The New Nation - Internet Edition

Threat to economy's lifeline

THE lifeline of the Bangladesh economy, remittances from overseas workers, reportedly stands threatened at the moment. This situation has not so much to do with the manpower exporting firms or the workers themselves. The threat to manpower export stems from growingly adverse policies on the part of the host countries and their governments that require our government to embark on immediate all out diplomatic efforts to help reverse conditions for the better.

Seven countries in the middle eastern region and south east Asia are the prime destinations of Bangladesh's manpower from where the lion's share of the remittances that vitally cushion the economy from major debacles, are obtained. The seven destinations are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Among the seven countries, Saudi Arabia has been the host to the biggest number of Bangladeshi workers. But four out of these seven countries-- Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bahrain-- have practically clamped down on further sending of Bangladeshi workers.

The ban-like situation in respect of these four countries means that there is now no growth prospect for manpower export in two-thirds of the manpower export markets of Bangladesh. Besides, these countries have of late also been deporting Bangladeshi workers in large numbers. According to one estimate, nearly five thousand Bangladeshi workers were sent back to Bangladesh last May from these four countries. Thus, the situation is a very grave one to say the least. If this trend continues, then Bangladesh economy would go on a tailspin from the loss in manpower export. It is learnt that the government has so far limited its response to writing to the foreign ministries of these countries. Given the threat it poses to the economy, a much more proactive and vigorous diplomatic move is urgently needed.

Lessons of Plassey

JUNE 23 marks a tragic chapter in the political history of Bangladesh. On this day in 1757 Sirajuddaula, Nawab of Bangla, Bihar and Orissa was defeated by the forces of British East India Company in active connivance with Mir Jafar Ali Khan. The military defeat of the patriotic forces at Plassey laid the foundation of British occupation of the whole of India in course of time. The East India Company came under the cover of doing trade and followed an imperialist design from the very beginning. India was brought directly under the British crown following the first Indian War of Independence in 1857. In the colonial era, British imperialists pursued a policy of expanding market and colonial hegemony over the rest of Asia for which India was used as a springboard.

The day also symbolises a spirit of fight and sacrifice for independence and sovereignty of the country. This spirit inspired patriotic forces to fight for independence that ultimately culminated to the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971. The colonial forces had taken camouflage of trade and commerce. The big powers of the present day world have not thrown away this altogether. The developed countries exploit the least developed countries through various unfair and unequal treaties and trade deals.

The developed countries are the major carbon emitters whereas the countries like Bangladesh are to bear the brunt of global warming caused by such emission. These aspects of the present day realities mean that the fight for preserving national interests is far from over. The people must take lessons from the battle of Plassey and remain united to protect independence and sovereignty. People's unity is the best safeguard against external threats. Restoration of democratic order is expected to help people's unity to get stronger.

Obama and the balance of power!

Sudhirendar Sharma

Barack Obama's candid acceptance that the flights of jobs to Bangalore cannot be reversed may have pumped up nationalistic pride on this side of the Atlantic but hidden beneath are the manifestations of economic change that may bounce back once the growth engine has its full run. The skinny hands that held the begging bowl in the past may have started moving fingers across keyboards of world-class technology, but the economic growth hasn't been able to pull the country out of its dismal status on the UN Human Development Index, still languishing at 128 out of 177 countries.

Obama acknowledges India's arrival on the world stage with a stern message that the once poverty-stricken and colonized India 'does not owe a living to the developed world'. However, the unleashing of the power of internet connection may have made the elite in Boston compete with the poor in Banda but the balance of power has not tilted as many may have started believing. Self-disciplining of the workforce is in the offing across the US, much will depend how indeed Obama's proposed $50 billion stimulus package is used to cushion the present decline?

Further scrutiny reveals that though India may be walking tall amidst the comity of nations, its much-hyped economic growth is still not at par with the west. No wonder, a small but significant surge in petroleum prices triggers shock waves across the stock market and a weakening rupee sends alarm bells ringing at the IT hubs in Bangalore and Gurgaon. Statistics reveal that the economy of India doesn't compare any bit with that of the US, Britain and Germany. Consequently, what gets admired and applauded is the shining fraction of the illusive jewel (the real Kohinoor is still in Britain)!

