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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

[ALOCHONA] Re: Politician's disappearance fuels Bangladesh crisis

Paramilitary Killings in Bangladesh Dragged into the Light

New York. What is a journalist to do when simply providing information
is not enough to bring about the desired change? Why, turn to art, of
course.

That is how Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam tackles the
issue of "crossfire," the extra-judicial killings that his country's
paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) are believed to be
responsible for, claiming over a thousand lives in the last four years
alone.

"The information is clearly in the public domain, but when it doesn't
do what you'd hoped it would do, you need to re-think your strategy,"
Alam told IPS in New York where he had come for the exhibition launch
last month, in an attempt to highlight the urgency of
internationalizing the issue.

"I didn't know how effective this show would be, but I wanted the
issue to be seen in a different context," he said.

The result is a series of beautifully lit, symbolic images in a show
titled "Crossfire", which just concluded a run at the Queens Museum in
New York– "a physical experience that aims to evoke rather than
inform," as Alam puts it in the exhibition brochure.

In so doing, the show raises a human rights issue that is relevant to
any state that allows extra-judicial murders to take place with
impunity.

"Through Wikileaks, we learnt that the US and UK have been involved in
training RAB. Hopefully this exhibition will provide food for thought
about US special training being provided to Bangladesh security
forces," said Alam, a pioneering photojournalist and activist, founder
of the multimedia Drik Picture Library and the not- for-profit photo
agency Majority World.

"Waterboarding was a new concept for us in Bangladesh," he added.

In addition to training, the US and Britain have also been providing
arms to RAB. The issue has been raised in the British Parliament, but
not in the US, something Alam hopes will change.

When it was first launched in Dhaka in March 2010, the Bangladesh
government sent riot police to shut "Crossfire" down, on its opening
day — an action seen around the world as the organizers strategically
live-streamed the event. Alam recalls that he was in fact on a Skype
call with the Reporters Without Borders secretary general when the
riot police surrounded the gallery.

The widespread negative publicity and protests at the exhibition being
shut down highlighted the issue and led to an initial decline in
"crossfire" killings. However, since then, disappearances as well as
killings have risen.

Although symbolic rather than literal, the photographs evoke a dark,
sinister feel. An underwater photo with bubbles, a cycle rickshaw on a
deserted university road, a rice paddy field, a "gamcha" (sarong) on
the ground.

Combine these images with the word "crossfire" in the context of
Bangladesh, and you have a clear political statement about
extra-judicial killings in that country.

"This one's clearly about waterboarding," commented Pramilla Malick of
Manhattan, stopping in front of the water bubbles photograph at Alam's
show. "It gives me the chills."

"The idea of the concept of 'crossfire' rather than showing bodies is
very potent," said documentary filmmaker Brian Palmer, who has been to
Bangladesh and worked with students at Alam's Drik institute. "We're
so bombarded by an avalanche of images that it can be more powerful to
interrupt and pause."

Each photograph represents an actual case, based on solid research
about every known case of crossfire death.

Each photo was taken in the middle of the night, lit by torchlight,
"because that's how survivors and victims' families recall these
incidents," Alam said. "They take place in the dead of night, people
wake up to torchlight shining in their faces, and then they're taken
away."

"Even a child knows what 'crossfire' means," comments a passer-by,
whom Alam video-interviewed outside the gallery after the government
shut down the show in Dhaka.

"You use these images with that word, everyone will know that that's
where a crossfire happened," comments a policeman.

One passerby angrily said that "those putting on this show are the
ones who should be 'cross-fired,' " because the police are "only
trying to make the country safer for the citizens by getting rid of
criminals."

However, most passers-by commended the organizers for bringing this
issue to the public. "Those who are killed are not just criminals,"
said one young man. "Some are just ordinary people on their way to
work, their families never even get their bodies back."

The interviews, playing on a subtitled video, are part of the
Crossfire show at Queens Museum.

The exhibition in Dhaka and in New York is supported by the Open
Society Institute, which also funded a series of posters based on the
images that human rights organizations in Bangladesh had agreed to
exhibit.

However, NGOs all backed out at the last minute, says Alam, perhaps
due to fears that the Bangladesh government would not renew their
licenses to operate as non-profit organizations.

Drik, an independent media organization that is not subject to such
restrictions, has persisted with the exhibition. "We're also
risk-takers," grins Alam.

In a country where the risks of speaking out include being
"cross-fired", taking such chances is no laughing matter. But for
activists like Alam, staying silent is not an option.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/paramilitary-killings-in-bangladesh-dragged-into-the-light/516987

