The New Nation - Internet Edition

WHEN natural calamities as a consequence of the global climate change have increasingly been ravaging the earth, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the globe and the world heritage site, is also facing disaster. The damage that the flora and fauna of the forest suffered in the recent cyclone is extremely devastating. Super cyclone 'Sidr' swept over the hitherto safe abode of 425 species of trees and herbs and 246 species of animals including the world famous Royal Bengal Tiger and razed innumerable trees and plants to the ground. According to the forestry official sources, the damage in the Sundarbans has preliminarily been estimated at Tk 1,000 crore. It is reported that near about 26.5 percent of the world heritage site, spread over an area of 41,14,000 hectares, has completely been damaged. Plants and animals of about 30,000 hectares have been damaged severely and those on 80,000 hectares partially.

The water inside the Sundarbans has become completely unusable due to salinity and rotten leaves and foliage. The human casualties within the Sundarbans, according to the forest office sources, were much less than what was feared. But casualties of tigers, deer and other animals could not yet be estimated. It is the trees of the Sundarbans that absorbed much of the rage of the cyclone. Otherwise, the Sidr could have been more disastrous on other areas and would have caused even more damages. This reminded all of the importance of a green belt along the coastal region. Trees not only help maintain environmental balance but also help reduce the ferocity of sea storms.

The Sundarbans had originally been extended over vast tracts of the coastal areas. But due to indiscriminate felling of trees and massive plunder of other natural resources, the forest has shrunk to less than six thousand square kilometres within Bangladesh. The number of inhabitants inside the forest has been increasing over the years. They are dependent more on the forest for livelihood. Due to increase in salinity in the rivers and canals within the forest due to diversion of water at upstreams, huge numbers of 'sundri' trees have been attacked by a disease called 'top-dying'. The existence of this forest is under double threat of man's greed and natural calamities. Only the conscious efforts of the world community can help protect this unique land of biodiversity. Since parts of the forest are spread over both Bangladesh and India, it is likely that coordinated efforts would be needed for the same.

ECONOMISTS have said that policies prescribed by the international financial institutions increased disparity, the cost of agricultural production and landlessness, and decreased credit flow into agriculture and soil fertility. The startling observation was made at a seminar held at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in the city. Some experts besides some organisations had from time to time expressed similar views. The economists, however, agreed to a certain extent with the findings, suggestions and recommendations of a study on the implications of prescriptions of the multilateral lending agencies - the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank - on agriculture. According to reports, D-Net, a non-governmental organisation working in the area of information technology and development, collated the findings and recommendations of the study released on the occasion.

The study found that the policies, often imposed upon the government by the lending agencies, had some good effects in the short term, such as in the case of privatisation of fertiliser distribution. Although prices decreased on the whole, they have now become very volatile, rising sharply during the peak seasons and this has increased the farmers vulnerability. Farmers were rather sceptical about the quality of both fertilisers and seeds that they procured from private operators since there was no effective regulatory mechanism in place. According to the study, privatisation of irrigation has led to an unplanned increase in the number of tubewells that use increasingly higher quantity of ground water resulting in arsenic poisoning across large tracts of land. Besides, widespread use of pesticide encouraged protecting the high-yielding varieties of crops, and decimated fish population across the country.

Due to liberalisation and corporatisation of banks, credit flow to the rural areas decreased, meaning that the rural deposits were finding their way into the cities while the farmers were becoming increasingly dependent on local money-lenders. The number of landless people has also increased as a net effect of such policies, the study found. Several policy reforms, undertaken at the behest of international lending agencies, have benefited people who are already affluent, but not the hardcore poor, thus increasing disparity. And constant pressures are on despite the adverse impact for such reforms in many developing countries like Bangladesh. One economist observed that the policy prescription had an element of 'threat' that all funding would be cancelled if the prescriptions were not followed, while the other part outlined the rewards if they were accepted.

It was pointed out that the neo-liberal policies undertaken by the agencies stemmed from the philosophy of complete market freedom as envisioned by the Washington Consensus'. And there was always pressure to reduce subsidies and government expenditure, since that would increase efficiency. But the countries of the North or developed nations that run these lending agencies still continue to heavily subsidise their agricultural sector, which means further imperilling our farmers by withdrawing subsidies, since it is not a level-playing field, as one economist remarked.

