The New Nation - Internet Edition

Muhammed Habibur Rahman

In ancient Greece democracy meant direct rule of the people. The city states, where, democracy flourished, did not have more than ten thousand population. Democracy was not held in high esteem by the Greek scholar-philosophers. It was disliked by Socrates, considered as the rule of ignorant people by Plato and judged as dispensable by Aristotle. In the modern world about 29 democratic states emerged by 1926.

We have learnt the hard way in the past 37 years that democracy as a system of governance is difficult to practice. To prevent misuse of democracy and the dictatorship of the majority, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. Human rights become integral with birth of humans. Human existence and human rights are inseparable unless laws or the constitution of a country provide to the contrary. Because of close linkage of freedom of speech and expression with freedom of press, the latter has been specifically mentioned in constitutions of many countries. While freedom of speech is important, freedom of press has been demanded on legal ground and in the interest of corporate entity.

In democracy, sovereign power rests with the people. The people exercise that power either directly or through their representatives. On the other hand, totalitarianism is a politico- economic system under which the production process, commodity and services are owned and controlled by the collective entity which is regarded as the society and the state. Freedom of action and choice as promoted under individualistic system are contrary to control by the collective organisation or the state.

Democracy can be very much like collectivism if actual political power is vested with a particular group and freedom of individuals is controlled by a public body or the elite. Democracy can act as a shield to persecution and repression just as it can protect human freedom. There are many countries where elections are held at regular intervals but people are systematically subjected to repression. Democracy alone cannot guarantee freedom. James Madison (1809-1817), the fourth president of America said:

"Democracy is always an example of unrest and violence and it always violates individual security and right of ownership of properties. It is short-lived and ends violently."

Politicians and the public media are never tired of saying that the oppressed people want democracy and that only democracy can make the world free and peaceful. It was to save democracy that America joined the Second World War.

We are more or less familiar with the deception used in recent times in the name of democracy. Nevertheless, people in the world frame constitutions, make declaration of human rights and champion freedom of press. Whatever virtues democracy may have, it is not the same as freedom. Democracy can be repressive like autocracy. Elected representatives are expected to be respectful of individual freedom. But it is not always true when it is said that democratic states are relatively peace-loving and conflict averse.

Three imperial countries in the 19th and 20th century, Britain, France and America, were democratic states. In the 20th century though America was not threatened it became involved in more than 200 armed clashes. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people lost lives in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Granada, Columbia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia and Bosnia.

Is democracy indispensable for freedom? For many centuries, in most parts of the world, law and order were maintained without parliament and people's representatives. According to many, for a free and peaceful world what is more necessary than democracy is freedom of individuals and emancipation of people.

In paragraph 21 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights representative government has been mentioned as follows:

21(A) Everyone has the right to participate in the government of his (her) country either directly or through the elected representatives. (B) Everyone has the right of equal opportunity for employment in his country. (C) The foundation of government's authority is the will of people.

This will finds expression through universal and equal right to vote and actual elections held regularly. Election will be held through secret ballot or similar voting procedure.

Article 29 has described the democratic society as follows:

29(A) Everyone has obligations and duties to the society whose fulfillment alone can ensure his free and full development as a person. (B) In enjoying freedom and rights everyone will be subject to those limitations which are determined by law to protect and respect the right and freedom of others and to meet the requirements of morality, public order and common welfare of a democratic society. (C) In enjoying these rights and freedom the basic principles and objectives of UN should never be violated.

International convention on economic, social and cultural rights and the international agreement regarding civic and political rights were signed on 16 December, 1966 in pursuance of Resolution 2200A(21) of the UN General Assembly. These were given effect on 3 January and 23 March, 1976, respectively.

The elected representatives of Bangladesh declared independence of Bangladesh on 10 April, 1971 saying that they would fulfil the obligations and duties bestowed on them as a member of the UN and obey the charter of the UN. Democracy and human rights were a spontaneous battle cry in the war of independence of Bangladesh. In our Constitution human rights have been invoked and commitment has been made for the establishments of a exploitation free society where there will be rule of law, fundamental human rights, economic and social equality, freedom and justice.

Under Martial Law and through the Fifteenth Amendment of our Constitution change was introduced in the preamble of our Constitution which now reads: Full trust and faith in Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy, socialism meaning economic and social justice, all these ideals will be enshrined in the basic principles of the Constitution.

