Bangladesh News and Discussion

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 27 Feb 2010 12:43

Hobson's choice!

India has to select the lesser of the evil and grin and bear it!

It would be real odd to allow a Frankenstein and then weep over split milk!

It is time to stop imposing and instead with good policies and covert ops manipulate BD politics and opinion!

Tamang · Post by **Tamang** » 01 Mar 2010 00:56

JeM coordinator for India, Bangladesh nabbed in Dhaka

Dhaka, Feb 28 (IANS) A Pakistani militant nabbed here Sunday confessed to working as coordinator of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bangladesh and as a recruiter for operations in India.

Rizwan Ahmed, 26, of Karachi made the confession at a media briefing at the headquarters of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that arrested him from Sukanya Tower, opposite Dhaka College in the national capital, Star Online reported.

He is one of the five operatives of the Pakistan-based militant organisation arrested from various parts of Bangladesh, an official said Sunday.

Four others are Bangladeshi citizens.

They are two brothers -- Imazuddin alias Munna and Sadek Hossain alias Khoka -- sons of Mohiuddin of Hajiganj thana in Chandpur, Abu Naser Munshi of the same district, and Nannu Mia alias Belal Mandol of Kotwali thana in Sylhet.

kenop · Post by **kenop** » 01 Mar 2010 06:56

Tamang wrote:JeM coordinator for India, Bangladesh nabbed in Dhaka

Another detailed report here
Click

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 01 Mar 2010 20:29

^^^^^^

read the comments posted by the readers after the main article.
One of the commentators 'Kazi Firoz' is doing a yoman's job by
shredding TSP in other bengali newspaper websites also for trying to
turn BD into another talib base.

One needs to watch the comments of the readers to get an idea
about the general mood. Though a few stray comments try to cast
doubts on these HUM, LET, HUJI arrest reports, a vast majority
of the commentators are deriding TSP left and right for pushing the
fundoo elements in BD. They also hold BNP/Khaleda, Jamait responsible
for the mess in bangladesh.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 01 Mar 2010 21:16

Hasina govt is taking a leaf out from the isreali handbook of keeping the jewish flock together, that is reminding the jews all over the world once in a while about the
holocaust. With govt patronizing, bangladesh is trying to remind its citizens the
supreme sacrifice made by its martyrs in 1971, their struggle for the Bengali language,
their resistance against pakistani oppression.

Ever since AL came to power, the country has been witnessing a resurgance of
cultural and academic activities. Almost all the bengali renaissance period poets
(that means the late nineteenth and early twentyeth century), artists and literary
figures are being remembered with must gusto. The nation has had witnessed
math olympiad covering thousands of schools, now science olympiad is rolling in.
Rabindranath Tagore (always a more than a national cultural hero) and Kazi Nazrul
Islam (doyen of secular bengal, whose famous line " ... who dare ask Hindu or Muslim? ..."
from the classic poem 'Kandaari Hooshiyaar') are getting a new makeover.

Today (March 1), while inaugurating the international musical festival, Smt Hisana said
that we have to fight terrorism and fundamentalism with our cultural weapon.
She mentioned that Bangladesh is going through a duality - one one hand the nation is
beset with terrorism, narrow mindedness of faith, on the other hand we find solace and strength in our rich cultural diversity. She then mentioned that the bengali race as a
whole never lowered its head to any adverse condition. And the arts, culture, literature
have shown the new direction to a new life.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 02 Mar 2010 07:57

Rehman Sobhan looks beyond the Delhi Summit

http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2010/ ... y/step.htm

Sadiq Ahmed makes the economic case for better Indo-Bangladesh relations

http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2010/ ... rising.htm

Reaz Rahman sounds a cautionary note on the recent Indo-Bangladesh summit

http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2010/ ... utcome.htm

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 02 Mar 2010 11:40

UN tribunal to arbiter Delhi-Dhaka maritime border depute

Dhaka, 1 March : The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has nominated three judges to constitute an arbitration tribunal on the Bangladesh-India maritime boundary dispute. The judges are Rudiger Wolfrum of Germany, Tullio Treves of Italy and Ivan Anthony Shearer of Australia. Wolfrum will preside over the tribunal. Bangladesh has nominated Alan Vaughen Lowe, a former professor of international law at the University of Oxford, to be a member of the five-member arbitrary tribunal, while India has proposed the name of P Sreenivasa Rao, a former legal adviser to the external affairs ministry. Bangladesh and India prefer speedy resolution of the disputes over their maritime boundary, Bangladesh government sources said. The ITLOS, with its headquarters in Germany, is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention. Bangladesh foreign ministry also started holding consultations with experts for preparation of the ‘memorial’ for ITLOS for delimitation of the maritime boundaries. According to the UNCLOS, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by 27 July, 2011, India by 29 June, 2009 and Myanmar 21 May, 2009. The three countries are signatories to the Convention.

Meanwhile, family politics continues with now SWJ joining Tareque Rahman in a family feud over the next gen. Awesome....

Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy arrives in Dhaka

Dhaka, 1 March : Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, arrived home on Monday four days after his enrolment in the Awami League. Joy, currently living in the US, enrolled as a primary member of the Awami League last week from Rangpur, his ancestral home. Joy and his wife landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the morning. From the airport they drove straight to Jamuna, the prime minister's residence.

On the CHT violence between Chakmas and Bengali settlers,
Ethnic people blame settlers ---- Point at some people in military uniform
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=128363
Dhaka terms EU statement on CHT 'unfortunate'
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=154695&cid=3
After the above EU statement, Baghaihat army zone gets new commander
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=154828&hb=2

Dhaka, Mar 1. A new commanding officer took over Baghaihat army zone on Monday, 10 days after army action was questioned during clashes in the remote area of Rangamati hill district. Army officials in the hill district and the capital told bdnews24.com that Lt Col Mohsin Alam joined as the zone's new commander, replacing Lt Col Wasimul Haque. Haque was shifted to adjoining Ruma, they said. Two bullet-ridden bodies were recovered following army intervention in the clashes at Baghaihat between indigenous and settler communities. Tribal leaders claimed at least six indigenous villagers were killed as the army opened fire on them during the clashes.