On 5/9/12, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
> Politician's disappearance fuels Bangladesh crisis
>
> The night watchman was dozing in a wooden chair just after midnight on
> a deserted Bangladeshi street when he was startled by a scream. A
> group of men were pulling two people from a car and forcing them into
> a black microbus; "The two guys were shouting, 'Save us,'" before the
> car pulled away, Lutfar Rahman said.
>
> The abductions of an opposition politician and his driver last month
> have sparked Bangladesh's biggest crisis in years, raised hostilities
> between the most prominent leaders of its fragile democracy and
> highlighted a series of seemingly political disappearances.
>
> The opposition has blamed the government, launched nationwide strikes
> and fought with police in street clashes that have killed five people
> and injured scores. Homemade bombs have exploded on the streets of
> Dhaka, including one inside a compound housing government ministries.
> The government has charged 44 top opposition leaders in connection
> with the violence.On Wednesday, the main opposition Bangladesh
> Nationalist Party and its 17 allies would demonstrate across the
> country to restart its paused protests.
>
> No one has claimed responsibility for Elias Ali's abduction, and no
> ransom has been demanded, the usual practice of criminal gangs in
> Bangladesh.
>
> Security forces told the High Court this week they had no role in
> Ali's disappearance, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused the
> opposition of hiding Ali to create an excuse to cause mayhem.
>
> Hasina, however, later pledged to do everything possible to find Ali,
> when his wife and children met her seeking her intervention."The
> conflict is pushing Bangladesh toward a dangerous situation," said
> Adilur Rahman, secretary of Odhikar, a rights group.
>
> Hasina and her archrival Khaleda Zia have alternated in power since a
> pro-democracy movement ousted the last military regime in 1990. Zia
> leads Ali's Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
>
> The abductions of Ali and his driver as they returned home from
> meeting supporters at a hotel April 17 also has highlighted an
> increasing number of disappearances that Amnesty International and
> Human Rights Watch have blamed on security forces.
>
> At least 22 people have disappeared this year, according to a local
> human-rights group, Ain-o-Salish Kendra. Odhikar reports that more
> than 50 people have disappeared since 2010. Many of the disappeared
> were politicians.
>
> During her visit to Bangladesh last week, U.S. Secretary of State
> Hillary Rodham Clinton raised Ali's disappearance and the killing of
> labor leader Aminul Islam with the government, reflecting
> international concern over the issue.Islam, who recently led a
> campaign for higher wages for the country's 3 million garment workers,
> was found dead along a highway April 5. His family blames the killing
> on law enforcement agencies.
>
> Even before Ali's disappearance, tensions were high between Hasina and
> Zia over the conduct of the general election due in 2014.
>
> Hasina has scrapped a constitutional provision requiring the
> government to step down before polls and transfer power to a neutral
> caretaker administration to oversee the voting within 90 days. The
> government says it acted to comply with a court ruling that the
> caretaker provision was undemocratic, but it means Hasina will be
> overseeing the next balloting.
>
> Zia has refused to take part in any election overseen by Hasina,
> fearing fraud. The government says it is open to discuss alternatives,
> but the opposition says they will sit across the table only if the
> previous sytem will be restored. The government rejects that.
>
> A similar dispute in 2006 prompted the powerful military to declare a
> state of emergency that remained until the 2008 election. Both Hasina
> and Zia were put behind bars during the emergency rule.
>
> Many businessmen also were jailed pending tax evasion and fraud
> trials, and some fled to avoid arrest. But the cases were withdrawn or
> not heard when the political government took office.
>
> "We don't want to return to any emergency rule," said A.K. Azad,
> president of the Federation of Bangladesh Commerce and Industry. "What
> we want is our leaders to work together so there is no more strikes
> and clashes."Ali, 50, has lived dangerously since becoming a student
> at Dhaka University, considered a breeding ground of Bangladesh's
> politicians.
>
> He was recruited into a student political group by the country's last
> military dictator Hussein Muhammad Ershad, according to friends. He
> then joined a group allied with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party,
> sparking feuding and occasional gunfights among rival factions of
> Zia's party.
>
> He was briefly arrested, later elected to Parliament and then swept
> out in 2008 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party.The
> opposition, which suspended its street protests in a gesture of
> goodwill during Clinton's visit, has vowed to resume strikes if Ali is
> not found.
>
> His family wonders if he is even alive."We have left his fate to
> Allah," said Ali's teenage son, Abrar Elias, "The Almighty is our last
> resort."
>
> http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/09/politician-disappearance-fuels-bangladesh-crisis/
>


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

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Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies



I believe only a word, not a phrase, can have antonyms by definition. "False statement" is a phrase. I hope a grammarian can help us.
 
It is practically impossible to stand in the middle between a Hitler and a Gandhi in order to strike a balance. The case of Hindus vs. Muslims, for example, is quite different. Any sensitive issue should be discussed in a balanced manner. This is required to do justice to both the sides. Hitler does not need any justice or compassion, Gandhi needs. It would be great if critics of a religion come from within, not outside. This minimizes the chance of being branded as a communalist.  

From: Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com>
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 4:50 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies
 
I thought I was pretty good in vocabulary. But I surely am confused with the comparison between the words "statement" and "opinion." An opinion is a statement, and a statement could very well be an opinion. "Statement" and "opinion" are not antonymous to each other. In fact, there is no real antonym of either "statement" or "opinion." Of course, "true statement" would be antonymous to "false statement", and "good opinion (judgment)" would be antonymous to "bad opinion (judgment)." The way I see it, good judgments (opinions) are vital for the progress of the human civilization. I certainly have a lot of respect for good judgments (opinions).
 
