WORLD

Gandhi and Islam by Syed Ashraf Ali

Daily Star Forum - August 2010  

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the spiritual and political leader of India, worked tirelessly to make India independent of British rule. His teaching was based on the power of love. He organised campaigns to defy the government by peaceful means because he did not believe in the use of force. He once said: "An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind." His belief in non-violence was based on his faith that truth is God. India became independent in 1947 largely as a result of his leadership.Gandhi lived a simple life, did not hold a position of power in the government, and had no worldly possessions. He felt in himself the woeful poverty of his people and literally put on the beggar's robe to demonstrate his unity with them. For clothes, he wore a loin-cloth and a robe of coarse homespun. He lived on goat's milk, vegetables cooked without spices or salt, and a little bread and fruit. He used to spin for a while every day in order to identify himself with the poorest people. He also used to clean streets and collect refuse in order to punish himself for the injustice of the caste system as practised by most people in India. Only untouchables did this kind of work.Whether as an exceptional human being, a unique politician, or charismatic leader of non-violent movement, Gandhi's many-sidedness is proverbial. The Indian people loved him.

They called him Bapu (father) out of affection and still hail him as the Father of the Nation.Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian maestro, called Gandhi Mahatma, which literally means "great soul." His ideals and teachings have influenced and inspired billions at home and abroad, including the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Although a very devout Hindu with unshakable conviction in Hinduism, Gandhi was a religious genius as well -- with genuine tolerance and respect for all mankind's faiths. In his Introduction to the Sayings of Muhammad by Abdullah Suhrawardy, Gandhi declares emphatically: "There will be no lasting peace on earth unless we learn not merely to tolerate but even to respect the other faiths as our own."M.J. Akbar elucidates it further: "Gandhi's commitment to religion did not mean commitment to a single religion. In his Ram Rajya, every faith had full freedom and complete equality. His prayer meetings were not just about his beloved Gita; there was space for the Holy Qur'an, the Bible and the Guru Grantha Saheb as well. He could never understand why anyone should misunderstand this, and it pained him when opponents misrepresented him, sneered at his gentle idealism, and challenged his pacifism with the undisguised threat of violence."      15 August 1947, crowds of revellers gather to celebrate       independence from Britain around Rasina Hill in New Delhi.The impression of Islam and the Muslims on Gandhi started at a very early age. "He was born," says Sheila Mcdonough, a renowned authority on comparative religion, "into that part of India (the coast of Malabar) where the geography situates Hindus to reach out and experience contact with others. To be a child beside the sea is already to know that a mysterious beyond beckons. The Muslims had been in Gujarat for centuries as traders. In his childhood, Gandhi knew them as representatives of those who came and went to other places beyond the seas.

Muslims seem from the beginning to have represented challenge and adventure to him ... Muslims were received as guests in the Gandhi home: the political traditions of diplomatic courtesy seem to have been imbibed by the child as a self-evident way for civilised life to be conducted ... In his father's world, the Muslims had long been part of the community. The British were the perceived danger to the well-being of the social and political order."Gandhi not only spent his childhood among Muslim neighbours who were frequent visitors to his house, six generations of Gandhis had also served as ministers of the ruler of one of the principalities of Kathiwara where Gandhi was born. The family had therefore great experience in dealing with Muslims as part of local political and social life. Even at school he learnt to cultivate friendship with students who professed other religions and developed a healthy respect for their beliefs.Gandhi was well aware that his fundamental values with respect to Hindu-Muslim mutual respect and cooperation were rooted in his childhood experiences. While addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in 1942, he reiterated the importance of these fundamental values as a basis for designing a free, renascent, independent India: "Hindu-Muslim unity is not a new thing. Millions of Hindus and Mussalmans have sought after it. I consciously strove for its achievements from my boyhood. I believed even at that tender age that the Hindus in India, if they wished to live in peace and amity with other communities, should assiduously cultivate the virtue of neighbourliness.

"In the world of the men of his family, friendships with Muslims, Jains, and Parsis were indeed part of the natural order of life. Once when Gandhi's paternal grandfather had been involved in a conflict with a local ruler, Muslim soldiers had guarded his house during an attack, and one of them was killed. A memorial to that Muslim soldier still exists in the Vaishnava temple adjoining the family house.When Gandhi returned to his native land after qualifying as a barrister in England, he went to South Africa as a lawyer for a Muslim firm that had family connections with some of his neighbours at home. Through this significant phase Gandhi's sense of common brotherhood with Muslims was reaffirmed and strengthened. Many of the Muslim businessmen he worked with in South Africa had roots in his hometown of Probandor, as well as in Bombay (now Mumbai). He sometimes lived in their homes there. The feeling of participation with Muslims in common life with shared goals became much stronger. In his own words: "When I was in South Africa, I came in close touch with Muslim brethren there ... I was able to learn their habits, thoughts and aspirations ...I had lived in the midst of Muslim friends for 20 years. They had treated me as a member of their family and told their wives and sisters that they need not observe purdah with me."In his political activity in South Africa, both Hindus and Muslims living there were his followers. The South African experience invigorated his belief that there should be mutual understanding and cooperation among Indians irrespective of religion. "The South African experiences," writes Sheila Mcdonough, "seems to have strengthened and developed Gandhi's basic religious consciousness by eliciting from him a profound 'no' to the absolute category of eternal inferior which the South African were attempting to impose upon the Indians. Since the category was imposed on Hindus and Muslims equally, the 'no' came with power from both. The protesters formed a brotherhood of resistance to degradation. "Gandhi knew that Prophet Muhammad had said 'no' to many elements of his own situation. He understood from his Muslim friends that sometimes courage requires casting the whole self into struggle ...

Gandhi responded with the movement of his own soul when he heard an old Muslim say that, with God as his witness, he would never submit to that law. "This attitude is characteristic of a certain Muslim understanding of jihad, struggle, namely that sometimes witnessing to God requires that the whole self must make conscious choices and decide to act.

Gandhi believed that the essential struggle of Muhammad's lifetime, the struggle to create a new form of civilisation, could be equated with the mythical struggle of Rama against Ravana as portrayed in the epic, the Ramayana. The Qur'an and the Ramayana, as he understood them, conveyed images and symbols that could illuminate the spiritual meaning of everyday life."The years spent by Gandhi in Great Britain to qualify for the Bar also played a significant role in educating him on Islam. During the early twentieth century when he was in England, the climate against eastern religions, especially Islam, was slowly changing.

On May 8, 1840, Thomas Carlyle delivered a public lecture in Edinburgh on Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Islam. It was the second of a series "On Heroes, Hero-worship and the Heroic in History," and had the particular title: "The Hero as Prophet."Carlyle had no special qualifications as Arabist or Islamist for lecturing on this subject, and yet the lecture has an important place in the development of Islamic studies in Europe, since here for the first time in a prominent way was it asserted that Muhammad (pbuh) was sincere and the religion of Islam basically true. This speech on the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a massive attack on the stereotyped Christian and Jewish attitude to Islam. Carlyle carefully listed the virtues he had found that Muslims attributed to Muhammad (pbuh). The holy Prophet was regarded as: "A man of truth and fidelity, solid, brotherly, genuine ... able to laugh ... spontaneous, passionate, just ... a great, silent soul ... one who could not but be in earnest ... one who communed with his own heart ... open to the 'small, still voice'." In his historic and brave endeavour, Carlyle was only following the footsteps of the great German philosopher-poet Goethe's positive evaluation of the religious simplicity of basic Islamic teaching, namely that human beings should surrender to God, and only to God. "If this be Islam," said Goethe, "do we not all live in Islam? Yes, all of us that have any moral life, we all live so."It was through Carlyle's sensational essay that Gandhi got the perception that Islam affirmed self-denial. Carlyle said: "Islam means in its way Denial of Self, Annihilation of Self ...

This is yet the highest Wisdom that heaven has revealed to our Earth."The fact that Gandhi read Carlyle's essay at a formative period in his own development makes it very probable that Carlyle's perspective strengthened the young Hindu's conviction that Muhammad (pbuh) represented an example of a significant religious leader whose battle against the forces of darkness in his own time could and should be a model of honest people everywhere. Gandhi himself informs us: "A friend recommended Carlyle's Hero and Hero Worship. I read the chapter on the Hero as a prophet, learnt of the Prophet's greatness and bravery and austere living ...

These books raised Muhammad in my estimation."Later, Gandhi read Shibli Numani's biographies of Muslim heroes, books of Hadith, and Syed Amir Ali's books on Islamic history which strengthened his respect for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) all the more. We find references to the works of Carlyle, Shibli and Amir Ali scattered throughout Gandhi's writings in every period of his life.All this whetted Gandhi's interest in Islam and he made a deeper study of the tenets laid out in the Holy Qur'an to understand better. In his later years, he learnt to carry on "sympathetic debates" with eminent Islamic scholars like Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar and later Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Zakir Hussain, M. Mujeeb and S. Abid Hussain.Gandhi firmly believed that understanding the religion of another is ultimately appreciation of the other as a person, with direction and hope. He tried to reveal himself in this sense to his Muslim friends, so that they could perceive the inner meaning of his tradition. He was committed to inter-faith dialogue; he believed one should try to comprehend the personal dimension of faith.

"Heart-unity" meant for him that friends should be open to the deepest values of each other's traditions. In 1920, Zakir Hussain, M. Mujeeb, S. Abid Hussain, and a few other Muslims of Gandhi's way of thinking felt that they had to disassociate themselves from the Aligarh Muslim University which was considered too pro- British. In this instance they decided to set up an altogether different type of institution of learning for Muslims, the Jamia Millia Islamia. Very few Muslims know that Gandhi offered the directorship of the new institution to the renowned poet and philosopher Allama Mohammed Iqbal.

Most of Gandhi's close Muslim friends loved Iqbal's poetry; the poet's work was an important source of increased Muslim pride and self-esteem. Gandhi himself was well aware from his conversations with his friends like Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar that Muslims generally considered Iqbal's poetry a magnificent source of inspiration. In his brief but eloquent letter written to Iqbal in 1920 Gandhi wrote: "The Muslim National University calls you. If you could but take charge of it, I am sure that it will prosper under your cultured leadership. Hakimji Ajmal Khan and Dr. Ansari and of course Ali Brothers desire it."     

15 October 1947, railway wagons packed with Muslim refugees flee to Pakistan as Hindus flee to India by train at the border city of Amritsar between the two countries at the start of the first war between India and Pakistan triggering a huge population shift and widespread violence.Iqbal, however, very politely declined the offer for personal and other reasons. He replied: "I regret very much my inability to respond to the call of those for whom I have the highest respect, for reasons which need not and perhaps cannot be mentioned at present. While I am a strong supporter of National Education, I do not think I possess all the necessary qualifications for the guidance of a University that requires a man who would steer the infant institution through all the struggles and rivalries to arise in the earlier stages of its life.

And I am, by nature, a peace-time worker." "Iqbal believed," writes Sheila Mcdonough, "that the Muslims of his generation needed special help in education to get them up to the level of the other communities of the country in terms of economic development. They were, in his opinion, a sort of backward minority, because, following the disaster of the 1857 Mutiny (the First War of Independence), they had been excluded from the possibility of development by British policy. Gandhi and other Hindu leaders still thought of Muslims as bullying rulers, needing to be tamed into reasonable citizens, but many Muslim leaders, like Iqbal, thought that the repression of Muslims after the Mutiny had made them a relatively under-developed class."On the issue of religious education, there was also an emerging difference ...

Gandhi thought that hymn-singing and devotional practice were the crucial elements of religious practice, and that helping children learn to sing hymns and to internalize the inner significance of religious poetry was all that was necessary ... Iqbal, the poet, had less confidence than Gandhi did in the spiritual power of poetry to shape future generations. "Iqbal laid special emphasis on Sharia. Iqbal's phrase about the need for the Sharia was that it might give 'a suitable line of action under our present limitation' ...

The Sharia stressed human equality, and would serve to keep Muslim minds aware of social justice at a time when they were in danger of being swamped by discriminatory caste system ... So the poet thought the Muslims needed the Sharia, as well as poetry."Gandhi did not seem to have grasped the significance of Iqbal's thought on this issue. Later, while he was in jail in 1932, Gandhi decided that Iqbal had become anti-nationalist. After going through an account of Iqbal's speech to the Muslim League published in the newspaper, he commented: "Other Muslims too share Iqbal's anti-nationalism; only they do not give expression to their sentiments. The poet now disowns his song Hindustan Hamara (India is Ours)."Mahdeva Desai asked: "Is not his pan-Islamism the same as Shaukat Ali and Muhammed Ali's?"Bapu said: "Yes, but this anti- nationalism has nothing to do with pan-Islamism." Zakir Hussain, M. Mujeeb and S. Abid Hussain, the three young Muslims who returned from their graduate studies in Europe to take over the Jamia Millia Islamia, remained with the institution until the independence of the country. They devoted themselves specifically to education. Gandhi called upon educators to design a new system of basic education for Indian Schools. He put Zakir Hussain in charge of this project. Dr. Hussain stayed with the project for ten years. Subsequently, he became the governor of Bihar, vice president of India, and finally president of India.     

22 September 1947, Mahatma Gandhi visits Muslim refugees at Purana Qila in New Delhi, as they prepare to depart to Pakistan.Gandhi's broad outlook and respect for other religions urged him not only to ask that Jamia Millia Islamia retain the word Islamia in its name, but he also sent one of his sons to be educated there. Gandhi's keen interest in Islam took a political turn when he launched India's freedom struggle after his permanent return to the country. He was able to enlist the full support of Muslims, intellectuals and masses alike, when he himself lent full support to the Khilafat movement and tacked on the 1921 Civil Disobedience movement to it. The message of the Khilafat movement, ably led by Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, and supported whole-heartedly by Mahatma Gandhi and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, reached every nook and corner of India. For the first time in the political history of India, thirty thousand men and women went to jail in thirty days. For the first time in the political history of India twenty lakhs of human beings left their country at the bidding of their leaders. So pervasive was the passion for liberty that even Moplas were roused out of their poverty and ignorance to set up a Khilafat kingdom along the far-flung Malabar coast. It seemed that India at last realised her new dreams, her new pride and dignity, her unity and strength. The folk song of the day truly echoed the feelings of the nation by the words: "Desh ka Bandhu Chittaranjan, Desh ka Shova Gandhiji, Khoda ka piyara Muhammad Ali (Chittaranjan is the friend of the country, Gandhiji is its ornament and Muhammad Ali is the darling of God).The Muslim sentiment had been antagonised by the dethronement of the caliph at Istanbul by the victorious Western powers as Turkey had fought with the Germans in World War I. The entire Muslim Ummah had looked upon the caliph as the spiritual head of Islam. The caliph was needed to protect the freedom of Makkah. Pilgrimage to Makkah is one of the basic religious duties of all Muslims, and Makkah has been free from foreign domination since the days of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The independence of Makkah was therefore a potent symbol for all Muslims. Gandhi argued that one must help a brother whenever he says he has a religious need. Hence the Hindu should help his Muslim brother defend the sacred shrines of the Islamic faith.

According to him, Hindus needed "heart-unity" with their Muslim brothers; they could win this unity if they helped the Muslims protect the independence of the Turkish caliph. Indian Muslims joined the civil disobedience in large number as Gandhi had linked it to the demand to restore Caliph to his pristine spiritual glory. Not only Maulanas Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, but many other renowned Muslim leaders and exegetists like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad also became actual participants in the joint Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements, the first nation-wide Hindu-Muslim movement since the First War of Independence in 1857. But the entire bottom fell out of the historic movement when the resurgent Turks under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk decided to abolish the caliphate and declared themselves a republic.Gandhi called off non-cooperation after violence broke out in Chauri-Chaura. Many Muslims felt, as did some Hindus, that Gandhi had betrayed their revolution by calling it off just when they had some hope of success. Since the Turkish revolution abolished the Caliphate, the Indian Muslims of the Khilafat movement fell into disarray and confusion because they had lost their cause and the symbol that united them. Most of the Muslim students, who had earlier shunned the Aligarh Muslim University, returned to the same institution.

But to the end of his life, Gandhi always had Muslim friends close to him. Besides the group of teachers and students of the Jamia Millia Islamia, another group of Muslims who remained loyal to Gandhi were the Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God). These were a group of Pathans on the North-West frontier under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Popularly known as the "Frontier Gandhi," Abdul Ghaffar Khan remained loyal to Gandhi for the rest of his life, and accompanied the Hindu leader later on many of his long walks in riot-torn areas.Mention must be made in this connection of another Muslim stalwart who influenced Gandhi's life and thought (not always in a positive way), especially in the period from 1937 to 1947. He was Mohammed Ali Jinnah, creator of Pakistan. Hailed as the Father of the Nation in Pakistan, he is revered by all Pakistanis as Quaid-e-Azam , the "Great Leader," a name first given to him in 1940.Gandhi and Jinnah took diametrically opposite positions on most occasions and arrived at very different solutions for the Muslims in undivided India. But the situation was totally different and quite friendly at the initial stage.

The two leaders were not at daggers drawn and saw eye to eye on many an issue: "In 1915, the young Jinnah, having established a successful legal practice in Bombay, became a leading advocate of co-operation between Hindus and Muslims in the task of working together to promote self-government for India after the war.

He managed to arrange for the Muslim League and the Congress party to hold a joint meeting."15 August 1947, crowds of revellers gather to celebrate independence from Britain around Rasina Hill in New Delhi.AFPNo wonder, Gopal Krishna Gokhale unhesitatingly declared: "Jinnah is an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity." Jinnah was also hailed by many as the "Muslim Gokhale.""But Jinnah did not like the response of many Congress members in 1919 to Gandhi's call for the use of his satyagraha techniques for combating the British. Jinnah disliked the idea of attempting to agitate the masses, and he prepared to deal with the British through constitutional negotiation. He also did not like Maulana Azad's idea when he wanted to develop a new form of leadership by enlightened members of the Ulema class. Jinnah was interested primarily in the development of modern constitutional means of government ... He never felt any sympathy with Gandhi's approach, or with the tactics of the Muslim leaders of the Khilafat movement. Although he certainly shared the goal of self-government for India, he disliked the populism and mass agitation of the Non-Cooperation movement of 1919-22. The difference between him and Gandhi was a matter of disagreement over means; it was not in the first instance a difference based on Hindu-Muslim issues. Once Jinnah, after 1937, accepted the leadership of the Muslim League, he faithfully implemented the policies of the League.

Iqbal and other Muslim thinkers helped to brief him and then he implemented their ideas." (Mcdonough)The difference between Gandhi and Jinnah unfortunately went on widening over the years and soon their views were poles apart almost on all occasions, especially when Jinnah became the chief spokesman of the Two Nation Theory. No wonder, Gandhi never felt inclined to discuss Islam with Jinnah, as he often did with Muslim thinkers like Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar, Allama Iqbal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Zakir Hussain, et al.During the period of the Khilafat and the first Civil Disobedience movements, Gandhi moved very closely with Muslim leaders and intellectuals like Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Allama Mohammed Iqbal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and later Congress stalwarts like Zakir Hussain. Through intimate acquaintance and long discussions with these learned exponents of Islam, his profound respect for the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) became deeper and stronger.Gandhi was so eager to know about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that he became sad when he did not have more to read about him.      

15 August 1947, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, delivers his famous "tryst with destiny" speech at Parliament House in New Delhi.In his own words: "I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind ... I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his selflessness, his absolute trust in God and his own mission -- these and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet's biography) I was sorry there was not more for me to read of that great life."Gandhi's eulogy further testified: "Muhammad was a great Prophet.

He was brave and feared no man but God alone. He was never found to say one thing and do another. He acted as he felt. The Prophet was a Faqir, he could have commanded wealth if he had so desired. I shed tears when I read of the privations, he, his family and companions suffered voluntarily. How can a truth-seeker like me help respect one whose mind was constantly fixed on God, who ever walked in God's fear and who had boundless compassion for mankind."The sayings of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) impressed Gandhi to such a great extent that he hailed those as "the treasures of mankind." In his introduction to The Sayings of Muhammad (SM) by Allama Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy, he unhesitatingly declared: "I have read Sir Abdullah Suhrawardy's collection of the sayings of the Prophet with much interest and profit. They are among the treasures of mankind, not merely Muslims."Mention may be made in this connection that the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy came to appraise the real personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy's The Sayings of Muhammad (SM) and "a copy of this book was found in the large over-coat in which he wrapped himself before setting out on that last walk of his to die in the fields he used to till."In addition to his interest in the example of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a man who changed the world by putting his faith into action, Gandhi also studied the Holy Qur'an regularly. He spent a considerable time studying the Holy Qur'an during his intermittent sojourns in Indian jails as the guest of His Imperial Majesty. "He wanted, as he often said," claims Sheila Mcdonough, "to know from the inside the hearts of his Muslim fellow-workers, and he believed that understanding their scripture was the way to understanding them. There were a number of areas in which he believed that he recognised similarities of themes between the insights he had gained from his understanding of Hindu scriptures, and the Qur'an.

The word 'surrender' is one instance. This is the common English translation of the word Islam and is acknowledged to be the basic affirmation of all Muslim faith, namely surrendering to God, and to God alone. Gandhi felt that this was similar to the understanding of surrender he gained from an Upanishadic passage. Gandhi thought there was no significant difference between the Qur'an and the Upanishads on the issue of the necessity for total self-abandonment to God." Another similarity he discerned was the teaching that one should respond to evil with good. This seems to have one of the earliest affirmations that he took very seriously to heart when he learned it from a Vaishnava hymn.

There is a very similar moral teaching in the Qur'an. In the words of Mcdonagh: "Only men possessed of mind remember; who fulfill God's covenant ... patient men, desirous of the Face of their Lord, perform the prayer, and expend of that We have provided them, secretly and in public, and who avert evil with good."In Gandhi's opinion, dharma meant firmness in upholding truth. This would be similar to his understanding of Qur'anic imperative in Surah Fatiha to remain on the straight path, and not be led astray. No wonder, he continuously used Surah Fatiha from the Holy Qur'an as part of his daily prayer service: "Gandhi also advised the Hindus as well as the Sikhs to read the Koran as they read the Gita and the Granth Saheb. And to the Musulmans he would say that they too should read the Gita and the Granth Saheb with the same reverence with which they read the Koran."

(Abdul Waheed Khan, India Wins Freedom: The Other Side)While discussing Suddhi and Sangathan movements Gandhi even went to the extent of asking: "Why cannot Hindus believe in the divinity of the Qur'an and say with us that there is no God but God and Muhammad is His Prophet? Ours is not an exclusive religion, but it is essentially inclusive."     

18 September 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Father of the nation of Pakistan poses for photographers during an interview in Karachi. Jinnah became the founding father of Pakistan when the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947 following India's independence from British rule.Gandhi also believed the teachings about the attributes of God to be very similar in the scriptures of Hinduism and Islam. He did not hesitate to speak of Caliph Ali bin Abu Talib (RA) as a model of restraint, and thus a model for those who would take up the method of satyagraha. (Satyagraha means utter insistence upon truth. When a man insists on truth, it gives him power). In his own words: "You must know how to restrain your anger, if you desire to maintain non-violence in action for any length of time. Hazrat Ali, the hero of Islam, was once spat upon by an adversary; and it is my conviction that if he had not restrained his anger at the time, Islam would not have maintained its unbroken career of progress up to the present time." Gandhi also paid eloquent tribute to the incomparable sacrifice made by Imams Hassan and Hussain (RA). The glorious example of Imam Hussain (RA), the grandson of the holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh), who suffered martyrdom at the hands of a cruel and hostile state, is equated by Gandhi with tapascharya, the Hindu belief in the power of suffering to transform consciousness:"All religions in the world are thus strict in regard to pledges ... Even if only a few among you take the pledge, we shall have reward through them. Muslim students have before them the example of Imams Hassan and Hussain. Islam has not been kept alive by the sword, but by the many fakirs with a high sense of honour whom it has produced ... I have nothing to give you in the way of excitement ...

