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VOLUME - 5, ISSUE - 6, DHAKA, FEBRUARY 03, 2010 |
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Bangladesh government legalizes suspected Islamist organization
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 8, 2010
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accorded approval to Saudi based controversial group named Islamic Relief Organization [IRO] to re-start its operations in Bangladesh. Osma Bin Laden's brother-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifah was working as the Finance Director of this group in Phillipines in 1988. He played important role in strengthening Al Qaida through IRA.
In 2006, Bangladesh government banned activities of this group for its allleged links with Al Qaida and other Islamist terror outfit. United States raised question about the Islamic Relief Organization stating that this group is patronizing various forms of terrorist activities in the world. According to US, IRA is engaged in spreading Jihadist activities around the world.
Obama exposed as an 'enemy' of Las Vegas
Amir Ansar • February 4, 2010
As a gesture of gratitude, President Barack Obama, who had a massive lead I Nevada State during Presidential election in 2008, has finally exposed his face as one of the worst enemies of Nevada. Recently in a speech he discouraged the students in spending money in buying leisure in Las Vegas [Nevada State].
In a speech, Obama said, "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It's time your government did the same."
President Barack Obama keeps coming up with creative ways to insert references to Las Vegas into his speeches - and he's really beginning to irritate lawmakers and residents from Nevada. With Air Force One due to touch down at McCarran Airport Feb. 18, the last thing President Barack Obama wants is to be greeted by protesters or get the cold shoulder from Nevada lawmakers.
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Solidarity and admiration for Egyptian journalists
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 5, 2010
Editor-in-chief of Egyptian newspaper Al-Demokratiya, Ms. Hala Mustafa and editor of another Egyptian newspaper October, Mr. Hussein Serag are facing undue criticism and challenges by Egyptian Journalist Union, for advocating normalization of relations with Israel.
Hala Mustafa, editor-in-chief of state-run weekly Al-Demoqratiya magazine, created a huge media controversy in September 2009 after receiving Israeli envoy Shalom Cohen at her home. Ms Mustafa went on to further shock the Journalists Union by saying she doesn't believe a boycott of Israel helps the Palestinians – and she does not think unions should impose Israel boycotts.
Anti Semitic elements inside the Egyptian Journalist Union [EJU] sent Ms. Hala Mustafa, a letter of protest for inviting the Israeli ambassador, although, earlier EJU decided to expel this high-profile editor of the country.
The planning for mass transit system and traffic management
Sayed Javed Ahmad • February 3, 2010
We can understand why our Prime Minister expressed disappointment over the failure of the authorities concerned in easing the city's traffic congestion despite repeated instructions over the last one year. She was 'very unhappy' as there was no progress in this regard and held the home and communications ministries responsible for this.
Communications Minister tried to defend himself blaming the increasing number of vehicles while the PM refuted the excuse pointing out that lack of management was being responsible for the situation. She asked the Police Department and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to stop malpractice immediately.
The PM also expressed her frustration over the failure to construct flyovers at six risky level crossings in the city. She asked the communications minister to take up the responsibility and construct the overpasses immediately.
Obama Administration Won't Ever Do Anything Serious Against Iran's Nuclear Program
Barry Rubin • February 3, 2010
We must now face an extremely unpleasant truth: Even giving the Obama administration every possible break regarding its Iran policy, it is now clear that the U.S. government isn't going to take strong action on the nuclear weapons issue.
Note that I didn't even say "effective" action, that is, measures that would force Iran to back down. I'm neither advocating nor do I think there was ever any possibility that the United States, even under Obama's predecessor, might take military action.
I'm saying that they aren't even going to make a good show of trying seriously to do anything at all.
Some say that the administration has secretly or implicitly accepted the idea that Iran will get nuclear weapons and is now seeking some longer-term containment policy. I doubt that has happened. They are just not even this close to reality.
Ofra Bengio • February 3, 2010
The abrupt upheaval in Iraq's leadership ranks is the greatest in its history as well as in the annals of the entire Middle East: from a single, all-powerful sovereign to a litany of rulers, leaders, and claimants to the throne; from the one and only Ba'th party to a vast array of parties, factions, and organizations. This essay analyzes the causes and consequences of this earthquake in Iraq and portrays the new elites which ascended to power. It argues that from the dawn of its existence, the Iraqi state's various regimes and leaders have endeavored to establish a stable polity that could boast of internal unity and a supra-sectarian allegiance with a measure of historical continuity but failed to do so. Consequently, the question that begs asking is whether the new elites will succeed where their predecessors have failed.
