The New Nation - Internet Edition

Social cohesion and rights

THE Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) along with the Manusher Janna Foundation (MJF) is running a project on "Social Cohesion and Rights in Bangladesh." The project was initiated for helping improve the social environment after an incident of burning twelve members of a minority family alive at dead of night in the month of November 2003 in one of the southern districts of Bangladesh. Experiences gathered through the project were shared at a national seminar held in the city the other day.

The rights of the people of different origins and faiths have been enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh. The poor, the uneducated and the landless people in the country have so far failed to benefit fully from the provisions of the Constitution. They remain deprived of many rights. Rivalries between the richer section of the people and the poorer ones for possession and ownership of property have persisted for decades.

Conflicts are there even among the members of families on the ownership of land and other properties. Fighting with lethal weapons and killing of rivals are observed from time to time in different areas of the country. Some organised groups are sometimes found to occupy land and force out original owners who are relatively weak.

Those participating in the seminar emphasised the need for strengthening social cohesion to protect the rights of the minorities. Concerned quarters should adopt policies and programmes for upholding the rights and interests of the weak and poor section of the people. Roots of prevailing problems in the society have to be correctly identified and eliminated with administrative measures backed by social support.

Crimes should be dealt with as crimes and their perpetrators punished. There is no simple way of containing crimes other than this. The move to develop organisations at the village level to strengthen social cohesion as a means to prevent or resist the violation of rights of poor and weak people merits praise. Such initiatives should be supported and simulated elsewhere to ensure social peace and harmony instead of playing blame game of doing politics with the misery of the poor and the weak.

Consequences of fuel price hike

THE Communication Adviser while replying to a question from a newsman after the fuel price hike said rather nonchalantly that it is only reasonable that bus fare should rise following a price adjustment of fuels. But the comment appears to be naïve in response to an issue of great public concern. After all, people of modest means travel by buses and bus operators have been found going for arbitrary charge of fares in the wake of the price hike of fuels announced on Saturday.

Fare collected from the bus travelers is reported to be substantially higher than what should actually be. The Finance Adviser said on Sunday that fares would be calculated afresh by the relevant ministry in proportion to the price hike of fuel. But it seems unlikely that the matter would settle on the basis of that assurance. In the past also, some transporters raised fares according to their will and defied whatever was officially called the legitimate fare. The latest fare rise should be very stressful to people of modest means who travel by buses.

And not only bus fares prices of all kinds of essentials have increased overnight on the plea of their higher transportation and marketing costs. In many cases, goods from old stocks are also dearer even though sellers would not have to bear the new costs of transportation immediately. The burning question is, who should enforce the government stand that any price increase of essential goods and fares should be only in proportion of higher transportation and fuel costs. Responsible behaviour from sellers is most needed to protect consumers.

Would the will of Nepali people be honoured?

Shamsuddin Ahmed

The surprise victory of Maoists in the election in Nepal has given to rise some speculations. Rabindra Nath Sharma, an elderly politician in Kathmandu, has predicted turmoil in the country leading to army take over, which would be supported by India and International community. Wang Hong Wei, a Chinese expert on Nepal, viewed that India wants to turn Nepal into a second Bhutan or Sikkim. The election results have made Indian leaders uneasy at the prospect of spilling over the influence of the Maoist rule in Nepal to the comrades well organised in the neighbouring northeaster states of India. Some of the political pundits in India and BJP leaders sounding security risk have suggested the government to take 'appropriate measures' in Nepal.

The election was held on April 10. But the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) that won majority in the constituent assembly has been struggling to take over the power. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of the Congress Party staking for the presidency has long refused to step down on pretext of one reason or other. Only a couple of days ago he agreed to hand over the power only after election of the President by the constituent assembly through consensus.

But then came the three small Madhes Terai parties with the demand for constitutional guarantee of autonomous province for their region. Maoist felt that One Madhes is a threat to national integrity and dismissed the demand. The region borders India and its leaders are believed to have been prodded by India to raise the demand. Madhes leaders are in favour of railway link to Kolkata via Bihar.

It is no surprise that Prime Minister Koirala and his party supported Madhesi demand. The Madesi members obstructed the proceedings of the constituent assembly to a standstill for five consecutive days this week. Finally with Koiral's active support they succeeded in making the majority party agree to amend the constitution providing for Madhes an autonomous province.