Indigenous people of Sajek union at Baghaichhari blamed army personnel and Bengali settlers for the Feb 19-20 incidents, which left at least two persons killed. They demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. "Feb 19 incident was a planned one. Army personnel first opened fire at Guccha Gram and Noapara to scare us and then settlers torched and looted the houses," Gyanendu Chakma, convener of Sajek Land Protection Committee, said in a press release on Monday. He said military personnel from Baghaihat army zone gathered the settlers the following day through loudspeakers and asked the hill people to leave the villages before launching a fresh attack.

and to top it, a scathing editorial in the daily star:
Can't we resettle some in plain lands? ---- Shahnoor Wahid
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=128247

THE people of the hills and the people of the plain lands are two diametrically opposite entities. They do not belong to each other's worlds. Their religion, traditions, customs, values, food, language and lifestyles are worlds apart. "Never the twain shall meet." So, let's face it, with due honesty, they can never live side by side in peace and harmony. Therefore, it is sheer foolishness to politically sweet-talk them or militarily force them to live as neighbours. Everyone is paying a high price for this. Today, in their own land, hill people are searching for cover to save themselves from the cutters of the settlers. So, our progeny, for centuries to come, will often wake up hearing the cries of death and destruction in the hills, unless the process is reversed.

The hill people have been living there for over one thousand years and they never came down to the plain lands to grab the land and property of the people there. But on our part we pushed them farther into the hills as we kept on grabbing their land with impunity, starting from Cox's Bazar. In the sixties, Cox's Bazar was a predominantly Chakma village, clean and beautiful with Chakma boys and girls selling trinkets to the handful of tourists. Today, Cox's Bazar looks like Sadarghat. Rangamati looks like Sadarghat in the making.

Let's not try to hide the fact that the hills have lost their beauty with settlers swarming like rats everywhere. They are noisy, raucous, unclean and undisciplined, to say the least. Most of them loaf around, as works are limited. If you look closely you will find that an overwhelming number of the settlers are good-for-nothing people who have been sent there by corrupt politicians. They grab anything in the hills that comes their way to earn a living. Many others have taken various types of crimes to the hills that never existed there before. These criminals continue to thrive with the blessings of some corrupt policemen and politicians.

Wow!! I thought this screaming disease was patented by the Testes-lites.
Elsewhere,

The first phase work for construction of the deep-sea port in Sonadia Island is likely to be completed by 2015 with an estimated cost of Tk 15,000 crore, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told the House yesterday. “Bangladesh will earn over Tk 1,000 crore in 2016 as revenue from the port and it will be double in 2020,” he said in scripted answer to lawmakers' queries. He said exploration of foreign fund and preparation of detailed design for construction of the seaport are underway. The government has taken a master plan to bring back navigability in 53 waterways and almost dying rivers at a cost of Tk 11,500 crore, the minister said adding the project is likely to be completed by 2018. He said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has moved to procure three dredgers and other water vessels and equipments for carrying out dredging in 53 waterways and nearly dead rivers. “Seventeen more dredgers will also be purchased by 2015,” he added. The shipping minister said works for extraction of waste from the bed of Turag River would be completed by the end of next year.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=128327

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 03 Mar 2010 21:04

1. USS Ingram is now visiting Bandladesh on its way from bahrain to Singapore.
Apparently it is leasing out one of its multi-purpose maritime helicopters to train
BD Navy. Later this year another halo will be given to strengthen BD navy. Two
naval crafts will be sold to BD navy too this year.

2. This is almost one year of the Pilkhana BDR massacre. Unlike the previous years,
this time the BDR meeting will be brief - just for one day instead of a weklong
affair. BD govt has passed a new legislation paving the way for changing BDR's name
to BG (Border Guards).

3. Thousands of jihadi books and literature have been confiscated from Rajshahi
University halls (hostel). These were apparently stashed by Islamic Chhatra Shibir
(Jamait's student wing). Administration is taking a no-nonsense attitude to weed out
Shibir elements from various campuses.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 05 Mar 2010 17:22

US amb to BD accompanied Tereseta Shaeffer to meet Khaleda Zia at her office for
a chit-chat that lasted for more than an hour. Is Shaeffer still active in diplomacy?

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 09 Mar 2010 07:59

A miracle called Tirupur!
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2 ... irupur.htm

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 10 Mar 2010 05:04

1. AL leadership should pay attention to rein in the out of control elements of
Yuva League (Youth wing of AL) and Chhatra League (student wing of AL). Some
elements have become nuisance, and have resorted to extortion, hooliganism, etc.
YL and CL elements are acting like neighborhood mastaans, collecting 'haapta' from
local traders, allot university hostel rooms auctioning them off, etc. The only reason
AL is keeping quiet is because they need this muscle power to neutralize
Jamait's student wing (Chhatra Shibir) and BNP's student wing (Chhatra Dal) elements.

2. From the middle of February trouble had been brewing in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)
-'Parbbyotto Chottogram' (PC) area. Though AL govt signed a peace agreement with
PCJSS (PC Jana Samhati Samiti) to give up their armed struggle in lieu of limited autonomy,
peace remained elusive. A segemnt of PCJSS came out and formed United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) to press for full autonomy. So every one expected that
now that hasina is in power, peace will prevail. But surprisingly, a series of clashes
between tribals and bengali settlers (who have been encouraged by successive BD
govt - elected or care-taker or junta to change the CHT demography) have shattered
that prospect. Thousands of tribals were evicted from their homes, their properties
burned, civilians killed. In retaliation, UPDF elements abducted several settlers. But what started that unrest? Now, after a thorough investigation by the parliamentary standing committee on CHT, it is found out that to discredit the AL govt, and create tension between hindu/buddhist tribals, and muslim settlers, it is Pak ISI that pulled the string. BNP central leader Wadud Bhuiyan, who is close to Jamait and known to have close contacts was the master mind. Some parallel between last years BDR revolt, and this years CHT unrest - exactly one year apart. Apparently, Bhuiyan mobilized Chhatra Shibir and Chhatra league elements from Rajshahi Univ and Chittagong Univ to create the unrest.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 11 Mar 2010 12:50

BDR, BSF to sign 'Joint Record of Discussions' today
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=129624

The Joint Record of Discussions is likely to record that no innocent life should be lost at the border due to the guards' actions as such a development was totally unacceptable because this involves local civilian populations. It is also likely to bring out Bangladesh's willingness to motivate its people not to undertake any act, which may force BSF to take tough measures. The Joint Record of Discussions is likely to suggest maintaining status quo and exercising restraint by both BDR and BSF in their moves in the adverse possession of enclaves.

Sources said the Joint Record of Discussions is likely to reflect recognition in both sides that the resolve at the highest level of leaderships of the two countries should percolate down to the field level to avoid impression of a communication gap and lack of coordination. BDR delegation led by its chief Mainul had the four-hour talks with Indian team and later met Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Home Secretary GK Pillai on Monday.