In any case, going back to the subject matter here, standing at the mid-point between religious hate-mongering and secularism may be balanced by some definitions, but it is neither fair nor respectable. This kind of balancing acts has been impeding progress in the world.
 
Looks like I have ignored the change in the headline of the thread here. I am actually not interested in lamenting the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. That partition would not have been a long-term problem if Pakistan had enough leaders, intellectuals and people to engage in a competition with India on secularism as the motto of the state.
 
So, this is the end of my writing on this thread.
 
Sukhamaya Bain
 
==================================================

From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 7, 2012 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies
 

My personal observation is that - Mr. Subimal Chakraborty wants to be fair and balanced. To achieve this goal, he often dilutes the truth. He rarely takes a strong position on anything, possibly, out of apprehension that someone might get offended by his statements. To me - he usually gives statements, not opinions. 
Jiten Roy   --- On Mon, 5/7/12, Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012, 6:20 PM

 
Mr. Subimal Chakrabarty's comments below have two irrational and untenable balancing acts.
 
His point #3 sounds like the complete reversal of the Hindu-Muslim ratios in the cities and towns of Pakistan was due to the Hindus leaving their home voluntarily, and that most of them were businessmen, teachers, doctors and lawyers.
 
The facts were: 1) Pakistan was hostile to the Hindus, that is why the Hindus left involuntarily; and 2) most of the Hindus (95% of the population) in a city like Karachi could not have been businessmen, teachers, doctors and lawyers; Pakistan has uprooted all kinds of Hindus from their home of centuries.
 
The first part of his point #4 sounds too disingenuous. He really needs to stop his absurd attempts of finding similar trends in India. From India, the Muslim migration to Pakistan happened only during the turbulent time of the partition. India has not been hostile to its Muslims over the last 65 years, and the migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan stopped shortly after the partition in 1947. The Muslim fanatics of Bangladesh, many of them pose as secular, talk about communal riots in India, really to justify what they have been doing in Pakistan and Bangladesh; what they do not talk about is that the system in India has kept the Muslims of that land strong enough even to start riots against the Hindus.
 
As for the educated people among the so-called schedule caste Hindu people in Bangladesh, Mr. Chakrabarty needs to learn that from among that class of people the ones that migrated to India got the opportunity to produce many more PhDs, doctors, engineers, etc. All indications are that they would have done far better without the partition of India in 1947. In spite of their foolish decision to join Pakistan in 1947, India even had a problem of unduly favoring the underclass, due to which many so-called high-caste Hindus would seek fraudulent means of getting schedule caste certificates for themselves, in order to get admitted to professional schools and in order to get jobs.
 
Nobody said, 'independence of Bangladesh has done us nothing'. Under any measurement, Bangladesh has been better than Pakistan for all kinds of its citizens. Bangladesh has improved the life of the Muslims of the land tremendously. Even the Hindus, in spite of the hatred and discrimination against them in Bangladesh, have done many times better than what could be expected had the land remained a part of Pakistan. However, as Mr. Chakrabarty seems to have pointed out (not very clearly), so far Bangladesh has failed to deliver the expectations of reductions of disparity, communalism and persecution against the non-Muslims of the land.
 
Sukhamaya Bain
 
===========================================================
From: subimal chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com>
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 6, 2012 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history andhHuman tragedies,
 
1. Jinnah was stubborn, Nehru was impatient, and the British were in a hurry and left almost every thing in a mess. Gandhi was helpless and resorted to seclusion. And the greatest blunder in the history of India occurred. Immediately after partition, India was on the verge of being a failed state. Soldiers of South Indian orgin had to be deployed to contain the communal violence that erupted. Good thing is that India survived the turmoil thanks to the secular, efficient, and visionary elements in the party. Gandhi's assassination turned out to be a boon as Hindu fanatics got cornered in Indian politics for a while.
 
2. I agree that Hindu caste-ism had a lot to do with the panoramic change in India's political geography and demography. Jagajivan Ram wanted to defer independence of India by a decade. Jogen Mondal became the trump card for Muslim League and thereby created his own political death and personal tragedy (a good account has been provided in a recent historical novel titled "Barishaler Jogen Mondal" (about a 1100-page book) by a prominent WB writer named Debesh Roy. 
 
3. As regards complete reversal of Hindu-Muslim population ratios in Pakistan, I think it was generally true for for all cities and towns. The small town I was raised in had only a handful of Muslims (all professionals) even in late fifties. The reasons include the fact that businessmen, teachers, doctors, lawyeras, etc. came from caste Hindus. They started leaving for India creating a big vacuum.
 
4. Similar trends could be found in the Indian states (Bihar, Nagaland, etc.) which have indigenous people as the majority. That is one of the fruits of independence that less privileged sections of the population enjoyed. I do not have the proper statistics. But I see a huge number of educated people with highest degrees including PH.D among the scheduled caste population in Bangladesh. We sometimes get carried away with frustration and try to believe that independence of Bangladesh has done us nothing. If we look at the statistics, we should be convinced that economically, socially, and culturally, the Bengalis in general have achieved a lot. What has not happened is the reduction of disparity, corruption, communal-ism, persecutions, and injustice. Probably in some areas things have become worse.   
 