Buoyed by the liberal show of praise by the western observers, the rulers and planners have swept any cynicism of projected growth under the carpet. Finance Minister P Chidambaram lashes out at those who oppose his model of liberal growth: 'people are being deceived to believe that the existing state of life is an ideal state of life and that development will make it worse. This could be categorized as a conspiracy of the socially-driven class to keep people poor.' Barrack Obama's acceptance of India's incredible growth and Gordon Brown's praise that 'the East is rising' only helps the stubborn politicians miss the other side of the growth coin.

That the projected two-digit growth will be at the cost of the country's finite resources and teeming millions gets under shadow! When asked if India, once independent, would ape the British model of development, Gandhi had responded: 'if a small country like Britain had to colonise the world for meeting its basic needs, given our size we will need to colonise other planets.' There is no denying the fact that the right to growth and attainment of basic living standards ought to be equal but the question is whether or not India will be able to withstand the growth of unlimited appetites of its billion plus?

Bush may have erroneously hinted at the impact of such growing appetites but Obama has instead been cautious in accepting the inevitable. Paradoxically, while both acknowledge the value of a growing market for the products they make; their people rue the emergence of a new global economic order that has forced the relocation of new jobs outside their territorial jurisdiction. But as growth acceleration widens inequality within our society, unchecked industrialization and unbound consumption promises to amplify social strife as security nets against misery and want begin to evaporate.

It is intriguing that while the industrialised west seems content with our growing consumerism, it rues bearing the cost of 'become like us' through increased carbon emissions. Undoubtedly contradictory, there doesn't seem to be any going back from the pattern of development though. That 'development' one day will threaten its proponents could not have been foreseen by then US President Truman who had positioned post-World War America to extend its technological prowess to the developing world as a euphemism for expanding the era of American hegemony!

The trouble with beating the west in their own game is that it will be at the cost of rich traditions and cultures of a great civilisation. Can an ancient civilisation be compromised at the altar of modern economic growth? At this time, no one seems to be reading the writing on the wall. On the contrary, infinite appetites are allowed to express themselves against the finite resources on offer - creating a process of self-annihilation through irreversible ecological degradation.

This unprecedented historical experiment of pitching unrestricted demand against shrinking supply will consume the resource poor of the developing world, as there will be no colonial hinterland to relocate them. However, the technological prowess may help the west create an escape route but the developing world would be left to fend for itself. Wonder, who will be the winner?

A tale of two empires

Aijaz Zaka Syed

THERE'S an old adage in Urdu that when you are going through rough times, your closest friends turn against you.

Well, you can't really accuse President Hamid Karzai of being a friend of Pakistan. Even though he enjoyed the Pakistani hospitality for long years as a refugee in Quetta as he ran from the Russians and the Afghan jihad in 1970s and '80s, he never counted himself among Pakistan's friends. Actually, the feeling is mutual. There's no love lost for the Afghan president in Pakistan either.

Yet the idea of Karzai in hot pursuit of Taleban into Pakistan is not easy to stomach - and not just for Pakistan. The land of the pure is surely going through real rough times when people like Karzai begin to threaten it.

The man known in much of Afghanistan as the President of Kabul - even there he needs the constant protection of his American friends to venture out of the presidential palace - is threatening to send the Afghan and coalition forces into Pakistan to hunt Taleban.

This has come soon after the US air strike that killed 11 Pak soldiers last week on the Pakistani side of the border. Little did the Pakistani troops hunting the insurgents along the troubled frontier realize they were in turn being hunted by their American friends.

So this so-called war on terror and the Great Game in Central Asia gets interesting - and deadlier - by the day. It began with the Americans, Nato troops, the Afghan and Pakistani forces fighting the Taleban and remnant elements of Al Qaeda.

Today, everybody seems to be fighting everybody else across this vast battlefield that stretches from the Pak-Afghan border with Iran to the border with Tajikistan. No one knows who is on whose side. And no one seems to have the faintest idea WHAT they are fighting for. As in Iraq, the goal posts in this US war too keep shifting - from fighting terror to promoting democracy, whatever that means.

Understandably, the people of Afghanistan have been the real victims of this war. But they've long been used to this permanent state of war. Their fate seldom seems to change, even though the pretenders to rule them keep changing faster than you could say the Khyber Pass.

Since long before the coalition of the willing began carpet-bombing Afghanistan in the name of peace, this great land has been witness to an endless pageant of invading armies - from Alexander the Great to the Russian commies.

None of those invaders were able to tame the wild, free-spirited Afghan though. No one ever has. Even the wily Brits with their mantra of 'divide and rule' failed to conquer Afghanistan. You can invade and attack it but you can't rule this lawless territory. The great Soviet Empire with the world's largest army and nuclear arsenal that kept the US presidents awake at night blew itself up trying to rule it.

