The New Nation - Internet Edition

High prices of yarn

Export-oriented knitwear manufacturers have reportedly alleged that an 'informal cartel' of local spinners keeps yarn prices exorbitantly high despite a significant fall in global cotton prices in recent weeks. Spinners raised yarn prices when global cotton prices jumped two months back, but look reluctant to respond to the steep fall in prices seen for a month in international markets. The price of the widely used single carded yarns of 30 counts was raised within a few days to 2.95 US dollars from 2.45 - 2 .50 US dollars per kilogram as raw cotton price soared to 90 dollars per pound in March on speculations of output shortage from around 70 US dollars weeks before.

Though the cotton price came down to 75 US dollars per pound and maintained that level for more than a month, the decline has not yet been reflected in local yarn prices. Knitwear manufacturers allege, the local spinners have formed a cartel and are manipulating yarn prices to make a windfall profit at the cost of the whole industry. As low-cost basic knitwear makers spend more than 50 per cent of their production cost on yarn, its increased price affects the local manufacturers heavily, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association reportedly said.

The hiked yarn price has rather come as a fresh blow to the industry at a time when global buyers are continuously refusing to raise import prices of finished garment, it was pointed out. The spinners allegedly are making 'undue profit' depriving their customers of the benefits of declining cotton prices. Mentionably, knitwear industry that earned nearly 4 billion US dollars in exports in nine months till March has long been raising concerns about high prices of local yarn. Local spinners supply over 80 per cent of the yarn requirements of knitwear units and the market is protected by European Union rules.

Why this energy crisis?

The people were stunned by the recent very tough decision of the government to restrict the supply of gas to different categories of its users in the country. All concerned are protesting this decision which has been considered suicidal for the economy as a whole. But conscious quarters are not only expressing their utter surprise and dislike for this decision on the part of the government, they are also starting to question whether it has been prompted by interested quarters.

Such fears have been expressed by some experts individually as well as in seminars, according to a recent report published in this paper. Questions are being asked whether the sudden squeezing of gas supply reflecting a full blown energy crisis as a result, has links to some vested interests. The use of coal to conserve gas, has been under active consideration of the government. But after the severe restrictions declared on gas use, the justification might be created to go for very hasty dealing with foreign companies to extract coal.

The same argument may also be used now to persuade the dropping of scrutinies and safeguards while admitting a much greater participation of foreign companies in gas exploration and production. Excuses might be given that strengthening the national oil and gas exploration company, BAPEX, to do the work, will involve too long a time and resources that the country cannot afford at the moment in view of the very pressing nature of the energy crisis. There is thus a need to watch over these developments from the highest level of the government because in this era of energy crisis Bangladesh should take measured steps keeping the present as well as the future in mind. We should utilise resources without sacrificing sustainability.

Media should always target majority of people

Dr. M. S. Haq

I believe end products of PTV's (Pakistan Television's) current affairs programs should be - more competitive; more diversified; focusing more on competing local, national, global and other priorities of the day; more substantive; more practical; less repetitive; more constructive - I mean for example, more decision and implementation friendly at local, national, global and other levels; more useful; more viewer-friendly; and more result-generative; to mention a few.

I also believe the amount of 'relaxed informality' at transactional levels of certain current affairs programs of PTV needs an upward adjustment. One of the underlying assumptions here is: it could assist the viewers in the effort towards relating them to virtual environments of those programs in a more comfortable and profitable manner and that could, in effect, help them (I mean, the viewers) to internalize and perhaps use the outcome of those programs in a more purposeful fashion, among other things. After all, those programs are inter alia human organizations and viewers of those programs are human beings and as such possibilities associated with for example, the viewers' eyes looking beyond the rigid framework of at times boring discussion programs cannot be ignored.

The anchor persons, discussants, persons behind the scene and attending environments (physical + virtual + others) of above programs should be instrumental in inter alia creating a stronger rapport between and among them, as well as the viewers with a view to for example, achieving goals of discussion programs as a whole. The good news is: a further improvement - on an average basis - in physical environments of for example, PTV's current affairs programs has been noticed in recent days. Congratulations!

