The New Nation - Internet Edition

For effective investigation of cases

ACCORDING to reports, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has launched a special unit to find out whether crime investigations by officers under it, are being carried out properly up to the expectation and satisfaction of the complainants. The unit may recommend disciplinary action against any officer found to be in dereliction of duty and have the same enforced. Investigations are at the heart of law enforcement. Depending on the strength of the investigations, the accused in serious offences can be denied bail by the courts and the adjudication processes can also be concluded relatively quickly leading to well deserved convictions.

But inefficiency in the investigation processes can spoil cases. The same may help the accused to hide or manipulate evidences, causing ultimately, hazards in the way of establishing guilt clearly by the courts. In many such cases, the accused ones may benefit from a situation of poor investigation of cases to escape punishment as their crimes do not get proved. Sometimes, investigators are found taking bribes from the accused to deliberately soften the investigation activities so that hard evidences of their crimes are shielded. Undoubtedly, the DMP's special unit can be of much help in guarding against such abuses of the investigation process.

The laws to govern the parliamentary and other elections have been recently considered by the Council of Advisers. One of the proposed laws would be barring only convicted ones from contesting elections. Therefore, for the people to get the benefit of good candidates and clean elections, it is imperative that successful investigations of the crimes of influential people are completed at the fastest leading to their convictions so that such people are prevented from staging a comeback to public life. Thus, a surveillance system covering the investigation process is seen as acutely necessary.

Rural public health care

OVER the years, Bangladesh has built up public health services at different levels across the country. There are public hospitals in the big cities and smaller state-run hospitals in the rural areas at the upazila level. There are about 402 Upazila Health Complexes in as many upazilas. The Upazila Health Complexes were built at huge costs over the years and government took loans from donor agencies like the World Bank for the purpose and regular massive allocations are made from the national budget for the functioning and maintenance of these publicly run rural hospitals.

But any feedback on the state of these health complexes, after proper surveys, would surely reveal a very sad spectacle of corruption and neglect in varying degrees. Usually, the government doctors posted in the health complexes abstain from their hospital jobs and are found in many cases even engaging in private practice within the hospital premises neglecting the patients who come for free treatment. The government-provided daily food allowance for patients are reportedly misappropriated substantially by the food contractors in connivance with hospital staff. Therefore, the diets served to patients are of poor quality.

Free life-saving drugs are black-marketed. Lack of hygiene is noted in these hospitals. Valuable machines are found rusting away with none to run them properly. The relevant authorities in the government must take a hard look at the prevailing state of affairs in these rural hospitals with a view to deep cleansing the corruption in them and make their doctors and other staff truly accountable. And this can be best achieved by organising the recipients of their services This must be achieved very soon to make any sense out of the big allocations routinely made for public health care.

A three-fold anti-terrorism barrier covering Pakistan

Dr. M. S. Haq

The first fold of anti-terrorism barrier should cover the entire territory of Pakistan. The second fold should cover Pakistan and its immediate neighbors and the third fold should cover distant but influential neighbors of Pakistan such as relevant SAARC countries.

The core objectives of first fold barrier should include among other things: one, to make and keep Pakistan free of terrorism and other anti-people activities on a continuous basis; two, to protect or preserve or both, life, property, and other things - physical, virtual or otherwise - of the people, the state and the country, as appropriate, from any future terrorist or similar attack; and three, to deal with root causes of terrorism through for example a variety of crash and short to medium term programs and strategies; all in pursuits of say, establishing, sustaining and promoting peace, security and stability in the country and accelerating Pakistan's overall development on a continuous basis and in a more aggressive, meaningful, balanced, result-oriented, foresighted and cost effective fashion than that at present.