And now another superpower is stuck in Afghanistan as it persuades itself and its dispirited allies that they can still win this war.

That this war has entered a critical phase is evident from the reckless talk of Karzai. Either the Afghan leader thinks he can get away with this at a time when Pakistan is preoccupied with its own existential woes.

Or he has been given the not-so-subtle signals from Washington to turn up the heat on Islamabad. Whatever the explanation, it's a message to Pakistan that its stock in Washington and in the region has dramatically fallen.

For how someone so critically dependent on his Western friends for his own survival could make faces at the nuclear-armed Pakistan? Especially when Karzai's reign in Afghanistan hardly extends beyond the presidential palace in Kabul.

The mighty Afghan army that he is threatening to unleash on Pakistan ran for its life when Karzai came under attack in April at a military parade in Kabul.

The president managed to flee to safety with the help of coalition forces. The British ambassador saved his life by throwing himself into the US ambassador's car. Is this the army that would fight Taleban inside the lawless territory of Pakistan?

This is an ultimate affront to Pakistan, the country of 170 million people that sees itself as the leader of the Muslim world and in the league of big players like India and China. Boasting one of the most professional armies in the world, it fought three big wars against a giant like India.

So what a fall for Pakistan that weightless wonders like Karzai should threaten it! But the people of Pakistan have to look no further than Islamabad to know who is to blame for this state of affairs.

The man who once regaled us all with his Enlightened Moderation is also responsible for many of Pakistan's woes today. Perhaps no other country has suffered as much as Pakistan has by joining the neocon war on the Muslim world. Thanks to Musharraf, the country has become the main front of the West's war. Which will continue long after Bush and Mush have hung up their boots and retired.

But if Pakistan, Afghanistan and just about everyone associated with this war is feeling the heat, the US itself is unlikely to emerge any better either when this whole business is over.

In his new book, Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War, Patrick Buchanan argues that had it not been for the disastrous mistakes Britain made under Churchill, the world wouldn't have witnessed WWII.

This is interesting, coming as it does from Buchanan, the man respected as the guru of the US Conservatives. Buchanan often talks sense despite being a conservative.

Singling out Churchill, the acclaimed author and pundit blames the late British PM for the strategic mistakes that not only drove Britain into an unnecessary war with Hitler's Germany but wrecked the whole of Europe and the world by expanding the conflict.

Writing about his book, Buchanan says: "The colossal blunders by British statesmen reduced Britain from the greatest empire since Rome into an island dependency of the United States in three decades."

Comparing Churchill to Bush may be a grave injustice to the great British statesman but I do see some parallels in how the British empire imploded under its own dead weight and the perilous path chosen by Bush's America.

If the two Great Wars transformed the Empire in which the sun never set into a bankrupt island, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq threaten to do the same to the most powerful country on the planet. For this empire is treading the same path the British empire trod in the early 20th century.

(Aijaz Zaka Syed is a Dubai-based journalist and commentator.)

Bangladesh as a Corridor of drug trafficking

Md. Kamruzzaman Ferose

The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal drugs. While some drugs are legal to possess and sell, in most jurisdictions laws prohibit the trade of certain types of drug. The illegal drug trade operates similarly to other underground markets. Various drug cartels specialize in the separate processes along the supply chain, often localized to maximize production efficiency. Depending on the profitability of each layer, cartels may vary in size, consistency, and organization. Illegal drugs may be grown in wilderness areas, on farms, produced in indoor or outdoor residential gardens or indoor hydroponic grow-ops, or manufactured in drug labs located anywhere from a residential basement to an abandoned facility. The common characteristic binding these production locations is that they are discreet to avoid detection, and thus they may be located in any ordinary setting without raising notice. Much illegal drug cultivation and manufacture takes place in developing nations, although production also occurs in the developed world. Drug Traffickers are very much interested about Bangladesh as a Corridor of Drug Trafficking for various reasons like: Geographical Nature of Bangladesh, political and legal reasons, social disorganization etc.