The present day agendas of government of Pakistan in human development areas; challenges, opportunities and expectations of Pakistanis and others associated with those agendas; facilitation of both existing and evolving human development strategies - whether or not connected with or ancillary to those agendas; implementation support (as applicable) for human development strategies; and matters associated with media watch, media feedback and media follow-up (as required) in human development areas; should, among other things, form a critical mass of PTV's current affairs programs under the present phase of country's development. There is, at present, a perceived need for PTV to strike a right balance between for example, political discourses of substantive nature and developmental discourses of again substantive nature in the overall and best interest of the country, and the world at large - as far as practicable.

More impact-oriented PTV discussions on for example: the country's health care system; poor people's (including inter alia other disadvantaged groups) access to the system; work-in-progress in education and anti-terror areas; anti-hunger and anti-poverty drives, as well as crash programs; the status of demand, supply, beneficiary and sustainability in various phases (policy, program, implementation and other phases) of developments at local, national and other levels; developmental forecasting; shortfalls in, and course correction measures for, politics, governance, democracy, trade and economy; elimination of wastage (how to eliminate wastage at local, national and other levels?); and media alertness, media preparedness, media cooperation, media collaboration, media coordination, media productiveness and media competitiveness in pursuits of planned and desired changes for better in relevant areas at any given time, per se; could be instrumental in providing inter alia support and motivation to the country's over all developmental efforts, as well as initiatives.

The above discussions could also help and assist friends of Pakistan (including inter alia the US), development partners of Pakistan (including inter alia World Bank) and others when it comes to their efforts towards: fine tuning for example, the focus of assistance to the country; facilitating maximization of developmental outcomes as a result of the assistance; and a further minimization of wastage of scarce usable resources.

Media (print, electronic and others) in development could gain an additional momentum in Pakistan and other world countries (including inter alia Bangladesh) with for example, the establishment, operationalization and maintenance of a joint and solid regime (the client country + country level development partners + the media + civil society) of accountability and transparency in the domains of peace, security (excluding inter alia and as applicable state secret related transparencies), progress and prosperity of concerned countries. One of the present day challenges of media in development is: how best and quickest the media could be factored in the above countries' developmental dimensions as one of the key agents of change for better, among other things? In that respect, a bunch of holistic, informative, pluralistic, mutually reciprocating, as well as beneficial, and sustainable - as appropriate - theories (including inter alia policies), programs and practices supported by a vibrant doer culture would inter alia be required in relevant areas.

The last word: the media practice of using human emotions - in the wrong way at the wrong time or at the right time (depending on how one interprets it) - for say, gaining cheap and temporary popularity - at relevant societal levels - at the cost of a country's over all image, development and competitiveness should be discouraged and should not be allowed to continue. It can destroy inter alia a country's comparative and other advantages manifold and the resultant outcome could assist other country or countries in the effort towards creating or strengthening (or both) their comparative advantages, per se.

Given the present day nature and scope of media power, it can also help lead a country to a make or break situation. It is in that context, expected, TV channels - for example, GEO News of Pakistan - should show more maturity, more objectivity, more reasonableness, more foresightedness, less emotion and more cost consciousness while dealing with the country's sensitive issues via relevant GEO News programs.

Do not allow others to benefit from your country's comparative, competitive and other advantages by letting those in-country advantages down, deliberately. People should not allow the media to mislead them or exploit them in an improper and unlawful manner, for example. Media should not attempt to become a champion of few people at the expense of vast majority of people. Let us work towards those things collectively and with strong commitments, as well as result-orientations.

Nobody loves you like Mama does

Keillor Column

THE last time I witnessed a woman becoming a mother, it wasn't anything like the frilly sentiments of Mother's Day. She lay on her back, perspiring heavily and yelling, "Oh my God, why did you do this to me? I'll never forgive you in a hundred years. I hope you hurt like this someday. Give me another epidural, you sadists. And get this thing out of me!" and looking up at me as if she were burning at the stake and I had lit the fire.

It begins in innocence. Music is playing, the night smells of lilacs, she asks if he would like to come in for a minute, and he does, and little does she know what cataclysm awaits her inside: the loss of individuality as she joins the Holy Order of Maternity.

Mothers were, at one time, young women with possibilities who might have taken a different route and become glamorous and powerful figures in size-two dresses and instead found themselves cleaning up excrement and jiggling colicky babies to get them to stop screaming. They sit down to dinner with adults and feel brain-dead. A bouquet of flowers hardly seems compensation enough. How about a million dollars and a house in the south of France?