=====================================================


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[mukto-mona] Fw: [Diagnose] Teesta deal has to wait




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Adil Khan <adilkhan46@hotmail.com>
To: diagnose@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 12:33 AM
Subject: RE: [Diagnose] Teesta deal has to wait

 
As a former BDG official may I report  of a press meeting of Bongobandhu held in late 1974 in Gonobhoban, that I attended.
 
At that time there were debates surrounding Farakka and flow of water required by Bangladesh during lean season. While Bangladeshi experts determined and argued for minimum of 45000 cusecs, Indians put that figure at 25. This resulted in a complete logjam.
 
At the above mentioned press conference, an Indian journalist asked Bongobandhu for his personal view on the issue, the journalist asked, "Bangobandhu, what do you think, what in your opinion is the actual requirement?". Bangabondhu's response still resonates in my ears, he said, "I do not understand these complex calculations nor do I care, my requirement is what was flowing!" This statement of Bangobondhu more or less set the tone for subsequent negotiations. It is our misfortune that he did not live long to pursue and secure his position.
 
Notwithstanding his many qualities Sk. Mujib no doubt has had many faults too but when it came to safeguarding national interests vis-a-vis a foreign adversay he fought uncompromisingly. Unfortunately, we do not seem to see similar wisdom, resolve and strength in his posterity. 
 

To: Diagnose@yahoogroups.com
From: haquetm83@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 06:28:13 -0700
Subject: RE: [Diagnose] Teesta deal has to wait

 
I was encouraged to write after reading Mr. Enamul Haque's analogy on India's water supply issue.
I am not a water expert, but out of common sense I can understand what is at stake in terms of water resources for us – deltaic plane called Bangladesh. Ganges and Brahmaputra, that brought the civilization in this marshy land, today find it difficult to fetch is potable and irrigation water.
The reasons behind India's water policies and science that evolving today, already created commotion in India itself and its politics adversely affecting Bangladesh. Wonderful enough this politics has successfully brought many people into the fore (indias foreign policy) from Bangladesh. People living in or from, Godagari or Rajshahi and Gaibanda or Chilmari seeing the impact still find it difficult to fathom(?) the origin of the destruction. This is the greatest challenge Bangladesh is facing today. A greater section of our people, often influential, keeps mum or openly advocate and supports India's river linking projects or its water politics.
Since our drinking water comes from underground resources and which is fast depleting, already aggravated situation will further worsen in terms of water scarcity, thereby its servicing costs – economic impact on national budget. Had the Padma had more water, we wouldn't have arsenic problem of this maginitude, also, ensuing salinity problem in the south due to the drying up of tributaries of Padma. There are many vehement patriots (?) who are uncomfortable to talk about Farakkah, the main reason for many of the today's problem, where millions of livelihood at peril.
Without the traditional navigability we can manage today, but can we sustain our food production without proper irrigation? Even our eco system! While the river become monsters during monsoon turns to 'majhkhane shudhu tar hatu jol thakey'.
We need to adapt a science that would retain the water for lean period from the monsoon. Policy, and resources should evolve around this.
To obtain a reasonable flow of water from its sources during the lean period, should be a natural demand and part of our policy.
While all the successive governments failed to provide adequate resources for water resource development, same extend failed to adapt a policy, develop capacity to negotiate with India successfully.
Current government created much hope among the commoners that, with their total devotion towards India's all out interests and benefits from Bangladesh, would bring in some recourse to common aspiration from our aggressive neighbor. But only the son of the soil realize eventually what we can get!
Thanks.

--- On Tue, 8/5/12, Enamul Hoque <ehoque@hoqueandassociates.com> wrote:

From: Enamul Hoque <ehoque@hoqueandassociates.com>
Subject: RE: [Diagnose] Teesta deal has to wait
To: Diagnose@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, 8 May, 2012, 1:16 AM

 
Other than the Karnafully, Kushiara, Surma, Monu, Kwai, Dakatia, Feni, and Gomti, can anyone tell me which rivers do not originate from the Himalaya that will have enough water to be diverted to central and western India for irrigation?  The rivers of the Deccan Plateau do not come to Bangladesh.  Few tributaries of the Ganges such as Chambal comes from Madhaya Prodesh and they will also adversely impact Bangladesh if any of its natural flow is diminished.  Teesta is a Himalayan river as it originates from Kanchanjongha.  It is very refreshing and fulfilling to see our negotiators and leaders are elated to hear the same repeated mantra from an Indian Minister that India will not include river linking project that involve rivers from the Himalaya without talking to us or without our consensus.  Can we look at the hydrology and rainfall map and determine where in the world water will be coming from to irrigate these distant dry and arid land.   
 