PM unveils big defence purchase plan
Fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, radar, armaments to be procured for Air Force
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=129633

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday unveiled her government's big defence purchase plan to procure fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missile system, helicopters, air-defence radars and armaments for Bangladesh Air Force soon. Besides, she said, the government has already approved a development plan for constructing necessary infrastructure at Cox's Bazar for smooth operation of fighter jets and transport aircraft to ensure security of economic activities in the vast maritime territories and relief operation in remote areas to protect people during natural calamity. The prime minister revealed the plans while addressing the Bangladesh Air Force officers on the occasion of the Air Force's annual exercises titled 'WINTEX-2010' at the BAF main fighter base at Kurmitola inside Dhaka Cantonment.

"Within just one year of assuming office, initiative has been taken to procure fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missile system, helicopter, air-defence radar, and armaments," she said. The process is also underway to arrange necessary funds for implementing the development plans for the Air Force, she added. "The budget allocation for the Bangladesh Air Force in the present fiscal year is the biggest in the history of the force," she told the function.

The prime minister also said various welfare projects for the members of the Air Force are under active consideration of the government. "The present government will take all possible measures to build the Air Force as an up-to-date force by equipping it with modern technology-based war weapons," she added. Sheikh Hasina said her government is committed to building a modern, knowledge-based air force excelled in training and technology in order to ensure security of the country and its people.

Besides, the government is giving attention to ensuring financial solvency of the members of the Air Force, she said. "In this regard, our main goal is to increase participation of Air Force members in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission. I have already talked to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and presented our logical demands in various international forums." The prime minister said the number of Bangladesh Air Force members in UN Peacekeeping Mission has now gone up to 467, almost double in comparison to the previous year. Besides, the government is considering sending 100 to 150 more Air force members to the UN missions.

Regarding the MIG-29 Purchase Case filed against her during the last BNP-Jamaat government, Hasina said the then government had kept the MIG-29 unused for a long time just to put her in trouble. She urged the Air Force members to know about the real history of the liberation war of 1971 and prepare themselves as confident, skilled and ideal military men. Earlier, the prime minister witnessed spectacular flying display of BAF fighter and transport planes and helicopters, including MIG-29 fighter plane, at the Kurmitola Base.

During the air-raid exercises code named 'EX-THUNDER', BAF jets showed various modern aerobatic tactics of air warfare when troops were dropped from helicopter by rappelling while transport aircraft dropped logistics with parachute which is indigenously made by the Bangladesh Air Force, said an ISPR press release. Earlier, on her arrival at the BAF Base, the Prime Minister was received by Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman. Security Adviser to the Prime Minister Maj Gen (Retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence Secretary Khandaker Md Asaduzzaman and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Abul Kalam Azad were also present.

US Navy in Bay of Bengal

The US and Bangladeshi navies on Tuesday began a three-day joint training exercise in the Bay of Bengal close to Burmese waters. The USS Ingraham docked on the Bangladeshi island of Kutubdia––situated just offshore between Cox's Bazar and Chittagong––on Monday with 200 US naval personnel, including 25 officers, led by Commander Adam J Welter, the report said. After the three-day program, the 453-foot frigate is due to continue to Singapore. In September, the USS Ingraham was involved in relief efforts in American Samoa after an earthquake struck the region.

Addressing reporters, Commander Adam said that the objective of the program is to strengthen relationships, mutual cooperation and understanding between the two countries. He said the naval exchange would also help strengthen anti-terror vigilance by the Bangladeshi navy within its territorial waters. Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Mrat Kraw, the editor of the Bangladesh-based Arakanese news agency Narinjara News, said, "Bangladesh is showing that it is prepared to cooperate with the US. At the same time, an American company is drilling for gas in the Bay of Bengal, so the US government is demonstrating that it will defend the territorial waters of Bangladesh. In the end, the Americans will benefit."

Bangladesh and Burma share a 320-kilometer [200-mile] border with disputed boundaries. Tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years over offshore hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal authorized by the Burmese military government. In October, Bangladesh called on the UN Arbitration Court to resolve the dispute. In January, Burma's Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint and Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Khurshid Alam held a meeting to discuss the territorial dispute.

‘It is abnormal that the conflict did not occur earlier’
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/mar/05/mar ... nner4.html

Does Al capone ring a bell?

A Dhaka court on Thursday fixed April 11 for hearing on charge framing against detained former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar in a tax evasion case. Judge Nasiruddin Mahmud of the Special Judge Court-5 passed the order following a time petition submitted by a counsel of Babar. Meanwhile, another Dhaka court asked Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to submit a probe report by May 2 in Basundhara bribery case filed against Babar and three others.

Metropolitan Magistrate MA Salam passed the order as the investigation officer and Assistant Superintendent of CID Syed Momin Hossain failed to submit the probe report to the court in the day. Earlier, Judge ANM Bashir Ullah of the Senior Special Judge's Court on February 14 this year issued an arrest warrant against Babar hours after a case had been filed against him for dodging Tk 2.65 crore income tax from 1999-2000 to 2008-09 fiscal years.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/l ... ?nid=22637

Tripura University to confer D Lit on Bangladesh PM Hasina

Agartala, 8 March : The Executive Council of Tripura Central University has decided to confer honorary D Lit degree on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership and initiative to improve bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh. Vice-Chancellor Prof Arunoday Saha said here today that the authority's decision had already been conveyed to the Bangladesh PMO and her consent was awaited.

Non-officially she agreed to receive D Lit and letter of confirmation is expected to reach soon. Prof Saha said Ms Hasina would be conferred the degree in the university convocation scheduled to come off in November this year. Indian President Pratibha Patil has consented to be the chief guest in the function. Appreciating Tripura University's decision of conferring an honorary D Lit on Sheikh Hasina Tripura Industry Minister Jitendra Choudhury said the move as a way of cementing further the bilateral relation between India and Bangladesh.

Govt sends female police team to UN mission : Sahara K

Dhaka, 8 March : Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun on Monday said the government will send a team of women police to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission soon. She said while inaugurating the third international meeting of ‘Doctrine Development Group on Formed Police Unit’ jointly organised by Bangladesh Police and United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations at a city hotel. The home minister said Bangladeshi police have provided top contributions to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the last three years. The meeting aims to set a unified curriculum of pre-training for the Formed Police Unit. A total of 52 police representatives from Bangladesh and 34 other countries are participating at the programme.

arun · Post by **arun** » 12 Mar 2010 07:11

Bangladesh origin individual on trial for terrorism in the UK:

Bangladesh-born accused of BA terror plot

Syed Nahas Pasha, London

London, Mar 11 (bdnews24.com)—A Bangladesh born computer software developer for British Airways appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of "planning suicide bombings and his own martyrdom".

Rajib Karim (30) volunteered to work as a member of BA's cabin crew during a strike, the City of Westminister Magistrates Court heard. It is alleged he was plotting with his terrorist bosses abroad "to commit an atrocity".