On the other hand, the current strike in Darjeeling and adjoining northern districts of West Bengal has not lost attention of the analysts. Gorkha Janamukti Morcha has renewed its movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland for the Nepalese speaking population of the region.

Gorkha land is for achieving a separate national identity for the Nepalese origins. The move might have been encouraged by the Maoist victory in Nepal election.

Rabindra Nath Sharma, who resigned as president of Rashtriya Prajatantra Party of Nepal, in an interview carried by Nepal News this week, viewed that Nepal has been passing through a very critical phase.

All forces are trapped in a mess There is possibility of internal clashes among various factions.

Sharma, known for his wide contacts and deep political observation said India shares a long border with Nepal and "Indian policy makers do not have that kind of luxury to make mistakes."

He added: If the situation goes out of control, the army will take over to restore the law and order. At that time India and other international community may support the army with a mandate to hold the election under a civilian government. If the situation goes out of track, India and America will decide which track Nepal needs to follow.

But the Chinese expert on Nepal Wang Hong Wei dismissed the prospect of army intervention in Nepal. "It is impossible for the army to try to capture power through a coup in Nepal. People will not support it."

Wang, 72, professor of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies in Beijing in an interview with Kantipur News of Nepal said, "China knows very well that India wants to turn Nepal into a second Bhutan or Sikkim. Moreover, Nepal may enter the process of Sikkimization. But China must not let this situation occur."

The professor recently visited Kathmandu and had meetings with Nepalese politicians including Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahala, popularly known by his nickname Prachanda. He said China will always lend its support to keep Nepal sovereign, free and united.

Humanising Israel and vilifing Palestinians

Remi Kanazi

I love Adam Sandler. From Billy Madison to Happy Gilmore to the Chanukah Song, the predecessor of the Superbad generation has effortlessly conquered the domain of slapstick comedy and inappropriate jokes. But damn you Scuba Steve! If you're going to propagate misinformation about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, do it quietly-or at least in your non-comedic life.

You Don't Mess With Zohan, Sandler's new flick, takes Hollywood chicanery and stereotypes that denigrate Arabs to an unprecedented level-surpassing hit flicks like the Kingdom, the Siege, and every Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris movie that came before it. I group Zohan with other shamelessly racist action movies because a film should at least be minutely funny to be categorised as a comedy.

For the Sandler diehards and hilarity-loving sceptics, I should clearly state: using race and prejudices to engender laughter is not the problem. Mel Brooks and the creators of South Park exploit stereotypes far beyond anything Sandler has ever done, but unlike Zohan, I don't think insidious propaganda and underlying racism drive their comedy. After all, if this hebetudinous clunker was just comedy, Sandler and company wouldn't have, as the New York Times reported, sought out Arab actors to give the movie "legitimacy."

What makes this movie even worse than many of the unfavourable movies made post-9/11 is Zohan's disarming presentation; it is a comedic approach to understanding the inner workings of the substandard Arab people. Like the job stealing Mexicans, the liquor store robbing Blacks, and the HIV infested gays, negative stereotypes in Zohan strip down the Arab people to RPG wielding animals that senselessly thirst for Jewish blood.

From the start of the film, Sandler's character, Zohan, is positioned as the altruistic hero-an Israeli Mossad agent who reluctantly kills Palestinian "terrorists," while forgoing his real dream: to cut hair in the US for Paul Mitchell. Zohan is "brave," "lovable," and "funny," and even his stereotypical chauvinism is eaten up by women (and men) throughout the movie-including his eventual Palestinian love interest, Dalia.

Compounded with played out, corny gags, the Israeli narrative is interwoven into the fabric of the film, including propagandistic reminiscences by Zohan's father who recalls the oft-repeated myth of being surrounded "on all sides" by powerful enemies during the Six Day War-a war in which Israel preemptively struck and dominated those "enemies."

In line with Israeli and Western intelligence, Israel won the war in six days (and five hours, as Zohan's father dutifully reminds us)-so much for existential threats and heroic narratives. Other historical revisions include a reference in a verbal battle between a Palestinian and Israeli shop owner, in which the Palestinian proclaimed, "Give it up, like you gave up the Gaza Strip!"