The Treasonous Corporate Media
Szandor Blestman • February 3, 2010
I have a small following. There are not millions of people yet reading my commentaries and hanging on every word. More and more are waking up to the ideas I express, but there are many other people besides me, thank god, that are also expressing these ideas. There are many others who are likely better at expressing these ideas than I am and there are many that more people follow on a regular basis. There are those making video and radio media with a freedom message that have reached millions. Print media is on the decline. The power of the written word is waning as the power of audio video reaches more and more of the masses. People just don't read as much as they used to.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 3, 2010
Without Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, I was still languishing in Bangladeshi prison! He is the 'angel' to me, who was sent by God to save my life from the grips of Islamists and anti-Semitic elements in Bangladesh.
Let me brief my readers that, on November 29, 2003 I was arrested at Zia International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh on my way to Tel Aviv [Israel] to attend a peace conference. The then government in Dhaka brought sedition, treason and blasphemy charges against me for criticizing rise of militant Islam, for writing articles on breeding Jihadists inside madrassas, for advocating inter-faith harmony and for opposing Holocaust denial.
According to Bangladeshi law, sedition bears capital punishment. I am still facing trial in a Bangladeshi court.
Obama's state of the union message
Barry Rubin • February 3, 2010
Significantly, President Barack Obama's discussion of foreign policy came only at the end of his State of the Union message. Obviously, domestic matters and especially the economy come first. Yet international affairs are not only vital but often have been the issues on which administrations are judged, no matter how unlikely that seemed at the time.
It is apparently considered impolite to point out that Obama has no previous experience and little knowledge of international affairs. And yet that fact affects the fate of the globe every day. The really interesting question is whether the State of the Union message showed any growth in his ability after one year in office.
Sadly, the answer is "no."
Here are the themes he expressed.
Leslie J Sacks • February 3, 2010
We are now increasingly insisting, in this somewhat United States of America, on treating everyone and every regime in the world as we would have them treat us. For a country at pains to further separate church and state, to banish the Ten Commandments from its public areas, this flirtation with a belief that is at the very core of Judeo-Christian tradition is more than fascinating. Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with our State Department and White House on their respective couches.
This approach, apart from any hypocrisy, borders on fantastical irresponsibility, naïve unreality and gross self-deception, denying as it does the most concrete lessons of our history and culture. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Eli Wiesel – and the vast majority of our novelists and historians dealing with the human condition – would almost certainly agree.
Ponders on Bangladesh's priorities on crisis and disaster management strategies
Sayed Javed Ahmad • February 3, 2010
Bangladesh should be seriously concerned as being a possible target for a Haiti like quake disaster or even worse. Not too long ago our major local newspapers ran headlines indicating that possibility. Is our government planning for a prevention or recovery mechanism?
Our Bangladesh Bank (BB) is predicting how Bangladesh will become a 'middle-income country' within next few years provided the growth remains the way it is. But what if the growth takes a reverse turn? In fact, it is taking a negative turn already when we find our BB worrying about dwindling of profits due to recession.
At a time like this, we also find ourselves considering establishment of a Commodity Exchange Market in the country to allow commodity trades by public. But is it a good idea?
Lebanon: Conflict Widens to Syria
Jonathan Spyer • February 3, 2010
In the last week, senior Israeli policymakers made statements of an uncharacteristically bellicose nature regarding Syria.
It is unlikely that these statements were made because of sudden random irritation toward Israel's hostile northeastern neighbor. Rather, the statements probably constituted part of a message of deterrence to Damascus.
The need to project deterrence itself derives from a series of significant changes currently under way on the ground in Lebanon - reflecting Syria's ever tighter alignment with Hizbullah and the pro-Iranian regional bloc of which it is a part.
These changes take place against the backdrop of awareness that the tactics likely to be adopted by Israel in a future war with Hizbullah carry with them the very real possibility that Syria could, on one level or another, be drawn in.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 4, 2010
When Barack Obama became President of United States, he showed dreams and hopes to the people. But, in less than one year, voters have already started realizing, it was a blunder to vote for Obama. According to recent surveys, Barack Obama's acceptance and popularity is on sharp decline.