Md. Masum Billah

Of recent the clamour for making the local government strong and powerful has arisen from various corners and avenues. Many intellectuals and political analysts have opined that a strong local government could have faced the wrath of Sidr successfully. An expatriate columnist named Tayeb Husain has depicted a picture of local government of Sweden and suggested to form a strong local government in Bangladesh as well following the model and his suggestion has appeared in a vernacular daily on November 24 issue under the caption "Strong local government imperative for development." I also strongly support making the local government strong and powerful. Even then, I like to add some pragmatic points.

The writer says that our lowest tier of local government is Union Parishad which is the most neglected and most inefficient tier till today. The writer has vehemently suggested making this tier of local government much more effective and strong. It's a very good and convincing proposal and argument. He has suggested to make the Union Parishad responsible for primary and middle school education, healthcare, law and order, housing, care for the destitute and employment of men or women. He also suggested that Union Parishad should act as a primary court of justice and all local disputes shall be mitigated in this court. There should even be a small police force (3 or4 police men) and a jail in the Union Parishad . The DC or Upazila officer shall have no function whatsoever, and these post may be dissolved as soon as possible. To co-ordinate activities of the central government and the Union Parishad a coordination office can be established at district or divisional level.

I think Union Parishad should be allowed to look after only the service sectors. They must not interfere in the education matters. As public representatives at the local level are not educated, they don't understand the value of education. At present the school managing committee of secondary level employ the most inefficient teachers either on political ground or on taking bribe. It's a very sad experience. I asked some education specialists of Great Britain who told me that their local government is strong enough but they don't interfere in the education affairs of local schools. The standing law regarding education and the decision of the teaching staff and the institutional head will determine the modus operandi of educational institutions . The students who are not allowed in the test examination, teachers are forced by the local party touts to send them to sit for the board examination. As a result, they fail on mass in the examination and students don't dedicate themselves to study as they see these bad examples. So, the matter of education must not be allowed to deal with by the local government. Already teachers are exacerbated by the school managing committee who are usually uneducated people.

Teacher's job must be nationalised. If they think of satisfying the local authorities according to their sweet will or evil motif, they never can give proper education to the students. Yes, if the job of a teacher is not satisfactory enough, the institutional head will decide whether he/she should be transferred or not. But there must be good relation with the teachers with the local government bodies, in no way they will be allowed to interfere in the education affairs of the schools. Many of our public representatives are neither educated nor free from greed. Whenever, they will be involved in education matter, they introduce corruption, serious corruption. Their involvement in education matters must not be entertained in any way. We have already done a serious loss to our education sector due to the politician's involvement in education matters. Union Parishad will maintain good communication with the heads of institutions to ensure whether all the school affairs are going smoothly.

The writer also suggested that three or four police force will be under the Union Parshid Chairman. The intention and proposal of the write is very good but the practical phenomena of our village politics will make it a boomerang. Usually village touts are chairman and members. With some rare exceptions, most of them are corrupt people, they will hold the power of commanding police force will simply be a misuse of state police force and they will use it only for their own ends creating serious chaos in the locality. The impersonal use of police force even fails to maintain law and order situation and many innocent people get arrested, if it goes with local touts it will definitively be a serious blunder. Union Parishad already holds Chawkiders/village defense to guard the villages without any tangible result.

President Ershad, maybe, with some good intentions introduced Upazila Parishad but it did not work well. The judicial departments have been brought back to the district level again having some bad and sad experiences. Yes, all the local governments will be formed mainly to boost up economic development of the locality, not to poke their nose in the established order of the state. They must not wait for the money sanctioned from the central government and the local governments will take the responsibility of disbursing it. Local government will be formed with those kind of people who will take the initiative to establish local industries, boost up agricultural productions, fisheries, livestock and poultry farming and try practically to change the lot of the common men of their localities. Poor government cannot afford to send enough money and the local government waits only to distribute the money. It should not be the affairs of the local government. They must find out the potential sources and introduce ways and means to fatten the financial matters of the locality.