He faces three charges under counter-terrorism act: conspiring to prepare acts of terrorism in Britain, preparing for terrorism overseas and fund-raising for a terrorist organisation. One charge involves the UK and the other alleges that he plotted with contacts in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Yemen. …………….

BDNews24

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 12 Mar 2010 08:53

1. BD govt has embarked upon aquiring military hardware worth about 1.5 billion dollars.
BD Army's General Md. A. Mobin's upcoming state visit to India for five days assumes significance for this reason. Military to military contacts are on the upswing.

2. Education Minister Nurul Islam has stated that BD govt is determined to eradicate
religion-based education from the system. Education should be more practical, job
oriented and based on human values.

3. Indian High Commission sponsored an evening of dance performance at the Fine Arts Academy. Noted katthak dancer Manjuri Chaturvedi who has incorporated dance with sufi/mystic music presented her performance. The performance was organized by the
Indian Council for Cultural relations (projecting India's soft power).

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 14 Mar 2010 22:45

Indian and BD troops exchange fire in Meghalaya

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 18 Mar 2010 12:27

SHW in beijing. AH boat was missed, so lets see what this refocussing can do?? pakkalam.

We also welcome the focus on connecting Kunming to Chittagong, which we feel dovetails perfectly with this government's agenda for regional connectivity. We have always felt that connectivity is the key to Bangladesh's growth prospects and the Kunming initiative is an integral part of this vision.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=130476
Amusing that I never ever hear about the trade deficit with the chinis, why do the BDs dread bringing up the country with whom they have the highest deficit ever, beats me...

Brahmaputra to come up for discussion

NEW DELHI, March 17: Besides Teesta river water sharing, the Joint River Commission will also discuss issues relating to the Brahamaputra, Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers, said a senior official of the Ministry of Water Resources. A 16-member high-power Bangladeshi delegation led by Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen reached New Delhi on Wednesday for talks on an interim accord on sharing of Teesta waters and management of other common river waters. Union Water Resources Minister Paban Kumar Bansal will lead the delegation for the Joint River Commission meeting from tomorrow. The two sides are expected to come out with a joint declaration at the end of the talks.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 19 Mar 2010 00:33

Why the need for a 10 year upgradation plan for the BD Army? Why does it need missiles and a modern or in other words long to medium range fighter aircraft? It only shares border with India and Myanmar. It can be to satisfy the BD military itself and scratch the latter's ego. But a disproportinate increase ins trength to apparent peaceful needs is intriguing!

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Mar 2010 06:34

brihaspati wrote:Why the need for a 10 year upgradation plan for the BD Army? Why does it need missiles and a modern or in other words long to medium range fighter aircraft?

Because of its inferiority complex vis-a-vis Burma, even though the BD population will beat Burma's population 3 to 1. While BD's h&d issues with India are clear and reasonably well-documented (at least here), it fears the pincer movement that will cut down its lebensraum on the Chittagong axis. The Burmese give far better than BD while Indian give-back are usually terminated before the give-back provides a full-body blow and "a lesson never to repeat again" when the babudom and GoI-dom fear loss of strategic space to the inimical elements, of which there are aplenty. If one looks at the whines over Na Sa Kha fencing or the sea block issue with Burma, they are only worse than the BSF firings on the ah-so-innocent-as-white-snow Bangladeshis, who could never have anything to do with cattle or phenisydil smuggling.

Already when Chakma Buddhists (or more like Chakma Christian converts these days) or Rohingya Muslims get illegally pushed from Burma, one can see the whining and bleating. With loss of areable land due to rising sea levels, one will see more whines and more Muktapur like grabbing of "adverse possessions" (the new-age Pyrdiwah) when the riverines change course. Much of the fights in the Chakma region are due to lebensraum issues, and iced over with Islamism of the Jamaat or the HuJI types.

While one has to take a note of the BD modernization drive, one also has to be careful in not throwing a spanner at the works at the drop of a hat. Quite a bit of the BD army modernization happens only after India is ok with Russkies selling their wares to BD. Indian army also wants to catch some space (that has been taken over by the poor chini clones) in selling some of our wares. The BDR are a bit more roguish than the army, at least from what I can guess, due to face-offs with BSF aplenty. The army still remembers the 71 institutionally, I can further guess, than say the DGFI or the BDR combine.

Lets put it this way: the onus is entirely on India to help BD find lebensraum by helping them reclaim land in the delta region rather than allow our region to be taken over by illegal immigrants. The fence is still a bit away from being fool-proof, the Indian "green card" system is at least 10-20 years away, and there is no way in hell we can drive out 150 million people as the sea encroaches their land. Further, the Indian NE is conjoined with the well-being of BD, both as a source of cheap products and as a market for NE goods. Just as a metric and an extreme example, it is at least 2000 kms from Calcutta to Agartala by road via the Chicken Neck. In terms of economics, it makes little to zero sense to let Agartala depend on trans-shipment of goods via the sea (which still needs Akhaura in BD as the entry-point) or via Burma (through Manipur in the yet-to-be fruitioned Kaladan project) or worse, by road through the Gorkhaland region. The MEA thinking cap is along these lines, as much of it that is unsaid and said in various quarters.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100316/j ... 221348.jsp

India’s effort to improve military relations with Bangladesh was stepped up since 2008. Part of the reason for the renewal of effort was a concern that Bangladesh’s military was intensifying its exchanges with China. Bangladesh holds war exercises with the Chinese military but not with India. But it deputes officers to attend courses in Indian military institutions.With the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government also helping India in dealing with Northeast-based insurgents, New Delhi is now eager that the militaries co-operate more.

The Indian Air Force has offered the Bangladesh Biman Bahini (Bangladesh Air Force) use of its facilities to modernise and maintain fighter aircraft and helicopters. The Indian Navy is also now considering refurbishing and repairing the Bangladesh Navy’s frigates. “The visit assumes special significance in the light of improving military co-operation between the two countries in consonance with India’s growing relationship with Bangladesh,” a defence ministry statement said.

Too bad that Gen. Mubin could nt find time for Siachen, next time.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 19 Mar 2010 22:21

Foreign Ministry Speaks Bengali
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100319/j ... 235284.jsp

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 23 Mar 2010 16:17

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131237

On reducing the trade gap with China, Dipu Moni said the Chinese side expressed willingness to provide duty-free access to more Bangladeshi products. “Chinese investment in Bangladesh will also help reduce the gap,” she added.

Chooo*****yes, when GoI offered the same way to reduce the gap in trade, did nt all you idiots run around nakid like a buncha pigs? Now, the same is ok wrt the cheenis? You run a huge deficit with china and in return they invest and take over your country, and then you wonder and whine and mudsling Indians. Shri Pinak Ranjan Mukherjee can tell that to you in diplomatese, but here is my dehati Bongla for you: Wake up and get a life....