I want to give you quiet courage. I want you to have hearts pure enough for self-sacrifice, for tapascharya."Gandhi believed that what he called "the Sufi aspect of Islam" taught patience and self-discipline, which Indian Muslims should learn to practice and the bhakti forms of Hinduism preached egalitarianism, which Hindus should learn to understand in its true spirit. He firmly believed that the Holy Qur'an stresses mercy and patience as essential human virtues. He refused to believe that irrational violence was a particular characteristic of the Muslims or the Hindus. He always interpreted irrational Muslim violence as corrupt understanding of Islam, as Hindu violence was equally a corrupt understanding of Hinduism.No wonder Gandhi was cut to the quick when a terrible communal riot broke out in Calcutta on August 16, 1946. In the next few years, mutual killing and destruction continued among Hindus and Muslims in many parts of the country.

There were attacks on Hindu villages by Muslims in Noakhali and similar outbursts of violence against Muslim villages by Hindus in Bihar. The grief-stricken Bapu lamented: "We represented in India (the undivided India) all the principal religions of the earth, and it is a matter of deep humiliation to confess that we are a house divided against itself; that we Hindus and Muslims are flying at one another."Nothing became him so well as the end of his life. His cherished dream had come true -- freedom had come. But with freedom came communal passions, and Hindus and Muslims massacred one another. The frail old man, on the verge of his eightieth year, went from place to place, seeking to establish peace and goodwill while there were enmity and strife. He went to Noakhali to soothe the Hindus who had suffered from Muslim atrocities. He went to Patna to heal the sufferings of the Muslims at the hands of Hindus. He went to Delhi, and each day he preached love and communal amity. In the words of Mcdonough: "Gandhi indeed lived his final years, in the midst of a sort of hell on earth. There can scarcely be a worse kind of hell than outbursts of malicious violence among the very persons one has given one's life to serving."An insensate fanatic named Nathuram Godse, unable to bear Gandhi's message of goodwill and inter-faith harmony, shot him dead even when he was on his way to his prayers. That day, January 30, 1948, will remain a day of mourning forever, not only in India but in all places where people shun hostility and love peace and harmony between all faiths.

Syed Ashraf Ali is former Director General, Islamic Foundation Bangladesh.© thedailystar.net, 2010. All Rights Reserved

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Muslim History Belies Stereotypes in 'Ground Zero Mosque' - Debate by Ishaan Tharoor

Time.com - August 7, 2010 
    

          
 When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they brought the language of the Reconquista with them, sometimes referring to Aztecs and Mayans as "Moors" and to their ziggurats as "mosques." The Sultanate of Morocco was the first government in the world to recognize the existence of an independent United States, in 1778. But it was America's naval expeditions to North Africa — the two early–19th century Barbary Wars — that first marked the U.S.'s arrival on the global stage and crystallized a new American patriotism at home. 
             
The early history of Muslims in the U.S. was a lonely one. While there are isolated reports of "Moorish" sailors and even an Egyptian dwelling in corners of the colonies, the first significant populations were slaves from West Africa. Bilali Mohammed was born in Guinea in roughly 1770 and died in 1857 on a plantation on Sapelo Island in Georgia, leaving behind a 13-sheaf document in Arabic. It's a treatise of religious jurisprudence specific to the society of Muslim West Africa and one of the earliest classic slave narratives. Abdulrahman Ibraheem Ibn Sori, like the literary figure of Oroonoko in Aphra Behn's famous 1688 novel of the same name, was royalty from a Guinean kingdom before being abducted and whisked away to slavery in Mississippi. As word of a lettered, regal "Prince of Slaves" spread across the country, Ibn Sori won allies and friends and was eventually freed in 1828 by an order from President John Quincy Adams. He left the U.S. for the former slave republic of Liberia in Africa but died of fever soon thereafter, never to return to the land of his birth.
   
Most Muslim African slaves were far less lucky, and memory of their varied cultural heritage dissipated over generations of enslavement. Black Islam would be revived in the first half of the 20th century as a creed of empowerment and redemption. The Nation of Islam, founded in 1933, sought to step away from the indignity of the past with a wholesale rejection of the predominantly white, Christian nation that surrounded them; to this day, the website of the now much diminished group identifies black Americans as descendants of a "Lost Nation of Asia." For prominent activists like Malcolm X, Islam was a badge of otherness, of distinction and pride in the face of old injustices. 
   
On the sidelines of these struggles, other Muslims were more than happy to try to fit in. By the end of the 19th century, immigrants from the Ottoman Empire began settling in pockets across the U.S. Some of the first active Muslim congregations in the country began in towns like Cedar Rapids, Iowa (led by Lebanese), and Biddeford, Maine (led by Albanians). In 1926, Polish-speaking Tatars opened one of the first mosques in Brooklyn. By the latter half of the 20th century, the majority of Muslims moving to the U.S. were from South Asia and Arab states. Today, there are an estimated 7 million Muslims living in the U.S., from myriad communities and all walks of life. To speak of them in generalities would be pointless.
   
Nevertheless, since 9/11, a spotlight has fallen on American Islam and the potential extremists in our midst. There are villains: from Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian imprisoned for life for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, to New Mexico–born Anwar al-Awlaki, an Islamist lecturer who is thought to have preached to a few of the 9/11 hijackers and is now in hiding in Yemen, the first U.S. citizen to wind up on a CIA targeted kill list. Curiously, a conspicuous number of U.S. jihadists have come from non-Muslim backgrounds, like the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, who grew up in a prosperous San Francisco suburb, and David Headley, a half Pakistani born in Washington who, before allegedly planning the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008, was running a bar in Philadelphia. Concerted Homeland Security measures seem to rope in occasional terrorism suspects — like the 14 arrests this week of U.S. residents allegedly linked to the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia. But many Muslim communities have come under siege, facing a barrage of media scrutiny and xenophobic bluster.
   
In this context, figures like Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf — the Arab-American cleric behind the mosque project near Ground Zero — stand out. A consummate moderate who has made a career preaching about the compatibility of Islamic and American values, Rauf has been cast as a dangerous radical by the mosque's opponents. Few of them are moved by the name of Rauf's proposed building: Cordoba House, named for the city in Spanish Andalucia where Muslims, Jews and Christians once co-existed for centuries in an extraordinary flourishing of culture and science. In these times, the richness and diversity of Muslim experience, in the U.S. and elsewhere, seem far from the minds of most Americans.
      

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AFRICA

Fewer internal displacements in Africa 

Afrolnews - July 15, 2010

Côte d'Ivoire registered the region's highest growth in displaced persons, from zero in 2001 to a peak of 750,000 in 2006. Since that, and despite the inability to find a solution to the Ivorian crisis, numbers of internally displaced has also been slowly reduced here. Even in Central Africa, the trend is slowly moving in a positive direction.

Rwanda's internally displaced population has been reduced by several hundred thousands, closing into zero, in the period. Burundi's internal displaced were reduced from 633,000 to 100,000 from 2001 to 2009. Ugandan numbers were reduced from a 2005 peak of 1.7 million to a current 400,000. The centre of trouble in the region continues to be the DR Congo, where numbers still are fluctuating. The DRC had 3 million internally displaced in 2002, which was reduced to 1.1 million in 2006, but which again increased to 1.9 million in 2009. Meanwhile, Congo Brazzaville has reduced numbers of displaced from 150,000 to almost zero. Southern Africa at the same time saw the greatest reduction in internally displaced as Angola, ending its age-long civil war, almost has completely done away with its 3 million internally displaced persons. This was however countered by negative developments in Zimbabwe, where almost 1 million persons were displaced from 2002-09.

Another new crisis emerging in the otherwise peace-promoting period was in Kenya, which saw a surge in internal displacements. Numbers grew from 100,000 in 2001 to an estimated 600,000 in 2008, when the crisis was at its peak. The worst African region continues to be the Horn, with Sudan being the country hosting most internally displaced persons on the continent. Numbers grew from 4 million in 2001, reaching a peak of 5.8 million in 2007 and slowly detracting to 4.9 million in 2009. Sudan therefore continues to host the continent's worst humanitarian crisis.

Somalia sees the worst development in the Horn region. Here, the number of displaced grew from 300,000 in 2001 to an estimated 1.5 million in 2009. Throughout the decade, the numbers have been steadily increasing, with a jump from 2006 to 2007. In the aftermath of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war, Eritrea has been able to reduce its internally displaced to only around 10,000.

In Ethiopia, however, local conflicts have led the numbers grow from 50,000 to 350,000 from 2001-09. All in all, the NRC compilation shows that Africa has been able to limit the negative effects of its armed conflicts during the last decade, being especially successful in West Africa and seeing some progress in Central Africa. The Horn region however has sunk even deeper into conflict.  

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ASIA

Water Security And Regional Disputes In South Asia by Rezwan
www.e-bangladesh.org - July 24, 2010
 
The Himalayan River Basins (Ganges, Bramhaputra, Indus, Yangtze) in China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh are inhabited by around 1.3 billion people. Yes, we are talking about almost 20% of the world’s population and almost 50% of the total population of these countries. These rivers were the lifelines of the ancient civilizations formed in this region. And these civilizations of present day are under threat.
In a recent report by Strategic Foresight Group, a Mumbai-based think tank, titled “The Himalayan Challenge – Water Security in Emerging Asia” some alarming statistics were presented. In the next two decades, the four countries in the Himalayan sub-region will face the depletion of almost 275 billion cubic meters (BCM) of annual renewable water, more than the total amount of water available in Nepal in present day.
Water availability is estimated to decline in 2030 comparing to present level by 13.50% in case of China, by 28% in case of India, by 22% in case of Bangladesh and by 35% in case of Nepal. The factors contributing to this decline are:
      
1.About 10% to 20% of the Himalayan Rivers are fed by Himalayan Glaciers and studies say 70% of these glaciers will be melted by the next century as a result of accelerating global climate change.
2.Glacial melting will eventually reduce river flow in the low season and increase in temperature in some areas leading to deforestation.
3.Disappearance of thousands of lakes.
4.Depletion of water resources due to pollution and natural reasons
5.The reduced riverflow induces more deposit of silt in river bed narrows the depth of river thus causing flooding. 
    
The implications of depletion of water resources are:
    
1.The agricultural sector is the major consumer of fresh water. However this sector will be using less water due to non-availability of water leading to less productivity.
2.The cumulative effect of water scarcity, glacial melting, disruptive precipitation patterns, flooding, desertification, pollution, and soil erosion will be a massive reduction in the production of rice, wheat, maize and fish.
The consequences of the scarcity of water has prompted many countries to train rivers and manage water flow by building dams. But dams effect the river basins downstream. So it has become an issue for regional disputes. China alone has developed plans to build over 200 dams which will effect the downstream flows of the river in several countries.
      
India vs. China:
The 2,900 km long Brahmaputra River flows through China, India, and Bangladesh, and its watershed includes Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma as well. In 2000, India accused China of not sharing flood data of the flows of Brahmaputra River through the Chinese territory. This resulted in widespread devastation and floods in India killing many people. In 2002 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the countries to coordinate water related data sharing.
In early 2003, China conducted a feasibility study for a major hydropower project along the China section of the Brahmaputra River. This project was supposed to divert 200 billion cubic meters of water annually to the Yellow River. This would result in 60% reduction of water flow downstream in India and Bangladesh. In 2006, the Chinese government denied the existence of the plan however this remained a reason for the strained relationship between the two countries. However it was found later that China was building a dam on Brahmaputra.
In April 2010, China assured that the dam on river Brahmaputra will have no impact on the downstream flow of the river into India Bangladesh.
 
India vs. Bangladesh:
The Indian government has plans to get India’s 37 major river interlinked by 2016 implementing its interlinking of rivers (ILR) project. 25 new dams are planned for the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. According to experts the impacts of the ILR on Bangladesh will be the function of many variables, including the alteration of hydrology, river dynamics, ecosystem changes, agricultural productivity, intrusion of salinity and public health. The reason for dispute between both the countries is that Bangladesh have not been officially notified of plans for the ILR project.
    
India vs. Pakistan:
Pakistan is worried about six rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi) that flow into Pakistan through northern India, including the disputed state of Jammu & Kashmir and the state of Punjab. Their disagreements lead to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which has come under an increasing strain in recent days. India completed a hydroelectric power project on the Chenab River in the Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir by building a dam on 2008. Pakistan is wary of facts that the shortage of flow of water in rivers could cause rapid desertification. 
Water issues are not only raising the political temperature between countries but also between states within a country like the river Kaveri is the reason for serious contention between Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Karnataka states.
     
The Solution:
One thing is for sure if India and China race for building dams to control flow of river within their boundaries without consulting their downstream neighbors then the situation will be volatile leading to unnecessary confrontation and war. The threats cannot be addressed by the unilateral efforts of nations, only regional cooperation can mitigate such tensions.
The Dhaka Declaration on Water Security has proposed an expert committee to prepare a road map for data-sharing and scientific exchange and to prepare guidelines for introducing transparency regarding relevant data.The declaration urges “greater political commitment and data exchange among Himalaya basin countries for collective approaches to the region’s water challenges”. 
Dialogues between the citizens of the countries concerned are needed so that unnecessary escalations can be avoided.The region has to commit to agreements like the Dhaka declaration so that a Regional Information Sharing Network on water resources can be achieved.
   

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AFGHANISTAN

Women fear their fate amid Taliban negotiations 

The following is an abridged version of an article that appears in the Aug. 9, 2010, print and iPad editions of TIME magazine

Such an outcome, it is assumed, would involve reconciliation with the Taliban. But Afghan women fear that in the quest for a quick peace, their progress may be sidelined. "Women's rights must not be the sacrifice by which peace is achieved," says parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi. Yet that may be where negotiations are heading. The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views, particularly on the issue of women's rights.

Already there is a growing acceptance that some concessions to the Taliban are inevitable if there is to be genuine reconciliation. "You have to be realistic," says a diplomat in Kabul. "We are not going to be sending troops and spending money forever. There will have to be a compromise, and sacrifices will have to be made." For Afghanistan's women, an early withdrawal of international forces could be disastrous. An Afghan refugee who grew up in Canada, Mozhdah Jamalzadah recently returned home to launch an Oprah-style talk show in which she has been able to subtly introduce questions of women's rights without provoking the ire of religious conservatives. On a recent episode, a male guest told a joke about a foreign human-rights team in Afghanistan. In the cities, the team noticed that women walked six paces behind their husbands. But in rural Helmand, where the Taliban is strongest, they saw a woman six steps ahead. The foreigners rushed to congratulate the husband on his enlightenment — only to be told that he stuck his wife in front because they were walking through a minefield.

As the audience roared with laughter, Jamalzadah reflected that it may take about 10 to 15 years before Afghan women can truly walk alongside men. But once they do, she believes, all Afghans will benefit. "When we talk about women's rights," Jamalzadah says, "we are talking about things that are important to men as well — men who want to see Afghanistan move forward. If you sacrifice women to make peace, you are also sacrificing the men who support them and abandoning the country to the fundamentalists that caused all the problems in the first place."

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Petraeus Tightens Rules of Engagement by Jason Motlagh

Time - August 06, 2010   

In his first tactical directive since assuming command of international forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus doubled down on the orders imposed by his predecessor that put a premium on protecting civilians first to win their support. For months those rules of engagement, formulated by General Stanley McChrystal, have led to rank-and-file grumblings by U.S. soldiers. The servicemen say that the strict rules put them in greater danger, even as they aim to avoid civilian casualties. The grumbling is unlikely to diminish with the new directives that Petraeus issued on Wednesday.The renewed call for a disciplined use of force  plus added restrictions  were not what most troops were hoping for. Over the past year a series of directives issued by McChrystal limited air strikes and hot pursuit in populated areas. This managed to reduce civilian casualties caused by NATO forces, pleasing Afghan officials and rights groups.

But many war fighters contend the current policies have handicapped their ability to effectively take on the Taliban, a guerrilla force that doesn't have to play by the same rules. There's also been widespread uncertainty over how troops can defend themselves when under attack. Misinterpretations of earlier directives by ground officers in some parts of the country confused and frustrated a lot of frontline soldiers, who say they worry about the consequences of a heat-of-the-moment mistake. Now, rather than loosen the rules of engagement as many would have preferred, General Petraeus has tightened them.

Under General McChrystal, NATO forces were prohibited from calling in air strikes or artillery fire on village compounds where the enemy might be mixed in with civilians. Going several steps better, General Petraeus has reportedly expanded the ban on air strikes and artillery fire to all types of buildings, tree-lined areas and hillsides where it is difficult to distinguish who is on the ground. Although the military has kept much of the directive's fine print classified for operational security, other measures are said to include a curb on small-arms fire that has yielded a steady trickle of fatalities at checkpoints and in night raids on private residences. These have surpassed errant air strikes as the main source of civilian casualties. Writes Petraeus: "Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause." In his directive, Petraeus tried to reassure troops of their basic right to self-defense. With a nod to the inconsistencies, he forbade lower-level officers from making his guidance stricter "without my approval," adding, "We must give our troopers the confidence to take all necessary actions when it matters most while understanding the strategic consequences of civilian casualties." In other words, commanding officers should not make their soldiers feel too cautious about defending themselves when necessary. And, in the event they are at risk of being overrun by enemy forces, they are allowed to forgo stringent civilian-oriented protocols to defend themselves.Still, the emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties is a loud echo of McChrystal's dogma.

And it should come as no real surprise. General Petraeus authored the U.S. Army counterinsurgency manual that was the backbone of McChrystal's strategy, ensuring continuity in letter and spirit. In the run-up to his confirmation, Petraeus vowed to stay the course. And everything he has done so far seems to underscore his predecessor's policies. On Sunday, he released a broader list of counterinsurgency warfare guidelines to the 135,000 troops under his command that reinforce the existing strategy, exhorting them to be more respectful and learn about the nuances of Afghan culture to better connect with locals. Among his recommendations: drinking more tea, living among the people, admitting mistakes when things go wrong and using information as a weapon.General Petraeus is not the only one hustling to shape perceptions.

Last week the Taliban command released its own directive calling on fighters not to harm civilians, with the exception of those working for international forces or the Afghan government ("supporters of the infidels"), who are to be executed. "The Taliban must treat civilians according to Islamic norms and morality to win over the hearts and minds of the people," says the document, which appears to be in response to an aggressive NATO campaign to publicize how the Taliban is now responsible for most Afghan civilian deaths. But it's not quite working. At least 43 Afghan civilians have been killed by the militants since the 69-page code of conduct was released, according to NATO, mostly from roadside and suicide bombs, including a Monday blast in Kandahar that left five children dead. 

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BANGLADESH

News from Dhanjuri by Fr. Cherubim Bakla 

Dhanjuri - August 17, 2010

Dear dada, 

Jisuki Barai. We are happy to organize program for the women where 355 women participated. We invited them from different villages in order to inform them the update situation of the soiety and country. Most of them were the members of the group of the Legion of Mary. Their usual routine is to pray and to  visit the sick and help them.

The Rozari Ministry Team of Chondona Hembrom of 3 persons conducted the program. Then they distributed rozari among the women-participants. The team conducted the same program for the boarding boys and girls. They also got rozaro each.

We organized the International Aboriginal Day program at the parish school field. The Upazila Chairman came and announced to make paka road from Joynagar to our parish gate. He also annouced to build an auditorium for the school. It is because the students got wet of rain when he was present. Let us hope.

The students have finished their 2nd Terminal Exam. They have been waiting for result. The teachers said that the children have done well than before. The Ramadhan has started and the Govt. has declared to close the educational institutions. We shall continue our school for some days. Then the children will go home for a short vacation.

There is no enough rain. We could plant paddy untill now. We have planted in the land which are near to the deep tube well.

Our Pargana Father is getting older. He becomes tired bery soon. He needs good rest but he will not live without work. I try to take care of him.

We all are well now. Keep well too.

Fr. Cherubim Bakla 

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BD Rifles helps improve Khagrachhari by Jasim Uddin Majumder

Star Insight - July 31, 2010

It may not be the most appreciated wing of the army, but the Bangladesh Rifles are doing their part in improving the country as well as their own image. This report about a battalion in Khagrachhari tells us the details.

They also organize awareness programmes to increase female participation at all levels. Most of the women of Jaminipara Zone and its nearby areas benefit from various training courses conducted by this organization. After successful training, they also provide necessary tools free of cost, so that the women become self-sufficient.organization. After successful training, they also provide necessary tools free of cost, so that the women become self-sufficient.

TatobTatob is the name of the computer club run by Bangladesh Rifles 5. They started this computer club in the early months of this year and trained some 71 youths from 3 unions including Taindong, Tabolchhari and Bornal. The learners are taught computer essentials, including email.Fisheries ProjectIn 2008, a lake spanning 30 acres was created, in which Bangladesh Rifles 5 has been running a fishery project since 2009. This employed 64 families, including some poor ethnic ones. Members of the 64 families are involved in the project, while the battalion provides supervision.

They are also trying to establish buildings on the bank of the lake, in an effort to make it a tourist spot.Jaminipara Primary and Junior High School Jaminipara Primary and Junior High School is ranked at the top of the 90 educational organizations under Matiranga upazila in the district. Seven class five students secured full scholarship last year. BDR established the primary school in 2006, aiming to ensure primary education for those remote areas. Later, they turned it into a Junior High School and are currently in the process of constructing 5 more rooms.Road Repair workMembers of Jaminipara BDR Battalion have been repairing damaged roads inside the zone.

They also coordinate with government agencies to implement road development projects in their area.Tree Planting ProgramMembers of the Battalion have planted some five thousands saplings in their zone and its surrounding areas on the first day of a weeklong tree planting program. They have planned to plant about 40 thousand more saplings in different areas under their jurisdiction.Second in command of Bangladesh Rifles 5, Major S.M. Naimul Alam, said that they wish to assist people from all walks of life.“We want people to become more aware of their rights and privileges and gain confidence as enlightened citizens of the country," he said.Bangladesh Rifles 5 Commander, Lt. Colonel Abdun Nur said that while it is their formal duty to protect the border and protect border crimes, they can also serve the people and improve their way of life near the border.“With the people of the border with us, we can succeed at anything," he said.  Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2009

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Deplorable levels of sexual abuse on disabled children by Rafiqul Islam

Dhaka Courier - July 30, 2010 

Nearly 50 percent of the country's disabled children reportedly fall victim to sexual abuse with 91.1 percent of them abused by their family members or close relatives, according to a recent study.

The study also confirmed that some 38.38 percent of the disabled children were sexually abused in absence of knowledge about body language.

Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) and Save the Children Sweden-Denmark jointly conducted the study that revealed the barbaric scenario about the condition of disabled children in Bangladesh.

During the six-month long study from October 2009 to March 2010, the parents of 216 disabled children (aged 7-18) were interviewed in six divisional headquarters - Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Khulna and Sylhet - categorising the disabled children as intellectually impaired, visually impaired, hearing impaired and physically impaired.

The researchers also collected data from some 535 adult disabled people, their family members, teachers and NGO workers.

The study reveals that most of the sexual offenders were male. Even teachers and therapists were found to be guilty in many cases. Of the victims of sexual abuse, 52 percent were girls and 48 percent boys - aged between 7 and 18 years.

According to the study, the rate of sexual abuse is even worse in case of mentally disabled children (intellectually impaired) due to their inability to express themselves or to understand the intentions of the offender.

The study recommends increasing the self-protection ability of the children with disabilities, as well as making the concept of sexual abuse clear through specially designed counselling.

It also recommended counselling for the family members on how to better handle the issue and undertaking capacity building programmes for the NGO workers to address the problem.

Senior Researcher Selim Chowdhury told UNB that parents of the victims are not willing to go for legal action as the disabled children cannot express themselves properly.

He stressed the need for involving physicians and psychologists to help realise the disabled children's body language in getting justice.

Chowdhury, a psychologist, said: "We seem to have no concern about the sexuality of a disabled child. When a disabled child becomes an adolescent, he or she has some biological needs. So, they should be trained in this regard."

He said the abuse occurs due to the fact that the understanding of personal body parts, personal security and sexual abuse is unclear to the physically and mentally impaired children and to their family members.

"There is no adequate support, tool and structure in place in either the public or private sector to address the problems of disabled children in the country."