India's main purpose of river linking project is to carry water from Teesta, Brahmaputra, and Ganges including Kosi, Gandak, Yamuna, Lohit, Siang, Tsangpu  etc all come out of the Himalaya that flow through Bangladesh and had contributed to the creation of this Delta and are essential for the survival of the land and its living creatures to dry arid west and central India.  The other rivers located in south India that originate from the Deccan Plateau include Kaveri, Normada, Krisna, Godavabri, and Tapti, do not originate from the Himalaya and also do not affect Bangladesh.  It seems that India is planning to divert water from large rivers which are Himalyana rivers to the arid central and western areas of India for irrigation and water supply to mimic what USA had done in the west to the Gila, Salt, and Colorado rivers.  Should India decide to bring water from the other major Himalayan river, the Indus and its tributaries that will affect Pakistan and India will have a heck of a time to do this river linking project.  I will wish India Good Luck with that plan. 
 
The rivers of the south including Kaveri, Krisna, Godavari, Tapti and Mahanadi pass through the peninsular India that has extremely hummocky topography  with dense forests which will require pretty drastic engineering measure to bring water to the central and western India.  I do not know India has that resources.
 
Historically and anthropologically, should we look at the story of the Puran and the Rig Veda, we may find that approximately 7,000 top 10,000 years ago when there was chaos in the cosmos, the supreme Godhead Indra descended to this mortal world in a place called Indraprasta near Delhi to  bring peace to this world.  Indraprasta is located in the Ganges Basin, as it is easier to domesticate everything in a plain land near a river.  From here after bringing tranquility, Indra proceeded to south to the inaccessible land of the Deccan.  It is only logical that India will not go to south to do this river link while they have large rivers with perennial and sustained flow in the north.  In addition to the topography, the rivers of the south have significant flow during summer time while irrigation may not be necessary in India.  In winter or spring and early summer, the flow in these rivers are meagerly sustaining its own habitat.  India musty build series of dams and reservoir to store excess water for diversion during lean months.  The reservoirs will take massive economic resources and years to get permission and then to build.. 
 
On the other hand, due to the climate change the glaciers of the Himalaya is getting melted every year and the Himalayan rivers at one point will have quite a good flow.  Therefore, looking at the climatic model and basin wide hydrology superimposed on climatic model, it will be easily deciphered that these Himalayan rivers will have sustainable flow in coming years due to climate change and this may last for few decades to few hundred years.  Therefore, there is no probable reasons to go the south to bring water to the north.  (Please read the Megdoot by Kalidas to get description of the land through which they have to bring water should they decide to bring water from the southern rivers.  Also our Bankim Babu had description of the land in one of his novel while Sivaji was being chased by one of the Moghul Emperor. In addition, Adayatta Barman has written a Bengali Nobel titled "Titas Acti Nodir Nam" in which the summer time description of a typical river in that part has been put by the author vividly.  The fate of Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Krisna and Kaveri becomes the same during lean months. Iswar Chandra Biddasagar also wrote about Mohanadi as he was going home to comply with his mothers request.  In flood time, it was swimmable and in dry time he would cross this river on foot). 
 
There is no way India can get sustainable water supply to run this long distance canals and tunnels to bring water through this inaccessible land to the other parts of India.  The loss due to seepage, loss due to evaporation, and loss due to water piracy will put these canals in a nightmaris situation.   
 
As Honiorable Pronab Mukherjee mentioned that due to democratic values and system created in India, they have to negotiate and give consideration to each states demand and their requirements.  How can they satisfy all the demands of Andra, Tamilnadu, and states and political units of aboriginal people?  There are political issue in this as well.
 
Bangladesh has to be very careful and use its witty, knowledgeable, reputable yet patriotic experts in the committee and few farmers and general public to go into negotiation with India and watch them what India has in their plate.
 
I, for one and as s practicing geotechnical engineer and fluvial geomorphologist do not believe that this projects could be economically, ecologically and geologically feasible to bring water from Kaveri and Krisna or other southern rivers to central and western India.     
 
Thank you all for listening to me.
 
Enamul Hoque, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE
4325 South 34th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85040
 
 
 
 
From: Hares [mailto:safeschoolmodel@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 2:39 PM
To: Diagnose@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Diagnose] Teesta deal has to wait
 
 
The Daily Star, Dhaka, Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Front Page
Teesta deal has to wait

Delhi tells Dhaka; insists no Himalayan rivers to be inter-linked
Pallab Bhattacharya, New DelhiIndia has assured Bangladesh that the Himalayan rivers will not be included in its river inter-linking project without prior consultation with Bangladesh, and said an agreement on sharing of the Teesta waters will have to wait till a consensus with West Bengal state is reached.

Addressing a joint media conference with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni after a two-hour first meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) here yesterday, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the Himalayan rivers are not part of the inter-linking project as of now and even if they are included at a later stage, it will not be done without consultation with Bangladesh.

Dipu Moni said, "India has reassured us -- Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Dhaka yesterday (Sunday) and SM Krishna today-- that the Himalayan river system is not part of the inter-linking project. There will be no unilateral decision without consulting Bangladesh on the issue."

Replying to a question from a Bangladeshi journalist as to when the Teesta water-sharing accord will take place, Krishna said, "We are trying to develop a political consensus. It is important to take the view of all those who are dependent on the river water into account."