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said yesterday China is very much willing to establish direct rail link between Dhaka and Kunming, and help build a deep-sea port at Sonadia island for boosting trade and investment. “Beijing also assured us of using the deep-sea port, which is very important for its viability,” Dipu Moni said while briefing journalists at the foreign ministry about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's just-concluded state visit to China.

Since the planned seaport will require huge investment, assistance from more than one country will be needed, she said. “When the seaport is built, China will also benefit from it as prices of Chinese products abroad will be less because of shortening of distance,” the foreign minister said.

Here is my question for the aamchi bangladeshi: how many items has cheena, the benevolent brother of yours, removed from the trade barrier list? Can we have an answer to this before the scumbags start throwing mud on Yindia, the Yindoo behemoth?

Constraining the bsf when the smugglers will run amok given that the fences are not 100% there yet, or is the MHA getting comfortable with the fence situation? I dont know, I can only hope that Shri GK Pillai and Shri PC know what they are yakking about.

THE Indian Home Secretary's statement, given at a seminar in New Delhi on March 19, that India is considering a unilateral no- firing option at the borders with Bangladesh for a year, is welcome news. We felicitate it as a potential positive gesture that we would like to see happen.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131020

A Chandpur court on Tuesday asked five Jamaat-e-Islami leaders including its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed to appear before the court by May 6 in a case for hurting religious sentiment of Muslims. Judge Mohammad Mozammel Haque of the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Chandpur summoned the five Jamaat leaders and passed the order hours after a criminal case was filed with the court. The three other accused are Jamaat Nayebe Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Dhaka city Jamaat ameer Rafiqual Islam and Paltan Jamaat ameer Shafiqul Islam.

All for Rafiqul comparing Motiur with the Prophet..... As they say, makes for one big show in a country where one Islamist can use the Islam khatrey mein hain tagline to punch a hole in another fellow-Islamist of his disliked club. Nice show, but I would want Motiur and other scumbags to suffer for their pre- and post-71 orgy of violence. And Golam Azam to burn in hell for Naokhali. I dont mind an al-capone route for that.

Syed Rejaul Haque Chandpuri, secretary general of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, filed the case with a metropolitan magistrate's court in Dhaka against five Jamaat leaders. After hearing the case, Metropolitan Magistrate Abdullah-Al Mamun yesterday fixed Tuesday for passing an order on the case.

Our Lalmonirhat correspondent reports that Chief Judicial Magistrate of the district Abu Mansur Mohammad Ziaul Haque yesterday issued the summons on four Jamaat leaders after district Awami League General Secretary Motiar Rahman filed the case.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131036
Wonderful, the way BAL is putting the J-e-I nuts in a vice. Squeel baby, squeel.

vina · Post by **vina** » 24 Mar 2010 16:57

Poetic or what ?

Disputed Isle in Bay of Bengal Disappears in to the Sea.

Now if only Pakiland would one day fall off the map into the sea!.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Mar 2010 12:52

Why is Saka "the chameleon" filing a case on behalf of SHW? Beats me, except if he wants to show his chameleon-ish colors.
'Slow-poisoning' of Hasina ---- Court rejects SQ Chy's bid to sue 7
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131488

Chowdhury, an MP from Chittagong, said in his complaint: "Sheikh Hasina is the leader of parliament ... There were attempts on her life." The BNP leader said the matter had "infuriated" him. "So I decided to file a case over the matter," he said in the case statement.

Wow.....

Graft Case --- HC quashes all proceedings against Sajeda
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131573
And to time it impeccabley, Syeda begum is honored by SHW for contributions to the liberation war.... Wow, wow, all in a day's work in BD onleee...

Order on Lafarge Activities ---- Ties with Dhaka to be affected ---- Indian govt tells SC
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=131571

Prior to the stay, Lafarge was carrying out extraction of limestone from its mines in Meghalaya for transporting the same to its cement plant in Bangladesh.

The Indian government said it would disturb diplomatic relations with Bangladesh, where Lafarge's plant is situated, if the stay was not lifted. The Indian environment and forest ministry came to the conclusion that permission for extracting limestone, a key input for making cement, from the region of Shella village in East Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya was allegedly obtained fraudulently by showing the forest land as barren land.

Some background:

The LUMPL has been transporting limestone mined from Nongtrai to the cement plant at Chhatak, owned jointly by the LSCL and Spanish company Cementos Molins, by a 17 kilometre long cross-border conveyer belt. The LSCL plant at Chhatak in Bangladesh has a capacity of producing 1.5 MT cement every year. The order followed a petition lodged by a local tribal organisation, the Shella Joint Action Committee (SJAC), that alleged that the French company's exploitation of the natural resources at Nongtrai, was posing a threat to the environment and changing rainfall pattern in the area.

It claimed that rainfall in and around Nongtrai had reduced due to large-scale cutting of forest caused by the limestone mining. It also said that the rainfall that came flowed off the land instead of being retained in the hilly stretch. Nongtrai had once earned the sobriquet of being "the wettest place on earth". The organisation also alleged that LUMPL had obtained environmental clearance for the project by misrepresenting to the Indian Government that it would carry out mining in "wasteland and non-forest area consisting mainly of barren land, and rocks" although in fact the area had thick forest.

It had also alleged that the State Government of Meghalaya had transferred ownership of the tribal land to the LUMPL in violation of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution which prohibits transfer of tribal land to non-tribal individual or entities. Lafarge, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on March 16, admitted that it had mortgaged tribal land in Meghalaya to international banks to secure a loan of US $153 million to finance its plant in Chhatak, but claimed that this had been approved by the reserve Bank of India – the central bank of the country – in March 2005.

Three years ago in April 2007 the Indian Government's Ministry of Environment and Forest had stopped the LUMPL's operation in Nongtrai, but an interim order made on November 23, 2007 had allowed the company to continue mining.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=156585&hb=4
I am kinda confused by the "big picture" that GoI sees. First, came GoI's support during Pilkhana. Then, came GoI's support against Burma in case of a border crisis with Na Saw Kha. Then, there were missions by MKN to warn SHW of assassination plots. Then, came ULFA handover. Then, came Shri GKP's "unilateral no-firing". Then, came the removal of the BSF post in Muktapur overruling DD Lapang's ministry in Meghalaya. Then, came silence when CHT blew up in a major maelstrom. Then, this batting for BD in Indian SC, without much concern about des ki raw materials. Kya ho raha hai?

Myanmar proposes re-drawing sea border with Bangladesh

Dhaka, 23 March : Myanmar has proposed drawing up of a new line to demarcate the maritime boundary with Bangladesh which is currently in talks with its western neighbour India on the sea border issue. Bangladesh insists on the principle of "equity and equidistance" with its neighbours and has lodged complaints at the UN against both the countries. The new line on the map proposed by Myanmar should be near the "Friendship line" that is an imaginary line down to St Martins Island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal.