In the Proclamation it was categorically stated: "We, the people of Bangladesh having declared independence on 26 March 1971, have established the sovereign country of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh after a historic war of independence.

We pledge that the great ideals that inspired our heroic people to participate in the War and the martyrs to lay down their lives will be the basic principles of this constitution upholding full trust and faith in Almighty Allah, democracy and socialism implying economic and social justice. We further pledge that the basic objectives of the state will be to establish such a exploitation free socialist society on the basis of democracy where there will be rule of law, basic human rights and economic, social and political equality and freedom and justice".

Article 8(I) and II of the Constitution mentions about democracy. Combining democracy and basic human rights the Article provides: 'The Republic will be a democracy where basic human rights and freedom will be ensured and individual's dignity and value will be given due respect and participation of the people will be ensured at all levels of administration through representatives.'

On 5 October, 1998 the government of Bangladesh became a signatory to 6 international human rights, treaties and conventions covering economic and social rights and political and civic rights.

Press and public media are not synonymous nor are they complementary to each other. Press does not include public media but public media covers press. Press generally denotes newspaper but printing press also is included under press.

Apart from press, public media includes radio, television, internet, telephone and mobile phone.

Human rights are usually violated by the government.

To protect human rights, through awareness, public media provides information to the public and tries to build resistance against violation of human rights. In Bangladesh it is the public media that reveals instances of human rights violation. Based on public disclosures the High Court sometimes issues Rules against the government to protect human rights.

In New York Times vss Sullies case (1946) Justice William Joseph Brennan of US Supreme Court said, 'Those who are public figures and deal publicly do not have accountability for incorrect statements if that incorrect statement is not malicious or ill considered.' If a journalist has to scrutinize all information and publish the news relating to government after being completely sure of its authenticity and accuracy then that will be a hindrance to press freedom.

In 1990 the Privy Council of Britain gave similar opinion in the case of Hector vss Antigua and Bermuda. Needless to say that if a journalist resorts to falsehood out of malice and sheer negligence or recklessness, then he will get no relief from justice.

Press freedom is not more comprehensive than freedom of speech and cannot claim to have greater concession or relief. Newspapers do not have any special right to get advertisement from government.

But if the government decides to give advertisements to newspapers then it has to do this impartially. Before taking any action against newspapers they should be given a chance to present their views according to normal procedure. Unless there is emergency, pre-censorship cannot be imposed on newspapers.

The courts of justice should also liberally treat criticism in press in order to uphold press freedom as provided in the constitution. Except in special circumstances proceedings for contempt of court should not be initiated in a hurry.

At present newspapers have become attractive for major investments. To the rich and well-to-do, newspapers are like the golden deer. The days when compositors used to toil away, setting pages with letters of lead painstakingly picked up from trays are long over. To-day composition is completed by pressing the mouse in a computer.

The new technology requires major investment. People who have money to make the type of investment may be thought to control journalists. But this is not all true. A newspaper owner cannot act only to further his interest or to earn profit only. He cannot wholly succeed in this however much he tries to enforce his restrictive orders and impose self-censorship on the journalists.

He has to grant minimum freedom to journalists, otherwise his newspaper will not have much circulation.

Readers will not subscribe newspapers if they are not objective and truthful to become trustworthy and acceptable, qualities for which they rely on newspapers. It goes without saying that unless readers like to read a newspaper it cannot survive.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) has identified journalism as a hazardous profession after analysing the life and activities of journalists. The incidence of victimisation of journalists worldwide give credence to this conclusion.

It is the responsibility of the government to give protection to all. There is, however, no special legal obligation to ensure security of journalists. But if a journalist is killed or injured while covering incident of breakdown of law and order then delaying trial for those cases can only aggravate the risky work of journalists.

Freedom House of USA has ranked Bangladesh as third in the scale of world press freedom. In 2001 Bangladesh was second among the three categories of 'free'. As a result of deterioration of press freedom in the country we are now recognised as a country with less press freedom.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has laid down that everyone has the right to have opinion and to express opinion. Freedom to hold opinion and accessing information and views through any means, irrespective of the jurisdiction of the state and use and make it available, is part of this right. This right is for all people and not for any particular class or group.