This biting taunt, while not as blatant as the common stereotype, infers that Israel "gave up" the Gaza Strip and further insinuates that Israel had claim to it. The "humorous" jeer glosses over the glaring reality: Israel still occupies Gaza's borders, airspace, imports and exports, and has economically strangulated and suffocated 1.4 million Palestinians in the world's largest open-air prison. But rewriting history s hardly the movie's worst crime. The portrayal of Palestinians as ugly, dirty, incompetent, stupid, goat loving terrorists was jammed down the viewer's throat more times than Zohan's lame hummus jokes.

It becomes obvious to the audience why these good looking, suave, kindhearted Israelis have to kill these evil Palestinian "terrorists"-because they hate Jews more than they hate soap. The most egregious grievance by a Palestinian "terrorist" throughout the film was the stealing of a pet goat. Israel has killed more than 4,000 Palestinians since the start of the second Intifada, including nearly a 1000 children, yet the main gripe of these rabid "terrorists" is a stereotypical love for hillside animals.

A particular scene in Zohan went beyond comprehension: Sandler's casting agency rounded up a handful of children to play Palestinians throwing rocks at Zohan. What does Zohan do in response to the actions of these soon-to-be terrorists? He gleefully catches the stones and turns them into the equivalent of a balloon animal.

One is supposed to toss aside any arising sensitivities and overlook the many instances Israeli snipers and soldiers have shot Palestinian children in the head or taken their eyes out with rubber bullets because of these rocks Zohan takes with a smile. The posturing of the noble and affable Mossad agent is a slick attempt to humanise Israel and make the Mossad (an outfit that has engaged in countless operations of state terrorism) look like the valiant GI Joe force in the Middle East combating jihadi thugs in the name of good.

But Sandler's character is not only a hero, he's also a humanitarian. There are multiple scenes where Zohan informs the audience that Israelis do their best to minimise the loss of innocent Palestinian life, when an examination of the conflict by Israeli human rights organisations exposes quite the opposite.

Other stereotypes saturate the movie. The Palestinian salon that Zohan gets a job at is described as a dump, Palestinians constantly cheer for the "terrorists," a crowd of Palestinians applaud the death of "heroic" Zohan (which he faked), and the "terrorists" are so stupid and illiterate that they purchase Neosporin instead of liquid nitrogen to make their bomb to kill Zohan. There is no distinction made between Hezbollah, Hamas, jihadists, and terrorists.

Moreover, while Israelis are shown as native hummus- loving Middle Easterners, Zohan's family is portrayed distinctively different from the backward Arabs. Zohan's parents are sweet, comforting, reasonable and accepting from beginning to end, not rigid like their Arab counterparts.

Even when Zohan finally captures Dalia's heart, his parents show up in America and warmly embrace their relationship without question-while Dalia and others resist the notion of a courtship between the two and tells Zohan that her family would never accept him. Ah, if only all Arabs could just get to know Israelis and see how kind, generous, and amorous they all are, the sooner we could all sit in a circle singing Kumbaya over s'mores and unfunny Zohan hummus jokes.

The worst dialogue throughout this 102 minute laughless action flick is made by Dalia (played by Emmanuelle Chriqui), Zohan's eventual Palestinian love interest. She serves as the omnipotent propagandist-blaming the troubles of the conflict on "extremists" and "hate" on both sides. She endlessly and vaguely laments about how much "hate" there is "over there," and describes to Zohan that things are "different here."

What Sandler, and co-writers Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel, fail to understand is that before there was Hamas, Yasser Arafat, Fatah, the PLO, or any resistance movement, there was the dispossession of the Palestinian people, whereby 780,000 indigenous Palestinians were displaced from their homeland by Jewish gangs and terror groups.

Flash forward 60 years and the Palestinian people are living in squalor in demolished towns and refugee camps enduring a 40-year occupation that strangulates their economy and diminishes any semblance of normalcy or a proper life. What we are to believe by watching this film is that if everyone would just stop "hating" (which Israelis are depicted as clearly willing to do, while Palestinians resist it vehemently) Israelis and Palestinians could live together in harmony. But "hate" has little to do with a conflict rooted in a people's desire for basic human rights and an end to oppression.