Union Parishad or Upazila Parshied whatever tier may be the local government, the local political touts occupy the field where innocent, educated and real patriotic people hardly gather. Educated sections and rising educated sections I mean students will be discouraged to see that all the power and responsibilities go with those who are not educated but touts. They will lose interest to dedicate themselves to study further. Our nation still bears the brunt of this kind of mistake. Many students leaders become billionaire without studying whereas the first class holders keep both end meet in the service life. Not only that, in a Upazila there are so many first class gazetted officers who will not be interested to work under the command of local touts. Our society has not yet reached upto that level of sophistication that the local governments will see angel like people who will change the whole society by dedicating themselves to social welfare activities. Local leaders remain surrounded by local touts and polecat goons and petty mastanss where all sorts of good intention get buried.

Health service is provided in hospitals where educated people I mean doctors work. In each upazila there remains a big health complex and each health complex sees several doctors who are first class officers. If a union parishad chairman or a Upazila chairman determines the hospital affairs, it will not work smoothly. To look into the affairs of the doctors a committee comprised of higher government officials along with local aristocrats can be formed.

All the local movements shall remain mainly responsible to boost up local economy. Whoever has power and money will compete in the local government election must not be entertained . A particular education background and some evidences of social work must make a candidate eligible for competing in the local government election. In the name of making local government strong and powerful a healthy society can never allow the political goons , greedy people and local touts to dominate the society.

The writer has proposed to abolish the post of DC and Upazila Nirbahi Officer. How impractical proposal it is! Can a ministry run without a secretary? Only minister is enough to run the ministry? Deputy Commissioner, a non-political employee of the republic, shoulders many many big and important responsibilities of the district. Government and the ministries maintain all sorts of district level administrative affairs through the DCs. And as a member of cadre service they hold the capability and strength to do these affairs very smoothly and efficiently which cannot be done by party goons or local touts. As still clean and educated people hardly come to politics particularly in local politics, we cannot afford to hold this sort of opinion .

Local government will co-ordinate with the local government officials. If they know how to coordinate and monitor the local affairs effectively, it will work a lot. They need not hold executive power as the writer proposes.

(The writer works as a specialist in Brac Education Programme, PACE, BRAC Head Office, Dhaka.)

Aijaz Zaka Syed

There's something terribly wrong with a society that parades and locks up its greatest hero like a petty criminal. You know, since Musharraf came up with this barmy idea of Emergency, I've fought an almost physical urge to offer my take on the issue, for what it's worth, like everyone else.

But then one thought: What's the point of adding yet another voice to the already deafening cacophony that the General's crackdown has sparked! From global television networks to think tank heavies, just about everyone has been holding forth on the General mayhem in Pakistan from every possible angle. What needed to be said has already been said. So what difference can another incoherent voice make? Yet, given the immense nature of the challenge facing Pakistan, nothing anyone says or writes can ever do justice to the issue. Besides, the latest crisis hitting the South Asian country is so incredibly fascinating. Pakistan never ceases to amaze you. So here goes.

First, I don't agree with the bunkum that these upheavals threaten the very existence of the Islamic republic. Pakistan is too resilient for that. If it had to collapse, it would have done long ago, soon after it was carved out of the Indian subcontinent. Don't forget that it began from a scratch, literally, 60 years ago when it won independence from the British. Unlike India, it had no institutional infrastructure and absolutely no financial resources.

So reaching where it finds itself today is nothing short of a miracle. This notwithstanding the body blow it has suffered in the dismemberment of the then East Pakistan. And how can we forget the equally helpful successive generals and democratically-elected politicians who have been incessantly chipping away at the country created in the name of Islam? So maybe Pakistanis ought to be grateful for what they are still left with. Someone up there must be really watching over this land.

But there's no denying the fact that today Pakistan is faced with a challenge that is unparalleled, even for a country with such an eventful history.