The core objectives of the second fold and the third fold should include inter alia and as appropriate: one, to strengthen further, sustain further and promote further meaningful transactions between and among the neighbors, and others - including inter alia the US, NATO, INTERPOL - in pursuits of for example, severing or re-severing or both life lines of terrorist networks, terrorist funds, and terrorist weapons; two, to promote and implement common agendas for drastic and sustainable improvements in relevant areas of border management, border monitoring and border control in respective territories; three, to establish, operationalize, use and maintain a terrorism related joint data bank and to strengthen individual country level data banks - with the help and cooperation of all concerned; four, to attract, harness and sustain - at a humanly possible rate - support, cooperation and coordination of all concerned in areas of joint investigation, joint action, and joint follow-up aiming at protecting and liberating areas and territories from terrorists and terrorist attacks with a minimum or a zero loss or damage to at least innocent life, and property and without affecting territorial integrity and sovereignty of concerned countries; five, to establish and maintain early warning facilities and systems for dealing with terrorist attacks in a proactive and informed manner, per se; six, to facilitate securing arrest and conviction of terrorists; seven, to institutionalize and promote anti-terror diplomacy at relevant national, global and other levels; eight, to use the barrier as a source of, and force for, reinforcing bilateral and multilateral relations between and among all concerned. Pakistan and Afghanistan could, among others, undertake now initiatives - with or without the support of for example SAARC secretariat - for exploring and exploiting opportunities concerning the erection and maintenance of say, the third fold of anti-terrorism barrier in the interest of all concerned.

For a proper realization of barrier objectives, a purposeful and powerful support, as well as cooperation of all concerned within Pakistan should be attracted, consolidated, sustained, and harnessed via a solid, workable, result-oriented and continuous regime of strategies, partnerships, leadership and accountability - on a real time basis and in a real term - in pursuits of for example bringing to an end at least the substantive part of the war on terror in the country within a humanly possible timeframe. Here I am talking about things like more concerted target-based efforts and approaches, more productive processes and implementation mechanics, and more effective governance and administration of above processes and implementation mechanics - than those at present - in relevant anti-terror areas, leading hopefully to a quicker and successful achievement of objectives of say, the first fold barrier. In that respect, I believe the three pronged approach adopted recently by the government to fight terrorism and anti-social elements should be complimented and supplemented by additional factors and considerations, as appropriate. A few of them have been presented here briefly.

Pakistan needs an immediate, drastic and visible improvement in the management of its politics, governance, resources and development. In that respect, a united front in the forms of for example: a united parliament and senate; a united government including inter alia civil and military bureaucracies; united purposes and approaches; interference-free activities of cabinets at the centre and in the provinces; a united people including inter alia the poor; and a united political front comprising political parties in power and outside of power - under united, active and effective leadership of the President

Pervez Musharraf, the prime minister and concerned others and with the support and assistance, as needed, from friends of Pakistan including inter alia the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and China, neighbors of Pakistan including inter alia India, Iran and Afghanistan, and concerned others including inter alia World Bank will, among other things, be required for delivering Pakistan from its current crises, repositioning the country in an ever competitive, progressively re-integrating and increasingly uncertain universe, and building, as well as sustaining the three-fold anti-terrorism barrier for mutual benefits of all concerned.

Developments such as and as appropriate: more time-sensitive, productive, trade and development driven (for example), partnership-oriented, competitive, dynamic, realistic and futuristic foreign policies and practices than the existing ones; more result-oriented management and coordination of capacities and institutions at conceptual and other levels than that at present; more aggressive and purposeful efforts towards minimization of wastage if not elimination of wastage - than ever; the use of a reliable and workable composite of politics, professionalism and media support for say, optimal results, outcomes and impacts in the domain of governance and administration; greater opportunities for the people to hold government, political parties, private sector, civil society, the media (print, electronic and others), friends of Pakistan, neighbors of Pakistan and others to them (I mean, the people) in pertinent areas via existing parliamentary, non-parliamentary and other channels; a judiciary capable of delivering the right justice at the right time and cost to all concerned at all times without any fear and favor; a meaningful liberation of democracy and human rights from lip services of politicians and practitioners; and a further, as well as speedier advancement of reconciliation initiated, started and practicalized by president Pervez Musharraf; could be beneficial to the country at least between now and the foreseeable future.