In the end, everything ends up happy and joyful: Zohan gets the girl, he saves the block from a conniving mall developer, and the "terrorists" stop terrorising. But the jovial ending left a sour taste in my mouth. As nearly a dozen "nameless" Palestinians were killed by innocent and heroic Israeli soldiers last week and another report of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza went unnoticed in the US Press, people were laughing all over the country at how stupid, feeble, violent and backwards Arabs are. A diehard Sandler fan proclaimed: "He's making it for 13-year old boys. It's Critic Proof." That's what scares me most of all.

Remi Kanazi is the editor of the forthcoming anthology of poetry, Poets For Palestine, which can be pre-ordered at www.PoetsForPalestine.com .

Opinion: Use Guti urea, get more yeild

Professor M Zahidul Haque

Urea is an organic compound that is used as nitrogen-release fertilizer. Urea provides one of the three essential elements, that is, Nitrogen to the plants. Urea is also known as 'Carbamide'. Urea fertilizer is applied to various crop fields at different rates. Urea is a volatile substance; therefore, it should be stored properly to protect it against volatilization because urea absorbs moisture from the atmosphere.

Guti(pellet) urea is the super granular form of urea fertilizer which when applied requires 30% less than the normal urea, increases 20-25% yield of rice and brings more profit to the farmers.

Recently the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), USAID, IFDC jointly organized an award giving ceremony for partners involved in promoting the use of guti urea under the Urea Deep Placement(UDP) Technology Project during the Boro season 2008 which led about 4 lakh farmers to use guti urea on more than 1.5 lakh hectares of land. As a result, this year, the country had a bumper production of Boro rice.

In achieving this success, the extension officials of DAE and IFDC together with the farmers did a hard work. The Guti Urea Award Ceremony was presided over by the Director General of DAE Md. Shamsul Alam and attended by Agriculture Advisor Dr.C S Karim as the chief guest. The function was attended by among others, Agriculture Secretary M Abdul Aziz, ndc, IFDC Scientist Dr. Thomas P Thompson, USAID Director Anne Williams, IFDC Resident Representative Ishrat Jahan.

Dr. Shahidul Islam, Director, Field Services, DAE in his welcome address narrated the role of DAE Extension Workers

in promoting the use of guti urea fertilizer among the farmers. A number of farmers spoke on the occasion. Farmer Rekha Rani Saha from Mymensingh while stating her experience in using guti urea stressed on the need for strengthening the local IPM Clubs through providing registration to these clubs for organizing and motivating more farmers use guti urea. Agriculture Secretary M Abdul Aziz,ndc who was present as the guest of honor in his speech informed that he has already taken initiatives to expedite registration process of IPM Clubs. It may be indicated here that the IPM Clubs are not getting registration as they are lacking one criteria for registration, that is, ownership of a piece of land. In reality, the IPM clubs and their workers have been contributing tremendously in the extension of guti urea and other agricultural innovations. Hence, the government should register these clubs on special consideration.

Agriculture Advisor Dr. C S Karim heartily appreciated the sincere efforts of the farmers and extension workers in accomplishing a bumper rice crop production through the efficient use of guti urea. More than 350 farmers and DAE field officials were awarded in recognition of their achievements and performances under the UDP Technology Project.

In her address as the special guest USAID EGFE Director Anne Williams said that the use of UDP technology reduces waste of fertilizers and erosion of soil fertility while the use of this technology leads to saving foreign exchange and subsidies.

As informed by the Agriculture Secretary, the duration of the UDP Technology Project has been extended up to June 2008.

So far so good. But there are some points which needs due attention. There are certain costs involved in the application of guti urea which should be brought under consideration to

calculate the actual cost and benefit. These include: (i) extra

labor cost for deep placement of guti urea (ii) cost for

preparing guti urea plus the cost of the loss of urea during the preparation and (iii) extra irrigational costs for keeping the soil moistened including the fuel cost to run irrigation pumps.

Meanwhile Agriculture Advisor Dr. C S Karim in his speech made a valuable suggestion. He stressed on the need for increasing the use of bio-fertilizer as costs of fertilizer import would increase in future. Not only cost but chemical fertilizer also causes damage to environment. Hence extension efforts have to be intensified to encourage farmers use bio-fertilizer. At the same time the agricultural research organizations need to undertake special projects to innovate effective bio-fertilizers.

[The author is the Chairman, Department of Agricultural Extension & Information System, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka who represented SAU at the Award Ceremony]