Bangladesh is situated in the central point between the 'golden triangle' (Mayanmar, Thailand and Laos) and the 'golden crescent' (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) in terms of geographical location. And it is also surrounded by the major drug producing countries of Asia, many of which are strengthening their narcotics legislation and stepping up enforcement measures. Bangladesh with its easy land, sea and air access is becoming a major transit point. Traffickers who supply drugs in the markets of Northern America, Africa, and Europe are routing their shipments through Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Khulna, and other routes in Bangladesh. It is believed that with the increasing quantity of the wares more and more people are likely to get involved in drug business. In this way it ultimately contributes to the number of drug abusers as well. Bangladesh has long borders with India (4025 km) and Myanmar (283 km), makes it particularly suitable for trafficking. The northern and eastern sides are surrounded with hills and mountains. And the western corner is mainly plain land. The hilly regions are suitable for illicit drug trafficking. The traffickers can easily hide themselves in these hilly forests and transfer the drugs safely. In our country there are many border-crossing points from where every day millions of money is being exchanged for drugs. The border crossing points with neighboring countries are shown in Table-1.

The Main Border Crossing Points In Bangladesh That Are Highly Used For Drug Smuggling

Regions Country Border crossing points

Western India Benapol, Dorshona, Dogachi, Parsha, Hilly, Birol, Balubari, Banglabandha.

Eastern India and Mayanmar Latu, Ahamadabad, Akhaura, Koshba, Amratoly, Razapur, Braymmapara, Bibirbazar, Chaddagram, Suagazi, Mirja nagar, Ramghar, Barkal, Ukhia, Teknaf

Northern India Tinbigha Corridor, Patgram, Mogholhat, Ailatoly, Tamabil

In Comilla (Eastern region) India and Mayanmar Amratoly, Razapur, Braymmapara, Bibirbazar, Chaddagram, Suagazi

(Source: Graphosman's New Atlas)

Bangladesh has become the prime transit route for trafficking heroin to Europe from South East Asia, according to the latest report from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). "There is evidence that heroin consignments destined for Europe are increasingly passing through Bangladesh," states INCB's annual report 2007, which was released worldwide. The report also adds that "The geographical nature of Bangladesh, in particular its long borders with India and Myanmar, makes it particularly suitable for heroin trafficking." INCB notes that the most common methods and routes for smuggling heroin into Bangladesh are - by courier from Pakistan, by commercial vehicles and trains from India and by sea via the Bay of Bengal or overland by truck or public transport from Myanmar. An independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body which implements UN Drug-related conventions, INCB also blamed a lack of resources and training of law enforcement agencies for Bangladesh's failure to 'properly implement' its drug control policy. The report quotes Bangladesh police as saying that the Chittagong seaport is the 'main exit point for drugs leaving the country', while the rest is smuggled out through Sylhet and Chittagong airports. It also cites press reports of couriers trying to carry heroin to Europe on their way from Pakistan through the Zia International Airport in Dhaka. The report observed that the use of Bangladeshi courier services for drug trafficking is on the rise, which largely serves to ship drugs to Canada and South Africa, citing the seizure of 550kg of ephedrine in February 2007. It is Expert opinion that Bangladesh has been used as a transit for illicit drug trafficking from 1976AD and in 1983 AD first heroin trafficker apprehended in Bangladesh. The Vienna-based body also reported the increasing availability of Indian heroin in Bangladesh, along with Indian codeine based cough syrup, sold locally as Phensidyl. The board also noted that increased drug trafficking in Bangladesh could further worsen the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country.

According to Interpol view; 'International drug trafficker uses Bangladesh as a network corridor of drug trafficking and then crossroad.' From Bangladesh's point of view, human, arms and drug trafficking, increasing smuggling of goods into Bangladesh, and frequent and unprovoked firings by the BSF on Bangladeshi villagers living close to the border are major sources of concern. Unresolved boundary issues are, no doubt, obstacles to orderly and peaceful management of the borders. Proper management of the border will ensure friendlier relation between the two neighbors. It is in the long-term interest of both Bangladesh and India that the border remain peaceful, that the people living in the border areas carry on their normal life without hindrance and restrictions, illegal trafficking in all forms are curbed and that legal trade and commerce flourish. The Indo- Bangladesh border management issue has technical, organizational, financial and political dimensions involving both countries. The future of Indo-Bangladesh relations hinges largely on this issue.

In locales where the drug trade is illegal, police departments as well as courts and prisons may expend significant resources in pursuing drug-related crime. Additionally, through the influence of a number of black market players, corruption is a problem, especially in poorer societies. So, laws related to drugs and drugs trafficking should be strict for controlling drug trafficking effectively. For this, Government should take proper initiatives and have to play a vital role to control drug trafficking in Bangladesh.