Selim Chowdhury suggested the authorities concerned reserve ten percent of seats in shelter homes for the victimised disabled children.

Referring to the sufferings of the disabled children living in rural areas, he feared that the scenario of sexual abuse of disabled children will be much worse in rural areas than in urban areas, as there is no-one to specifically look after the disabled children outside Dhaka.

Selina Ahmed, director of child protection, Save the Children Sweden-Denmark, said that the disabled children are exposed to a higher risk of sexual harassment because they cannot protect themselves.

She said intellectually impaired children are more harassed than other disabled children because they do not understand the difference between good touch and bad touch.

"As the disabled children could not identify the relationship status properly, the offenders take advantage of this."

Selina Ahmed noted that there is no specialised organisation in either public or private sector in Bangladesh to provide legal support to the sexually abused children.

She stressed creating awareness among the people to address the longstanding problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), persons with disability constitute about 10 percent of the country's total population.

There were nearly 12 million disabled people in the country, according to the 2001 census.

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Things start moving with India

Dhaka Courier - July 30, 2010 

Good to see the January deals struck with India over power import gathering some steam finally. Our soporific administration would have almost led someone to believe they had been quietly forgotten over the last six months. But the inking of the specific, 35-year contract between our Power Development Board and the Power Grid Corporation of India to import 250 megawatts of electricity from our neighbours offers encouragement that there was actually substance behind the pomp and pageantry surrounding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi.

Now, many observers would point our 250 megawatts is actually a pittance in this day and age, and by the end of 2012, when it is expected to be part of the national grid, our electricity demand will have increased further. This is not entirely without any basis in fact. But these observers fail to acknowledge the quite desperate situation in our energy and power sector at the moment. Round about 1500 megawatts is a good figure as a measure of our daily shortfall, and although the government has revealed very ambitious plans to increase generation capacity to above 9000 megawatts within 2016, the historic incapacity of our successive governments to make any good in this sector means we should probably not rely on this before we actually see some results start materialising.

Even resorting to the far more expensive but apparently expedient rental power plants, the first of which were slated to come on board in July, have failed to ease our plight. Within this context, we can do with every megawatt we can manage. And so it must be viewed positively that there is a provision for us to import the said amount, as there is no telling that we won't need it.

We would have preferred the transmission tariff to be set out in the contract signed (it is to be fixed later by the Energy Regulatory Commission of West Bengal), but what is really good about the deal signed is that it also provides for Bangladesh to eventually start exporting electricity to India. That reflects a confidence within Bangladeshi circles that we can eventually attain the kind of position necessary to do that. But why it really fills the heart with optimism is that this may just be the first concrete step towards a regional power-sharing mechanism between the countries of South Asia. It is an idea that has been floating in the background of diplomatic exchanges between countries like India, Bhutan, Nepal and ourselves for a number of years now. The deal signed this week may finally set the idea on its way to becoming reality.

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Women’s Rights Movement

Weekend Independent - July 29, 2010 

Freedom or liberation is taken so granted by us that we fail to recall the years of struggle faced by countless people for the basic right of voting or standing in the same room as others. When apartheid, gender discrimination, colonization and many such atrocities began to plague the society, a revolution for a wonderful thing called Freedom became the need of hour from time to time. A calling for freedom has always been followed by people, and women too did not ever stay behind to claim what was rightly theirs. Thus, the birth of women's rights movement embarked a phenomenon in the world, namely women standing shoulder to shoulder with men. For attaining this basic right, struggles, conflicts, bloodshed were witnessed by innumerable unnamed women in the course of history. The status of women in the present times is not because of natural progression or the open mindedness of men, it is the result of a slow, painful fight on the part of women across the world and also particularly, convenience of society when contribution from the female gender poised the economy to move forward.

Women's Status in History

Contrary to the belief that all women were treated as second class citizens in the ancient times, there were a few societies in antiquity where women were not considered minors to men. In ancient Indian civilization, status of women was on par with the male counterparts, however during 500 B.C., there was a sharp decline in this position following the invasion of Moguls and colonialist countries. Even in Ancient Egypt, women seemed to have enjoyed same legal and economical rights which men had, at least in theory. Although ancient Egypt was hardly an egalitarian society where equal rights are accorded to all irrespective of class, gender or status, age, etc. women still were allowed to inherit or own property, sign contracts, marry and divorce according to their will, appear in court as a witness, and were subjected to the responsibilities associated with such rights. But somehow the condition of women across continents waned down the road, and embroiled a deep seated rage for breaking free amongst women.

Women's Rights Movement in the United States

Women's suffrage struggle paved the way for a reform in the political and constitutional set up in many countries. Even though New Zealand holds the credit for being the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893, it was not until 1919 that women of New Zealand were permitted to run for the state legislature. However, origins of women's rights movement in the United States can be traced back to the abolitionist (anti slavery) movement of 18th century. This was the time when a considerable number of women stood up against the notion of "superiority of white male" and vehemently protested against "inferiority of blacks and/or females". With women actively participating in the anti slavery movement, a few men felt that the sanctity of civilized society was being threatened and excluded women from joining the anti slavery convention in London in 1940. But this only spawned women's agitation for the right to vote.

In 1948, a convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York to deliberate on women's issues in the country, mostly "social, civil, religious conditions and rights of women". The forerunners in the agitation were Elizabeth Cady Stanton (recently married to an anti-slavery activist), Lucretia Mott (belonging to the Quaker sect), Martha C. Wright (Mott's sister), and many others like Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt etc. Stanton drew a "Declaration of Sentiments" basing it on Declaration of Independence, which claimed that "all men and women are created equal" and also highlighted 18 "injuries and usurpations on the part of man towards woman". Although Seneca Falls convention was successful with majority of women and men voting for women's suffrage, it had to face the brunt of the press and conventional leaders. As the pulpit and press were unfavorable to this cause, a renowned journalist scorned off this movement, by penning down words like "A discussion of the rights of animals would be regarded with far more complacency by many of what are called the wise and the good of our land, than would be a discussion of the rights of woman"... This, of course, did not deter the women from fighting for their rights and women's rights movement continued, leading to the formation of National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The goal of this organization was to bring changes in the American Constitution so that the American women get the right to vote, to own property, to make legal contracts, to attend college, to divorce an abusing husband, to earn a living and so forth.

It was the newly made state of Wyoming which accorded full suffrage rights to women in 1869. On its footsteps, the state of Colorado, Utah and Idaho followed and enfranchised women in the 1890s. A painfully slow progression was adopted by different states in granting voting rights to women, however, it was the year 1920 when the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution came in to effect which ratified suffrage rights of women. Even though the political activism of women played a vital role in this amendment, however the war and women's role in it acted as a catalyst for the women's rights in America. During the World War I, when men left everything behind to fight for their country, women had to step out of their homes to provide for their family and mainly, make their contribution to the society. As the situation at home became bad to worse during the times of World War I, the Great Depression and World War II, more and more women were compelled to seek employment and thus, the label of "weaker sex" slowly began to fade away. 

1960's Women's Rights Movement

Better known as the feminist or liberation movement, the second wave of the movement for women's rights began in 1960s and continued through the 70s until it died down in 1980s. In the wake of devastating second world war, there were surprisingly some positive effects like, the economical boom, suburban growth, capitalist triumphs, etc. All this fueled the need for believing in the nuclear family trends in people where the role of the patriarch dominates the scene. The mainstream media including the movies, television, print along with the social consensus began to reflect this kind of subjugation of women to males. Nevertheless, women across the country did not take this lying down and thus, began the women's rights movement of 1960s which was targeted to achieve women's civil liberty rights, eradication of gender discrimination at workplace and in education centers, eliminating discrimination in wages, sexual revolution, reproductive rights and subsequently, amending the laws pertaining to these goals.

The average pay of women in these times were 60 percent less than their male counterparts. This was the major issue which prompted Betty Friedan in articulating her views about emancipation of women in her book The Feminine Mystique. She later on was dubbed as the mother of second wave women's rights movement. As sex came out of closet and reigned over the mainstream, sexual revolution surged too, to release women from the shackles of false modesty. As the birth control pill or "The Pill" became popular among married and unmarried women in this baby boomer era, it brought up many questions regarding the reproductive rights of women, mainly illegitimacy of abortion.

In 1963, a civil rights bill was introduced by John F. Kennedy in the legislative assembly, proclaiming "all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public - hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments" and this in turn led to passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, reforming the earlier decadent laws related to gender or racial segregation at public establishments and at workplaces. In the year 1966, National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed by 28 working women including Betty Frieden for the purpose of encouraging women to actively participate in the mainstream instead of being limited to domesticity. Over the years, NOW worked hard to redefine male viewpoint of women and met with unprecedented success as its members grew from 28 to 15,000 in mere four years of time.

Feminism is often wrongly associated with radicalism. This misconception was born in 1968 when a group of women from New York Radical Women protested against Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New York calling it racist and subjecting to "ludicrous beauty standards". They demonstrated their discontent by throwing dish detergent, false eyelashes, high heels, wigs, curlers, Ladies Home Journal copies along with copies of Playboy, in to a trash can. Though it was a tough time for the country as it was still reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, Vietnam War, and anti war demonstrations, this act labeled as Freedom Trash Can (culprit behind the bra burning myth) brought women's rights movement back to the forefront. Over the years, the 20th century women exerted control over their lives by taking birth control pills, going for higher studies, challenging status quo and puncturing the male ego in every facets of life.

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How capitalism and US imperialism have underdeveloped Bangladesh by Melissa Hussain

New Age - July 25, 2010

Part I and II

Part I  

Orchestrated class-alliances in Bangladesh

Poetry, we do not need you anymore. A world devastated by hunger is too prosaic, The full moon now reminds us of toasted bread.

Sukanta Bhattacharya*

For all the endless, empty chatter about democracy, today the world is run by three of the most secretive institutions in the world: The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, all three of which, in turn, are dominated by the U.S. [...] Nobody elected them. Nobody said they could make decisions on our behalf. A world run by a handful of greedy bankers and C.E.O.'s whom nobody elected can't possibly last.

Arundhati Roy, Come September

TO SPEAK of the integration of Bangladesh into the global capitalist system is to dwell on an orchestrated class-alliance through which capitalism and its logical extension, imperialism, operate and reproduce themselves. This orchestrated class-alliance brings together the US government, US corporations, the national ruling class in Bangladesh, NGOs, and international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO. For the sake of conceptual convenience and subsequent discussions, I want to represent these class alliances diagrammatically here:

This model might be juxtaposed with a model that one might advance by way of drawing on Samir Amin's famous 'five monopolies' that characterise today's imperialist capitalism: 1) technology; 2) financial system; 3) worldwide access to natural resources; 4) media and information systems; and 5) weapons of mass destruction (Capitalism in the Age of Globalization 4-5). In other words, today's capitalism-whatever its crises are-tends to monopolise those five areas in a number of ways across the world. Bangladesh turns out to be a crucial site insofar as some of the areas of monopolies are concerned, particularly natural resources, media and information systems, and certainly the financial system, which also involves the labour market. In fact, the cheap labour from Bangladesh provides the most lucrative site over which capitalist institutions and multinational corporations want to have their monopolies. As a matter of fact, one cannot think of the integration of Bangladesh into the global capitalist system without accounting for the kind of cheap garment labour that gets exploited in the profit-making drives of multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart.

In fact, my own diagram and part of Samir Amin's diagram relate well to Anu Muhammad's essay 'Bangladesh's Integration into Global Capitalist System: A Study on the Policy Direction and the Role of Global Institutions'. He begins by saying:

Bangladesh has become more marketized, globalized, and urbanized in the last three decades. Now it has a rising middle class with a good number of very rich people. It also has an increasing number of uprooted poor people. At the same time, we realize the increasing role of international agencies in governance of the state. We also see [the] increasing presence of funding organisations including NGOs. [The] role of the state in major policy formulation seems rather marginal. (113)

According to Anu Muhammad, indeed, global institutions have played very crucial roles in shaping the country's economy and society through even policy-level interventions. Muhammad studies reports, recommendations, strategy papers and prescription documents from various global institutions, particularly from the World Bank, to show how Bangladesh has been integrated into the global capitalist system. Muhammad calls it 'a new beginning with [an] old agenda' (113), maintaining that such a process of integration is not a recent phenomenon in Bangladesh. Comparing Bangladesh to other 'peripheral economies' under global capitalism, Muhammad suggests that the economy of Bangladesh has been in the process of integration for a long time now. However, during the last few decades-particularly since the mid-1950s-this particular political-economic process of integration gathered momentum with the introduction of foreign aid-based development projects, especially in such areas as agriculture and water resource management. But after Bangladesh's independence in 1971, there was a massive increase in the inflow of foreign aid. As Muhammad points out:

Soon after independence, the 'Bangladesh aid consortium' was formed with the World Bank as its head 'on the same lines as the Pakistan consortium' (Sobhan, 1982). From a review of thirty years of the bank's suggestions and policy recommendations to the government of Bangladesh, it is clear that the bank has been consistent in its ideological framework. It is interesting to note that the bank always has worked to sell their agenda by keeping the government in good humour, with a supporting tone to the government's political agenda, irrespective of the political philosophies of successive governments (Muhammad, 1996). Such diplomacy proved to be an effective sales management technique in Bangladesh for the global institutions. (114)

Elsewhere, Muhammad, in fact, renames 'aid' projects as 'Anti-Industrial Development' projects (Development or Destruction? 149) insofar as the flow of aid continues to be a trap with all kinds of strings, particularly benefiting foreign capital at the expense of national development initiatives and the development of national industries. In other words, the development of national capitalism is simply undesirable vis-à-vis the monopoly of foreign capital. Thus, global capitalism, indeed, keeps under-developing Bangladesh. Underdevelopment itself is the logic of capitalism.

It needs mentioning here that one cannot talk about the integration of Bangladesh into the global capitalist system without taking into account the continuous and massive interventions of the World Bank and other international financial institutions in Bangladesh, variously linked as those interventions are to the US itself. Although the World Bank is notoriously known for its relatively recent structural adjustment policies in third-world countries, including Bangladesh, the role of the World Bank in Bangladesh in particular began much earlier, despite the fact that its Structural Adjustment Program became particularly distinct and dominant in the 1980s. In fact, the Structural Adjustment Program has brought all of the earlier World Bank 'reform' programmes together under an integrated project.

It might prove useful at this point to historicise-at least briefly-certain crucial programmes initiated in Bangladesh by international institutions that have contributed to the integration of Bangladesh into the world capitalist system. In the 1950s, for instance, programmes relating to foreign aid and education, including training programmes, as well as the Krug mission and water resource projects, were undertaken by global institutions to facilitate water resource management in Bangladesh, as well as to generate skilled manpower primarily dependent on aid-consultancy. During the 1960s, particularly with support from the World Bank and the US, the so-called 'Green Revolution' was initiated in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), aimed at the production of mono-crops and the increased marketisation of agriculture. During the 1970s, the interventions of the World Bank continued. However, the poverty alleviation programme in particular was undertaken by various NGOs in the name of helping the war-ravaged post-independence Bangladesh, the objective, however, being to create new institutions and a civil society compatible with the philosophy of the G7.

The decade of the 1980s is particularly noted for the imposition of the Structural Adjustment Policy by the World Bank, contributing to the process of deindustrialisation and strengthening the authority of the first world-including the US-in Bangladesh. The 1990s marked the period of initiating and materialising the GATT agreement, which opened up certain common property to be privatised by multinational corporations. And the period between 2001 and now has seen the Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan, which reinforces the Structural Adjustment Program of the World Bank with tactical flexibility. Anu Muhammad summarises this whole history of the global institutions thus:

As a whole, the programmes sponsored by global institutions which have played key role[s] in accelerating the process of integrating peripheral economies including Bangladesh with the centre economies include: (i) the 'Green Revolution,' (ii) Structural Adjustment Programme, (iii) 'Poverty Alleviation' Programmes, (iv) GATT agreement, (v) Foreign 'aid' supported trade, technical assistance, reform, consultancy, training and education. The current Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP) is the latest in the series. ('Bangladesh's Integration', 115)

It is evident that in this very history of foreign institutional interventions in the economy of Bangladesh, the roles of the World Bank and the NGOs have continued to remain prominent. This very history also tells us that the participation of the majority of the people-which means the working class and the peasantry in Bangladesh-in the economic life of the country was subordinated to foreign dictates which clearly attest to economic imperialism. As far as the World Bank is concerned, it is quite instructive that it carried out extensive studies on the economy of Bangladesh in the mid 1960s, particularly focusing on agriculture. After Bangladesh's independence, the findings of these studies were published by the World Bank in a nine-volume study. As Muhammad demonstrates, that study became the working document of the new Bangladeshi government, even informing and influencing the government's approach to agricultural and water resource issues ('Bangladesh's Integration', 117). However, as Muhammad further shows, the study was never brought into the field of public discussion, and it was treated as confidential.

*These by-now famous lines were penned (in Bengali) by the communist activist poet Sukanta Bhattacharya, who was referred to as the 'Young Nazrul' and who died of tuberculosis at the young age of twenty.

Part II

SINCE 1971, the World Bank directly or indirectly intervened in the political economy of Bangladesh in a number of contexts, with a number of guidances and directions, including certain programmes and policies. My purpose here is not to provide an exhaustive account of the entire range of the World Bank's activities in Bangladesh. However, I will focus on a few but symptomatic areas. To begin with, the World Bank's programmes have emphasised more intensive use of groundwater in Bangladesh and thus has encouraged the introduction and installation of shallow tube-wells for safe drinking water for the poor, a project that remained absolutely inadequate in terms of meeting the needs of the poor, while shallow tube-wells became a good business for the relatively rich, and kept some local NGOs in Bangladesh going in terms of getting funding from foreign donor agencies.1 But this shows only a tiny segment of the World Bank's interventions in Bangladesh. To speak of the World Bank interventions in Bangladesh is to speak of its notoriously famous Flood Action Plan.2

It is true that Bangladesh is a disaster-prone, climatically vulnerable country that is cyclically visited by natural disasters such as cyclones, drought, and-most often-floods. Because of its location in the delta region of two major rivers-compounded by the 'aid' of development in the forms of dams and river embankments-Bangladesh is subject to flooding on an almost yearly basis. And positioned as it is in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh is also hit by devastating tropical cyclones, the most devastating of which claimed approximately 500,000 lives in 1970 (the Bhola Cyclone), 138,000 lives in 1991 (the Bangladesh Cyclone), and up to 10,000 lives in 2007 (Cyclone Sidr). If we carefully examine and historicise the interventions of the World Bank in response to Bangladesh's natural disasters, we can easily see how natural disasters are not so 'natural'-they are manmade, even produced and reproduced by capitalism itself, aided as it is by the World Bank. As Anu Muhammad points out:

Huge structural measures could not save Bangladesh from another disastrous flood in 1987 and again in 1988. Nevertheless, the water resources programmes were intensified and pursued with more rigor. The World Bank continued to be there. It went for a comprehensive programme to "control flood" and "water management." In June 1989, the World Bank "agreed to a request from the government to help in coordinating the international efforts." ('Bangladesh's Integration', 122)

Anu Muhammad clearly suggests that the huge structural measures that the World Bank itself adopted earlier simply failed in terms of saving the majority of the people from the ravages of the massive floods occurring in 1987 and 1988. Yet the World Bank stubbornly followed its own measures and continued the project, finally taking up the responsibility of coordinating various efforts made by a number of international agencies and the Bangladesh government to control floods in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the World Bank is not interested in responding-and does not have to respond-to legitimate questions regarding the Bangladesh Flood Action Plan raised by a group of geographers. In 'Six Comments on the Bangladesh Flood Action Plan', James Wescoat and others ask some rhetorical questions that serve the purpose of exposing some of the massive blind-spots in the plan itself:

The Bangladesh Flood Action Plan was organised by the World Bank and a consortium of governments and technical assistance organisations following catastrophic flooding in 1987 and 1988. The scope of the overall plan, which has 26 components and a timeframe of several decades, is broad and ambitious.

But the FAP faces persistent questions about the relative importance and balance of its components. Does the proposed system of embankments threaten the long-term ecological and natural resource productivity of the delta? Will the embankments increase flood hazards in some areas or for some social groups? Have non-structural approaches been adequately conceived, supported, and integrated into the plan? Will social costs and benefits be equitably distributed? Does the plan expand the participation and range of choice for those at risk? (Wescoat, et al, 287)

The nature of this coordinated flood action plan has also been theorised relatively instructively by Gayatri Spivak herself, in her recent book Other Asias. Spivak discusses the European Conference on the Flood Action Plan in Bangladesh that was held in 1993 by the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Spivak writes of the donor countries that participated in garnering a $10.1 billion IMF loan to Bangladesh as part of the Flood Action Plan, arguing that in this instance, 'the name of giving is scientifically appropriated for coercive lending, solicited by comprador capital and a compromised State, used as staging props for a nation seeking alms' (Other Asias, 83). Spivak asks: 'Is responsibility to be produced by a debt trap? This monstrosity-a bonded donation-mortgages the future of that country' (83). And Spivak further describes the effect of this Flood Action Plan:

The World Bank coordinates the effort [of the Flood Action Plan], shored up by innumerable business enterprises and consultancies and government allocations and international agencies. The country [Bangladesh] is "consultantized," the possibility of agitation for peoples' rights effectively blocked, since the de facto law is in the hands of the donors via a Flood Protection Coordinating Organization set up by executive decision of the Ministry of Water Development, which describes itself as an ad hoc staff body, directed by the "donors'" own policy requirements. There is, in other words, no accountability here. It is not conceivable that some First World consulting agency will, first, be tracked down after the Organization has been dismantled; and, second, respond to the subaltern's call. (83-84)

In other words, Bangladesh-already integrated into the world capitalist system-has its sovereignty and security mortgaged, so to speak, to the World Bank itself through the mediation of the Bangladesh government representing the interests of the national ruling class and business folks. The class alliances here are unmistakable; they, in fact, point to the ways in which class struggles in Bangladesh operate under capitalism. Spivak also speaks of the country being 'consultantized', an important point that Anu Muhammad himself repeatedly makes in a number of his works, including his crucial and influential essay I'm discussing here. This process of 'consultantization' obviously corresponds to and is tied to the logics of the ongoing integration of Bangladesh into the world capitalist system through the World Bank itself, insofar as it has always played a crucial role in shaping and influencing not only the policies and agendas of donor agencies, including consultants, but also the policies of the Bangladesh government itself.

Another aspect of the World Bank's intervention vis-à-vis the Flood Action Plan in Bangladesh is a particular tendency that the World Bank has routinely exhibited: it always advocates-in the name of structural solutions-initiatives and interventions that involve huge costs. As Anu Muhammad again asserts, '[e]xpensive projects have always been preferred, probably because expensive projects ensure a good fortune to the local-foreign parties involved' ('Bangladesh's Integration', 123). Also, the majority of the people continue to remain on the margin of all such efforts and projects, while of course continuing to remain the worst victims of so-called 'natural' disasters. Since the Flood Action Plan was resisted by the people themselves because it simply didn't work for them and because it was also heavily critiqued by some oppositional intellectuals in Bangladesh, it was abandoned, only for tactical reasons. In 1992 it was replaced, however, by the Water Resources Planning Organisation, an agency of the Bangladesh government that not only remains tied to the World Bank, but has basically reproduced the programme of the Flood Action Plan.

It should be pointed out here that water is simultaneously a problem and a resource in Bangladesh. While, on the one hand, its abundance causes flooding, which brings disaster to the majority of the people (the working class and the peasantry, in particular); on the other, water provides a lucrative resource for profit by the national bourgeoisie as well as foreign direct investment, an issue I'll take up later. Meanwhile, let me focus on a few more areas in which the World Bank has intervened in Bangladesh. Of course, apart from water resource management, the World Bank has other economic agendas and reform measures. In 1996, for instance, the World Bank dictated to the newly-elected government an agenda for action bent on privatising public enterprises, while ensuring increasing intervening power from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF in particular. It was also opposed to the development of national industries, while it recommended an increase in the price of public utilities. The bank's agenda, at that point, was multifaceted, and included an accelerated privatisation of state enterprises (such as the privatisation of the nationalised commercial bank and power generation plants, as well as the privatisation of the Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board), an increase in the price of fertiliser, and a restructuring of the Power Development Board and of the natural gas sector.