My mother appears in a photograph of five young women in white summer dresses walking hand-in-hand, grinning, on a country lane near Cottage Grove, Minnesota, in 1932 when she was 17, not long before she met my father, and they all look so fresh and happy, as if in a careless paradise all their own. She is willowy, shy and beautiful and she might've modeled evening gowns at Dayton's Sky Room and maybe been spotted by a Hollywood scout and wound up in pictures, playing the village girl who charms the world-weary tycoon stranded in Littleville by the blizzard.

Instead, she became a suburban pioneer, making a home in a muddy cornfield, putting up the stewed tomatoes and canned beans every fall, raising six children, slogging through bouts of mumps and flu, whomping up big Christmases, fishing the laundry out of the washing machine and putting it through the wringer and hanging it on the line. Is that what the smiling girl of 1932 had in mind?

The cruel injustice of motherhood is that, out of devotion to her brood, she sacrifices so much of her own life that her children grow up to find her a little boring in comparison to the maiden aunt who is a little rebellious and more fun to be around, whereas Mom is just the lady who runs the vacuum. As Erma Bombeck said, the kids walk in and ask her, "Is anybody home?"

But she loves you. You could come home with snakes tattooed on your face and she still would see the good in you. Most great men were mama's boys. She encouraged them long before anybody else could see any talent there.

Your mother is on top of the situation. Your father has a hard time remembering your birthday or even your Christian name, but your mother knows you by scent, thanks to years of doing your laundry. She knows when you're in trouble. And you will get into deep trouble someday. Count on it. Someone will file a lawsuit against you and subpoena your e-mail and it will all come flooding out, your dark secrets, your nefarious dealings, and your friends will cross the street to avoid you and your brothers and sisters will fade into the woodwork, but your mother will still love you. Like an old lioness, she'll come running even if you're two thousand miles away.

That is why you pay homage to the old lady on Mother's Day. You entered this cold world causing her more pain than she thought possible and now she won't ever give up on you. Those old ladies you see being wheeled onto airliners are the mothers of children facing imminent indictment for terrible things. Mama will be in the courtroom for you, baby. She will look the jury in the eye and her look may get you acquitted. Buy her something nice for Mother's Day this spring, like a set of gold ingots. Or a black car with a chauffeur. She's your mama, honeybuns. At least you could write her a note.

Garrison Keillor is a popular radio show host. His A Prairie Home Companion can be heard on US public radio stations

America's shame

Aijazzaka Syed

MY YOUNGEST one is as old as the young son of Sami Al Hajj, the Al Jazeera cameraman who was carried home to freedom on a stretcher this week, after seven years in the Guantanamo Bay.

Watching a shockingly emaciated Hajj shower kisses on his son at a Khartoum hospital, where he has been admitted after freedom from the high security prison in Cuba, I couldn't help think about my own kids.

I put myself in Hajj's shoes and wonder how I would fare if I ended up in Bush's gulag. What would happen to my own children and loved ones? And what chance would I have at freedom, if I got picked up by America's friends and allies and ended up in the Bay, just as Hajj had been?

You might think I don't have to end up in the Bay. I am not a terrorist. And I haven't done anything except hold a mirror to the US and other big powers once in a while. But then Hajj is not a terrorist either. He did not fly any planes into the symbols of America's might. He did not try to blow himself up near the White House or Pentagon. The only crime he ever committed was work for Al Jazeera, the television channel the Americans seem to think is run by Osama Bin Laden.

Hajj was on his way to Afghanistan to report for Al Jazeera when he was picked up by the authorities in Pakistan in 2001 and handed over to the US. Despite holding a valid visa to work as a journalist in Afghanistan, he was bundled off as an 'enemy combatant' to Gitmo. Today, reunited with his family in Khartoum, Hajj is understandably emotional. Articulating his happiness at finding himself among his loved ones and sense of outrage at what he has been through at the same time is almost overwhelming for him. And more than the relief at his freedom, it is the thought of those left behind that torments him.

Watching the homecoming of Hajj, shown live on Al Jazeera for hours and watched by an outraged Arab world, a senior colleague comments: "I find it hard to believe this can happen in our age and time. And that too by the world's greatest democracy and champion of human rights! I mean, how could you lock up a guy for years without a trial and charges and get away with it!"