Jamaat-e-Islami could lose its registration as a political party if it doesn't amend seven points in its charter, which months after the deadline for final changes is still in conflict with the country's constitution. According to the Election Commission, the Islamist party, a major ally of the main opposition BNP, is refusing to fully comply with registration requirements, even after the commission found points inconsistent with the law.

Party leaders said a part of the text of one section would be dropped that remained in the constitution during submission to the commission due to "printing error". The party has at last agreed to accept the loyalty to the country's constitution by dropping the point stating that it did not acknowledge any entity other than Allah as the supreme and sovereign power.

Other clauses that are inconsistent with the commission's requirements include: eradication of all kinds of atrocities, corruption and injustice from the society by establishing the rule of Islam through concerted effort; and change the government in a conventional way to establish the rule of Islam.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=156638&hb=2
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=156635&hb=1

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said that 30 army officers of the 57 killed during the BDR mutiny last year had been picked for special duty or belonged to families of ruling Awami League leaders.

Wow, if this is true. It explains the mayhem in Pilkhana. Much of the bs is then an inter-party scuffle in the name of BDR-this, BDR-that. The intra-party loyalty is far higher than national consciousness? Oh, welcome to TN a la 1970s and 80s.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Mar 2010 03:40

Book Review in Telegraph, 26 march 2010

Tidal Waves

TIDAL WAVES
- Frontiers of a new nation

A History of Bangladesh By Willem van Schendel, Cambridge, Rs 495

Last month, the airport in Dhaka was renamed after Hazrat Shah Jalal, the 14th-century conqueror-turned-Sufi-saint who is credited with introducing Islam to what was then eastern Bengal. Around the same time, The Economist published a survey in which Dhaka was rated as the world’s second-worst city to live in — after Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Renaming streets, other public utilities and monuments has been part of Bangladesh’s politics almost since its birth. But invoking Shah Jalal’s name is different — it captures the new nation’s struggle to invent a cultural history that dates from a distant past. The Economist survey, by contrast, reflects the country’s present history with its focus on social, economic and environmental life in Bangladesh’s capital city.

Most accounts of the country dwell largely on two aspects of Bangladesh — its abject poverty and its political-cultural search for an Islamic identity. Myths are invented through emphasis and omission, and competing versions of community imagined.

Willem van Schendel’s book is a refreshing change. Here is a narrative that looks at the past without attempting to create myths, and at the present without being judgmental. This is no easy task considering that Bangladesh’s blood-soaked birth and the recent activities of its Islamic radicals make it difficult to write on the country dispassionately.

Van Schendel strikes a different note right at the beginning of his history. Conventional wisdom treats Bangladesh as a “geographical absurdity”. To van Schendel, Bangladesh’s geography is crucial to the process of community-building that happened there over centuries.

Three forms of water — river, rain and sea — not only make up Bangladesh’s natural environment but have also shaped its economic and cultural identities since ancient times. Floods and tidal storms may routinely destroy life and property in the country, but they also make its soil one of the richest on the earth. Living dangerously on water’s edge, as the book shows, also made the people there perennially prone to migration, and exposed them to influences from other shores.

The book offers an interesting explanation as to why Islam emerged as the majority religion in this region, so far from the Arab world and surrounded on all sides by areas where Islam never had such an impact. Van Schendel’s thesis is that the geography and the agrarian frontier helped the Islamic Bengali identity remain strongly rooted in the delta’s milieu. He also argues that the Mughal State did not have a policy of promoting Islam in Bengal. All this made it possible for a new blend of Islamic and Bengali worldviews to emerge in the land.

There are historians, though, who offer other explanations for the spread of Islam in the region. Richard M. Eaton, for instance, has argued that in the eastern delta — inhabited by “communities lightly touched, if touched at all, by Hindu civilization” — Islam came to be associated with State-recognized control of reclaimed land, the expansion of wet-rice cultivation, and literacy. Van Schendel, however, makes a distinction between the deltaic region and other parts of the land such as the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where the people were neither Muslim nor Bengali.

This search for an Islamic Bengali identity that dates back to the first writings of Muslim religious reformers in the 19th century shapes nation-building in Bangladesh even today. The book traces the history of this search through the colonial period, the Partition and then the birth of Bangladesh.

For a long time, at the heart of this quest for identity was the debate over language. Many educated Muslims and religious leaders refused to accept Bengali as an Islamic language. The lowly peasants steeped in Bengali culture, they argued, could not be accepted as “true” Muslims.

The pro-Bengali reformers sought to counter this by introducing what is known as “Mussalmani Bengali”. It was their attempt to Islamize Bengali by introducing Arabic and Persian terms.

But Bengali, after all, was the language of the masses and, after Partition, increasingly became a tool for stirring a new political nationalism, as opposed to the religious nationalism that triumphed in the creation of Pakistan.

One of the great strengths of van Schendel’s narrative is his recreation of the new nationalism that found a dramatic expression in the language movement of 1952. He captures not only the high points of the movement but also the process that was slowly nurturing it in so many different ways. There were political and economic reasons behind the popular resentment against Pakistani rule. But there were cultural currents that channelled and fed the anti-Pakistan sentiment. The roles that cultural organizations like Chhayanat and literary magazines like Bichitra played in sustaining the new linguistic nationalism come alive in the book’s sensitive but dispassionate portrayal of the period.

The same tone of a neutral but sympathetic analysis marks van Schendel’s account of the birth of the nation. Those familiar with the stories of the 1971 genocide by the Pakistani army might feel that the book does not quite capture the scale of the tragedy that saw millions killed and millions more forced to leave their homes and begin life as refugees in India.

More important, the massive waves of Hindus fleeing from Bangladesh left their mark on the nation’s subsequent struggles over its political and cultural identity. That struggle shows not only in the political rivalry between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party but also in the recent attempts by other outfits, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, and religious extremists to radicalize politics and culture in Bangladesh.

But there are completely new twists and turns today to the Bangladeshis’ search for identity and to their daily lives. With 150 million people, the country is bursting at the seams. But some 80 lakh Bangladeshis now live abroad and the migration stories have changed dramatically over the past four decades. Their encounters with the world keep changing the multiple frontiers of this old land. But, as van Schendel tells us, so much of the old still lives on in the floodplains where life continues to be about rice, fish and boats.