There is a perceived need for a full scale use of diplomacy and diplomatic channels in pursuits of harnessing and sustaining maximum support and cooperation of all concerned including inter alia friends of Pakistan - particularly, the US - in favor of say, the war on terror. One of the reasons for it will be to create and promote initial conditions for the first barrier to work at a full speed and in an uninterrupted fashion, enabling the barrier to produce and sustain desired results, outcomes and impacts, and using the barrier as inter alia a source of, and force for, promoting further trust and confidence of Pakistanis, friends of Pakistan (in particular the US) and others in the country's ability towards getting it liberated from terrorism and other anti-social activities to the satisfaction of all concerned and in a timely, as well as cost-effective fashion.

I can understand the present day concern of the US and other (concerned) countries over possible consequences of any sudden and drastic anti-terror failure of Pakistan - in the days ahead - on the wellbeing of US and above countries. There exist fear - developments of above and similar nature could trigger at say, any loose moment - after all we are dealing here with human organizations - serious security situations in those countries. The existing and evolving situations in Pakistan - both political and apolitical - are strengthening causes for fear.

Factors that have been contributing - as appropriate - to above situations in Pakistan include inter alia: (i) inadequacies associated with the identification, selection, prioritization, implementation and follow-up of the country's local, national, international and other priorities; (ii) a growing gap between existing priorities and practices - resulting in inter alia a less than required outcome of performances so far by the country's loose coalition government in areas such as security, economics, energy, price hikes and international relations; (iii) a more use of Bhutto-rhetoric including inter alia Bhutto-slogans than Bhutto-practices, affecting the delivery of election promises by the PPP led-government to people of Pakistan and the international community, per se; (iv) oxygen-starved political alliances particularly at the center (PPP + PML-N + others); (v) the presence of more behind-the-scene divergences than convergences when it comes to for example fighting the war on terror on a common platform and strategy; (vi) the ongoing effort by certain quarters towards isolating for example, president Pervez Musharraf from his legitimate duties, responsibilities and accountability at say, the present stage of war when his leadership, experience and expertise in the overall and best interest of Pakistan is needed most. One of the concerns here is, the factors mentioned so far have been instrumental in inter alia dividing the country further along newly found lines, affording terrorists and other anti-social elements opportunities for establishing and sustaining additional spaces for a rapid growth of terrorism in the country - the recent deterioration in the country's security situation bear, in a sense, testimony to it. It may be mentioned here PML-N now-a-days appears to be more interested in the restoration of judiciary and removal of president Musharraf than any thing else in the country; (v) chances of Pakistanis - those affected severely by price hikes, energy crises - turning into anti-social elements have been brightening day by day and the development is becoming a matter of increasing concern for anti-terror operatives and others when it comes to anticipated resource constraints that could hit hard on the ongoing war - in a sense, a global challenge though; (vi) the topography of relevant terror and terror-prone areas + prevailing law and order situations in terror areas + ongoing geo-politics + the one-dimension mindset of concerned people living in those areas when it comes to matters like, taking revenges + the bravery, the courage and the determination of people of terror areas either for good or bad or a mixture of both + a long history of neglect and exploitation by governments in power and others when it comes to progress and prosperity of those areas and the people + poor records of human development, human rights, right to life and status of women in those areas + an average failure of all concerned in say, integrating those people into mainstream Pakistani societies and developmental dimensions + failures of ruling class and others in comprehending and appreciating challenges and opportunities of those areas and the people + failures in assisting the people in the effort towards say, taking the charge of their development processes within a reasonable period of time + a lack of support, cooperation and motivation on the part of those people in pursuits of say, change for better.