He went on, "In the meantime, there has been no change in the ground situation as far the Teesta water flow is concerned and this has been found by a joint technical survey at both Gazaldoba, the last point of the river before it flows into Bangladesh, on Indian side and Dalia, the entry point in Bangladesh."

Earlier in his opening remarks at the start of the news conference before the question-answer session, Krishna said, " I have assured Dipu Moni that India remains committed to an early solution on the issue of sharing Teesta waters.

"Since water is a sensitive issue, in accordance with the traditions of consensual decision-making in India's democratic polity, internal consultations are on amongst stakeholders."

On the Tipaimukh multi-purpose project in northeastern Manipur state, Krishna said it has been agreed that a sub-group under the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission would be constituted to look into all aspects, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposal for joint participation in the project.

Dipu Moni said, "We have touched every aspect of bilateral relations including ratification of land boundary agreement by India, and Teesta.

"We have the satisfaction of all the achievements we have made in trade, power, water resources, connectivity and we are very happy about India's recent decision to lift the ban on cotton export which is crucial for Bangladesh."

She said, "We are very happy with the outcome of the meeting and I will return to Dhaka with confidence."

Asked about Bangladesh giving transit facility to India, she said the issue did come up at the JCC meeting, and "it has to be done in a sustainable manner."

Referring to power sector cooperation, Krishna, in his opening remarks, said work on inter-grid connectivity "is progressing and we are hopeful that 500 MW power would flow from India to Bangladesh during the summer of 2013.

"We are also moving ahead with the setting up of 1,320 MW coal- based joint venture power plant (in Ramban, Khulna) which is expected to be commissioned by 2016. We welcome the participation of Bangladesh in power projects in India, particularly in the North-Eastern states of India", he added.

The Indian foreign minister said, "steady progress" has been made in the utilisation of $1 billion Indian credit to Bangladesh.

Pointing out that Pranab Mukherjee announced in Dhaka on Sunday that $200 million of the Indian credit would be converted into grants-in-aid for projects of priority for Bangladesh, Krishna said, "Our focus now is to ensure timely delivery on the contracts that have been signed by the Government of Bangladesh.

"So far, projects worth more than $ 810 million have been agreed upon and five contracts worth $ 83 million have been signed. The first consignment of buses reached Dhaka and deliveries of railway rolling stock will start by the end of the year."

On the trade and investment front, Krishna said India's decision last year to grant zero duty access to all goods from Bangladesh has opened new opportunities for expansion of bilateral trade and "there has been a significant increase of textile exports from Bangladesh to India".

He said he had "a very useful and productive" first meeting of the JCC which is "reflective of the qualitative transformation that India-Bangladesh relations have witnessed in recent years".

They reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation in different areas, including trade, connectivity, power, water resources, security, border management, infrastructure, people to people contacts, culture, environment, education, among others, Krishna said. "We are happy that our mutual cooperation has resulted in commendable achievements in recent months."

Krishna said following the positive experience in a border haat in Meghalaya, new border haats are expected to be opened along the International Border in Tripura and Mizoram states as well.

The JCC meeting, which was envisaged in the joint communique issued after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September last year, was attended, among others, by Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mirazul Qayes, High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim and other senior officials from different ministries.

On the Indian side, besides Krishna, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran attended the meeting.

Dipu Moni calls on the Indian prime minister this (Tuesday) evening and it will be preceded by her separate meetings with water resources and home ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and P Chidambaram.

She will address a select media group at 5:30pm today before leaving for Cairo.




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Re: [mukto-mona] Fw: [Alapon] Wall Street Journal article



Encouraging news indeed!

Advanced and prosperous countries do not mix religion and politics. This is not just a statement; the truth is right in front of our eyes. That's the key to the success of the advanced countries. Government has no business to deal with any religion. Let religion take its course.

Whatever progress Bangladesh has made under the present government is due to whatever secular policies they have implemented, and we see the results right away. This should be the encouragement for the government to adopt more secular policies. Country's progress comes from the progress of the individual citizen, irrespective of religious affiliation. When government starts to promote a particular religion over the others, it breaks the cycle of progress in other religious groups, which is bound to degrade the overall progress of the country. Let's learn from history, and work together towards the progress and prosperity of all citizens by transforming Bangladesh into a true secular country, as opposed to making it a model Islamic country. There is no future for any Islamic or Hindu or Christian country in the world. These are vacuous aspirations only - nothing to do with reality.

Jiten Roy

 



--- On Wed, 5/9/12, Muhammad Ali <man1k195709@yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Muhammad Ali <man1k195709@yahoo.com>
Subject: [mukto-mona] Fw: [Alapon] Wall Street Journal article
To:
Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 5:36 PM

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: modasser khosseine <bolonhome@hotmail.com>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 9:32 PM
Subject: [Alapon] Wall Street Journal article

 

 
 
 
Wall Street Journal article

Bangladesh Is South Asia's Standard-Bearer

The former 'basket case' is more moderate on religion and more pragmatic on development than its peers.