Notes:

1. For the World Bank's own discussion of its agriculture and water development plan, see its publication, Bangladesh Agriculture and Water Development: The Hard Core Program (1973).

2. Gayatri Spivak provides a theoretically-engaged critical account of the Flood Action Plan in chapter two of Other Asias, entitled 'Responsibility - 1992: Testing Theory in the Plains' (an update to a previous article, 'Responsibility'.). Also, Shapan Adnan is critical of the World Bank's Flood Action Plan. See, for instance, his book Floods, People and the Environment and his essay, 'Intellectual critiques, people's resistance and inter-reparian contestations: Constraints to the power of the state regarding flood control and water management in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta of Bangladesh', in the collection Water, Sovereignty and Borders in Asia and Oceania, edited by Devleena Ghosh, et al (104-124). 

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Industrial pollution plays havoc by Asadullah Khan

Daily Star - July 26, 2010

FOR the last two decades the slow but certain devastation caused by industrial pollution has been going on unabated while very few, either in the administration or politics, have kept track of the toll it has been exacting on the national life. Concerned citizens and the media have raised alarms, but they seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

The people, of course, can see, smell, feel and sometimes choke on contaminated air and water. They can see the grime accumulate on their persons, homes and hearths, and watch the vegetation die. All around the country, there is seething anger at the poisoning of water and land.

Environmentalists have raised public protests and urged the government to enforce laws to curb the soaring levels of pollution. The government has directed the industries concerned to set up effluent treatment plants (ETP) in their units.

The future of the country's environment seems to be clouded by some offending industries' reckless ways of dumping industrial waste, organic materials, and discarded metals that leach out of landfills into the groundwater, contaminating drinking water and polluting human habitats and farmlands.

The pollution menace and environmental disaster has been a long time in the making. Ecological concerns have been shunted aside in the rush towards industrialisation and growth. Only now is the full extent of the ecological disaster emerging.

A survey conducted by the DoE revealed that 14,000 tons of solid waste and 16,000 cubic metres of chemical waste are discharged by the industries every year into the rivers in Dhaka and its adjacent areas, while 12,000 industries around the country discharge 35,000 cubic metres of waste into the rivers every day.

The major polluter industries include fertiliser, pulp and paper mills, pharmaceuticals, printing and finishing textiles, iron and steel mills, cement, pesticides and plastic factories, and distilleries and sugar mills.

The water in the rivers adjacent to these industries is highly toxic, containing a high concentration of suspended and dissolved solids with high biological oxygen demand (BOD) loadings of 2,000-3,000 mg per litre. The consequences of this alarming pollution menace are horrifying. The process towards fishless lakes and streams, dying forests and barren crop fields has started.

The pollution menace does more than just degrade the quality of life; it dramatically cripples and shortens the life of human beings. Community health physicians calculate that illnesses traceable to environmental pollution account for more than 30% of the country's health budget. One out of 20 people in the country now dies of environmentally-induced causes, officials estimate.

The government, overwhelmed by political and economic disarray, can scarcely think about the environmental nightmare it has inherited. It might take millions of dollars to clean up the accumulated industrial pollution. In India more than 10,000 industries were either shut down or asked to move out of cities, mostly by the courts whom citizens approach as a last resort.

Respiratory ailments, allergies, skin diseases, diseases of the central nervous system and cancers have increased several times over the last few years in the cities where people live cheek by jowl in a scenario of grimy smoke-spewing industries. Until now, when the alarm bell has been sounded all around, even the government's planners totally ignored environmental concerns. People now realise that irrational industrial policies make a mockery of environmental requirements.

However, there are some practical difficulties and constraints standing in the way. Effluent treatment units can be installed at 5% to 15% of the total cost in industries like paper; for manufacturers of electronic goods and printed circuit board, the cost can be as high as 25% to 40% of the total investment. Pollution control system in power stations can be as high as the investment but, in a country starved of power, closing them down for non-compliance of pollution control is out of the question.

The government policy of industrialisation, from the Pakistani days, is responsible for today's chronic pollution. First of all, the Tejgaon industrial area was created right in the heart of the city's residential areas, and the regulatory authorities did not stop the growth of industrial units in other densely populated residential areas.

In consequence, we see growth of scores of plastic, polythene, and small scale steel and chemical industries all over Dhaka, even in posh areas like Uttara and Dhanmondi. Uncontrolled use of dangerous chemicals has created a hazardous situation; noxious fumes and effluents from these industries have added to the danger to human life quite stealthily.

The setting up of chlorine-based industries in the residential areas trigger alarming consequences. Organo-chlorines are particularly damaging because they travel through the food chain and affect the liver and kidney, may cause cancer, and interfere with processes like brain chemistry. The indiscriminate use of chlorine in the industries and supply water could possibly account for the increasing number of hepatitis cases.

The greatest environment hazard perhaps comes from the 300 plus tanneries, mainly located in the Hazaribagh area of Dhaka city. Untreated effluent and waste, to the extent of 16,000 cubic metres per day, are blatantly dumped into the adjacent residential area with no regard to the health of the people residing there and adjacent places. Waste from poisonous gas and toxic sludge dumped this way is leaching into the water we drink.

Ever since these industries were set up untreated effluents have increased the levels of toxins like cyanide and chromium several times over the safe level. Despite public outcry about the harmful effects of the industries in the vicinity of residential areas, the administration has not been able to remove these from the city limits.

There must be proper laws regulating the location of industries, and deterrent punitive measures that would force the polluting units to compliance. The pollution control board must have the will, and must also be armed with the power, to control the location of industries and prescribe clean technology and time frame for their adoption.

In the backdrop of these distressing signals, the decision taken at a cabinet meeting to set up "environment courts" in every district to control environment pollution is a laudable step. This, among other measures envisaged, speaks of the awareness of the present government about the gravity of the problem that threatens people's lives.

With awareness building up, Uttara lake, a vast water body that has been reduced to a narrow creek because of indiscriminate dumping of household and industrial waste, might get a fresh lease of life.

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Sharp drop in tuberculosis rate

Agenzia Fides - Dhaka - August 3, 2010

The tuberculosis (TB) prevalence rate in Bangladesh has plummeted to 79 per 100,000 people from 800 in the 1990s, with the majority of cases among the rural, poor and uneducated, according to the Nationwide Tuberculosis Disease-cum-Infection Prevalence Survey 2007-09. The association between poverty and TB is well recognized, and the highest rates of TB are found in the poorest section of the community," said K Zaman, an epidemiologist with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICCDR, B), who led the survey with the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP). In 2009, 109,311 new smear-positive cases - when TB bacteria is found in a patient's sample of mucus or phlegm - were detected, compared with 38,457 in 2000, indicating a high detection rate. Bangladesh ranks sixth among countries with the highest burden TB in the world, with 300,000 new cases and 70,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most affected are the poor and uneducated: in rural areas, 86 adults in every 100,000 suffer from TB, against 51 in urban areas; 159.7 per 100,000 are among those who earn less than US$43 a month, against 45.7 among those who earn more than $143 a month; and 138.6 per 100,000 among those with no education, compared with 39.3 among people with a secondary education. However, the government has expanded care across the country, with 1,050 DOTS centres at the sub-district level where TB treatment is free. Bangladesh has achieved the Millennium Development Goal for 70 percent case detection and an 85 percent cure rate. 

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“Let's Love Logic” by Gunjan Barua & Injamam-Ul Alam Daily

Star Campus - August 2010

First, invitation letters had to be sent to different institutions. A bus ride to Uttara beating the 36 degree Celsius heat to distribute letters was not easy. First year students were given the job to paste posters all over Dhaka. “In NDDC if you are a freshman, you develop an intimate relationship with the streets”, is what we told them during the first club meeting, and strangely they didn't seem to mind. They were all more than happy to help. As mentioned earlier, the new recruits had the designations of JPO (Junior Program Officer) and they were divided into different departments. 

There is this Tabulation department where all the debate adjudication papers are calculated and the Computer department gets all the information in the P.C. The Office department handles all the paperwork for the event. Also there is the Food department supplying food and drinks, and Discipline department responsible for maintaining order in the event. Then there is the Communication department, and last but not least, the Decoration department. The Prime Bank-NDDC National Debate Competition was inaugurated on 14 July. Former Chief Justice and former chief of Caretaker Government, Justice Habibur Rahman was the chief guest of the inauguration ceremony. Deputy Managing Director of Prime Bank Limited, M. Riazul Karim was the special guest of the event. Principal of Notre Dame College, Fr. Benjamin Costa, CSC., vice principal of the college and Club coordinator Fr. Bakul S. Rozario CSC., Moderator of NDDC Fr. Adam S. Pereira C.S.C. and Co-moderator of NDDC Komol Gomez were also present.The competition was divided into five sector--Inter Club Bangla debate championship, Inter club English debate championship, Inter School debate championship and Wall magazine competition. 36 teams from different colleges and universities participated in Inter club Bangla debate, 32 teams in Inter club English debate and 16 teams in Inter school debate. 20 teams from different schools and colleges attended in the wall magazine competition.The inter club Bangla debate was held following the parliamentary format. The topic for the first round was “Obama's principle got laid down by American imperialism” and “The ability of replacing rather than solving problems made capitalism the strongest economic system”. Teams like NDDC Gold, NDDC Silver, Stamford University, BUET, NSU, Dhaka College, Holy Cross College, GOD, and Dhaka City College were promoted to the 2nd round. The battle between the teams turned harder as round 2 kicked off. Some of the topics for the round were ‘incompatibility of the economic system of Bangladesh with the world order’ and ‘Islam as the future ruler of New World Order.’ NDDC Gold, NDDC Silver, BUET, Stamford University, Dhaka College, GOD and NSU managed to step into the quarter-finals.The quarter-final was held in another format of debate, which is called format-T. Teams of four competed for the quarter-finals. The teams were excellent in their roles, which made it difficult for the judges to choose the candidates for the semifinal round. At long last NSU, Stamford University, BUET and Dhaka College-RNA team were the semifinalists. In the semifinal, NSU faced Dhaka college-RNA while Stamford University faced BUET. The rounds of debates were highly engaging for the audience. Stamford University and Dhaka College-RNA were the lucky teams to face each other in the finals.The motion of the final debate was “Welfare Capitalism is the best way of developing the Third world nations”. Dhaka college-RNA was for the motion and Stamford University was against the motion. It was quite an experience to watch the best two teams battling each other in the final.On the other hand, the inter club English debate was held following the British parliamentary system. Thirty-two teams participated in this competition. There were four teams in the finals - one from IBA and three from NSU. The home team failed to show their magic to reach the finals. The motion of the final was “the house would have a unipolar earth government”. The teams tried their level best to win the title of the champion. Almost 250 participants were a part of this event. The champion of the Inter club Bangla debate was Dhaka College-RNA. Nahian Bin Khaled from the winning team was selected as the debater of the tournament for his splendid performance. He received Tk. 7000 as prize money. On the other hand, North South University won the title of champion in inter club English debate championship. Navid from the winning team was the debater of the tournament, receiving Tk. 7000. Ahsan Habib from BUET was the champion and Nazmul Hossain Avi from GOD was the runners-up of public speaking in Bangla. Nazm-us-Sadat of LCLS was the Champion and Shamir Montazid from NDDC was the runners-up of public speaking in English. In the wall magazine competition, Notre Dame College came 1st while Holy Cross College came 2nd. On July 24, the concluding ceremony of the event took place. Ehsanur Rahman, Managing Director of Prime Bank Limited was the chief guest of the ceremony. Deputy Managing Director M. Riazul Karim, Fr. R.W. Timm, founder of NDDC, Fr. Benjamin Costa, Principal of Notre Dame College, Vice principal of the college and Club Coordinator Fr. Bakul S. Rozario were present as special guests. Fr. Adam S. Pereira,presided over the session. The prize giving ceremony started after the speeches of the guests. The programme could not have taken place without the help of Prime Bank Limited. Notre Dame Debating Club is much grateful to them. Radio ABC and Star Campus were the media partners and Nescafe was the hot beverage partner of this event. Special thanks go to the College authorities, members of NDDC, the participants and the honorable judges, who took time out of their busy lives to handle the whole event as meticulously as they could. Let us hope this glorious play of logic will continue for many more years in the future. (Writers are the debaters and the members of Notre Dame Debating Club)Battling with LogicSadia Afrin Arin and Antia RezaNOTRE Dame Debating Club (NDDC) organised the 22nd National Debate Competition 2010, from 14 to 24 July at Notre Dame College. The theme of the debate was “Global Order”. 16 teams and 8 schools participated in the competition. It was a great opportunity for students to develop their skills in sharing and debating on various topics. Fr. Adam S. Pereira, the moderator, explained his expectations from the students. He said, “They will be benefitted and ultimately the country will be benefitted”. He thinks competitions like these will improve the condition of our country and the people in the long run. When I asked him about his expectation from other participants, he said, “We expect same kind of enthusiasm from all of them, but from our club members we expect much more. This is a National Level competition that is eagerly anticipated by everyone”. I was amazed to see the enthusiasm of the members of NDDC, who organised the competition. “Through debating we get to know what is happening around the world”, said Gunjan Barua, a member of NDDC and one of the participants. As the topic of the debate was “Global Order”, they know about imperialism and economy, which will help them in future in their career. “Though we are college students, we are talking about the pros and cons of government policies. We are talking about USA's aggression; we talk about whether it is good or bad”, he added. To them it does not matter whether they lose or win the competition, what matters is that they know the important things. One of the volunteers, Gunjan said, “We are one step ahead of others as we are participating in the debate. Those who do not participate in such activities limit their knowledge only to books”. It is true that by participating in debates one can gain immense knowledge, which cannot be found simply by reading text books. The members of NDDC are participating in the debate and at the same time they are organising the programme. “Our debating skills are improving and so are our organisational skills. It will definitely come into use in future”, said Gunjan. Their seniors, who used to organise such competitions before, inspired them to participate and volunteer. “They are successful people whose debating skills helped in their respective career”, he added. When I asked Gunjan what they think about other participants from other schools, he said, “What we noticed is that participants from other schools are immensely talented. Most students are from class eight or nine, the level of their knowledge is really good. The judges felt the same. Their creativity is awesome”. Students from other schools and colleges are very interested in participating in the competition because this is a prestigious tournament. From Mahadib Habib, President of Administration, NDDC, we got to know that in the club there are three presidents; President of Administration, President of Debate and Workshop and President of Press and Publication. “Administration controls the whole thing. We decide who gives the opening speech, who the Chief Guest will be, among other things”, said Mahadi. Debate and Workshop decides the topic and also selects the judges while Press and Publication takes the responsibility of posters and banners. “We know how to cope up with club activities and so these activities do not hamper our studies”, Mahadi added. The moderator of Notre Dame Collage said that they did face some minor problems while organising this debate. He said, “Ultimately I select the president of the club but I take opinions from others as well. Sometimes I accept their opinions and sometimes I don't. While selecting the president usually I look for certain qualities. He has to be someone who can communicate with ease and can organise effortlessly.” 

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On a killing spree

New Age Xtra - August 6-12, 2010

Within just the first week of July, three deaths were reported in the custody of police. Babul Kazi (40), a CNG autorickshaw-driver was reportedly killed on June 29, after he ran from the custody of the Ramna Police Station. Two days later on July 1, 29-year-old Mizan, owner of an electronic goods shop was killed in a gunfight in Gulshan. That same day, Mujibur Rahman (45), a transport businessman was found dead after the Darussalam Police picked him up from Melartek Ghat.   The cases signify an escalation of custodial killings which are mostly triggered by personal enmity of local political goons and greed of unscrupulous police officials. Human rights activists fear that people are suffering from a state of lawlessness in the face of the lawmen’s extremity. According to the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, at least 20 instances of custodial deaths have been reported during the first half of this year, while the number was 60 in 2009.   Although many of such custodial extremism are suppressed by the lawmen, three repeated incidents of death in custody in a one-week span, sparked the notoriety of a section of the law enforcement personnel. Some human rights activists also fear a failure in the chain of command within the force, resulting in such occurrences.  

Babul’s family members told the media that Sub-Inspector Altaf Hossain of the Ramna Police Station demanded two lakh takas in exchange of returning two of Babul’s auto rickshaws, seized by RAB earlier. Babul paid SI Altaf 70,000 takas in two installments. His family members alleged that the police killed Babul when he refused to pay any further.  

A team led by SI Anisur Rahman of Gulshan Police Station raided the residence of Mizanur Rahman at Nayanagar, in the city’s Badda area, on June 29, at around 4:30am and arrested him in the presence of his wife. A fact finding report by Odhikar reveals that SI Anisur claimed one lakh takas from his wife Taslima Begum to release Mizan while he was in custody. The last time Taslima met her husband in the police custody was on June 30, when Mizan asked her to stop bribing the police and instead, arrange money for a lawyer.   The following night, Mizan died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), after succumbing to a bullet wound in his leg. The police claimed Mizan was shot in his legs during a gunfight with a group of muggers on July 1.  

In another incident, 45-year-old Mujibur Rahman was returning home with his minor son Iqbal Hossain, when police picked him up from Melartek Ghat near the Turag river on July 1. Iqbal identified three plainclothes policemen along with three others, approaching them. They cuffed his father, tied his neck with a rope and took off on a boat, said Iqbal.   Mujibur’s family members claimed that the police from the Darussalam Police Station captured Mujibur thrice during the month of June and released him after taking a total of Tk 24,000 in three installments. The deceased’s father, Mohammad Ibrahim told the media that ASI Moshiur demanded Tk 50,000 from Mujibur after assuring that all his problems would be solved. The next morning on July 2, his body was found floating on the river.   So far as the Gulshan case is concerned, says Advocate Anisul Huq, a senior criminal lawyer, ‘I was shown papers that there were as many as 30 complaints by foreign diplomats that they were being mugged and snatched at and all the time, it was one car that was being identified.’ The police claimed to have chased the car. When it had no route to escape, the members opened fire at the police who fired back in defence. In the process, two of the members were injured in the knee.   However, according to past reports, on many occasions, such tales were concocted while making murders sound justified. While Mizan’s family members claimed he was picked up by the police, three days before he was killed, a probe committee formed by the home ministry is yet to disclose its findings.  

‘If it is a custodial death, then those under whose custody this has happened must surely be punished. If it is an encounter, a thorough inquiry should be held as to why it surfaced,’ says Huq.   ‘Custodial deaths are outcomes of excesses done by the police, sometimes to hide their mischief and, sometimes, accidentally because of their torture,’ says Huq, also a member of the amicus curie that the High Court formed on July 5, following a petition filed by two human rights organisations, regarding the incidents.   Huq opines that so long as the jail killing case where four of our national leaders were killed in Dhaka Central Jail, is unresolved in proper manner, no body has the right to talk about custodial deaths. The HC judge punished one person and acquitted 12 others in its verdict delivered in 2008.   ‘The judge should start relearning the criminal law. Where was the security of the country if a person can go inside the Dhaka Central Jail and kill four national leaders?’ he asks.   While the three incidents in the first week of July indicate past connections between the deceased and the policemen before the killing, Advocate Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary general of Odhikar, fears that people of the country are exposed to a state of lawlessness. ‘Much of this situation down to a breakdown in the chain of command in the police force as well as political transfers,’ he says. He believes such atrocities by the policemen are not possible without political patronage.  

A vicious circle incorporating local thugs, policemen as well as influential groups exists behind these audacities of the policemen, say human rights activists. The financial gain from blackmailing a section of the low-income group serves a section of policemen with ‘speed money’.   Following Mujibur’s killing, when his father went to the Darussalam Police Station to file a case against S I Masudur Rahman, ASI Sayeed and ASI Hekmat Ullah, the duty officer refused to accept the case, reasoning an absence of substantial evidence, said Ibrahim. Instead, he recorded a case against three informers, Mohibul, Nayan and Kajal.  

The repeated demand for money from Mujibur has been a clear indication of extortion, believes Dr Mizanur Rahman, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also pointing out the involvement of police informants. ‘In a society where the rule of law is not exercised, many abuse their power and position,’ he says. The NHRC, last month, asked the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner and the director general of the Rapid Action Battalion to submit an explanation regarding a list of incidents. The NHRC chairman informs Xtra, ‘We made it very clear to the law enforcing agencies that this kind of extrajudicial killing and disappearance is not acceptable.’   committee comprising members other than police personnel, a report from the DMP commissioner explaining measures to prevent custodial deaths, submission of inquest and inquiry reports and an explanation as to why the government should not be directed to take punitive actions against the policemen found responsible for the deaths of Mizanur, Mujibur and Babul.  

The HC bench, however, extended time for the respondents to submit the documents and explain the rulings by August 19. While the police commissioner was asked to submit his report within two weeks, during the hearing on July 19, he sought more time from the court to submit the report.   The HC also formed an amicus curie to hear its opinion on the matter. Senior lawyers of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Rafique-ul Haq, M Amirul Islam, Dr M Jahir, Abdul Based Majumder, Moudud Ahmed, Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, Mahmudul Islam, Yousuf Hossain Humayan, Rafiqul Islam Miah, Rokan Uddin Mahmud, ASM Mesbahuddin, Fida M Kamal, Abdul Matin Khasru, Nurul Islam Shujon and Anisul Haq are members of the amicus curie.  

The home ministry formed a committee to investigate the custodial deaths, findings of which are yet to be known.   The DMP commissioner in the meanwhile, has issued a directive regarding interrogation and treatment of an accused in custody as part of the police measures to contain excesses by the police. ‘The incidents of recent custodial deaths also indicate the involvement of police informers,’ says Advocate Manzill Murshed, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, also the lawyer of the petitioners for the custodial death.  

‘Most police sources are criminals and drug addicts themselves,’ says Murshed, adding, ‘they implicate people who refuse to accept their terms, which often has to do with extortion and establishing their control.’ First-hand accounts ‘We have a transport business. Our trucks are used for carrying sand and bricks. Mujibur used to oversee it. He was once picked up from in front of our house in Mirpur, on June 1. The police said he was involved in drug-peddling. He was eventually released after we paid Tk 7,000 to SI Masudur Rahman, Constable Zia, ASI Sayeed and Hekmat Ullah. Both police and informers visited us on several occasions. However, Mujibur’s case was forwarded to the court and he was eventually freed on bail. For court purposes, the police took another Tk 1,000 from us.   I personally went to the Darussalam Police Station and handed the money to informer Mohibul, Hekmat and Masud, in front of the station.   On June 20, they once again asked for money, this time to Tk 50,000. The police said a report was being prepared against my son. If I paid the money the police would not arrest him again. I refused to pay any further. Within these 10 days, Sayeed, Masud and Hekmat all kept threatening us for money. On July 1, they killed my son.   I went to file a case against these three men at Darussalam Police Station but the police did not take the case as it was against other police personnel. Instead, they recorded a case against the informer. Later on, I went to the CMM court to file another case against the four policemen and three informers. I mentioned that the police refused to file a case against the police personnel involved and so, I filed it at the court. A hearing was held on July 11. The court asked for a report from the police station.

‘The Rapid Action Battalion on June 17, seized two CNGs of my uncle Babul Kazi because they had been registered in Gazipur and were illegally plying on Dhaka streets. My uncle was a grocery-retailer for 13 years and he ventured into the CNG auto-rickshaw business only about six or seven months ago. His grocery business was making a loss. He bought three auto-rickshaws on contract and leased out two to Karim and Momin while he drove one himself.   RAB, later on, handed the auto-rickshaws and their drivers over to the Ramna Police Station. Sub-inspector Altaf was put in charge of the case. Karim and Momin were taken on remand by the police after RAB handed them over to the police. They mentioned the name of my uncle since he was officially their employer. The police demanded two lakh takas for returning the CNG and releasing his drivers or face implications for CNG theft.   My uncle requested SI Altaf to give him time so that he could arrange the money. He paid Tk 70,000 in three installments and requested the police not to ask for more. He even sold his land to acquire the money. The police however, refused to compromise.   On June 28, Babul went to court to have his CNGs released as well as his drivers through legal procedures. In the evening when he returned home, SI Altaf called him at around 8:00pm. My uncle said to him that he would not pay anymore and that he went to court. The police threatened him saying, “Just see what happens now”.   At 10:30pm on June 28, the police arrested Babul from Madhubagh field and took him to Maghbazar TNT Colony at the Ansar camp. On hearing the news of my uncle’s arrest, I went to look for him. When I was passing by the TNT Colony Ansar camp, I asked if anyone was picked up from there. They showed me the direction.   He was killed that night. We filed a case at the Judge Court on July 13.’

