Transit Issue : Finance Minister Muhith draws fire for his remarks
The finance minister, Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, drew fire from a cross section of intelligentsia and political activists for making unbecoming remarks on the transit issue, undermining the anti-transit campaigners by calling them 'fools'.Many described Muhith's remarks as cavalier and irresponsible which exposed his attitude to undermine others opinions and views.
Muhith was not sincere in protecting the country's interests which was his obligatory duty while holding an important office of the government, said one of his critics who wanted not to be identified.
After a meeting with officials of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, the finance minister dubbed the anti-transit campaigners 'fools', claiming that Bangladesh is geographically a transit country.
Political thinker and Dhaka University professor emeritus, Serajul Islam Choudhury, disagreed with his claim that Bangladesh is a transit country geographically. 'Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign nation... branding the country as a transit country is not right,' he said.
'The issue of allowing transit is a business and political issue. As it is a business, it needs to assess the profit and loss ratio. It is the duty of the government to protect the country's interests strongly. Then other factors come,' said Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury.
Leftist thinker Badruddin Umar, president of Jatiya Mukti Council, came down heavily on the finance minister. 'Those who consider only Bangladesh is a transit country, I would like to call them 'uneducated'. Is it applicable only in case of Bangladesh? India too is a transit country, have they ever dared to seek transit through India?'
Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Khalequzzman said, 'When one brands all the people in general as "fools", the depth of his wisdom is easily understandable.'
Economist Anu Muhammad, also member secretary of the national committee for protection of oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports, saw the minister's comment as utterly irresponsible. 'He did not act like a finance minister and was yet to come up with any statistics on profit and loss if Bangladesh award transit to India.'
'It had been said that the country would gain billions of dollars in revenue from transit. An impression was given that the country has no other option but rent out its the roads, railways and waterways,' he said.
'Now we see that India is not willing to pay the duties and our government has also accepted that. It indicates that there remained many things behind the scenes while government is trying to deceive the people,' he added.
Economist Mahbub Ullah, also a professor of development studies at Dhaka University, said Bangladesh was not the only transit country in the world and nobody was rejecting its geographical characteristics.
'The issue is not a unique one rather related to many other things such as security issues. We are allowing India to transport its goods from one of its parts to another… this is not transit,' he said.
'The geo-political point of view also needs to be considered. We have two big neighbours who are rivals. We should not invite danger by harbouring one of the two rivals,' he pointed out.
KAS Murshid, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said it was not wise to project huge amount of profit without being totally sure. 'We need to consider the reality. If we create an unusual expectation among people and later it is found baseless, we might be in danger.'
'The government should proceed cautiously with the delicate issue. It would have a boomerang-effect if the government spends huge amounts on it but later it yields nothing,' he said.
Dhaka University political science teacher Shantanu Majumder said, 'The most important thing is how the country's interests are protected. None should be given undue privilege through the transit deals.'
Muhith was not sincere in protecting the country's interests which was his obligatory duty while holding an important office of the government, said one of his critics who wanted not to be identified.
After a meeting with officials of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, the finance minister dubbed the anti-transit campaigners 'fools', claiming that Bangladesh is geographically a transit country.
Political thinker and Dhaka University professor emeritus, Serajul Islam Choudhury, disagreed with his claim that Bangladesh is a transit country geographically. 'Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign nation... branding the country as a transit country is not right,' he said.
'The issue of allowing transit is a business and political issue. As it is a business, it needs to assess the profit and loss ratio. It is the duty of the government to protect the country's interests strongly. Then other factors come,' said Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury.
Leftist thinker Badruddin Umar, president of Jatiya Mukti Council, came down heavily on the finance minister. 'Those who consider only Bangladesh is a transit country, I would like to call them 'uneducated'. Is it applicable only in case of Bangladesh? India too is a transit country, have they ever dared to seek transit through India?'
Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Khalequzzman said, 'When one brands all the people in general as "fools", the depth of his wisdom is easily understandable.'
Economist Anu Muhammad, also member secretary of the national committee for protection of oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports, saw the minister's comment as utterly irresponsible. 'He did not act like a finance minister and was yet to come up with any statistics on profit and loss if Bangladesh award transit to India.'
'It had been said that the country would gain billions of dollars in revenue from transit. An impression was given that the country has no other option but rent out its the roads, railways and waterways,' he said.
'Now we see that India is not willing to pay the duties and our government has also accepted that. It indicates that there remained many things behind the scenes while government is trying to deceive the people,' he added.
Economist Mahbub Ullah, also a professor of development studies at Dhaka University, said Bangladesh was not the only transit country in the world and nobody was rejecting its geographical characteristics.
'The issue is not a unique one rather related to many other things such as security issues. We are allowing India to transport its goods from one of its parts to another… this is not transit,' he said.
'The geo-political point of view also needs to be considered. We have two big neighbours who are rivals. We should not invite danger by harbouring one of the two rivals,' he pointed out.
KAS Murshid, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said it was not wise to project huge amount of profit without being totally sure. 'We need to consider the reality. If we create an unusual expectation among people and later it is found baseless, we might be in danger.'
'The government should proceed cautiously with the delicate issue. It would have a boomerang-effect if the government spends huge amounts on it but later it yields nothing,' he said.
Dhaka University political science teacher Shantanu Majumder said, 'The most important thing is how the country's interests are protected. None should be given undue privilege through the transit deals.'
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/nov/04/front.html
__._,_.___