 
Despite its 160-million strong population, Bangladesh can find it hard to elbow its way onto the global stage. It's in an area where India is cast in the lead as the dominant economy, Pakistan plays the intermittent villain, and Sri Lanka and Nepal feature in cameos as countries with uncertain futures. Yet when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touches down in Dhaka Saturday—the highest ranking American official to visit in nearly a decade—she'll encounter a country that can teach a lesson or two to all other regional actors.
The world's third-most populous Muslim-majority country stands out as a model of moderation. Unlike in virtually every other country in the Muslim world, Islamists in Bangladesh are on the defensive. Seven people, including high profile leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami, South Asia's most powerful Islamist group, face war crimes charges for their role in slaughtering Bangladeshi patriots, Muslim and Hindu alike, during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
Current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-75) led that struggle, which claimed 3 million lives according to the Bangladesh government. The trial reveals the government's willingness to deal with one of the most painful episodes in the young nation's history. It also shows its refusal to allow Islamists to label the regime as "anti-Islam" for pursuing them, a form of blackmail that often obstructs justice in other places.
In a similar vein, Bangladesh can boast one of Asia's best records of fighting Islamist terrorism. The South Asia Terrorism Portal estimates that only nine people have lost their lives since Ms. Hasina swept to power at the end of 2008. In the four years before that, terrorists claimed 56 lives at home, while the Bangladeshi terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (or HuJi-B) carried out high-profile terrorist strikes in India.
Much of Bangladesh's success in confronting the most intolerant elements within its own society comes from crafting an inclusive national narrative. Unlike Pakistan, Bangladesh does not define itself by faith alone. Most Bangladeshis see no contradiction between being proud Muslims and proud Bengalis. This self-confidence gives the country the ability, which some other Muslim societies lack, to push back against extremism.
Enlarge Image
dhume
dhume
EPA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed.
Then there's the down-to-earth pragmatism present in Dhaka's approach to development. Over the past five years, the economy has expanded on an average of 6% per year. Unlike India, which is hobbled by socialist-era labor laws that interfere with hiring and firing, Bangladesh has built a world-class apparel industry that employs more than 3.5 million people and supplies global brands like H&M, Walmart and Tommy Hilfiger. Thanks to this, the country is already the world's second largest exporter of readymade garments after China. If it plays its cards right, Bangladesh, more than any other South Asian nation, could attract a fresh wave of labor-intensive manufacturing looking for cheaper alternatives to China. Goldman Sachs lists Bangladesh among its "Next 11," countries that have the potential to become major economies.
And after years of tensions with its bigger neighbor, Bangladesh is now being practical and seeking to normalize ties with India. The two countries have already settled long festering territorial disputes and opened up trade. A landmark transit agreement would place Bangladesh at the heart of a potentially dynamic growth corridor encompassing northeastern India and a newly democratizing Burma. This is currently being stymied by Indian politician Mamata Banerjee, who as chief minister of the West Bengal state that borders Bangladesh opposes an allied water-sharing agreement with Dhaka.
Still, Dhaka and New Delhi are pushing for this agreement and it could succeed, possibly ushering in a new peace dividend in the region. At any rate, Dhaka's pragmatism in its foreign relations stands in contrast to India, which can't always suppress its preachy rhetoric of nonalignment (toward the West), as well as Pakistan, which often sputters in a sea of Islamic fundamentalism and knee-jerk opposition to India.
That said, Bangladesh is hardly free of problems. Ms. Hasina and her chief opponent, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Khaleda Zia, have created a poisonous zero-sum politics, which has come to the fore again in recent days. The BNP is up in arms at the disappearance of one of its leaders last month and they blame Ms. Hasina's ruling party. They have shut down the country with crippling national strikes four times in the past month.
No one knows how the BNP official in question disappeared, though, and a string of similar disappearances reflect a deteriorating law and order situation. Either law enforcement is engaged in extra-judicial actions, or vigilantes can roam free with impunity. Neither is encouraging.
Meanwhile, the Islamist threat has been reduced but not eliminated. The BNP remains at best ambivalent and at worst actively sympathetic toward Islamist forces similar to those that have helped drag Pakistan in a downward spiral. And though Bangladesh's army deserves some credit for keeping its distance from politics since late 2008, it's by no means certain that the country's latest experiment with democracy, barely three and a half years old, will last. The military first seized power in 1975, and has done so repeatedly since.
But for now, these worries can take a back seat. This weekend, a country once dismissed by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a basket case, gets to show one of his successors how wrong it has proven him.
Mr. Dhume is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, and a columnist for WSJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @dhume01
 




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Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies



I thought I was pretty good in vocabulary. But I surely am confused with the comparison between the words "statement" and "opinion." An opinion is a statement, and a statement could very well be an opinion. "Statement" and "opinion" are not antonymous to each other. In fact, there is no real antonym of either "statement" or "opinion." Of course, "true statement" would be antonymous to "false statement", and "good opinion (judgment)" would be antonymous to "bad opinion (judgment)." The way I see it, good judgments (opinions) are vital for the progress of the human civilization. I certainly have a lot of respect for good judgments (opinions).
 
In any case, going back to the subject matter here, standing at the mid-point between religious hate-mongering and secularism may be balanced by some definitions, but it is neither fair nor respectable. This kind of balancing acts has been impeding progress in the world.
 