  ‘The police came at around 2:45am in the morning. They knocked at Mizan’s house but since they had no warrant, Mizan’s family did not open the door. The fracas continued up until 4 o’clock in the morning, when the police went to the landlord to have the door opened. Eventually, the police barged into the house, breaking the door and picked him up from his bed. The police paid Tk 500 to the landlord to fix the door. Mizan’s wife, nephew and landlords were there. All that the police said while arresting him was that they had information about him. However, they did not divulge what information they had.   Since the incident, Mizan’s wife, Taslima and her daughter have moved to her mother’s house.   Mizan used to consider me as his elder sister and I was very close to him. He was a jovial person. There is no bad record against him in the neighbourhood. He has helped a lot of poor people even within his limited capacity. He was not that literate a person but was good with the computer. I have seen him grow up in the area and later on, get married.   If Mizan was a permanent resident in the area, perhaps there would have been protests about his killing. Because he was a tenant, nobody protested his killing. Even his landlords, who cried for him after his death, now refuse to give statement in fear of trouble.   I was curious to find out how the police returned Mizan’s corpse to his family and so I accompanied his wife Taslima and Mizan’s elder sister to the police station. The police said they needed a signature from Mizan’s mother and so, we were taken on a police van to reach his mother’s house in Savar. However, we were taken to a different place and were made to sign a document, a few lines of which somewhat mentioned, “I hereby mention in my full senses that everything I told to the media about Mizan’s killing was under the influence of people”. The police made Taslima, Mizan’s elder sister and me, sign the document as witnesses.   Some unknown people have been seen in the area after the police picked him up. They are once again lurking in the area.’   

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Adverse waters by Mushfique Wadud

New Age Extra - August 6-12 2010

The European Union (EU) recently passed a declaration which follows that Bangladeshi shrimp cargoes is now have to undergo a tough testing procedure, fearing that the cargoes may be contaminated by harmful chemicals. A statement released by EU on July 15, confirmed that it would test 20 per cent of the cargoes heading to its ports from Bangladesh, according to industry sources. Earlier, the EU randomly tested Bangladeshi cargoes, just as it did other country's cargoes.

This tough testing procedure, as some industry sources say, is the result of the EU's mistrust over Bangladeshi products. On a number of occasions in the past, the EU refused to accept shrimp consignments from Bangladesh for the alleged presence of nitrofuran, a harmful chemical, and other hazardous objects. However, to ease the situation, Bangladesh in June 2009, had voluntarily banned export of fresh water prawns after cancer-causing antibiotic, nitrofuran, had been found in more than 50 EU-bound consignments. The country withdrew the ban in January this year.

According to industry sources, the EU stipulated a requirement to develop adequate laboratory testing facilities, which the Bangladesh government failed to comply with.

However, in January 2010, EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) mission visited Bangladesh to check on Bangladesh's progress in developing laboratory facilities. The FVO found that insufficient improvements had been made to the laboratory capacity for detecting pharmacologically active substances in shrimps in Bangladesh.

Industry stakeholders fear that the implementation of a tougher testing system was partly down to the FVO's report.

They also believe that the new system will badly affect the shrimp industry, which is already in a precarious state. They fear that the latest testing requirements will delay shipments, among other things. According to them, the testing procedure will encourage other EU importers to offer cheaper rates. With these difficulties facing the export industry, shrimp farmers are also feeling the affects. According to shrimp farmers, they are getting the cheapest rates for shrimps due to the export difficulties.

However, a recently published newspaper report said that Bangladeshi shrimp consignments worth two billion takas have remained stranded at different ports after the European Union pressed for a new testing requirement on health and safety grounds.

Subsequently, the shrimp industry's fortunes have waned in other markets with many sources revealing that the Bangladeshi shrimp exporters are facing the prospect of losing a potentially rewarding market in Russia, if the government does not adopt a proper initiative immediately to address the procedural problems.

'A tough testing procedure will delay our shipments which is why importers might well offer the cheapest rates. And if they return our products, we will have to incur losses as in that case, we will have to transport them to other countries,' says Mohammad Musa Mia, president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters' Association (BFFEA).

'The shrimp export industry has been a big source of employment. Any problem in this sector will certainly result in a higher unemployment rate and will create other social problems as well,' says Mahmudul Karim, the executive director of Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF).

'There are many problems in this sector. But at present, the biggest challenge is the lack of international accreditation for the labs in our country,' he adds.

'The shrimp industry is already suffering due to the global recession. A tough system will affect the industry even further,'day,' Ashek Ibrahim, a shrimp farmer in the Bagerhat area tells Xtra.

'Due to Aila, I incurred a loss of nearly one lakh takas. I am facing financial difficulties as it is and without getting a proper price for my products, the situation can only get worse,' he adds.

It has been a testing time for many a shrimp farmer, informs Ashek, as many face the prospect of losing their livelihoods if they fail to procure the proper prices for their shrimps.

Bangladesh exports around half a billion dollars worth of shrimp every year and shrimp is the country's third largest export item. The shrimp industry employs more than a million people, mainly in the south western districts of the country.

The country's frozen food exports during the July-December period of the current fiscal year 2009-10, plunged by 17.90 per cent to $ 268.84 million over the same period a year ago, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed.

Though shrimp has been cultivated for some time now, the sector entered a new phase during the 1990s. Many shrimp farms were established in the southern parts of the country. It is said that the World Bank and some aid partners prescribed the cultivation of shrimp. Various NGOs time and again say that shrimp farming is creating an environmental hazard in the Jessore-Khulna region of the country. According to them, shrimp cultivation in these regions caused the salinisation of the soil, reduction in agricultural production and a decrease in the cattle production. Shrimp cultivation is also blamed for having a negative impact on biodiversity.

It is also said that agricultural farmers have lost the opportunity to produce multiple crops on their lands due to shrimp cultivation. Many feel that even the fruitful production of the one crop they are allowed to cultivate has been greatly hampered because of the shrimp farmers' insistence that no chemical fertilizers For a long time, people involved in the industry felt that due to the industry's earning a lot amount of foreign exchange, the environmental loss could be overlooked for greater benefits that were funnelling in. But with the industry on shaky grounds now, experts opine that the government should assess the overall prospects of the industry.

However, Mahmudul Karim is of the opinion that it is implausible to solely blame the shrimp industry for any environmental degradation. 'Shrimp is a valuable resource. It can be utilised to the immense benefit of the people, while ensuring environmental friendly management,' he says.

He emphasises the need for the government and other stakeholders in this field to focus on shrimp cultivation while incorporating environment-friendly management methods.

'We should consider how we can lessen the risks posed to the environment by shrimp cultivation,' says Saifuddin.

'There are many people whose lives are now dependent on this industry. Any decision from the government should take this into consideration. The government should create other job facilities for the people of this region, if it wants to reduce shrimp farming,' adds Ashek.

E xperts have also pointed out various problems in the shrimp sector which could bring the industry down to the ground. They suggest that there should be a complete assessment of this sector and that the government should take immediate measures to solve all the problems prevailing in the sector.

According to experts, increasing the production rate is the big challenge facing the shrimp sector. Bangladesh's production rate is lower than other shrimp exporting countries. According to Mahmudul Karim, whereas in Thailand, the average shrimp production per hector is four tonnes, in Bangladesh, the average production is 250 kg to 300 kg per hector.

'Due to the law on production, we cannot use the full capacity of processing mechanism as 80 per cent processing capacity is deemed surplus,' adds Mahmudul.

If we can increase the shrimp production rate, we will not need more cultivable land to use. This will have comparatively less effect on the cultivable land,' says Saifuddin.

In Bangladesh, the shrimp farmers also cannot ensure the freshness of the shrimp. Experts believe that lack of ice is the main reason for the failure to ensure the freshness of shrimps. After catching the shrimps, it should be placed on ice in order to ensure that it is not affected by bacteria. In Bangladesh, shrimp farmers cannot always avail these requisite blocks of ice and as such, their products suffer.

'There is also a general lack of hygiene leading to the shrimps contamination by pathogenic bacteria,' says Mahmudul.

Another problem is the inadequate facilities and man power for analysis of prohibited antibiotics and other hazardous chemicals. According to Mahmudul, there is a lack of laboratory facilities meeting international standards as well as a lack of skilled man power. As a result, the shrimps, after going to the EU are returned. Experts think that if Bangladesh can secure enough lab facilities, such tough testing systems from the EU will not be introduced.

'I have heard from industry sources that there are some technical equipments in the laboratory but there is no one to operate it,' saus Saifuddin.

Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA) has recently sought government assistance to resolve such problems immediately.

On July 4, BFFEA Vice President Kazi Shahnewaz, in a letter intimated to the Ministry of Fisheries about the matter.

'They (EU) had placed some requirements for Bangladesh's testing system and other facilities. However, the government failed to meet the requirements and this needs to be addressed immediately,' says Musa Mia.

On July 20, the fisheries and livestock minister, Md Abdul Latif Biswas said that the government would finalise a national shrimp policy immediately to protect the sector.

'The policy will help upgrade the testing facilities and laboratories for shrimp, which will rid shrimps of harmful substances,' the Financial Express quoted as the minister saying.

'A lot of employment is provided by this sector. If the industry is affected, it could well spark social upheavals in the region,' Musa concludes.

Demise

· EU declared a stringent testing system for Bangladeshi shrimp cargoes to undergo

· Poor lab facilities in the country is the main reason for its inception

· The overall industry will be affected

· Government should immediately look into this matter: experts 

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Dhaka-Delhi ties: What Indian media say

Holiday weekly - August 6, 2010

A major Indian newspaper The Indian Express, in an interesting editorial last Tuesday wrote: “In case after case, the Bangladeshi side has done its bit, laying the groundwork for further agreement, or implementing what was already signed. And in case after case, the Indian side has not reciprocated to any reasonable degree… It is particularly shocking, therefore, that India seems to have dropped the ball … scuttled any meaningful progress towards an agreement on freeing imports and exports.”

   This is how the prominent, multi-edition Indian daily has described the basis of Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s scheduled visit to Dhaka on August 7. It was unusually critical of the Indian government for failing to reciprocate Bangladesh’s steps to implement the joint declaration signed during Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in January last.

   India’s Rediff News on the same issue quoted Brig (rtd) S. K. Chatterjee as saying: “Only Bangladesh offers a ray of hope (for India).” Brig Chatterjee was quoted while he was reviewing India’s souring relationship with its neighbours.

   The agency added that ‘China has planned for Balkanization of India. Myanmar has been providing safe sanctuaries to ULFA and half a dozen insurgent outfits of eastern Indian states. Maoist emerged as the biggest party in Nepal adding to the already grave threat to the internal security posed by its own Maoists outlawed CPI(M). Chinese inroad to Sri Lanka is clear. And Pakistan remains the arch enemy, which, defence experts view may impose another war on India with active support from China.’

   The Indian Express added: “It is unclear how long this window of opportunity will exist… Bangladesh politics is notoriously volatile, and relations with India are a central wedge issue there.”

   Rediff News suggested that ‘following the joint declaration, the government of Sheikh Hasina took stern action against ULFA which was a pressing demand of India. ULFA chief Arabindu Rajkhowa and four other top leaders of the outfit were rounded up and handed over to India. Its hideouts identified by Indian intelligence agencies along the border have been dismantled and all their activities strictly banned. On transit and port facilities, committees have been formed in all ministries concerned. Construction and expansion of roads necessary for providing the transit facility have been planned and the process is in progress with necessary funding.’

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Drug and Trafficking in Bangladesh by Abul Maruf Subarno
www.e-bangladesh.org - August 5, 2010
    
Developing countries like Bangladesh are bearing the brunt of global drug trade and trafficking.
Young people, including students, rickshaw-pullers, day-labourers, drivers, business and servicemen are being addicted to various types of drugs like hemp, yaba, Indian phensidyl syrup, pathedine, heroin etc.
Most of these drugs are smuggled into the country through the Indian border and also from the golden triangle countries, namely Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. Traffickers use different and varying routes.
Opium and hemp are cultivated covertly in the rural, border and hilly areas of Bangladesh with the unofficial help of local governments. Several poppy fields have been recently discovered within tobacco plants. Moreover, it is alleged that some certified drug producing companies illegally produce duplicate phensidyl syrup and yaba tablets and sell in the country. They also produce pathedine and morphine for sale in the country’s black market. Corrupt government officials and hospital authorities have been found to be involved in 
this trade.
Numerous national and international godfathers are reportedly behind this. They sometimes also play their part in the country’s politics, economics and state affairs. They spend money to buy corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in a bid to stop crackdowns on drug dealers and users.
A huge quantity of black money is generated by the drug trade and trafficking, which is also one of the causes of high inflation in developing countries, especially in a nation where the people use drugs abundantly. As a result, governments in developing countries are at times forced to take special tax measures to control the market economy through their revenue boards and stock markets. The black money is also used in arms and gold smuggling, money laundering and human trafficking.
In Dhaka alone at least one hundred mid-level godfathers control the under-world drug trade. A large number of youths and university students, too, are involved in this because of poverty, urban migration, breakdown in social service sector and overall student politics. As a result of these factors, the number of drug users in Bangladesh is increasing day by day.
There are numerous recorded and unrecorded incidents where governments have used the drug business to control the country’s internal politics as youths and students are the vital force in politics. If this young generation turns into drug addicts they would never try to be aware of the mass people’s condition and the country’s actual problems. These under-world dons are successively used by imperialist countries for their hidden interests.
According to a non-governmental report, drug addicts spend at least Tk. 500 million on narcotics every day, which comes down to Tk. 200 to 1,500 per head, but, sadly, there is no specific government data on this.
In South Asian countries injecting heroin and pathedine are contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS, and Bangladesh is especially vulnerable. Socio-economic and political consequences have already started to emerge.
The police are hardly ever able to recover significant amount of drugs during raids. Often the middle men or low-end dealers are arrested but the godfathers remain untouched.
There are many border points where money in millions changes hands daily. 
Chittagong and Mongla sea ports are the main exit points, while the rest is smuggled out through Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong airports. Drug traffickers also use courier services for drug trafficking, largely for their consumers in North America, Europe and South Africa. Unfortunately, Bangladesh serves as a corridor for international drug trafficking.
Some very powerful governments are also allegedly behind such operations in our region. Drug trafficking has its roots in British imperialism. Who can forget the Opium wars in China against the British crown? The same legacy continues to cast shadows on Bangladesh today, destroying our youth, who would otherwise be the torch-bearers of our civilization.
 

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Secular Bangladesh by Saleem Samad

www.e-bangladesh.org - August 5, 2010
       
FOR MILLIONS of people in impoverished Bangladesh, it seems to have ushered a political blessing. The nation which fought a bloody war of independence in 1971 against Islamic Pakistan to establish secularism and democracy was obliterated by military juntas and autocratic governments.
Bangladesh’s first constitution included secularism, democracy, socialism and nationalism as key political philosophy which reflects the spirit of independence war, when the eastern province severed from Pakistan in 1971.
After the assassination of the “founding father” Shiekh Mujibur Rahman in a military putsch in 1975, the military-backed government of General Ziaur Rahman doctored the constitution’s guiding principle and scribbled “Bismillah’ir Rahman’ir Rahim (Faith in Allah)” in 1979.
The Bangladesh Supreme Court in its landmark verdict forbids political parties which advocates Islamic philosophy. The apex court also asked to reinstate the four key principles in the constitution which existed 38 years ago.
In the 184-page judgement released recently, the court discarded most of the Fifth Amendment of 1979, including provisions that allowed religious based politics, which was legitimised by tyrannical rules of military generals during the period of August 15, 1975 to April 9, 1979.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed claimed that there is no hindrance to reinstate “secularism in the constitution” as advised in the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The amendments that were enforced by military orders during the four years of misrule have been declared illegal and repealed by the Supreme Court.”
Another military junta leader General Husain Muhammad Ershad, a key ally of the ruling party dared to rewrite the constitution which determines “Islam as state religion” of once secular Bangladesh. Ahmed explained that the amendment made by third military ruler will not be affected by the court verdict.
Excited Shahriar Kabir, a secularist writer and staunch advocate for the trial of the war criminals is extremely busy in appearing on prime-time talk-shows in vibrant electronic media on the landmark judgement. He said the people’s mandate in the last general election for restoration of secularism and trial of perpetrators responsible for crime against humanity in 1971.
In an election strategy Mujib’s daughter Shiekh Hasina led Awami League swept to power in 2008. Her party’s electoral promises were restoration of secularism and trial of war criminals.
“Religious based politics was banned after brutal birth of Bangladesh. We have seen youths belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami were engaged as henchmen of marauding Pakistan’s occupational forces. They raised Al-Badr, a death squad to kidnap and murder hundreds of intellectuals who could not escape for their safety and security,” he explained.
The journalist and film-maker Kabir said General Zia, after the assassination of President Mujibur Rahman in a bid to gain political support for his legitimacy of usurping power to the surprise of all, withdrew the ban on religious politics and allowed Islamic parties to regain grounds.
Most of his hand-picked cabinet ministers were drawn from Muslim League, Maoist and other rogue Islamic groups. Kabir said, incidentally most were blamed for their alleged involvement in crime against humanity.
General Zia despite being a Mukti Bahini (guerrilla force) commanding officer and took military assistance from India to liberate the country from the repressive rule of Pakistan, he did not hesitate to restore two-nation theory of independent Islamic states in Indian sub-continent. He also got rid of secularism and inserted Bismillah’ir Rahman’ir Rahim (Faith in Allah) in the constitution.
The court recommends “suitable punishment” to “extra constitutional adventurers”, the predators of democracy who ushered military regimes and sanctioned martial laws. Well the military leaders are either assassinated, hanged or are fugitives, except for the third military leader General Ershad, who founded Jatiya Party.
The Bangladesh Nationalists Party founded by assassinated President General Zia, led by his widow, Begum Khaleda Zia appealed the apex court’s first ruling on the Fifth Amendment in last January and apparently lost her legal battle in a crucial political path of her party, which was in power three times.
Author of Bangladesh constitution Dr. Kamal Hossain, an international jurist said the court verdict could be translated into reality by a government order for changes in fundamental principles.
The judgement which did not come as a surprise, is a major threat to Islamic parties. The Islamic parties which propagates strict Sharia law for 158 million secular and moderate Muslim majority nation. The Islamic radicals also advocate Qur’an and Sunnah to over-ride the people’s constitution. Secularist, however argue that Sharia targets women to subjugate them and force them to wear purdah (veil).
Tormented by Fatwa’s (Islamic edicts) and confrontation with Mullahs, the rural women entrepreneurs engaged in micro-credit with support of Grameen Bank, micro-finance institutions and NGOs, the women population in the rejected the Islamic parties. The empowered rural women topped the list in national elections held anywhere in the world, according to Carter Institute. The women and 20 million new registered voters played a crucial factor in the last general election which caused landslide victory for Awami League and its allies.
According to independent Bangladesh Election Commission there are eleven registered Islamic parties. Reacting to comments by ruling party politicians regarding the unprecedented judgement, Chief Election Commissioner Dr. ATM Shamsul Huda made it clear that the Election Commission is not authorised to ban any political party and that the authority lies with the government only.
“The Commission will not impose any ban on any party. It is the responsibility of the government. If the government bans any registered political party, the Commission would cancel the registration as per ‘The Representation of the People Order (RPO) Act’,” he said, as journalists asked if the EC would go for outlawing religion-based political parties.
Recently five senior leaders of the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami were arrested and are waiting to stand trials for crime against humanity at the International War Crimes Tribunal. The special court has been set up, as an election pledge by the present government.
In the wake of judgement, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami accused the government of conspiracy to push the country into anarchy by reverting to 1972 constitution.
“People want to move the country forward. The government stand against the people is an impediment to the country’s progress and development,” Acting Amir (chief) Makbul Ahmad of Islamist party.
The party leader called upon all Islamic, patriotic parties and the Muslims to stand against what it described the government’s anti-Islam mindset.
Whether the Islamic parties will be banned or restricted is still not clear. At the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina remarks frustrated many political observers and her party’s secular advocates.
She said that Islamic parties will not be banned, while “Bismillah’ir Rahman’ir Rahim” and state religion Islam will remain in the constitution. Possibly her government does not wish to jeopardise Awami League and allies for another term in the election scheduled in three years.
Earlier Hasina in a rare gesture asked her ministers to keep quite on constitutional issue and religious based political parties as crucial changes in the fundamental principles of state policy are now under a close scrutiny. Her prolific party leaders were busy in deliberation in half-a-dozen TV talk-shows every late night.
She mentioning that constitutional amendment is a sensitive issue and formed a 15 member bi-partisan special committee for recommendation to the parliament.
Social justice activist Kabir is upset. He said the prime minister’s statement in parliament has confused the nation and it somewhat contradicts the verdict of the superior court. It seems that the war criminals and their defenders have nothing to fear anymore. The Islamic parties would continue to function and overtly campaign against the war crimes trial, which began in United States and Britain
    

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BOLIVIA

Is President Morales Truly an Eco-Champion? by Jean Friedman-Rudovsky

Time - August 6, 2010   

Bolivian President Evo Morales' favorite cause has always been coca the small leaf that is a key element of Andean culture and is central to cocaine production. But recently, he's seemed more keen to stump on behalf of Mother Earth, chastising the developed world's lamentable environmental track record and vowing to lead the planet toward a more sustainable future. Last week, his government made history when the U.N. voted unanimously to accept Bolivia's proposal to make water a human right. "In the hands of capitalism everything becomes a commodity: the water, the soil, the ancestral cultures and life itself," Morales wrote in a 2008 open letter on climate change. "Humankind is capable of saving the earth if we recover the principles of solidarity, complementarity and harmony with nature."Yet in his own backyard, Morales isn't looking so eco-valiant.

Indeed, a series of environmentally disruptive development projects have many critics claiming that the leader of South America's poorest nation is more talk than walk when it comes to the fragile planet earth. "Morales' environmental crusade feels like just a show," says Adolfo Moya, president of TIPNIS, an indigenous community located within Bolivia's Isiboro National Park, where construction is about to begin on a highway that will cut through the heart of protected area. (See the world's worst-dressed leaders.)The government insists projects like the one through Isidoro must be done. The number of paved highways in Bolivia can be counted on one hand. Furthermore, the Morales administration says that the 300-km road that runs through the preserve will connect the states of Beni and Cochabamba and is necessary to enhance goods transport between the regions. Currently getting from one side to the other means driving three times as far through the eastern state of Santa Cruz.

But is home to numerous unique flora and fauna species, including 11 endangered animals. Meanwhile, TIPNIS is the last remaining territory where Moya's ethnic Mojene people live in relative cultural isolation. Thus, the highway has provoked outrage and protests have already claimed two lives. "We know we need development," Moya says, "but it shouldn't have to lead to extinction."The highway isn't Bolivia's only eco-controversy. Morales has become a recent cheerleader for the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) a bold new effort by area governments to construct a continent-wide infrastructure network that includes roads, waterways, ports and energy and communications projects. Bolivia's got more than a dozen on the table, and while each offers needed services for the country's rural impoverished majority, the costs are worrisome."I don't want to say I'm for it, and I don't want to say I'm against it," says Alvaro Martinez, of an IIRSA hydroelectric plant planned for his tiny Amazon basin town of Cachuela Esperanza on the banks of the Beni river. Martinez and his neighbors currently rely on a decrepit yet costly oil generator that only provides electricity for a few hours daily. So they are thrilled that their plentiful river could give them light all day long. But, he says, their small dam is conditioned on Bolivia having acquiesced to Brazil's construction of two immense hydroelectric dams on the Madeira River less than 160 km from the Bolivian border.