And perhaps nothing else illustrates all that has gone wrong with the country more aptly than what has happened to Imran Khan. Here's someone who is seen as some sort of demigod not only in the cricket-crazy Pakistan but in the whole of South Asia and wherever cricket is played.

The roughing up and incarceration of Imran came as a huge shock even to people like me who are not exactly crazy about cricket (Okay, I enjoy it once in a while whenever India and Pakistan clash. Who doesn't?). It's not Imran's legendary contribution to cricket that is behind his mythical status. He has earned himself genuine respect and admiration around the world for what he has done to pay back to his people and society. The cancer hospital he established in the memory of his mother remains the only one in the country to offer world-class treatment and care to cancer patients. But what really strikes you about Imran is his ability to remain rooted in his reality. He is not a typical celebrity who is afraid to come out of his ivory tower and mix with real people. His political vision is idealistic to a fault. And unlike the power-hungry elites the country has seen so far, here's someone who rejected power when it was offered to him on a platter.

This is perhaps why Pakistani authorities jailed this man, dumping him in a high-security prison meant for hardcore criminals and militants. This is just as well. After all, Imran has been accused of fomenting terrorism in the country. Yeah, the champ who led his country to the 1992 cricket world cup glory is a terrorist now.

This is no apology for Imran Khan. But don't you think there's something terribly wrong somewhere when your greatest hero is condemned as a terrorist and dumped with the wretched of the land? Imran's case shows how far and how fast Musharraf's Pakistan has travelled on the road to perdition. From the summary dismissal of Supreme Court judges to the imprisonment of thousands of politicians and civil society members to the crackdown on the media, the regime has tried every trick in the book to undermine the country's institutions.

What is most ironic about this whole business is the fact it was Musharraf himself who had played a critical role in strengthening the judiciary, the rule of law and freeing of the media in Pakistan. It was thanks to him that the Pakistanis were spared the torture of watching the PTV - it's as sleep-inducing as its counterpart in India - with the mushrooming of new media outlets. With scores of genuinely independent publications and television channels, Pakistan's media never had it so good.

When it came to media and political freedom, General Musharraf proved more democratic than the most democratic leaders of Pakistan. Not long ago, many of us including this columnist admired his mantra of Enlightened Moderation that championed the cause of genuine dialogue and understanding between the Muslim world and the West. At last, we told ourselves, here's someone who not only understands both Muslim and Western perspectives but is in a position to make both see each other's viewpoint.

When he took over from Sharif - thanks to the circumstances not of his own making - he inherited a country in total chaos. Sharif had demoralised the judiciary and the army by dismissing Supreme Court chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Army chief General Jahangir Karamat respectively. The media was up in arms thanks to the witch-hunt of big media groups like Jang and Dawn (History is repeating itself or what?). And economically, Pakistan was on the verge of bankruptcy. Musharraf turned the country around, putting it back on the track, politically and economically. Again, if for the first time in the subcontinent's history, there is genuine peace and understanding between India and Pakistan, the credit largely goes to the General. No wonder, unlike in the past, the mandarins in New Delhi haven't rushed to condemn the goings-on in the neighbouring country. For once, India is loath to see a General retreat.

This is why it's such a tragedy that Musharraf has turned out the way he has over the past few weeks and months. By inflicting Emergency, sacking judges and cracking down on the media, the General has undone all the good work he has done over the past eight years or so.

And ironically, if anyone is responsible for throwing Musharraf's formidable legacy down the drain, it's none other than the General himself! In his desperation to cling to power, what Musharraf is doing now is not his true self, as some of his detractors and pundits have suggested. This crackdown on the media and the entire civil society is actually the facade behind which the General is hiding to perpetuate himself in power.

Like Faust, our hero has bartered his soul to the Devil for power. Whatever happens now, this tragedy is going to end in the way all tragedies do: In tears and annihilation of everyone involved. If Musharraf succeeds in his attempts to stay on, Pakistan's democracy, judiciary, media and just about every institution fails. If he goes, he's likely to leave behind a trail of destruction. In either case, Pakistan stands to lose. The road from here only goes to perdition.

(Aijaz Zaka Syed is a senior editor and columnist of Khaleej Times.)