ASHIS CHAKRABARTI

Interesting prespective.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 28 Mar 2010 04:42

“There will be a joint forum between India and Bangladesh for protection of Sunderbans ecosystem that spreads from India to Bangladesh,” Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/n ... 24146.aspx

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 31 Mar 2010 23:47

Court upholds provocative Bangladesh photography exhibit
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/behind-42/

Word comes from Dhaka, Bangladesh, that “Crossfire,” an exhibit of photographs by Shahidul Alam exploring extrajudicial killings in that country, has reopened.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 05 Apr 2010 07:04

Dnajpur (West Bengal), April 4 : Border Security Force personnel have seized 500 detonators from Haripukur village near the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal state's South Dinajpur district.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-83437.html

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Apr 2010 19:34

BD revokes license of 3000 charities

Bangladeshi authorities have shut down nearly 3,000 charities, including a number of organisations that were allegedly “spreading militancy” in the Muslim-majority nation, an official said on Monday.

Bangladesh’s secular Awami League government has made tackling militancy a top priority after the country was hit in 2005 by a series of deadly bombings by militant groups seeking to impose sharia in the country.

Militancy: Arshad Hossain, director of the social services department, said licences for 2,931 non-government organisations were cancelled this month after they were found to be breaching government guidelines.

“They were given licences to run social welfare projects in healthcare, education and nutrition but many were involved in unrelated work, including spreading militancy,” he told AFP. This was the first time the government has taken such significant steps against allegedly bogus charities, he said, adding that the licences of another 3,000 groups will likely be cancelled soon. Bangladesh has been seeking to crack down on groups often bankrolled by donors in wealthy Muslim countries that it says use aid projects as a way to spread radical ideas in the South Asian country of 144 million. In April last year police charged a Bangladeshi-born British charity chief accused of using an Islamic school on a remote southern Bangladeshi island as a cover to store weapons and explosives. The same month authorities deported a Sudanese national after he was accused of using the local branch of Kuwait-based charity, the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, to train militants. Tens of thousands of charities operate in Bangladesh, where 40 percent of the 144 million population live below the poverty level. The Social Welfare Ministry alone has approved licences for 55,000 charities.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 17 Apr 2010 23:33

They said the Mujibnagar government after its formation on April 17, 1971 played a very significant role in conducting the War of Liberation and its contribution will remain ever remembered in the country's history.

Bangladesh became independent in December 1971 at the end of a freedom struggle that also entailed an armed conflict between India and Pakistan, in which Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered.

Released from a Pakistani prison, Mujib returned home to head the government, in which his Mujibnagar colleagues also served.

All of them, except Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed, were assassinated in 1975 in a military-led putsch. Ahmed became the president after the coup.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-91428.html

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 19 Apr 2010 09:33

Dhaka, April 18 : Chalna, a port town in southwestern Bangladesh, will be the location for a proposed 1,310 megawatt coal-fired power plant to be set up as a joint venture
between Bangladesh and India, an official said Sunday.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-91747.html

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 Apr 2010 02:49

Chinese Puzzle in India-Bangladesh Relations ---- Anand Kumar
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/Chinese ... mar_190410

But India’s enthusiasm has dampened after Hasina’s visit to China, principally because similar transit facilities have been granted to China as well. Bangladesh has sought Chinese assistance in constructing a highway passing through Myanmar to Yunnan province of China. A rail network passing through the same area has also been proposed. And Bangladesh went out of the way to persuade China to further develop and use the Chittagong port and develop a deep sea port at Sonadia Island. A Chinese role in the development of Chittagong is particularly worrisome to India, since it would be similar to China’s involvement in the development of Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Baluchistan. China reportedly has access to the Myanmar naval base in Hanggyi Island and has established a monitoring station at Coco Island, north of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Through these ports, China is trying to fulfil two objectives – encircle India as part of its ‘string of pearls’, and gain other openings to sea.

While Bangladesh says that it is trying to establish an equal relationship between India and China, it is clearly trying to benefit by leveraging its geo-strategic position between Asia’s two rising powers. This may be a happy situation for Bangladesh and even for China. But India would not benefit in equal measure. In fact, a Chinese presence in Chittagong would present a major security concern for India.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 23 Apr 2010 03:20

xpost
Challenge to IPCC's Bangladesh climate predictions

Previous "studies on the effects of climate change in Bangladesh, including those quoted by the IPCC, did not consider the role of sediment in the growth and adjustment process of the country?s coast and rivers to the sea level rise," he told AFP.

Even if sea levels rise a maximum one metre in line with the IPCC's 2007 predictions, the new study indicates most of Bangladesh's coastline will remain intact, said Sarker.

"Based on the findings of the study, it appears that most of Bangladesh?s coastline, notably the Meghna estuary, which is one of the largest in the world, would rise at the same pace as the sea level growth," he said.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 25 Apr 2010 04:42

Bangladesh lifts ban on Indian films

DHAKA: Bangladesh has lifted a four-decade ban on Indian films in a bid to boost attendances at cinemas, a government minister said on Saturday, drawing loud complaints from local actors and directors.

Films produced by India's huge entertainment industry centred in Mumbai have been banned from cinemas in Bangladesh since the country's independence in 1972 in a bid to protect the local movie industry.

"We lifted the ban to boost the cinema industry," Bangladesh commerce minister Faruk Khan said.

Cinema hall owners, who have been clamoring to be allowed to show Indian films, said they expected to start showing Indian films shortly.

Pirated DVD copies of Bollywood movies circulate widely in Bangladesh in the absence of them being shown in cinemas.

"The new order scraps the ban and allows screening of Indian and other South Asian films in local cinemas provided they have English sub-titles," the government's Film Censor Board chief Surat Kumar Sarker said.

But not everyone supports the move.

"Indian films will completely destroy our film industry and our culture. At least 25,000 people will be jobless," said Masum Parvez Rubel, a leading star and a co-coordinator of a newly created front against Indian films.

"We have appealed to the commerce minister and the authorities to reverse the decision. Otherwise, we'll protest until the last drop of blood," he said.

India's prolific film industry churns out about 1,000 new releases a year.

link

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 25 Apr 2010 05:04

^ I expect some minor fatwas to be issued and some

about "Indian cultural hegemony".

arun · Post by **arun** » 02 May 2010 16:35

Ranjan Daimary alias D R Nabla, who heads the anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
handed over to India:

Dhaka hands over top Bodo separatist leader

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 04 May 2010 01:07

India and Bangladesh's thriving cow trade

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 2346.story

India has outlawed cattle exports, but that hasn't prevented well-organized traffickers from herding millions of the unlucky beasts each year onto trains and trucks, injecting them with drugs on arrival so they walk faster, then forcing them to ford rivers and lumber into slaughterhouses immediately across the border.

"There used to be smuggling, but now the border is completely sealed," Ghankar said, sporting camouflage fatigues, shiny black boots and a 20-round semiautomatic rifle. "Soon we'll even have a fence."

Area residents have a different take.