The $13 billion pair will be three times as powerful as the Hoover Dam in the U.S. and will provide 8% of Brazil's total energy needs. But environmental-watchdog groups are forewarning they'll be Brazil's equivalent to China's Three Gorges Dam: environmental-impact assessments show that the dams risk the survival of rare dolphin and fish species and could flood the entire northern Bolivian Amazon basin, displacing Martinez's town, among others.Equally unsettling for many there is Bolivia's economic reliance on extractive industry. Morales chides the prosperous nations of the developed world for their fossil-fuel addiction and reticence toward capping carbon emissions, but Bolivia benefits greatly from the sale of those raw materials: 13% of its GDP comes from the gas and mining industries.

The government did not respond to TIME's requests for comment, but when questioned on this seeming paradox by Democracy Now's Amy Goodman during the alternative Climate Summit which Bolivia hosted in April, Morales responded: "[Environmental groups] say, 'Amazon, no oil.' So they're telling me that I should shut down oil wells and gas wells. What is Bolivia going to live off of? Let's be realistic.

"Morales officials often combine this pragmatism with a nationalist twist — emphasizing the difference between an oil rig that fills national coffers and one that fills the pockets of foreign corporate executives. Indeed, increased revenue from Morales' nationalization of the hydrocarbon sector in 2006 been funneled into stipends for school-age children to buy books and uniforms, as well as adult literacy programs and support for pregnant women. But that doesn't mean the government should be expanding its reliance on environmentally damaging industries, says Rafael Quispe, president of the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu, a powerful coalition of highland indigenous-community leaders. "We want a moratorium on all new extractive projects,"

Quispe tells TIME, lamenting that the Bolivian government's 2011 economic plan includes increased oil exploration, mining and gas production. "We need to be thinking about models of development that respect Mother Earth rather than continuing along the same path," Quispe says.On an international stage, Morales agrees, and not all hope is lost on the home front, says Jenny Gruenberger, executive director of Bolivia's Environmental Defense League. "Our new constitution establishes a basis for this kind of alternative thinking," she says, explaining that the government is now supposed to evaluate development projects through a lens of vivir bien, or "living well" a jab at what's seen as the industrialized world's preference for vivir mejor, or "living better," via unlimited consumption and economic expansion at all costs. The idea is to balance environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations instead of using a normal cost-benefit analysis.

"It could be a vivir bien pilot project," says Gruenberger, noting that there are dozens of ideas that link the two regions that offer greater environmental and cultural harmony, such as a train above the forests' canopy.If so, the will to pursue alternatives to paving over large tracks of forests remains elusive. Until last week, Juan Pablo Ramos was Morales' longest-standing highest environmental authority. But Ramos tells TIME that he resigned from his Vice Minister of the Environment post "out of conscience," leaving an unsigned environmental license for the highway on his desk on the way out. Ramos says he remains hopeful that the Morales government's international environmental leadership is more than just talk. But, he says, "we are in a time of great threats. We finally have the entire world discussing how to move forward sustainably, and it's on all of us to keep the pressure on Morales and all world leaders to make this happen." 

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BURKINA FASO

Race to Achieve Goals on Sanitation by Brahima Ouédraogo

www.ipsnews.net - Ouagadougou - July 31, 2010

The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015.According to the authorities, the average rate of access to sanitation in urban areas is currently 20 percent, while in rural areas, it is as low as one percent in some areas. Burkina Faso will invest 24 million dollars in each of the next five years. The government, which now spends $8 million a year thanks to support from donors, plans to double, even triple its own annual contribution of around $2 million from the national budget. "When you look at all sectors, things are moving. But on sanitation, a domain so fundamental to quality of life, we can see that we are very far behind," Laurent Sédogo, Burkinabé minister for agriculture, water and fisheries resources told IPS.

"To put it plainly, out of every 1,000 people, only 100 have adequate (sanitation) infrastructure. The other 900 must take to the bush and, to protect their modesty, many wait until the dead of night because of the loss of vegetation," Sédogo said. Amélie Ouédraogo, a resident of the Tanghin neighbourhood of the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou, said that construction of latrines will permit the dead to regain their peace. "Even the cemeteries are not safe when night falls. We see people headed there, but we cannot prevent them from relieving themselves." According to Ouédraogo, the situation is even more dire during the rainy season, because the water which flows through the streets, a favourite playground for children, is polluted. "We have cases of diarrhoea, but people refuse to make the link between these illnesses and their causes."

Mahamoudou Sana, a merchant in one of Ouaga's livestock markets said, "Once we have latrines, both we and our customers can make ablutions and wash ourselves before prayers. Previously, we had to hide ourselves in tall bush to relieve ourselves during the day." The ministry of health underlines that the absence of toilets leads to illness, notably diarrhoea, which is responsible for 58 percent of child deaths in Burkina. According to non-governmental organisation WaterAid, some 2,000 children die every day. The NGO adds that simply using toilets could reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by 40 percent; clean toilets, combined with safe drinking water and good hygiene, cases of diarrhoea could be reduced by 90 percent. WaterAid is worried that 90 percent of African nations will not achieve the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation, and says that African heads of state - who re-committed themselves to promoting maternal health at the July summit of the African Union - to resolve questions of sanitation if they want to reduce child and maternal mortality. In rural areas, where 80 percent of Burkina Faso's population lives, the government's plan is for 395,000 households to build toilets, as well as the construction of 12,300 public latrines.

The programme also foresees 222,000 new household toilets in urban centres, alongside 900 public latrines in schools, health centres, markets and public transit points. The Burkinabé president, Blaise Compaoré, personally participated in the launch of the campaign, with an eye to enlisting both the general population and international financial partners to make sanitation a national priority. The government offensive comes after finding that the pace of progress is insufficient to attain the goal on sanitation in a context of rapid population growth. According to the last census in 2006, Burkina Faso's growth rate of three percent is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and the world.

"Across West and Central Africa, coverage in urban areas varies between 30 and 60 percent, while in rural areas the rate is from 1 to 22 percent," says Amah Klutsé, of the Regional Centre for Low-cost Water Supply and Sanitation (known by its French acronym, CREPA). With headquarters in Ouagadougou, CREPA active in 17 West and Central African countries, where it supports governments in the design and implementation of policy on sanitation and potable water. "With this display of political will, it seems that action will be taken to achieve (sanitation goals)," Klutsé says. 

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CAMEROON

Worst cholera epidemic in 10 years: 30 cases a day

Agenzia Fides - Maroua - August 5, 2010

Cholera has killed at least 94 people in northern Cameroon and is spreading, in what health officials say is the most severe outbreak in 10 years. Moloko has had more than half the region's cases - 773 as of 3 August. There are some 30 new cases every day. By the end of July some 1,300 cases of what is known as “the disease of poverty” were registered. Health workers in northern Cameroon said a lack of access to latrines and safe drinking water was contributing to the spread of infectious disease in the region. Only 30 percent of people in rural Cameroon have access to safe water, and just 15 percent to sanitation facilities, according to a 2009 report by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Cameroon. Health workers were being sent to villages with medicines, saline solution and other supplies, to limit the movement of infected people. Cholera treatment is being provided free of charge, with the support of UNICEF, the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and UN Population Fund, health officials said. In the village of Sirak the public school - currently unoccupied as students are on holiday - has been transformed into a cholera treatment center that treats at least 5 new cases each day. The centre is short of bleach - used as a disinfectant - and supplies for intravenous drips. There is also no electricity in the village. Cholera outbreaks are common in northern Cameroon, but this year the epidemic has not only been more severe but also struck earlier than usual. In 2009, the first infection was recorded in September; this year the first case was detected in May, before the rains began. (AP) 

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COLOMBIA

A Cemetery Full of Questions by Constanza Vieira

www.ipsnews.net - La Macarena - August 6, 2010 

The most determined attempt by the far-right paramilitaries to establish a presence in this town in central Colombia ended in failure. They showed up in 2003, protected by the police. But local residents armed with sticks and shotguns caught them and turned them over to the prosecutor general's office, which threw them in jail. At the time, members of the paramilitary militias were robbing people outside of bars in La Macarena. The system was for the police to raid a bar and search the customers, before pointing out to their paramilitary partners which of the bar-goers were carrying anything of value. When those customers left the bar, they would then be robbed and killed by the paramilitaries, who would dump their bodies in the nearby Guayabero river. But the paramilitaries failed to extend their tentacles into the town of La Macarena, located to the south of the mountains of the same name, which are known for their unique and extensive biodiversity. Senate hearingHundreds of local peasants braved risks and long, uncomfortable journeys along the Guayabero, Ariari, Güéjar, Guaviare and Caguán rivers to attend a public hearing organised by senators on Jul. 22 in La Macarena. They gave testimony on 79 cases of forced disappearance and 253 cases of "false positives" -- the term used to describe young civilians killed by the army and passed off as guerrilla casualties in the military's counterinsurgency campaign.

An international delegation of British trade unionists, members of the European Parliament, and legislators from European countries also attended the hearing. And that failure casts in a different light the finding of a 10,000-square-metre area of mass graves and burial sites of unidentified bodies, made up of two long plots of land in the form of an "L" that form sort of an "annex" to the local cemetery.

That is because up to now, the mass graves that have come to light in this civil war-torn South American country have been attributed to the paramilitaries. But the one in La Macarena is located just outside the largest military base in the region: the local garrison of the mobile brigades of the Rapid Deployment Force (FUDRA), which receives U.S. military aid and fights the leftwing guerrillas. The office of the inspector general (Procuraduría General de la Nación) describes it as "a cemetery of unidentified persons," while "clandestine cemetery" is the description used by leftist lawmakers Gloria Ramírez and Iván Cepeda, the latter of whom is also the head of the National Movement for Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE).

The shorter portion of the "L" is a mass grave, according to government experts and other witnesses who no longer dare to provide information. It is located behind low burial vaults on the left side of the cemetery. Apparently nobody ventures in that direction, where there are no markers of any kind. No one is investigating, and it is said that land mines are planted there. The longer stretch, measuring some 6,500 square metres, reached by walking straight back from the cemetery entrance, was marked off by yellow tape on Jul. 21, as forensic experts began to work in the area. In that part of the "annex", there are hundreds of wooden plaques inscribed with NN (the Spanish equivalent of "Jane" or "John Doe") and with dates ranging from 2004 to 2010. For example, body number 54, buried in 2009, is marked 054/09. The clandestine cemeteries investigated so far were the work of the paramilitaries, who partially demobilised under talks with the outgoing government of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe, whose term ends on Saturday.

The paramilitaries' confessions in exchange for lax prison sentences have enabled the prosecutors to locate 3,299 bodies, of at least 25,000 victims of forced disappearance -- a conservative estimate. The "annex" to the La Macarena cemetery was first reported a year ago, in an article published in the provincial weekly Llano 7 Días, which is published by the Bogotá daily El Tiempo.

At the time, the authorities said the army had buried, in the La Macarena cemetery, 564 bodies of guerrillas killed in combat between 2002 and July 2009. Seventy-one percent of the bodies had not yet been identified. It all started with the water People in the Colinas neighbourhood, some 200 metres from the cemetery, noticed in June 2008 that the water from two wells that they tapped in the summertime smelled and tasted rotten. When they tried to find the source of the problem, the local residents realised it came from the cemetery. "That was the first sign," lawyer Ramiro Orjuela, who has family and business ties in the area, told IPS. Since 2004, "one corpse after another was brought in here by helicopter, and holes would be dug by a bulldozer, where the bodies would be dumped. "People in La Macarena knew about this," he said. But they did not find it strange.

After all, La Macarena has been familiar with war since 1950, 14 years before the emergence of the main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The town and surrounding municipality formed part of the area that was demilitarised to pave the way for peace talks between the government of Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) and the FARC. When the talks collapsed after three years, the army once again sought to seize control of the 42,000-sq-km demilitarised area, including the 11,229-sq-km municipality of La Macarena. After the military returned to the area, local residents of the town began to see bodies of supposed guerrillas dumped in the cemetery on a near daily basis. The corpses, in black plastic bags, were piled up until graves were dug.

Everyone in the town knew about it. So when local residents began to talk about the water being contaminated by the graves in the cemetery, they did so without any hidden agenda: "They didn't think it was a serious matter. They saw it as normal. But it turned out that it was a very serious matter indeed," the lawyer said. The military told Llano 7 Días that they were not worried about an investigation. They said the police had duly registered each burial, including details of the weapon carried by and the camouflage clothing worn by the individual buried in each grave, and that the reports had been cleared with the prosecutor general's office. But in this region, the military criminal justice system and the civilian justice system have become one and the same in practice. The prosecutors and police, according to a source engaged in humanitarian work in the Catholic Church, are actually retired or reserve members of the military who operate under the orders of the local military commander -- the result of a pilot civil-military programme titled the "plan for integral consolidation of La Macarena", launched in 2004.

Orjuela is not pointing fingers or accusing anyone. He is simply calling on the authorities to investigate. "The only means of proof we have is what the community has told us," he commented to IPS. "They tell us, but they won't confirm it in public, because they're scared," he added. After Orjuela and a human rights group sent requests to the prosecutor general's office and the office of the inspector general, the latter carried out an on site inspection and produced a report that has not been made public. Based on that report, the office of the inspector general's Dirección Nacional de Investigaciones Especiales (national office of special investigations) responded in February that its aim was "to fully identify the approximately 2,000 bodies," to which end it hoped to set up "a specialised laboratory" in La Macarena, in conjunction with other institutions.

But the prosecutor general's office did not respond in writing. In mid-July it informed Orjuela and Senator Ramírez -- who organised a Jul. 22 Senate humanitarian hearing in La Macarena -- that it had "detected" 449 bodies so far. It also confirmed to them that "100 percent of the cases (bodies) were brought in by the army. All of them, without a single exception," Orjuela said. Lashing out harshly against the organisers of the Senate public hearing, the Uribe administration asserted that the bodies were those of guerrillas killed in combat and transported to La Macarena for burial. Asked to respond to that allegation, Orjuela said "That's possible. But not all of them." He pointed out that 449 guerrillas would be equivalent to three or four entire units of the FARC. But since the insurgents remain active in the area, he wondered, "who do the more than 400 bodies belong to?"

The human rights and political violence databank of the Jesuit Centre for Popular Research and Education (CINEP) has documented the forced disappearance of 79 civilians in La Macarena and nearby municipalities. And in 11 of 25 cases of purported army killings of civilians, there are signs that the bodies are buried in the cemetery "annex". Up to now, the prosecutor general's office has identified, in the La Macarena cemetery, the remains of five civilians who had been reported as "disappeared", who have been returned to their families. It has also identified 37 other bodies. The rest are still "NN". 

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CONGO DR

Sticks and thatch out of our schools by Badylon K. Bakiman

www.ipsnews.net - Kikwit - August 3, 2010

Students and teachers across the DRC often make do with rudimentary facilities. Led by the local church, residents of Gungu administrative zone, in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have used their own resources to transform the conditions in which their children study. Since 1998, the "Chase sticks and thatch from our schools" has gradually replaced fragile structures across the district, 200 kilometres from Kikwit, capital of the province of Bandundu, with buildings of stone or adobe bricks, roofed with corrugated iron sheets. The project's stated aims are to "give human value to often-neglected rural schools, guarantee the security of students and teachers with regards to better conditions for study, to support the Congolese government in its "Cinq Chantiers" programme of which education forms a part.

(The Cinq Chantiers - "Five Building Sites" - programme is a development initiative launched to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Congolese independence, covering infrastructure, health and education, water and electricity, housing, and unemployment.) Poor conditions for learning Across the south of Bandundu Province, according to the Kikwit diocese's advisor on primary education, Novele Erasme Selego, "13,500 primary and secondary school students in 54 schools sat for lessons in inhuman conditions: extremely cramped rooms, built with branches and thatch". In November 1999, torrential rains collapsed the walls of the Gitshinji primary school, preventing 324 students from attending class until new shelter could be constructed, recalls the school's director, Aitshi Baudouin.

Similar incidents have occurred frequently at other schools in the countryside. But today, thanks to collective effort, Gungu is experiencing a transformation. At the entrance to the Ngambun Institute, 115 kilometres from Kikwit, stands a striking white-washed block of six classrooms, built of stone. Two hundred sixty boys and girls learn in comfortable surroundings much better than what was here a decade earlier. "Here we began by getting rid of a thatched roof, replacing it with roofing sheets to protect walls which were constructed two years later, thanks to the community's efforts," says a smiling Jean Kasanza, supervisor at the institute. The roof, he clarifies, was made possible thanks to a donation from a group in Spain. Twenty-three of the 54 schools in the zone have been rebuilt, one in stone, the others in adobe brick. Using local technology To upgrade their facilities, the population of Gungu had to become adept at making adobe bricks.

Sasa Ngambun, 25, from the village of Mbitshambele explains: "To make a solid, durable brick, one uses red earth from a river bank, mixed with ash in a mould. "Then add straw chopped into very small pieces with a knife or razor blade, and tip in the chaff left over from brewing local alcoholic drinks. The method is known here as the "gusopa" system in the Pende language, meaning 'to transform.'" The brick-making and construction is a male-dominated activity, but women don't simply watch from the sidelines. Maman Evelyne Kasanji, a 40 year old smallholder at Lukamba, roughly 50 kilometres from Kikwit, says that two or three times each week, a group of mothers, rise early in the morning to transport soil from the river to the workshops for making bricks. During a ceremony marking ten years of activity on the Gungu project, Mafuta Ntantu Joachin, head of general services with the provincial education ministry, rejoiced in the fact that more than 10,000 children are now studying in acceptable conditions. "The vision behind this project came before the National Development Programme of the government... The originators of the project didn't wait for promises, or external assistance before calling on the efforts of local partners for education." But Jean Ngulupanda, a small trader from Gungu sees a potential danger. For him, "this will encourage the government to fold its arms. It's the government which must construct [schools] with the money it has. Otherwise what is the Cinq chantiers programme for?" 

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New American law on “conflict minerals” ...

addressed by President of the Congolese Bishops' Conference

Agenzia Fides - Kinshasa - August 2, 2010

“The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the American Law on Conflict Minerals.” This was the title of a press conference held by Bishop Nicholas Djomo, Bishop of Tshumbe and President of the Congolese Episcopal Conference, today, August 2, at the inter-diocsean center of Kinshasa.

After explaining the U.S. law, the debate discussed the consequences of the new provisions in both Congo and the United States and the contribution offered by the Congolese Church and the U.S. Church, with the goal of creating a law to guarantee that minerals sold on international markets do not fuel African wars.

In late July, the U.S. Congress passed a new law regulating financial transactions. In the dense text (2,300 pages), a provision has been inserted that requires U.S. companies to disclose what measures are being taken to ensure that their products (including mobile phones, laptop computers, and medical equipment) do not contain the so-called "conflict minerals" from Congo, minerals sold on the international market by guerrilla groups that for over 15 years have been sowing death and destruction in eastern DRC.

It is a system similar to the "Kimberly Process," the system of diamond certification, intended to prevent international trade of gems from mines controlled by guerrilla groups in countries such as Sierra Leone and the DRC itself.

The main minerals traded illegally by guerrilla groups that operate on Congolese territory are tin, tungsten, and tantalum (which is derived from coltan, of which the DRC is the fifth largest producer), which are used in electronics and other products.

The new law requires American companies to submit an annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (who oversee the profits) which specify whether their products contain gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum from Congo and neighboring countries. If so, should describe the steps taken to trace the origin of minerals.

The law imposes no penalties for companies who do not report on actions taken to prevent the purchase of "conflict minerals,” but the information must be made public on the companies' websites. Consumers can now choose whether to buy products that might contain minerals that finance the guerrilla groups that kill and rape civilians in eastern Congo.

Some experts have, however, stressed the difficulties in controlling the source of these minerals. Often, the illegally obtained minerals from the Congo are mixed with those extracted in other countries, to be sold on international markets. (L.M.) 

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DOMINICAN REP.

Haitian immigrant street peddlers by Jon Anderson

www.ipsnews.net - Santo Domingo - July 31, 2010

Gaston Dorelus has little education, no vocational training, no extrinsic qualifications to make his way through life any easier.But he does have one asset that has ensured his survival: his indefatigable legs. Gaston walks. He walks great distances, and his invincible spirit undoubtedly lends to his youth that extra bit of strength needed to overcome the obstacles he faces as a Haitian immigrant to the Dominican Republic.

"Man, you are really strong!" says Amiano Lopez who lives in Villa Sonador, when he hears about how Gaston came to work as a "paletero", or ice cream peddler. Dominicans are ready to praise such hard-working Haitians, but they are much less ready these days to work at such low- end jobs since the fast pace of development on this side of the island has made them undesirable. Relying on the kindness of strangersOn the lowest rung of street workers are the beggars. Since the earthquake, their presence in the provincial towns has grown considerably, though no one as yet knows their numbers with any certainty.

Dominican paranoia about the growing Haitian population as a whole has people citing exorbitant figures as high as two million for all immigrants, of which the beggars would form a small but very visible portion. Julíta stands in front of a Pizza House restaurant window, staring at a family eating at the benches inside. It is an old trick: stare them down, guilt them into coughing up a few pesos. Her mother Cecile has taught her well. She says she is eight years old – her mother says nine, but she looks barely big enough to flesh out seven. Ask where she is from and she answers, "La Ocho", a low rent neighbourhood in Bonao where Haitians have settled. Ask her origin and she perks up, "Haiti!"

But what town? "The 'campo' (countryside)." She has no idea what her hometown is called. Haiti is her symbolic home and as such it exercises a powerful allure. But it remains a dream of home. Wearing a dusty black dress, she treads the hot pavement barefoot. She clutches a purse with a broken strap, an accessory of which she is obviously proud. She fiddles with it, keeps it tightly secured at her armpit. "Dame algo (give me something)," she repeats all day long, jutting her hand in the face of prospective Samaritans. She doesn't take no for an answer. But she doesn't play the sorrowful waif. She is disconcertingly cheerful. If the mark ignores her, she launches a sermon: "Why are you like that? Jesus loves you. Give me something." She is obviously bright and has made the best of the lessons that the street has taught her. But she has never stepped inside a classroom and cannot read or write.

What math she knows she learned by adding up the pesos she cadges. "I earn 50 pesos a day," she claims proudly. Not quite a dollar and a half, but a solid contribution nonetheless. It guarantees that the family will have enough plaintains for the evening meal. With such simple calculations, one survives but the loaves and fishes never multiply.Ambulatory street peddlers, or "chiriperos", are at the bottom rung of the informal economy. They sell anything from sweets to clothing to cellular accessories. In this country, anyone having to get around on foot is stigmatised.

"No Dominican does what I do," says Gaston. Some do, in fact, but they get preferential treatment, better routes, less supervision, fewer hassles. Nevertheless, most chiriperos these days are likely to be Haitian, whose numbers have swelled dramatically since the earthquake. "Jeepetas" – Prados, Monteros, and other four-wheeled fantasies of conspicuous consumption – fly past Gaston as he plies the shoulder of the treeless highway that cuts through the open rice fields of this valley.

The ball of fire above throbs monotonously like a cosmic headache, and all that Gaston has to protect himself against it is a tattered baseball cap. He can't afford sunglasses to alleviate the obliterating light. "Lleeggooooó Yos… mata el calor." "Yosé is here… kill the heat." The children come running like mice to the pied piper. That little ball of sweet coldness in a cone costs 10 pesos, about 27 cents, of which Gaston receives eight. On a good day he makes 13 dollars, on a bad day, five or six. And he sends 110 to 138 dollars back home monthly to his family. That doesn't leave much room for future savings or for daily needs. He wears the same clothes day in and day out, eats the same scant, starchy diet. "I can save a bit, but I don't eat well. For breakfast I eat guineo (green bananas) and spaghetti, I don't buy anything at midday, and for dinner I prepare some rice with something on the side." Keeping pace just behind him, his wife Ketya peddles cheap clothing. The clothiers would appear to have the most difficult job, walking as they do with a large tub overflowing with belts, underwear, shirts, pants, dresses and shoes. But they cut the most gracious figure of all street peddlers. In traditional Haitian style, the tub perches above one's head, steadied by a kerchief or towel wrapped tightly like a crown over one's skull. The rest of the body is put to work too: on each extended arm hangs a variety of articles.