Looks like I have ignored the change in the headline of the thread here. I am actually not interested in lamenting the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. That partition would not have been a long-term problem if Pakistan had enough leaders, intellectuals and people to engage in a competition with India on secularism as the motto of the state.
 
So, this is the end of my writing on this thread.
 
Sukhamaya Bain
 
==================================================

From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 7, 2012 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies
 

My personal observation is that - Mr. Subimal Chakraborty wants to be fair and balanced. To achieve this goal, he often dilutes the truth. He rarely takes a strong position on anything, possibly, out of apprehension that someone might get offended by his statements. To me - he usually gives statements, not opinions. 
Jiten Roy   --- On Mon, 5/7/12, Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history and Human tragedies
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012, 6:20 PM

 
Mr. Subimal Chakrabarty's comments below have two irrational and untenable balancing acts.
 
His point #3 sounds like the complete reversal of the Hindu-Muslim ratios in the cities and towns of Pakistan was due to the Hindus leaving their home voluntarily, and that most of them were businessmen, teachers, doctors and lawyers.
 
The facts were: 1) Pakistan was hostile to the Hindus, that is why the Hindus left involuntarily; and 2) most of the Hindus (95% of the population) in a city like Karachi could not have been businessmen, teachers, doctors and lawyers; Pakistan has uprooted all kinds of Hindus from their home of centuries.
 
The first part of his point #4 sounds too disingenuous. He really needs to stop his absurd attempts of finding similar trends in India. From India, the Muslim migration to Pakistan happened only during the turbulent time of the partition. India has not been hostile to its Muslims over the last 65 years, and the migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan stopped shortly after the partition in 1947. The Muslim fanatics of Bangladesh, many of them pose as secular, talk about communal riots in India, really to justify what they have been doing in Pakistan and Bangladesh; what they do not talk about is that the system in India has kept the Muslims of that land strong enough even to start riots against the Hindus.
 
As for the educated people among the so-called schedule caste Hindu people in Bangladesh, Mr. Chakrabarty needs to learn that from among that class of people the ones that migrated to India got the opportunity to produce many more PhDs, doctors, engineers, etc. All indications are that they would have done far better without the partition of India in 1947. In spite of their foolish decision to join Pakistan in 1947, India even had a problem of unduly favoring the underclass, due to which many so-called high-caste Hindus would seek fraudulent means of getting schedule caste certificates for themselves, in order to get admitted to professional schools and in order to get jobs.
 
Nobody said, 'independence of Bangladesh has done us nothing'. Under any measurement, Bangladesh has been better than Pakistan for all kinds of its citizens. Bangladesh has improved the life of the Muslims of the land tremendously. Even the Hindus, in spite of the hatred and discrimination against them in Bangladesh, have done many times better than what could be expected had the land remained a part of Pakistan. However, as Mr. Chakrabarty seems to have pointed out (not very clearly), so far Bangladesh has failed to deliver the expectations of reductions of disparity, communalism and persecution against the non-Muslims of the land.
 
Sukhamaya Bain
 
===========================================================
From: subimal chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com>
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 6, 2012 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Partition: Panorama of the Indian history andhHuman tragedies,
 
1. Jinnah was stubborn, Nehru was impatient, and the British were in a hurry and left almost every thing in a mess. Gandhi was helpless and resorted to seclusion. And the greatest blunder in the history of India occurred. Immediately after partition, India was on the verge of being a failed state. Soldiers of South Indian orgin had to be deployed to contain the communal violence that erupted. Good thing is that India survived the turmoil thanks to the secular, efficient, and visionary elements in the party. Gandhi's assassination turned out to be a boon as Hindu fanatics got cornered in Indian politics for a while.
 
2. I agree that Hindu caste-ism had a lot to do with the panoramic change in India's political geography and demography. Jagajivan Ram wanted to defer independence of India by a decade. Jogen Mondal became the trump card for Muslim League and thereby created his own political death and personal tragedy (a good account has been provided in a recent historical novel titled "Barishaler Jogen Mondal" (about a 1100-page book) by a prominent WB writer named Debesh Roy. 
 
3. As regards complete reversal of Hindu-Muslim population ratios in Pakistan, I think it was generally true for for all cities and towns. The small town I was raised in had only a handful of Muslims (all professionals) even in late fifties. The reasons include the fact that businessmen, teachers, doctors, lawyeras, etc. came from caste Hindus. They started leaving for India creating a big vacuum.
 
4. Similar trends could be found in the Indian states (Bihar, Nagaland, etc.) which have indigenous people as the majority. That is one of the fruits of independence that less privileged sections of the population enjoyed. I do not have the proper statistics. But I see a huge number of educated people with highest degrees including PH.D among the scheduled caste population in Bangladesh. We sometimes get carried away with frustration and try to believe that independence of Bangladesh has done us nothing. If we look at the statistics, we should be convinced that economically, socially, and culturally, the Bengalis in general have achieved a lot. What has not happened is the reduction of disparity, corruption, communal-ism, persecutions, and injustice. Probably in some areas things have become worse.   
 
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