Besides in-country factors mentioned above, a host of ex-country factors such as and as appropriate: (a) instabilities in certain parts of India including Kashmir and possible consequences of the trust vote - based on situations as of today, 16 July 2008 - on the country's political and other futures; (b) Tibet and human rights issues of China; (c) motives behind sudden U-turns - in a sense - by Iran and North Korea on nuke issues at approximately the same time. Can they now be trusted - if so, to what extent and if not, why? Whether or not above moves are the part of temporary responses to ongoing and upcoming UN sanctions against Iran or time buying tactics on the part of Iranian government in pursuits of perfecting the bomb technology at the soonest or the part of temporary efforts towards protecting mainly North Korean soldiers from possible hunger and famine situations in these days of crises or a result of go-slow signals received by North Korea and Iran from those partners who are either communists or aspiring to become what I would call reborn communists or otherwise? How about the progress of effort towards bringing down the supremacy of US in the world? (d) conflicts in Africa, the Middle-East, Afghanistan and other parts of the world; (e) the current economic slow down in leading global economies; and (f) hydra-headed implications of climate change on the overall wellbeing of living beings and others in the universe; have, among other things and relative to time, space and other variables, facilitating efforts of terrorist and other anti-social elements towards using in their favor unguarded moments and spaces of Pakistan wherein the present day threshold of challenges is relatively high and the government has not yet been able to take a full and effective control of the situation due, among other things, to the country's self-created problems - a lack of political synergy, naïve realism, a continuity of blame-each-other regime, disunity, distrust, the ongoing intra and inter-party strife, emotionally-choked pertinent decisions and practices at local, national and other levels (used in a negative sense), and so on.

Taking into cognizance the internal and external factors discussed above, it now appears the success of building, sustaining and promoting the first, the second and the third fold of antiterrorism barrier would depend on inter alia how best and quickest Pakistan could transform all its negative factors into positive factors in a sustainable manner - with a view to creating for example a critical mass of the barrier.

Developments and measures such as and as appropriate - - a joint arrangement for guarding and securing respective sides of border between say, Pakistan and Afghanistan by respective border security forces; a better collection and management of useful intelligence; meaningful border meetings; enhanced technology-aided surveillances for areas having access difficulties; better intra and inter-border communications and coordination; a quicker and reliable population census in terror and terror-prone areas - if necessary, under curfews; issuance of photo ID to inhabitants of those areas; a better control on inter-district movements of people and goods within Pakistan and Afghanistan; a better control on identities and movements of Afghan refugees in Pakistan; intensification of anti-terror transactions between Pakistan, Afghanistan and others; demonstration of strong political will and determinations by Afghanistan, Pakistan and other partners in the war (including inter alia the US, the UK) for establishing and implementing synergistic program and strategies for winning the war in a quicker, conclusive and satisfactory fashion - Pakistan should be able to convince the world, it will not - from now onwards - interfere into internal affairs of Afghanistan and vice versa; building strategic relationships with partners in the war on terror, harnessing people's support for resisting attempts by terrorists and other anti-social elements to destroy or divert the country's comparative, competitive and other advantages and hit the per capita entitlements of people; an accelerated and fruitful realization of relevant commitments made at the UN and other forums by Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and concerned others; and an enhancement in the number and usefulness of good and intelligent people in societies at a rate at least higher than the geometric rate on a continuous basis - - could be instrumental in supplementing and complementing the anti-terror approach adopted by government of Pakistan.

Nuclear kiss of death

Praful Bidwai

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has plunged the United Progressive Alliance into a grave crisis by staking his reputation and India's "national prestige" on pushing the United States-India nuclear deal just when the deadline for it is about to close.

His mulish insistence on approaching the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency for approving the safeguards agreement signed with its secretariat has jeopardised the survival of the present governing arrangement, which is dependent on the Left parties. Their 59 MPs help the UPA comfortably cross the Lok Sabha's halfway mark of 272.

Yet, because the UPA lacks the courage to face an early election, it's negotiating a shady, opportunist and deplorable political deal with the Samajwadi Party merely to keep itself afloat.

The government has gone through the charade of organising a briefing for the SP to win its support. The UPA is trying to stitch together a shaky, unconvincing majority for the UPA (227 MPs) by recruiting "defector parties" like the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Janata Dal (Secular), besides the SP's 39 MPs.