They are walking closets. Ketya buys wholesale in Santiago or Dajabon, so her profits are cut significantly by travel costs. On a good day she may earn about 14 dollars. But good days are rare. "I like it here," she says haltingly, either because of her imperfect command of Spanish or her ambivalence. "I can earn more and be with my husband." But she cannot be with her children, who are still back in Haiti. "No," she says quietly, "I want to be with them, but I can only visit them for now." Of all the peddlers, the most ubiquitous are the pirates.

They too are known by their appearance – a backpack, music on CDs in one hand and films on DVD in the other. The selection is pretty uniform: bachata, reggaeton and merengue in the right; blockbusters, juvenile, kung fu and porno in the left. Unencumbered by food carts or tubs of clothing, these peddlers travel the farthest, covering miles per day in their effort to sell their wares. Johnny, 23 years old and newly arrived, earns about 200 pesos a day. "Things are bad," he complains in his slightly accented but adequate Spanish. The speed with which these immigrants learn the language is testament to their will to survive. Necessity is a stern taskmaster. Johnny is unburdened by immediate family. He is free to make his way as he wishes, unlike Gaston. But his freedom hasn't yet brought him the rewards he seeks. "I'm not earning any more here than I did there," he laments. Too much competition and nothing to set him apart. Stand on any corner for more than five minutes and you will see three or four more just like him hawking the same wares. He wanders the blistering, treeless streets of Bonao till nightfall. Then he heads home to a small village nearby. For dinner, it's starchy tubers or a bit of rice with an even smaller bit of meat. Whatever their station, they all dream of one thing: halting their long walk toward their daily bread. Gaston has plans: "I need about 50,000 pesos to set up a little business, selling agricultural products to Haitians. The produce is cheaper on this side of the border. I also want to buy a little motorbike and rent it out to a responsible person." Modest dreams, perhaps, but nirvana for someone looking to rest his weary legs.

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GUINEA BISSAU

The tragedy of the talibes street children

Agenzia Fides - Gabu - August 2, 2010

Each year a minority of Koranic students, or talibés, put under the care of a religious leader, are at risk for abuse. In trying to find a solution to this serious problem, several agencies working for the protection of children organize reunions with their families, in the hope of returning them to their biological family. However, this be difficult as they have known little more than begging and beatings since their infancy. According to a recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), the vast majority of the estimated 50,000 talibés are from Senegal or from Bafata and Gabu 80km and 200km east of Bissau respectively. “Finding their families is difficult because many of the children leave when they are very young and they can only give the first name of the person who has raised them, or the name of their grandparents’,” said the head of the Bissau-Guinean NGO AMIC (L’Association des Amis de L’Enfant), based in Gabu, which has been working since 2004 to transport children back to Guinea-Bissau. Families in these mainly Peule Muslim areas, send their children through middlemen to attend Koranic schools in Tambacounda in western Senegal, east to Ziguinchor, or to cities in the north, including Thiès, Dakar, and St. Louis. However, often the religious leaders instead force the boys to raise money by begging, do not feed or clothe the boys, and regularly beat them. A 2007 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, found most children begging in Dakar, including the talibés, were malnourished, often severely. According to Human Rights Watch many are regularly beaten, and poor health, worms and scabies are common. AMIC’s transition centre can house up to 40 children at a time, and 20 additional boys are expected soon. Since November 2005 the organisation has reunited 253 boys. Supported by the Swiss government, the International Organization for Migration, and the Geneva Institute for Human Rights, AMIC pledges to pay for each child’s secondary school education until completion. In the past, some boys found the transition too difficult and there were many runaways: 30 in 2006. Many of the families who send their children away live in poverty. Their villages may be miles from the nearest school or health center. There are few studies outlining what happens to talibés over the long-term, though some child protection experts say they become hawkers, selling telephone cards or second-hand products, on city streets. (AP)

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IRAN

New hardships intensify debate over Iran-Iraq war

www.ipsnews.net - Honolulu, Hawaii - August 3, 2010

Analysis by Farideh Farhi*

Ongoing factional disputes and mounting international sanctions have ignited heated debates among Iran's elites about another critical period in the country's post- revolutionary history - the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.That war, in which at least a quarter million Iranians are believed to have died, hastened the rise of institutions, such as the Basij militia and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which remain key actors in Iran today. But the war also created a cultural ethos that emphasised the epic aspects of the conflict: sacrifice and courage, piety, the control of passions, disdain for fame and material gain, and unconditional loyalty to the leadership.

This was in some contradiction to the spirit of the 1979 Revolution when a multiplicity of voices and ideologies competed for attention and popularity. With the new Islamic Republic under siege, however, the war offered a pretext for the emerging political order to both crush the domestic opposition and rally the population behind the "sacred defence" against international aggression. Now that, a quarter century later, Iran faces another period of domestic repression coupled with a tangible increase in external pressures, key decisions made by the country's leadership during the Iran-Iraq war are being rehashed by the country's fractious elites.

The emerging debate is being fuelled in particular by the website of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who served as speaker of Iran's parliament during the war and acted as a key adviser to Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who eventually appointed him to the post of commander-in- chief of the armed forces.

The website has provided a daily recounting of key events and decisions during the war. Three issues regarding the war have relevance to Iran's current predicament, particularly as Tehran faces ever- escalating economic sanctions because of its rejection of international demands that it curb its nuclear programme. First and foremost is the decision to continue the war after June 1982 when Iran had successfully pushed Iraqi forces out of most of its territory and began taking the offensive while rejecting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's offers of a ceasefire. At that moment, the dilemma faced by the leadership in Tehran was whether to continue the war – and the sacrifices that implied – on behalf of a cause that was no longer shared with the same intensity by much of the population as it had been two years before.

The generally accepted narrative in defence of the decision to continue the war is simple: Iran could not afford a ceasefire in 1982 because it was believed that Hussein would use it to regroup and launch a new invasion at a moment when Iran's leadership would find it more difficult to rally the post-revolutionary fervour behind the regime's defence. Iraq's subsequent invasion of Kuwait in 1990 made this narrative plausible during most of the post-war period. But, in recent years, and particularly since last year's disputed elections, this justification has come increasingly under question. The main point of contention has been over the apparent disconnect at the time between the regime's declared war aims – in Khomeini's famous slogan, "War, War, until Victory," and Rafsanjani's "War until a decisive victory," and even exhortations by some military leaders to take over Baghdad – and the lack of adequate resources to achieve those aims.

Last week, for example, the former minister of the IRGC, Mohsen Rafiqdoust, effectively accused Mir Hosein Mussavi, the Green Movement's presidential candidate who served as prime minister during the war, of withholding resources that could, if provided to the military, have brought the war to a victorious conclusion.

Mussavi, who until recently kept silent in the debate about the war, felt sufficiently provoked to respond in a statement posted on his Kaleme website in which he threatened to reveal the reasons for his attempted resignation in 1988, immediately after the war's end. Noting the sacrifices that a number of former officials, some of whom have been sentenced to prison after last year's elections, have made in defence of the regime and the country, Mussavi pointed out that more than 65 percent of Iran's then-severely limited oil revenues had been spent on a war that, at least in its initial phases, had been incompetently run. He wrote that Rafiqdoust had been "imposed" on him against his will and compared the former minister's military incompetence and promises of victory during the war to his subsequent leadership of the Foundation for the Oppressed and Disabled, a powerful organisation that became notorious for its corruption and mismanagement.

Of course, two other leaders most responsible for the decisions made during the war – then-President Ali Khamenei and Rafsanjani – also play critical roles today as Leader and chair of the Expediency Discernment Council, respectively. Suggesting that they also set war aims for which they were either unwilling or unable to provide adequate resources is a serious charge. Even more serious, however, is the implication that by pursuing unrealistic war aims they imposed unnecessary sacrifice on the population when the confrontation with an external enemy could have been ended earlier.

Thus, the regime's hardliners have mounted a predictable effort to blame Mussavi for Iran's failure to achieve victory. One of his critics, Ahmad Panahian, has gone so far as to hold Mussavi and other Green leaders responsible for the latest round of international sanctions against Iran, insisting that, without their post-election "sedition", these sanctions would not have gone into effect. A second war-related issue relevant to the situation today relates to Khomeini's decision to accept a ceasefire in the war after adamantly refusing to do so. Some hard-liners, still unable to reconcile themselves to the Leader's abrupt reversal, now argue that he was deliberately misled by the political leaders, including Mussavi and Rafsanjani, of the time. At the same time, others with a less ideological bent wonder whether, in the face of escalating pressure, the current regime was capable of acting as decisively as Khomeini did in taking responsibility for ending the war despite his prior insistence on "War, War, until Victory."

What is undisputed is that once Khomeini decided that Iran's economic and military capabilities could not overcome Iraq's heavily buttressed military machine and devastating chemical attacks, Rafsanjani, as his appointed commander-in-chief, offered to take the blame for failing to achieve victory and retire from public life. Khomeini refused the offer, announcing that he himself would drink from the "poisoned chalice" and promising a full explanation in the future, a promise that he failed to fulfil before his death in June 1989, 10 months after he accepted the ceasefire. Still Khomeini's decision to end the war assured the Islamic Republic's survival by pre-empting a blame game among his followers and opening the way for the so-called "era of reconstruction" under Rafsanjani's presidency. Indeed, it is this re-direction that constitutes the third debate about the Iran-Iraq war and its aftermath. Hardliners are asking whether the same political leaders who they say convinced Khomeini to end the war also pushed the country in an un-Islamic direction, resulting in the abandonment of the culture of heroic sacrifice and resistance in favour of greater political, economic, and cultural liberalisation. Their call is for a return to an era in which "values" are prized over "reconstruction". They see Rafsanjani's post-war "reconstruction" as the source of today's political, economic, and diplomatic ills. More pragmatic elements, on the other hand, publicly worry about, in Rafsanjani's words, "the extremism and fanaticism of those who, with their unwise decisions and actions, place the revolution and (Islamic) system in the hard, perilous situation the enemy desires." As Tehran prepares for renewed negotiations over its nuclear programme, conflicting memories regarding the conduct of the war, the circumstances that led to the decision to end it, and the direction taken by the leadership after the war will have a significant impact on how various forces within Iran position themselves.

*Farideh Farhi is an Independent Scholar and Affiliate of the Graduate Faculty of Political Science at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. 

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MEXICO

Poverty and unemployment promote violence and insecurity

Agenzia Fides - Durango - August 3, 2010

The situation is continually worsening in different parts of Mexico, creating great suffering. Bishop Enrique Sánchez Martínez, Auxiliary Bishop of Durango, has issued a letter to the community to react to this situation that is becoming increasingly difficult.

"The violence and insecurity prevailing in the State of Durango is attributable to organized crime, which is a complex and difficult thing to analyze," says Bishop Sánchez Martínez. "The current economic model has been in crisis for a long time and has been unable to solve the problems of the population. It has only worsened the economy."

The latest report of the ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America) notes that 40% of Latin Americans living in poverty live in Mexico. The Auxiliary Bishop of Durango comments: "Our country, where 27 million people lack access to food, health, housing, and education, is the only one that has experienced a worsening of poverty."

The secretariat of the Institute for Social Development believes that "54% of Mexicans (57.8 million) live on less than $4 a day, while 32% (34.3 million Mexicans) live on less than 2.5 dollars, and 24% (25.7 million) on less than $2. "The States with the highest poverty rate in the country are Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Durango, all states where there is a high percentage of indigenous population.

"The unequal distribution of wealth fosters organized crime. Inequality leads to dissatisfaction and a sense of injustice that generates violence and thus the climate of insecurity. There is a growing percentage of young people who do not have a stable job and a paycheck. Many of them end up in the ranks of organized crime in drug trafficking," said the Auxiliary Bishop.

Bishop Sánchez Martínez concludes the letter with an invitation "to think of a more humane economic model in the context of social justice, charity, and integral development. It 's time to think about the "common good."

Yesterday's news reports stated that the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, has admitted that the country lives "a new stage of the phenomenon of insecurity" and that "an escalation of violent crime" threatens the security of all Mexicans. Since Calderon took office in December 2006 and to date, organized crime has killed 25,000 people. Calderon said that over 90% of deaths attributed to organized crime are criminals, 5% to police and military, and less than 5% are attributed to civilians. According to the President, these data show that there is an ongoing war between drug cartels. The wave of violence, however, is characterized not only by the increased number of victims but also the cruelty of the attacks with beheadings, hangings, and car bombs to spread terror among the population. (CE)

Links:

Letter from Bishop Sanchez Martinez, Auxiliary Bishop of Durango

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PAKISTAN

Caritas commitment to flood victims

AsiaNews - Islamabad - August 5, 2010

Caritas, active from the first hours after the disaster, is working to distribute basic necessities to families affected by floods. According to the UN at least 4 million people are involved in the cataclysm. 

Pakistan continues to fight against the most disastrous floods in its history. And while the UN announced that at least 4 million people have been affected, Caritas Pakistan has taken steps to help the displaced. According to the operators of the Catholic organization, "in the country, the number of dead and displaced due to heavy monsoon rains and flooding is increasing. The greatest difficulty is to reach many villages that remained isolated”.

The problem, volunteers explain, "is that the roads are completely flooded and movement is largely on foot, electric and telephone lines are out of order. Unfortunately, more rain is expected. In many areas, such as Khyber and Shangla Pakhtunkhwa, drinking water is increasingly scarce and there is a risk of cholera and intestinal diseases”. Caritas, active from the early hours of the disaster, has already provided tents, blankets, hygiene kits in the areas of Balochistan, Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Even the Italian Bishops' Conference has mobilised relief efforts for the disaster, allocating one million Euros and inviting church communities to pray for and support initiatives of solidarity promoted by Caritas. In Pakistan, the operators continue, "Caritas has provided 1,500 families in Peshawar water, food, cooking utensils and hygiene kits. Hygiene kits and water purification tablets were distributed to 1350 households also Karkhan and Kohlu. There are also plans to launch cash-for-work projects, allowing those whose livestock and crops have been destroyed to receive compensation direct participation in the reconstruction activities".

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), is also active in the area and today launched a massive air operation using helicopters to speed up relief operations and deliver urgent food rations to isolated people because of the devastating floods that hit the northern Pakistan.

The first three missions have taken place in the city of Kalam Tuesday morning, with the overall transportation of 7 tons of food, enough to feed 2,500 people for a week. "In the midst of destruction, with the blocked roads and bridges destroyed by water, these helicopters are really a lifesaver, as the only way to bring food to thousands of hungry and desperate people," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran.

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Disaster strikes the Indus River valley 

New Age - August 21, 2010
       
THE flooding of most of the Indus River valley in Pakistan has the makings of a history-altering catastrophe. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 20 million Pakistanis are in dire need, many of them homeless or displaced, others cut off from help by fallen bridges and submerged highways, untold numbers lacking supplies of food and potable water. In the August heat, waterborne disease is a mortal peril, especially to children, 3.5 million of whom are said to be vulnerable. Measured in numbers of people affected, says OCHA spokesman Maurizio Giuliano, 'This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake.'
By that yardstick, as the well-known scholar Ahmed Rashid writes, it is also worse than all four of Pakistan's wars with India and maybe even, as the Pakistani prime minister laments, the 1947 partition. The official death toll stands at 1,600, and will surely rise, as the crises of housing, sickness, hunger and thirst begin to take insidious root. Much of the internal refugee flight is double displacement, as two of the regions worst affected, the Northwest Frontier Province and Balochistan, are beset with chronic warfare between local guerrillas and the government that has emptied whole villages. Every single bridge in the mountainous Swat district, site of several army offensives against the Pakistan Taliban, has been swept away. Several Afghan refugee camps, as well, have been obliterated, their inhabitants uprooted once more.
The image of President Asif Ali Zardari touring Europe as the floodwaters surged led the global media to dub the disaster 'Zardari's Katrina', evoking the massive storm that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf coast of the United States while the Bush administration dawdled. Whatever the immediate consequences for Zardari, who is now photographed hauling bags of rice, the muddy torrents of the Indus are a grim reminder of the very manmade imbalances that lie underneath all such calamities.
          
Unnatural disaster
LIKE Katrina, the Pakistan floods are a natural disaster exacerbated by human determination to master nature. The Pakistani government could not have lessened the fury of 2010's monsoon season any more than the Bush administration could have channelled the fateful hurricane harmlessly out to sea. Already by August 6, one week into the pelting rains, and with several weeks left in the season, the monsoons were judged to be the heaviest by far in Pakistan's 63-year history. Everyone was caught unawares: In June, the country's meteorological service had forecast that July-September rainfall would be 'normal'.
Scientists are quick to say that no single weather event can be tied to global warming. The planet's climate is too complex to identify sole causes. But the preponderance of expert opinion does concur that a pattern is underway by which violent storms are becoming more common and that this pattern is unique to the carbon emissions era. There is reason to believe, for instance, that Asian monsoons are becoming more variable and more extreme with the progression of climate change. Many climate scientists predict that, for the most part, the semi-arid zone of Asia to which most of Pakistan belongs will see less and less rain as time goes by. Farmland will be swallowed by desert as irrigation ditches run dry. In a cruel irony, though, the monsoons will not peter out gradually, but will decrease or increase in intensity in variances that will be predictably unpredictable. The 2007 assessment report of the prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it is 'very likely' that 'heavy precipitation events' are increasing in number along with the anthropogenic heating of the globe. When it rains, that is to say, it is apt to pour.
More conclusive is the evidence of melting of the Himalayan snow pack, which swells the Indus and other rivers with runoff. In a tempest in a teapot typical of the climate change debate, global warming deniers lambasted the IPCC in January for modifying a statement in the 2007 report suggesting that Himalayan glaciers could vanish by 2035. The real rate of melting is probably not so fast, but the shrinkage of glaciers is an observable fact worldwide. And in Pakistan the possible consequences are similar to monsoons: dramatically less water in the long term, heightened risk of flooding for the time being.
Pakistan, whose rate of automobile ownership is 8 per 1,000 people (as compared to 765 per 1,000 in the US), has contributed almost nothing to the blanket of greenhouse gases warming the earth and the oscillating weather patterns that result. But many Pakistani observers attribute the scale of the flooding and displacement in part to a series of decisions by the Pakistani state - namely, the building of large dams at key points along the course of the Indus. Dams, of course, are the quintessential symbol of modernity in water infrastructure. Seeking to emulate the American civil engineers who made the Californian desert bloom, post-colonial states across the Middle East and Asia hurried to erect taller and taller dams to catch the water that would enable a green revolution in every river basin and churn out electricity to light every city street. Aside from the social dislocation caused by their construction, the dams' sustainability is now greatly in doubt.
For one thing, dams are subject to the law of unintended consequences. In Egypt, the dams around Aswan eliminated the annual flooding of the Nile, allowing for reliable year-round irrigation and greatly expanded agricultural productivity. But the yearly floods also had a cleansing effect; now rural areas are pocked with stagnant pools where the parasite that causes bilharzia flourishes. In Pakistan, the blockage of the Indus has led to high soil salinity and greater sedimentation upstream, robbing the delta of its richest soil, and in effect raising the riverbed and making swathes of previously dry land part of the floodplain. Dredging and maintenance of dams and barrages is costly and prone to human error and failure of imagination. In New Orleans, the levees broke in part because no one conceived of storm surges as savage and sustained as those hurled ashore by Hurricane Katrina. As Mushtaq Gaadi argues in the August 16 edition of Dawn, the trigger of the flooding in central Pakistan was the breach of an embankment of the Taunsa barrage, roughly halfway from the highlands to the Arabian Sea. Once the embankment was breached, the river rushed around the barrage to cut a new course for itself, inundating an irrigation network and farming region that was supposed to have been made safe by civil engineering prowess. Locals at Taunsa have been warning of dangerously large upstream sediment deposits for years, calling for better flood protection measures, but the state's refurbishment efforts were inadequate. The widely circulated OCHA map of the flooded Indus basin shows clearly that the hardest-hit areas are behind or adjacent to dams or barrages.
In 2004, the World Bank was tapped for $144 million to rehabilitate the Taunsa barrage, characterised on its website as an 'emergency project'. Construction at Taunsa forced the 'resettlement' of 160 households and, as Gaadi writes, local activists were frustrated by the bank's inattention to upstream problems. The bank claims that its intercession 'may have helped this barrage to withstand' the cascading Indus and plans to proceed with repair or installation of three similar structures in the years ahead. The floods in Pakistan will nonetheless strengthen the bank's corps of sceptics of grander ventures, whose costs seem to be greater than the benefits, particularly when viewed through the prism of water management. In part because of the bank's reluctance, Turkey has been unable to complete its enormous complex of dams, the GAP project, in south-eastern Anatolia. Pakistan, likewise, cannot attract the $12 billion it needs to build the Diamer-Bhasha dam, which, like GAP, is meant to generate hydropower for burgeoning cities and reclaim still more land for irrigation agriculture. It is well-grounded concern for sustainability, and not 'the developed world's knee-jerk disfavour of giant dams,' as Steven Solomon writes in the August 16 New York Times, that is holding up this mega-project.
        
Taliban time
AS SO often in quasi-natural disasters, the poor and disenfranchised bear the overwhelming brunt of the Pakistan flooding. According to the UN Development Programme's 2009 Human Development Index, 33.4 per cent of Pakistanis live in poverty, a proportion slightly higher than that in Rwanda. In ordinary times, in a country of 170 million, 10 per cent of people lack access to consistently safe drinking water. Most of the 723,000 homes that have been destroyed or damaged by the floods are those of the rural poor.
Thus far, the worst of the countrywide humanitarian emergency is concentrated in two perennially troubled provinces, the Northwest Frontier Province and Balochistan. The Northwest Frontier Province, notorious worldwide as fertile ground for radical Islamism and ground zero of President Barack Obama's Predator drone attacks, has long also been a site of ethnic and class-based unrest. For decades, the most powerful opposition force in the rugged territory was a succession of Pashtun nationalist parties suspected by Islamabad of secessionist tendencies. The Pashtuns have long felt neglected and marginalised - provincial government statistics show a poverty rate 12 per cent higher that of Punjab, home of the Pakistani elite - and they have periodically rebelled against the state and the local landed barons (khans) perceived to be in league with it.
For the global media, however, the Northwest Frontier Province is first and foremost a hotbed of Taliban activity. As if waving their arms frantically at a world on summer vacation, several commentators have asserted that the West must help Pakistan because the Taliban are poised to take over. Ahmed Rashid, whose astute histories of South Asian Islamism have lent him great credibility with opinion makers, pitched his cri de coeur in the August 12 Telegraph in precisely that register. If the world does not act, he wrote: 'Large parts of the country that are now cut off will be taken over by the Pakistani Taliban and affiliated extremist groups, and governance will collapse. The risk is that Pakistan will become what many have long predicted - a failed state with nuclear weapons, although we are a long way off from that yet.' On cue, NBC led its August 16 evening news broadcast with a brief update on the suffering of Pakistanis followed by a disquisition from reporter Andrea Mitchell on the floods as a 'US national security issue'. 'This isn't just a humanitarian crisis half a world away,' said anchorman Brian Williams as he switched gears.
In the New York Times, the aspiring 'Al Gore of water' Solomon used the floods to frame his thesis that water stress in Pakistan is a key US security concern. Not only are Islamist agencies setting up relief tents faster than the government and the UN, but the coming shortages of fresh water also threaten to 'further destabilise the fractious country, hurting its efforts to root out its resident international terrorists.... The jihadists know how important the issue is: In April 2009, Taliban forces launched an offensive that got within 35 miles of the giant Tarbela Dam, the linchpin of Pakistan's hydroelectric and irrigation system.' Here Solomon evokes the Taliban campaign that prodded the Pakistani army into launching its counterattacks in Swat. The Islamist militia also reportedly advanced within an hour's drive of the Nowshera army cantonments, unleashing a wave of worried op-eds. The dam was hardly mentioned at the time, but Solomon has shown how water infrastructure can be mixed into the collective consciousness, alongside nuclear facilities and military bases, as factors qualifying Pakistan for stepped-up US intervention.
       
