. It is probably this sense of helplessness that made Ibrahim Khaled make that statement that martial law alone can try such criminals.

Excuse me, but we have had three martial law editions and haven't seen any difference. Has anyone?

* * *

BNP dominantly follows the Tarique Zia model which was displayed the last time it was in power, events describing which has kept many journalists happily employed for long. It is more crude but equally effective. Not that they don't do other corruptions which are the standard in Bangladesh but it is like both their parties. How does one know which one is which and what is that? Nevertheless credit where due must be given.

* * *

It is impossible to charge, let alone try economic criminals because they have been produced by the same system by which we are governed. To try them is to threaten the state structure. If one looks at the list of the people who steal and cheat and have done so over time, one will find that they are the most significant part of the ruling class. There is no embarrassment about theft in that class. If they were to be done away with, the ruling class would crumble and without them, who would rule us?

Here is an exercise for the curious. Make a list of the top rich or the top powerful, either will do and see how many have corruption allegations and how many have been tried, cases dismissed, withdrawn, rejected, etc, etc.

There is such a thing as the ruling class and our politicians and our money makers belong to the same structure. It is not a question of will but a question of necessity in terms of sustaining control over the state. Why should the parties in power interfere with corruption in which almost all participate in, when it doesn't interfere with power including vote power?

How many have not voted for Awami League because of share market scams in its last innings? How many won't vote for the BNP because Tarique and his crony's shenanigans?

* * *

If Bangladeshi people are willing to vote for the people they accuse of theft, corruption, murder and every other crime so regularly, what is the ruling class to do? It is not their fault that the people want them despite everything?

If people are encouraging them to carry on whatever they do because of tribal loyalty why should tribe leaders behave otherwise?

Is it possible to suggest that by continuing to support the ruling class, the voters are in effect a party to the crimes they complain so much about?

Those who steal money, one way or other have been produced by Bangladesh itself. The loan defaulter example is very apt to explain this. Banks could not act against them because the loans were so big that it couldn't take any punitive action. Bangladesh is a large bank and those who steal also own the bank. To attack one is to attack the other.

* * *

So thank you Mr. Khaled for your report but more for the remark which you claim you never made. You provided some amusement which we needed after our World Cup departure and thumping by Australia. You have made some fame and have kept us hacks busy for a while. We shall contact you in future for comments on many matters whether you like it or not. What more could we ask for? Thanks everyone, scammer, report writer, media and the adoring public.
——————————————-
Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist and researcher.

http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2011/04/24/martial-law-or-civil-law-share-market-thieves-are-above-all-laws/




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RE: [ALOCHONA] Trip to Bangladesh - 2011



where is the " shonar Banglaadesh"...that our politicians promised us so many times?


when planners, engineers, architects will be prosecuted for doing a lousy job ?

What generals, millionairres, secretaries, politicians were thinking...when they were travelling on
filthy roads, through rubbish tfaffic-jam....in the past years?


khoda hafez.


probashi99







To: alochona@yahoogroups.com; diagnose@yahoogroups.com
CC: reform-bd@yahoogroups.com; bangla-vision@yahoogroups.com
From: haquetm83@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:04:47 -0700
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Trip to Bangladesh - 2011



Travelling almost every year but nothing like 2011, I was frequently hitting the glass or dashboard and my wife lied down on the back bench of the jeep. It is only 15 minutes drive from airport to Bonani DOHS, it took us fifty minutes. While trying to keep awake and to watch what others are doing, keeping up and straight was difficult after a whole sleepless  night or two. Never experienced this and thought 'we never have an awakening' we all are asleep.

All on a sudden fan starts running high – because power went off and got connected to UPS. Generator started running on, o ff, so erratic, so frequent never noticed before.

Went to catch a intercity bus, one hour passed  we were told bus couldn't enter the city (jame dhukte parse na), everyone is hooked to the cell phone yet do not know where the bus is.

During the return trip, only after 20 km the bus started making a noise, I asked – break drum is broken in one of the wheel, the driver started looking for a nail, I went down with the driver to see what is he repairing. Got scared – do not worry we will neutralize that wheel, three will function properly with the break, wanted to change the bus but couldn't, all other seems less bothered and taking nap.

I know the style of driving, quick turn, sudden break but what the drivers can do without driving like this, he can't take the bus to its destination, often I jumped from the seat.

40 years on we do not have proper road network system. We got very tired within 24 years of Paki rule and had lots of complains, for 4 years on we could not build 192 km high way considered as life line for trade and development, Dhaka Chittagong highway, what makes one convinced that this government is working for the country's development, so what distinction we can make – Ayub Khan's discriminatory rule and this or other governments inactions!

'By now all highways should have been built to 4 lanes', that will be a dream told in despicable writer's wishful writing on ekattorer chetona or shadhinotar mantra or jatiotabadi chetona- they will say 40 years is not a long time! It is not easy to fathom what is in their mind and how they uphold these governments mysterious development programs.

During festivals I heard it takes 20 to 23 hours to travel to Rajshahi or Dinajpur from Dhaka. No one is bothered to question.  

Enormous stupidity has engulfed this government and the opposition and we are destined to waste our time and resources on the road for very many years. 





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[ALOCHONA] Why nations fail.



The famous author of the History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbons was not only a gifted historian; he had also philosophical introspection of the human nature that makes history. By paying proper respect to the past empire builders one thing we can safely say that their vision of future was not strong enough to foresee the foreseeable future. In keeping with his high level of moralistic and pragmatic thinking it's said that like other enlightened thinkers, Gibbon held in contempt the middle Ages as a priest-ridden, superstitious, dark ages. It was not until his own age of reason and rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress. Looking at the 192 strong nations in the world and the never ending feuds among them, it's impossible to hope that there will be a unified and peaceful world. The consequence of such a situation is nothing but constant instability and conflict.

Edward Gibbons was a highly moralistic person and saw morality as an important factor in deciding the future of any nation. I strongly believe that for any future historian, Gibbons vision of human nature in determining their destiny will be a great example to write their own notes.

 History in its own essence is a narrative. History is written to transmit past to the present generation with a hope that some lessons will be learned by the posterity. But unfortunately human nature is a peculiar phenomenon which is a brew of intellect, stupidity and at times fatalistic. As Gibbons explains when the Roman Empire was ravaged by the Barbarians from all sides Roman politicians showed utter disregard to the threat. Their finest empire building tactics turned to intrigues and conspiracies making their fall a definite one in the hands of the Barbarians.

History recorded their blunders for the future generations but hardly anyone learned anything. The French Revolution of 1789 ushered a great era for the entire humanity but Napoleon Bonaparte learned a wrong lesson. Hitler was a mortal threat but Britain did not realise this before Czechoslovakia was annexed by Hitler.

Human psychology is always slow to react to any impending danger. Till such time it strikes they remain unaware of the coming catastrophe. In the contemporary times there are many helpful ways to foresee a danger but despite all these the recession of 2008 could not be averted by the United States although the danger signs were there. The present crisis in the Middle East and Africa is another proof of human miscalculations. Hosni Mubarak, Ghadafi, AliAbdallah Saleh or Bashar Al Assad are the victims of this human frailty.

Some windows of their intellect will remain closed till such time they are blown away by their own follies. This nature of the nations led by some human beings is the key to the rise and fall of the nations be it the mighty United States or Ivory Coast.


Akbar Hussain


 

 

 

 

 



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