In Bangladesh, democracy was restored from a military controlled interim government and Bangladesh Awami League, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina snatched landslide victory during the general election in December 2009 with their electoral mandate titled 'Vision 2021'. They promised to change the old-typed politics of confrontation and corruption in Bangladesh with something new. People were aspired with the dreams and hopes shown by the oldest political party in the country. But, just in one year, there is frustration everywhere! Nothing changed, rather turned even worst! Let us have glimpse over some of the issues:
Corruption and nepotism:
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 3, 2010
The sad fact is that sex slavery is very much a reality in this world. Often it is young women who have been kidnapped and sold into bondage. Grown men leave their comfortable western homes and commit acts of atrocities in so-called third world countries that they would never attempt at home. Some of these men believe that because theses girls have a smile on their faces that they are happy about the forced deflowering and subsequent sexual exploitation by her men. These men see their vacation time as an opportunity commit rape. With the prevalence on reporting of sex slavery, they cannot be oblivious to the nature of the crime that they are committing. This means that they are knowingly raping women.
Iceberg policy of Barack Hussain Obama
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • February 3, 2010
Barack Hussain Obama is not a pain only for Republicans in United States; he is equally a big pain for the Democrats too. Because, both parties are having patriots, who love United States as well heroes, who are committed in fighting militant Islam as well save this world from the grips of Jihadists, who are conspiring secretly in turning our entire world into a reign of Taliban and Mullahs.
I was terribly shocked to see Obama being elected as the President of United States, who very smartly managed to suppress his religious identity. I also knew that, Barack Obama is the champion hypocrite of today's world, who shows no interest for freedom of expression or freedom of speech or even anyone's fight against Jihad, Holocaust denial or militant Islam.
Sayed Javed Ahmad • February 3, 2010
We are happy to note that the government has decided to make the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report public via their web site for the public to read. Indeed, the government has shown their sincere willingness to be transparent in their activities by making themselves open to public scrutiny. This is a grand step toward achieving the goals of 'digital democracy and good governance in Bangladesh.'
It is important for the public to know how and where our tax money, international loans, foreign remittances, etc are being spent. In a democratic society transparency of accounts is vital as we handle limited resources. Any foolish spending could land us all into a huge debt beyond any possibility of recovery.
Arab Rulers Resort to the Islamic Creed
Elie Elhadj • February 3, 2010
The compatibility between Islam and democracy has been a controversial topic. While empirical studies since 2000 confirm the prevailing notion that Muslim majority states offer fewer political rights than non-Muslim countries, the question as to why such a phenomenon exists remains unsatisfactorily answered. One key element is how the interpretation of Islam itself has been so effectively used by Arab regimes to indoctrinate subjects into believing that blind obedience to their absolute rule is a form of Islamic piety. This article will also argue that Islam, combined with the security forces and the poverty of the masses render the majority of Arabs politically quietist.
Koranic inspiration for the moderate, Islamism, and Jihadist:
Nepalese women and political roles
Kamala Sarup • February 3, 2010
Nepalese women are playing a greater role in politics and economics these days -- but their participation in politics is far from the 50 percent that would represent equal and fair representation. More than 95 percent of Nepalese women have been affected by the violence. Since the conflict started, rapes and kidnappings have increased.
Prostitution has increased. Kidnappings and torture still take place. The forced recruitment of young women into the criminals forces is another serious issue.
Natural Law, Justice, Oaths and Contradictions
Szandor Blestman • February 3, 2010
Lately there's been a controversy playing out over an organization known as LEAP and an outspoken member over there named Bradley Jardis. LEAP stands for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Bradley Jardis was a law enforcement officer who was against laws prohibiting drugs. The controversy played out over a blog post in which Mr. Jardis claimed that he could no longer, in good conscience, enforce laws calling for the arrest of people smoking marijuana for medical purposes. He claimed that doing so would be a violation of his oath to uphold the constitution of the state of New Hampshire. This declaration caused LEAP to remove Mr. Jardis as a spokesman for them and resulted in his eventual exit from the organization. This began somewhat of an Internet firestorm as people of principle aligned themselves with Mr. Jardis and many of them wrote scathing blogs and responses against Leap's decision.