The charity of Caesar
TO DATE, the Pentagon has limited its involvement in the flood disaster to oversight of helicopter-borne relief and rescue efforts. Once again, the world is confronted with the mind-bending irony that the US military, precisely because it is the most fearsome and lavishly funded war machine in human history, is the only entity capable of the rapid, all-out emergency response that is called for. And the motive is never purely altruistic: As in 2004, when the navy's aid to tsunami victims assuaged the American conscience after Abu Ghraib, so the hope will be that sending helicopters to Pakistan will persuade fewer of them to hate us.
The Pakistani government is clamouring for more American blades in the sky and, more importantly, money. The initial US offering of emergency aid was $71 million, an amount that Rashid called 'pathetic' (though it remains much larger than what other countries have given). The tranche will probably grow as Washington becomes seized of the security aspects of the matter. On August 16, the World Bank cleared a $900 million loan request from Pakistan, some of which has already purchased rescue boats to reach the tens of thousands who are stranded by downed bridges and washed-out roads. The need remains acute: OCHA says that donors have pledged only 29.7 per cent of the funds for which it has appealed. Part of the problem is apparently Pakistan's 'image deficit'; a Care International official told Agence France-Presse that donors need to be convinced their gifts will not 'go to the hands of the Taliban.' This 'image deficit' perhaps explains why the American media has not launched anything close to the earnest publicity and fundraising blitzes that occurred after the tsunami and the earthquake in Haiti.
Pakistan, of course, was targeted for huge infusions of US cash assistance immediately after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The sanctions imposed on Pakistan by the Clinton administration for its nuclear testing were dropped in the blink of an eye, followed by $1.08 billion in aid and debt forgiveness in 2001, and then $3 billion in economic and military assistance over five years beginning in 2005. The thinking then, as now, was partly to fortify the Pakistani state as war raged in neighbouring Afghanistan, but also to foster various forms of economic and social development in order to 'drain the swamp' that bred Islamist militancy. In this calculus, the average Pakistani is figured to be homo economicus, ready to swear allegiance to whosoever of Caesar or homo islamicus gives him the biggest handout and promises him the most prosperous future. Without dismissing the extent to which Islamist groups have purchased legitimacy through provision of social services, or to which armed jihad supplies jobs for destitute rural youth, this vision of aid misses the importance of politics.
Chiefly, there is the fact that most Pakistanis - urban and rural, educated and illiterate - oppose the US-led 'war on terror' of which the aid dollars are a part. The war has claimed numerous civilian victims in the Northwest Frontier Province, not to mention among Pashtuns and other ethnic groups across the Afghan border. It has spurred the coalescence of the Pakistan Taliban, which has enforced rigid forms of Islamic law out of keeping with custom even in these very conservative areas. Pakistan's enlistment in the 'war on terror' is reminiscent of the 1980s, when the junta led by General Zia ul Haq collaborated with the CIA and the Saudis in running the Afghan Mujahideen's insurgency against the Soviets. From this partnership eventually came the Afghan Taliban (and Osama bin Laden), and from Zia's parallel 'Islamisation' programme came much of the enhanced clout of the Islamist parties to whom many of today's militants are linked. The Pakistani regime's interest in this devil's bargain was not development, but leverage in the existential struggle with India. For the generals who continue to dominate Pakistani governance despite the government's civilian face, the shadowboxing with India still dictates every move.
As the flood crisis perdures, therefore, the question in the minds of many Pakistanis will be how much of the forthcoming international largesse, however inadequate it may be at the moment, will be used to help the people who need it. In October 2009, President Obama signed into law the bill sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) authorising $1.5 billion per year in non-military aid for the next five years. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up with the announcement of an additional $500 million on a visit to Islamabad in July. Of this total $7.5 billion package, significant amounts are earmarked for water-related projects, including two hydroelectric dams near the Afghan border and water treatment facilities.
Meanwhile, the war drones on. On August 14, Pakistani army sources claim that a Predator missile killed 12 Islamist fighters in northern Waziristan.
In Islamabad in July, Clinton acknowledged a 'legacy of suspicion' in US-Pakistani relations, a reference to the fact that Washington's previous interest in Pakistan faded along with Soviet-style communism. She announced the extra aid in an attempt to convince Pakistanis that, this time, they will not be abandoned. But superpowers are not charities: The 'stability' of Pakistan, again the subject of much distress among the commentariat due to the floods, is prized for its utility in the pursuit of US strategic goals. Since 2001, the Pentagon has sent upwards of $11 billion to the heirs of Zia ul Haq and, since defence allocations are shrouded in secrecy, the figure is doubtless far higher. Much of this boodle is Foreign Military Financing that, by law, must be spent to buy American-manufactured weaponry. The river of money flowing to Pakistan is intended to float a set of unpopular policies that Washington has no intention of changing and a government that Washington would hate to see genuinely democratised. In the case of the floods, and water management generally, democratisation would mean treating the hard-hit citizenry as agents of recovery and reconstruction, whose ideas for repairing the local waterworks, being derived from lived experience, might make more sense than those of the World Bank's credentialed experts. Instead, it appears that the Pakistani state and international community will treat the flood victims as objects of relief aid. This kind of powerless victim-hood leaves few avenues for citizen activism besides protest, some of which has already turned deadly. These realities are integral to the political instability that the West fears will emerge now that disaster has struck.
        
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RWANDA

Kagame wasting last goodwill

Afrolnews - July 15, 2010 

Political murders, media censorship and fraudulent elections in Rwanda are pulverising the large international goodwill President Paul Kagame recently had, after reconstructing the country in an excellent way. Rwanda has returned to international headlines on a daily basis. With the negative news focus the international press still has on Africa, that is bad news for the small East African country.

The upcoming August presidential elections have turned Rwanda into a more repressive state on a day-by-day basis. President Kagame is not even trying to hide he will not accept an opposition win in the polls.Since opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza returned from her exile in January this year, announcing she would stand candidate in the presidential elections, her Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) party has been attacked fiercely by the Kagame government.The UDF election campaign has been interrupted several times and opposition followers are increasingly complaining about harassment and intimidation. Ms Umuhoza herself was briefly detained in April, accused of "denying" the 1994 genocide. Strong international pressure assured her release.

In June, Rwandan Lieutenant-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is seeking asylum in South Africa, was shot and wounded in Johannesburg. South African police more than indicated that Rwandan state agents were involved in the attack on the political refugee.This week, UDF Deputy President Andre Kagwa Rwisereka was killed in Butare, southern Rwanda, where his dead body was found dumped in a river yesterday. The UDF, not daring to point directly at the Kagame government, today urged for an international investigation into Mr Rwisereka's assassination.At the same time, the Rwandan press is being cornered by the regime. Any critical media voices in the country have been intimidated or totally silenced ahead of the elections. Several journalists have been arrested and Rwanda's two leading independent newspapers were ordered to close down for six months.

Last month, editor Jean Léonard Rugambage of the independent 'Umuvugizi Newspaper' was shot dead in Kigali, shortly after he had published an article about the JohaRwanda opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza© UDF/afrol Newsnnesburg attack on Mr Nyamwasa. Editor Rugambage was the last Rwanda-based journalist of 'Umuvugizi'.The Rwandan government anyway has made sure next month's elections would be nothing to report about for an independent press.

The UDF and the Democratic Green Party in the end were denied from registering with the election commission, meaning they cannot send their candidates into the race. Only one serious contester to President Kagame's ruling party was allowed to register; the Rwandan Socialist Party. However, its leader Bernard Ntaganda has been detained over an "illegal gathering". That leaves the party without its most known candidate.The sudden rush of repressive measures completely has changed the image of Paul Kagame's Rwanda during less than one year.Mr Kagame, a rebel leader turned politician, has never been a convinced democrat, but for most of the last decade, he was known to put the Rwandan people's interests ahead of his own ambitions. His government can show to an impressive economic and social development of the country since in lied in ruins after the 1994 genocide.For many years, Rwanda therefore has been a donors' favourite, receiving substantial development aid. It has also been able to maintain its position as a Western ally despite Rwanda's sometimes dubious role in the eastern Congo war.

But Rwanda's earned goodwill is about to be wasted as President Kagame is using methods associated to Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Already, strong voices are emerging to reconsider Rwanda's favoured position among Western donors and allies. The Rwandan opposition is asking for international pressure on Mr Kagame to allow for fair elections. And the Paris-based group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) today asked the international community to stop "endorsing this repressive regime."

"If the European Union stopped disbursing its funding, it would be clear sign of opposition to the Rwandan government's practices," RSF said in a statement today. 

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SRI LANKA

No peace in sight in human-vs-elephant war by Amantha Perera

www.ipsnews.net - Konweva - August 4, 2010 

In stark contrast, we are visibly more nervous. Mesmerised by the magnificent figure in front of us, our heads twitch toward the jungle to our left every 10 seconds or so, cautious not to be caught off-guard by other rampaging elephants that could be heading straight toward us. "That wouldn’t be very good, would it?"

Ekenayaka asks, rhetorically. After 20 gut-wrenching minutes, the animal completes its amble across the field, and disappears as it appeared – merging into the darkness behind a dirt road. "Tonight there will be no sleep," Mudiyanse says, as he heads back to his paddy fields to keep a night of vigil. The hide-and-seek battle between the villagers and the elephants here is a common, but deadly, ritual. Konweva is but one location where this deadly game is being played out. Similar scenes play out in other rural agricultural areas that border jungles, such as Kalaweva and Minneriya in the North Central Province, Mahaweva and Ampara in the Eastern Province, Hambantota, Buththala, and Moneragala in the Southern Provice and Uva in the South-east Province. Government official Archchilage Weerasinghe says some 283 hectares of land have been cultivated in the Konweva area for paddy. But the elephants have impeded further development. "We don’t plant in an area of about 350 acres (142 hectares) because of elephants," Weerasinghe says. The elephants cross the fields at will and trample the crops, villagers complain. Weerasinghe gave IPS a tour of some areas where the animals had roamed the week before. From a distance, it looked like the aftermath of a meteorite storm. The elephants have also destroyed hundreds of coconut trees lining the village, he explains. It does not help that villagers are not entitled to compensation for damages to crops caused by the elephants if their fields are on government-owned land, which locals often use without permits. In short, residents here say, elephants are far from the adorable creatures seen on television.

In July, a villager was trampled to death, and his wife injured, in an elephant attack. According to Weerasinghe, at least three villagers have been killed by elephants in the past year. In Sri Lanka, some 228 elephants and 50 humans were killed in human-elephant confrontations in 2009, say government reports. "The government gives us crackers to light when they come, but they are of no use," Weerasinghe laments.

Each farmer receives four firecrackers a month, "not enough, not enough for even a day," he says. Firecrackers are used to chase the elephants away because they are protected animals, numbering some 3,000 in this South Asian island nation. Those who kill elephants face prosecution. Some experts, like Jayantha Jayewardene of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group, believe the elephants might have wandered into villages here because they prefer secondary-growth forests, or those in the process of re-growth after having been used for agriculture or logging. The abundance of food in villages like Konweva, where paddy harvests can remain stored inside homes for months, also provides incentive for the elephants to venture into them. In fact, the elephants have shown a penchant for paddy that is at a particular age, "not young, but not mature enough for harvest," says Deepani Kumudini, a Konweva resident. To keep the roaming herds from pillaging their produce, farmers are forced to harvest crops before they reach maturity. Jayewardene suggests a possible solution: building electric fences to keep the animals out – a method that is used extensively here in Sri Lanka. But there could be far-reaching consequences. "One thing to bear in mind is that fencing can confine elephants to a small area and lead to starvation among the animals, especially when food is scarce during times like drought," Jayewardene explains. While experts encourage farmers to guard their crops, villagers argue that the extra effort results in excruciatingly low returns on investment from paddy cultivation. In one case, 14 guards had to be employed on elephant watch, stationed in seven huts erected around a 1.6-hectare paddy field. "The labour cost, the time all put together, this is not worth it," says Weerasinghe. To add to the farmers’ woes, paddy prices have fallen recently.

The villagers are adamant that the elephants are not native to the area: they were not seen here until some 20 years ago, they say. Some believe the first elephants were sighted in Konweva in March 1992 after the herds were forced to flee jungles in the north-east when Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict erupted into an all-out war. Wherever the elephants came from, villagers want them out – but that is unlikely to happen. For now, there is no solution in sight to make peace between human and beast, so the nightly ritual of elephant patrols by Konweva villagers continues. 

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UNITED STATES

Amnesty Int. 2010 Report

amnesty.org - June 2010

Head of state and government: Barack H. Obama

Death penalty: retentionist

Population: 314.7 million

Life expectancy: 79.1 years

Under-5 mortality (m/f): 7/8 per 1,000 

One hundred and ninety-eight detainees remained held in the Guantánamo detention centre at the end of 2009, despite a commitment by the new administration to close the facility by 22 January 2010. Executive reviews to determine which detainees could be released, prosecuted or transferred to other countries were initiated. By the end of the year, most Guantánamo detainees who were the subjects of habeas corpus petitions were still waiting for their cases to be heard. At least five detainees were referred for trial before revised military commissions and one other was transferred to federal court jurisdiction. Further details emerged of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secret detention programme, terminated by President Obama. Concerns persisted about conditions in prisons, jails and immigration detention centres. The longterm isolation of thousands of prisoners in supermaximum security facilities continued to fall short of international standards. Dozens of people died after being stunned by police Tasers (electro-shock weapons). At least 105 people were sentenced to death and 52 executions were carried out during the year. Women belonging to racial, ethnic and national minorities were more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women from other sectors of the population, reflecting disparities based on poverty and race in health care provision.

Counter-terror and justice Detentions at Guantánamo 

In January, the indefinite detention without charge in the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, of foreign nationals designated as "enemy combatants" entered its eighth year. On 22 January, President Obama signed an executive order for the closure of the detention facility within a year. He ordered an executive review to determine which detainees could be released or prosecuted and what other "lawful means" existed for the disposition of individuals who the review determined could neither be tried by US authorities nor transferred to other countries. The US authorities continued to refuse to allow the release into the US mainland of any Guantánamo detainee who could not be returned to his home country. In February, the Court of Appeal overturned a 2008 order by a federal judge for the release into the USA of 17 Uighur men held without charge at Guantánamo since 2002 and who could not be returned to China. In June, four of the Uighur detainees were transferred to Bermuda, and in October another six were released in Palau. On 18 November, President Obama acknowledged that his deadline for closure of the detention facility would not be met. By the end of the year, 198 detainees remained in Guantánamo. Forty-nine detainees were transferred out of the base during 2009. A Yemeni man, Mohammad al Hanashi, died in Guantánamo in June, bringing to five the number of detainees reported to have committed suicide in the base. 

Military commissions 

In October, following a review of the prosecution options for Guantánamo detainees, President Obama signed into law the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which included the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2009, amending provisions of the MCA passed three years earlier. In November, the Attorney General announced that the Justice Department was referring five Guantánamo detainees for trial by military commission.

Canadian national Omar Khadr remained in US custody at the end of the year, facing a military commission trial for an alleged war crime committed when he was 15 years old (see Canada entry). 

Transfers to federal court

In June, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, held in secret US custody for two years before being transferred to Guantánamo in 2006, was transferred to New York to face trial in a federal court on charges relating to the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

 In November, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that five Guantánamo detainees previously facing military commission trials - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 'Ali 'Abd al-'Aziz and Mustafa al Hawsawi - would be transferred for trial in federal courts on charges relating to the attacks in the USA of 11 September 2001. The five men were still held in Guantánamo at the end of the year.

 In March, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari national held since June 2003 in indefinite military custody in the USA, was transferred to civilian custody to face charges in a federal court. He entered a guilty plea on a charge of "conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization" and was sentenced to 100 months' imprisonment. The judge reduced the sentence by nine months "to reflect the very severe conditions" in which Ali al-Marri had been held between 23 June 2003 and late 2004.

Habeas corpus proceedings for Guantánamo detainees 

By the end of the year, 18 months after the Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v. Bush that detainees held in Guantánamo were "entitled to a prompt habeas corpus hearing" to challenge the lawfulness of their detention, most of those who had lodged petitions had still not received a hearing. In a majority of the cases in which a decision was made, the detainee was found to be unlawfully held. A number of detainees who received such decisions continued to face indefinite detention at Guantánamo while the administration decided how to respond. In November the Attorney General told a Senate hearing that there remained a possibility that, once the review of Guantánamo cases was completed, there would be a number of detainees whom the administration would seek to continue to detain without charge under "the laws of war".

Detentions in Bagram, Afghanistan 

The US military continued to hold hundreds of detainees, including a number of children, without access to lawyers or the courts in Bagram air base in Afghanistan (see also Afghanistan entry). Litigation continued in US federal courts about whether Bagram detainees could have access to the US courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention. On 2 April, a federal judge ruled that three of the four Bagram detainees whose habeas corpus petitions were before him could challenge their detention. The three were non-Afghan nationals, while the fourth was an Afghan. In September, the government appealed against this ruling. The appeal was pending at the end of the year.

CIA secret detention programme 

In April, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirmed that, pursuant to an executive order on interrogations signed by President Obama on 22 January, the CIA was no longer using any "enhanced interrogation techniques" or operating "detention facilities or black sites". He also confirmed that the CIA retained the authority to detain individuals on a "short-term transitory basis". In April, the administration released four Justice Department memorandums from 2002 and 2005 providing legal approval for various "enhanced interrogation techniques" against detainees held in secret CIA custody. The techniques included forced nudity, prolonged sleep deprivation, and "waterboarding" (simulated drowning). Among other things, the memorandums revealed that Abu Zubaydah, the subject of the 2002 memorandum, had been "waterboarded" more than 80 times in August 2002, and Khaled Sheikh Mohammed some 183 times in March 2003. President Obama and Attorney General Holder stressed that anyone who had relied "in good faith" on the advice in the memorandums would not be prosecuted. In August further details of the torture and other illtreatment of detainees held in the CIA programme were released into the public domain. Attorney General Holder announced a "preliminary review" into whether "federal laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations". The administration resisted further release of details of the actual treatment of detainees in the nowterminated secret CIA programme on the grounds of national security.

Detainee interrogation and transfer policy 

In August, the Special Task Force on Interrogations and Transfer Policies, set up under the 22 January executive order on interrogations, issued its recommendations to the President. These included the formation of a High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group and guidance for interrogators from the military and other agencies.

Impunity and lack of remedy 

Impunity and lack of remedy persisted for human rights violations committed during what the Bush administration termed the "war on terror". In January, the Convening Authority for the military commissions, Susan J. Crawford, revealed that she had dismissed charges against Guantánamo detainee Mohamed al-Qahtani in 2008 because he had been tortured in US custody. By the end of the year no criminal investigation had been opened into the case. In a policy U-turn, the new administration moved to block publication of a number of photographs depicting abuse of detainees in US custody in Afghanistan and Iraq. In October new legislation granted the Pentagon the authority to suppress photographs deemed harmful to national security. On 4 November in Milan, Italy, 22 US agents or officials of the CIA and one military officer were convicted of crimes for their involvement in the abduction of Usama Mostafa Nasr (Abu Omar), who was abducted in Milan and transferred to Egypt where he was allegedly tortured. The US officials were tried in their absence.

Torture and other ill-treatment - electro-shock weapons 

At least 47 people died after being struck by police Tasers, bringing to more than 390 the number of such deaths since 2001. Among them were three unarmed teenagers involved in minor incidents and an apparently healthy man who was shocked for 49 continuous seconds by police in Fort Worth, Texas, in May. These and other cases raised further concern about the safety and appropriate use of such weapons.

 Fifteen-year-old Brett Elder died in Bay City, Michigan, in March, after being shocked by officers responding to reports of unruly behaviour at a party. The coroner ruled that the boy, who was of small stature, died from alcohol-induced excited delirium, with the Taser shocks a contributory factor. Prison conditions Thousands of prisoners were held in long-term isolation in US super-maximum security prisons, where conditions in many cases fell short of international standards for humane treatment.

 Scores of prisoners at Tamms CMAX facility in Illinois - many of them mentally ill - had spent 10 or more years confined to solitary cells for 23 hours a day, with inadequate treatment or review of their status. Prisoners had no work, educational or recreational programmes and little contact with the outside world. In September, following appeals from community and human rights groups, the new Director of Corrections introduced a 10-point reform plan, which included Transfer Review Hearings for each inmate, more mental health monitoring and an opportunity for prisoners to undergo General Educational

Development (basic education) testing

In October, a US federal appeals court ruled that constitutional protection against shackling pregnant women during labour had been clearly established by decisions of the US Supreme Court and lower courts. Migrants and asylum-seekers Tens of thousands of migrants, including asylumseekers, were routinely detained, in violation of international standards. Many were held in harsh conditions and had inadequate access to health care, exercise and legal assistance. In August, the government announced a number of proposed changes, including strengthening federal oversight of immigration detention facilities and consultation on alternatives to detention. However, it declined to make nationwide standards governing conditions in detention enforceable by law. In May, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions expressed concern about deaths of migrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody resulting from inadequate medical care. He found that more deaths had occurred than the 74 officially recorded since 2003 and urged that ICE be required to promptly and publicly report all deaths in custody, with each death fully investigated.

Health and reproductive rights 

In May, Dr George Tiller was shot dead in Wichita, Kansas, by an anti-abortion activist. Dr Tiller had been subjected to a series of threats and attacks for providing lawful late-term abortions to women whose pregnancies presented a grave risk to their health or who were carrying non-viable foetuses. After Dr Tiller's murder, the federal government increased security protection for some other abortion providers. However, threats and harassment of doctors and clinics continued.

Right to health - maternal mortality 

The number of preventable deaths from pregnancyrelated complications remained high, costing the lives of hundreds of women during the year. There were inequalities in access to maternal health care based on income, race, ethnicity or national origin, with African American women nearly four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women. An estimated 52 million people under 65 had no health insurance in early 2009, a rise over the previous year.

Trade embargo against Cuba 

President Obama lifted some travel restrictions to Cuba, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home. However, he extended the USA's 47-year trade embargo against Cuba, which limited Cubans' access to medicines, endangering the health of millions (see Cuba entry).

Conscientious objectors 

In August, Travis Bishop, a sergeant in the US army, was sentenced to one year in prison for refusing to serve in Afghanistan because of his religious beliefs. His application for conscientious objector status was still pending when he was court-martialled. He is one of several US soldiers imprisoned in recent years for refusing to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Unfair trials 

In August, the US Parole Commission denied release on parole to Leonard Peltier, despite concerns about the fairness of his 1977 conviction for murder. The former American Indian Movement activist had spent more than 32 years in prison for the murders of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in June 1975. In June, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal against the 2001 convictions of five men imprisoned on charges of acting as unregistered agents for the Cuban government and related offences. In May 2005, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had stated that their detention was arbitrary because of the failure to guarantee them a fair trial.

Death penalty 

Fifty-two people were executed during the year, bringing to 1,188 the total number of prisoners executed since the US Supreme Court lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in 1976 and allowed executions to resume in January 1977. In September, Ohio attempted and failed to execute Romell Broom, a 53-year-old African American man. The lethal injection team spent some two hours attempting to find a useable vein, before giving up. In November, the state authorities announced that they had decided to switch from using three drugs in lethal injections to one. On 8 December, Ohio executed Kenneth Biros using this method. Texas executed 24 people during the year and in June carried out its 200th execution under the current governor, Rick Perry. During the year, Governor Perry faced intense criticism over the case of Cameron Willingham, who was executed in Texas in 2004. Details continued to emerge that the arson murders of which he was convicted may have been the result of an accidental fire. Nine people were released from death rows during the year on grounds of innocence, bringing to more than 130 the number of such cases since 1976. In March, New Mexico became the USA's 15th abolitionist state when the state governor signed into law a bill abolishing the death penalty. 

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