Exactly. How could they do this to an individual in this age? Especially doing this to a journalist, working for a prominent media organisation as Al Jazeera, is a little hard to stomach. Yet that's precisely what happened to Hajj. Repeated appeals and campaigning by human rights agencies and media groups failed to persuade the US authorities to let Al Jazeera man go.

If they are capable of doing this to a renowned journalist backed by a big organisation, I shudder to think what ordinary and nameless individuals picked up from around the world could go through at Gitmo. And there are hundreds of ordinary and nameless individuals languishing in the hellhole called Guantanamo Bay. This is what Sami Al Hajj was trying to point out after his release. Fearing for those left behind, Hajj repeatedly appealed to the world's conscience-if there's such a thing as the world's conscience-calling for justice and urgent efforts by the international community for freeing those still held at the Bay in most horrific conditions, without a trial, without a charge and without the so-called due process.

I don't know how many people paid attention to what this distraught man was saying. But this is something that no human being with any belief in humanity and human dignity can ignore.

"Conditions in Guantanamo are very, very bad and they get worse by the day," Hajj told the media from his hospital bed. "Our human dignity was violated and the US administration went beyond all human values, moral values, religious values. There are people from more than 50 countries who are completely deprived of all rights and privileges. They will not give them the rights that they give their animals." Strong words! And a damning indictment of the US and all that it stands for. But there's no reason to doubt Hajj's claim. The journalist himself is a walking proof of all that is wrong with the Gitmo. The Al Jazeera man was in his early 30s when he was captured. Today he's in his late 30s but looks like a man in 80s. So much so his own brother Asim couldn't recognise him when he was brought out of the aircraft.

It's believed that by targeting Hajj, the US was trying to punish Al Jazeera for trying to show the alternate reality of the war on terror that the US media can't or dare not. Al Jazeera, with its refreshingly bold approach and daredevil team of reporters, offers you the perspective you won't find on CNN.

David Remes, a lawyer fighting for the Bay detainees, says there was also an element of racism in the way Hajj was treated and abused at the Bay. "The Europeans would never receive this sort of treatment," Remes points out. As a result, Hajj is today "psychologically damaged" and might never recover from the trauma he underwent over the past seven years.

You would think those responsible for this would at least be repentant, if not offer a sincere apology to Hajj and his family. But as if responding to the outrage in the Muslim world over Hajj episode, a US spokesperson says Al Jazeera man was PRETENDING to be ill when the aircraft carrying him landed in Khartoum. The official told ABC News Hajj was a 'manipulator and a propagandist' and was "faking illness" on his homecoming. Hajj was in such a bad shape that the Sudanese and US officials accompanying him were alarmed. Sudanese minister Kamal Obeid says that "Hajj was exhausted, with very slow heart beats and low blood pressure". Only after he was drip-fed that the journalist was able to regain strength. And there are still hundreds of Sami al Hajjs out there languishing in the biggest gulag of our time, waiting for their turn and waiting for freedom and justice. Contrary to the US claims, most of those individuals are innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at a wrong time. Except for an odd militant or two, most of them are ordinary men like you and me.

This has been repeatedly argued by rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and several courageous lawyers and activists in the US. The Washington Post ran a whole series proving why most of the Bay detainees are innocent people picked up by booty hunters in Afghanistan and Pakistan who were turned over as 'terrorists' to the US for a cash price. And the world has forgotten these innocent men. After all, it has enough of its own existing problems, from shooting oil prices to worsening food crisis. Who cares for nearly 300 faceless individuals, especially if they happen to be Arab or Muslim? There's not a greater sin than being a Muslim in the time of terror war. When will the US and the world wake up to the shame of Guantanamo Bay? Because this gulag and all that goes on in there fly in the face of all that America and the civilized world believe in. Freedom, justice, democracy, the rule of law and human rights; everything is at stake in the Guantanamo Bay.

Nicolas D Kristof of New York Times says, "it would take an exceptional enemy to damage America's image and interests as much as Bush and Cheney already have with Guantanamo."

They certainly have. The Guantanamo Bay violates everything that the US once celebrated and epitomised. And it's not the terrorists and so-called enemy combatants who are incarcerated there. It's America's ideals that are imprisoned in the Guantanamo Bay. Free them, Mr Bush!