Notorious Islamist group HT and HuT regrouping in Bangladesh
Special Correspondent • February 1, 2010
Though Bangladesh government banned the activities of notorious Islamist militancy group Hizbut Tahrir in October, 2009, defying such government order, members of Hizbut Tahrir [HT] are continuing their activities including orientation courses, publication, symposiums etc. The group is even taking necessary preparations for filling writ petition with Bangladesh Supreme Court challenging the ban order.
On the occasion of Indian trip of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Hizbut Tahrir published a 18-page pamphlet criticizing the trip and terming the ruling party in Bangladesh as 'agent of India'.
Hizbut Tahrir in this pamphlet called on the people for launching massive demonstrations against the government for 'leasing out the country to India.'
Chhatra Moitri [Student's Friendship], the student wing of this notorious Islamist group has resumed the publication of its regular journal named 'Paribarta' [Change].
Largest shopping mall demolished in Bangladesh
Business Correspondent • February 4, 2010
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha [RAJUK] or the Capital Development Authorities started demolishing several floors of the under construction mega-mall in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, named Jamuna Future Park. The mall is owned by Jamuna Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in the country.
Heavy contingent of law enforcing agencies were deployed within the entire area from early morning of Thursday [February 4, 2010] stopping employees, workers and officials of Jamuna Group from entering the premises.
RAJUK started demolition at around 11:15 am in the morning, after several hours' altercations with the employees of Jamuna Group. Metropolitan magistrate Rokonuddowla was present on the spot to monitor the demolition.
RAJUK claimed that, Jamuna Group has built structures beyond the approved six storey of the under-construction largest shopping mall of the country.
Kamala Sarup • February 3, 2010
Valentine's Day is coming. Have you ever made your parents a Valentine? It is beautiful if you make them a Valentine. I want my parents to be my Valentine. I have learned from my parents, "Love brings only love." Love means to unite the minds, a matter which is wider than the sky and as attractive as the flower. I remember a morning when we smiled, keeping hand in hand.
Happy Valentine's Day to my family. My parents hold the second position in my heart and mind, the first being held by God. My family is true to me. I can't offer them more than my love; that's why I give them the second position in my heart after God.
To live in a positive way is my ideology. I was born and brought up in a middle-class family. My mother told us that, due to bad political conditions, bad leaders and violence, she couldn't provide peace for us. Being a police officer, my father had to fight for peace in Nepal.
Social determinants of the health
Mohammad Rajja • February 3, 2010
There are more than a few social determinants of the health of populations in the region. These encompass eight major ones discuss below. Other connected factors include stress, the nature of work, service status, as well as social support.
Poor countries and poor people suffer from multiple deprivations that translate into high levels of ill health and disability.
Poverty is an absolute barrier to good health. Its impacts health by influencing each and every solitary other factors adversely. The poor are more vulnerable to disease owing to; in their lack of access to primitive, preventive and curative fitness care, nutritious food and financial resources. In addition, poor people are also more vulnerable to environmental threats to health, such as polluted air and water, which undermine the quality of their lives.
Mohammad Rajja • February 3, 2010
About one neighborhood of the worldwide load of disease strength be accredited to environmental causes, with 40 for each cent of those overstated being children under 5.
In the middle of the 10 most significant humanity danger in high-mortality rising countries, hazardous irrigate, sanitation and cleanliness ranked second, at the same time as indoor be on fire from solid fuels ranked fourth internationally, water-related causes explanation for just about 80 per cent of each and every one infectious disease.
Globally, 1.1 billion people lack access to a safe water supply and 2.4 billion to adequate sanitation. In East Asia and the Pacific, 48 per cent of the populations have access to improved hygiene. In South Asia, merely 37 per cent have such access. Inadequate water provides and insufficient hygiene guide to ill health and therefore increase scarcity. Those who lack a reasonably priced and sufficient irrigate supply are the poorest in society.
American Jewish activist in India
Staff Reporter • February 8, 2010
American activist, writer and author, Dr. Richard L. Benkin has arrived in India for talks with various individuals and groups on discrimination of Bangladeshi Hindus and other minorities, including the large numbers of Hindu refugees who have fled Islamist-inspired communal violence to India. During his stay in South Asia, Benkin will visit some of those illicit refugee colonies in several areas bordering Bangladesh. He also will be meeting with people about other issues, including commercial relations, the greater war to stop Islamist extremism, and the growing support for Israel in the region.
India has full diplomatic relations with Israel for decades. Both countries have excellent bi-lateral relations on diverdified fields.
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