"The border guards are in on it, both in India and Bangladesh, and take bribes to look the other way," said Yasin Mullah, 55, a Murshidabad shopkeeper and cow owner. "Smuggling is rampant these days with all the money and growing population."

Estimates suggest 1.5 million cows, valued at up to $500 million, are smuggled annually, providing more than half the beef consumed in Bangladesh.

At the Panso market in Jharkhand state, an interim stop about 300 miles from the border, the 15,000 or so cows passing through each week fetch about $100 apiece, local vendors say.

Animals that arrive exhausted are injected with Diclofenac sodium, a banned anti-inflammatory drug, to energize them. Most of the traders are Muslims. Many of the drivers and handlers are Hindus. At the border, crossings are usually done at night.

India has mostly turned a blind eye to the smuggling problem. "It's too political," she said. "And every pocket is being lined, with a trade of this magnitude."

Bangladesh has little incentive to raise the issue publicly either, analysts said, given that it taxes the smugglers and is quite happy not to pay India the duties that a legal trade would entail.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 04 May 2010 14:18

Amusingly, there is little to no press on the Ranjan Daimary issue in BD press. Even mainstream Indian media dont talk a big deal. It is only the Assamese media that do talk a lot, esp the whines of DR Nabla's sister and the BWJF. So much for interest in the apprehension of the second most-wanted man in Assam, the NE of India is a world away from what gets into the limelight in ddm.

Dhaka, Delhi sign mega power plant deal
http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=154131&cid=2
India power deal goes under scanner
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=160076&cid=2
Lafarge may suffer as mining ban stays {The Solicitor General of the GoI pleaded on behalf of GoBD}
http://biz.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=4&id=159468

India's Supreme Court on Monday refused to lift a ban on limestone mining by the French multi-national in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya.

There is a two-fold issue here. GoI wants to use this case as a precedent to open up the resistance by NGOs, esp the Khasi Students Union on Uranium mining related issues. Unfortunately, for that it is pleading on behalf of a furrin government, esp when unethical gora companies care two hoots about environmental degradation. In that sense, it is strengthening the arms of these vested NGOs who cry all over the place on this and that, esp envt related issues.

Police nab Bangla Bhai's associates
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=160064&cid=2

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 05 May 2010 09:39

Bangladesh authorities Saturday handed over Ranjan Daimary, chief of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), to India where he is wanted for ordering bomb attacks, officials said.

He is the fifth top separatist leader to be evicted out of Bangladesh in the past four months.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-99875.html

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 06 May 2010 06:59

Women can't be forced to wear veil, rules Dhaka court
http://sify.com/news/women-can-t-be-for ... jiife.html

Muslim women cannot be forced to wear the veil while at work or in public, the Dhaka High Court has ruled while stating that it should be their personal choice.

It said in a ruling Thursday that no one could force women, working at public and private educational institutions, to wear the veil or cover their heads against their will.

The court directed the education ministry to ensure the execution of its order.

It asked the education secretary to ensure that women were not harassed by their superiors at educational institutions.

Bangladesh is a largely-Muslim nation where women, active in political and public life, move without veils.

The verdict came in response to a writ petition filed to seek a directive following a newspaper report that a sub-district education officer of Kurigram insulted a female teacher for not wearing the veil in June last year.

The high court bench of woman judge Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan and Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain also asked the education secretary to carry out the directives given by this court in May last year on sexual harassment of women at the institutions.

The court May 14 last year directed the authorities concerned to form a five-member harassment complaint committee headed by a woman at every workplace and institution to investigate allegations of harassment of women.

The bench Thursday asked the secretary to transfer the official, Arif Ahmed, who passed the remark on Sultana Arjuman Huq, headmistress of Atmaram Bishweshwar Government Primary School.

Earlier in January this year, Ahmed apologised to Arjuman before the high court and the court acquitted him of the charge after Arjuman pardoned him.

Bengali language daily Shamokal June 26 last year reported that Arif Ahmed had called Sultana Arjuman Huq 'Beshya' (prostitute) at a meeting June 25.

Anjuman felt insulted and became sick after the incident, the report said.

sum · Post by **sum** » 06 May 2010 09:02

Unfinished tasks in Bangladesh

The Sheikh Hasina government has opened what could turn out to be a new chapter in Bangladesh's history, setting in motion a process that was long overdue: the trial of those involved in what should be considered crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. On March 25, 2010, the government announced the formation of a tribunal, an investigation agency and a prosecution team under a law enacted as early as in 1973.

Horrendous crimes were committed during the war: some three million people were killed, nearly half a million women were raped and over 10 million people were forced to flee to India to escape military persecution. Justice has not yet caught up with the perpetrators. This has had a profound effect on Bangladesh over the decades since.

The trial is not just a fulfilment of the current government's political commitment, but a step towards meeting a national obligation to the judicial process. It is an important step to meet the nation's commitment to restoring the rule of law.

In the general elections of December 2009 in which the Awami League-led grand alliance won a resounding mandate, the issue of a war crimes trial played a role. An overwhelming majority of the people, especially those from the new generation of voters, evidently marked their unequivocal support for the demand.

The Sheikh Hasina government has recently seen the judiciary meting out punishment to the assassins of the country's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The historic trial was held after 34 years of the bloody changeover that forced the new-born nation to detract from its secular ‘pro-liberation' line. And by starting the war crimes trial three and half decades after the war, the government has shown both courage and conviction to accomplish an unfinished national task.

The investigators have identified and are pursuing the perpetrators, and the trial has popular support. But the process is facing resistance from the government's political opponents, particularly from the fundamentalist and right-wing parties. Understandably, such resistance comes mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami that took a stand against the country breaking free from Pakistan. But the Jamaat got a boost when it mustered tactical support from its political ally, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia.

The trial is meant to bring to justice those collaborators of the Pakistan Army who perpetrated genocide, mass rape, arson and looting. It is also a rejuvenation of the ‘Spirit of 1971' on the basis of which the former East Pakistan became Bangladesh. The trial makes a moral point: that the rule of law must prevail and justice must be dispensed to those who committed the crimes.

The irony is that while the trial process that was initiated soon after independence got frustrated following the assassination of Sheikh Mujib in 1975. In the light of the Simla Agreement signed between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on July 3, 1972, and the tripartite agreement signed on April 9, 1974 in New Delhi, 195 Pakistani war criminals were allowed to go back to their country along with over 90,000 Prisoners of War who had surrendered to the India-Bangladesh Joint Command in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. However, those agreements have no relevance for the trial of Bangladeshi citizens who committed offences such as killing, looting, arson and repression of women.
.........

Read it all..

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 09 May 2010 19:20

Truth lost? Most military records of Bangladesh war missing