Even if this new sleazy arrangement survives, it's unlikely to ensure that the nuclear deal will be concluded this year. As discussed below, the deal is likely to run into obstacles in the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers' Group and the US Congress. The UPA could end up losing both credibility and the deal-just when it faces adversity with inflation running above 11 percent, and a growing threat from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Singh never had, and still lacks, a democratic mandate for the deal, which will cause a radical shift in India's strategic and foreign policy. Last November, the Left gave the UPA "an honourable exit" by allowing it to hold talks with the IAEA secretariat. But the UPA-Left committee on the deal agreed that the talks' outcome "will be presented to .. [it] tbefore it finalises its findings".

However, the government now wants to go to the Board regardless of the findings.

Singh's nuclear obstinacy has dismayed Congressmen. He's a political lightweight, who has never won a popular election. He's pushing the deal under US pressure because he believes that it will leave a great legacy-a strategic alliance with Washington-comparable to the neoliberal economic shift he executed in 1991.

Congress leaders are reluctantly falling in line with Singh because Sonia Gandhi seems to have come around to supporting him. Unless she corrects course, Gandhi will commit a grave error.

A UPA-SP alliance won't be just a tactical shift. It means strategically moving away from a reliable and principled force (the Left), which is a bulwark against Hindu communalism, to a party which has compromised with it, and is steeped in opportunism. SP leaders have cut deals with shady business groups such as Sahara, and are involved in odious land transactions and tax scams. The SP took an anti-communal stance in the 1990s. But in recent years it has hobnobbed with the Sangh Parivar partly because of its fear of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

When in power in Uttar Pradesh until a year ago, the SP ensured that a notification needed to bring LK Advani to trial in the Babri case would not be issued. It donated crores to the VHP, and lavished official hospitality on the BJP's national council members in 2006.

The SP will extract a high price for supporting the UPA, including withdrawal of police investigations, dropping of ministers, and shelving the women's reservation Bill. This could prove the kiss of death for the UPA. Yet, the UPA is embarking on this course when it's not clear that the nuclear deal can be put through its next steps.

If and when the IAEA Board endorses the safeguards agreement, the NSG must grant India an unconditional exemption from its tough rules governing nuclear commerce. Then, the US Congress must ratify the 123 bilateral agreement.

The window of opportunity for completing these steps is fast slamming shut, if it has not closed. Many US policymakers and shapers like Ashley Tellis, an architect of the deal, Obama adviser Anthony Lake, and Congressman Gary Ackerman believe that it may be already too late. Daryl Kimball, of the Arms Control Association (US), says the deal is somewhere "between intensive care and the mortuary".

Asked recently whether the deal was dead, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph Biden said: "I think it ist I think if it's not done by the time we go to the August recess, it's awfully hard" to wrap up the deal this year.

The deal will encounter its greatest hurdle at the NSG. Many NSG members will question why a unique exception be made for India to the global nuclear regime.

Indian negotiators hope they can obtain "a clear, clean and unconditional" exemption from the NSG, and that too by September. But the NSG's next meeting is not scheduled before September 22. Several members, including Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia, are uncomfortable with the deal. China and Germany remain uncertain.

The NSG debate could be a prolonged one. Some members will probably lay down conditions. Many believe that major concessions have already been made because India can keep its nuclear weapons. It's therefore reasonable to ask that India pledge not to conduct another nuclear test or cease fissile material production-as the major nuclear states have already done.

Any condition will kill the deal. Singh's supporters argue that the deal is a "litmus test" for India's "international credibility". But the world knows the compulsions of India's democratic politics don't favour the deal.

The Bush administration itself seems reconciled to a delay. On June 23, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said: "We'd like to believe that this deal t can and should be supported by whoever comes into office in January of 2009. But obviously, the next US government will have to t make their own decisionst"

Singh, then, is staking his reputation on a false premise.. This will have terrible consequences. If the Congress and the UPA have any sense, they should desist.