This right is usually due to all people and does not depend on any special status and relations. This is such an enforceable right that people have to be aware of and eager to acquire it. Its violation should be protested vigorously.

Article 3 of Bangladesh Constitution has provided:

Freedom of each citizens to express views and to speak and of press is guaranteed subject to reasonable restrictions as provided under law in the interest of maintaining state security, good relations with foreign countries, law and order, morality and decency or regarding incitement to show disrespect to court or commission of crime.

The unwholesome influence of the 1962 constitution of Pakistan on this Article is to be noted. The list of restrictions in the proviso has unnecessarily been lengthened.

Every journalist is instrumental in promoting and protecting human rights. One of the responsibility of journalists is to inform people about violation of human rights and to work so that they can protect their rights.

As in the case of human rights, for good governance also the role of journalists is very important. Journalists who are experienced in grassroots reporting can make it easy to solve problems by drawing the attention of local administration.

In the developed countries laws were introduced for right to information only 3-4 decades ago. There is provision for supply of information under our normal laws but this is made ineffective under the pretext of maintaining official secrecy. With the introduction of the Right to Information law, press freedom in this respect can now be expected to improve.

Generally, newspapers face threat from the government. When law and order deteriorates, mastans (musclemen) also victimise journalists. The mastans manage to influence national politics gradually through insidious means.

On the other hand, the World Bank has pointed out corruption in the media world also. Of course, all media persons are not corrupt nor do they condone corruption by others. But it cannot be denied that sometimes news are exaggerated or suppressed.

Only one out of 5 literate persons read newspapers in Bangladesh. About 1 percent of the population subscribes papers. Still, the influence of newspapers on society is immense. Because of limited number of literate people, printed words in Bangladesh attain the status of proclamations.

(The writer is former Chief Justice and the Chief Adviser of Caretaker Government of Bangladesh (1996). Translated from Bengali.)

Alamgir Mohiuddin

Yet another year, a time frame man has created for his own convenience, has lapsed into eternity. And tradition is to welcome it. We welcome 2009 and as we do it we recall with pain and pangs how the past year has been individually and collectively and step into the new year with equal apprehension. We also watch with a bit of frustration how little man has progressed on their cherished desire for peace, security and welfare. The cardinal question for many of us is: Will peace remain illusive as ever?

As this article appears in print, a sea change has already taken place in political scenario of Bangladesh and in the same breath the world is bracing for a change, long awaited with hope and apprehension. Remember that quaint, nostalgic struggle during the cold war, which was associated with the phrase "Peace On Earth." That politicians masquerading as god's conscience often ordered wars the way economists ask for planning studies. The western leaders swamped by bogeymen drunk with greed for wealth and power, supported by antiseptic media invasions and patriotic warmongering fever launched war which people wished absolutely to avoid. As a result the half a decade long pain imposed on the human race culminated in a promised change. In the past 50 years such foisted-wars brought more miseries to the human race than it solved any. Those nations generally consider war a good thing, not the way of cowards?

But this still does not answer the question. Wars may not again be on world scale, but the pangs and pains that the regional ones are inflicting are enormous and more pernicious and grievous. With 1.3 million Iraqis dead since the American occupation, million more maimed or wounded, the western claim of good war only starkly reveals its hollowness. When the collective will of the United Nations is decided by a few usurpers of wealth, punishments as benign as sanctions cause more deaths as in Iraq (where some six hundred thousand children died for lack of medicine and food for the sanction) and retard progress of a nation like in Libya. The new global war is being fought under different garbs and different levels.

American think- tanks called neocon or neo-conservative claim that the world can be safe only if the human race listen and practice their prescription. But this is belied in post- occupation of Iraq. Even the bogeymen there now feel that they had been used but they do not find ways to get out of the quagmire that they themselves created.

The justification for America's invasion and occupation of Iraq--- the establishment of (Western) democracy in Iraq and in the Middle East and removal of dictatorship appear as greater danger to them. But neocon logic is the only true guarantor of peace and prosperity. Whether this stand of the occupiers will continue to haunt the Iraqis and, for that matter, the world will be tested in 2009. Even they do not profess it loudly and clearly the true intentions which is to occupy and control the oil-rich region of the world and establish Pax Americana, this is no longer a secret. This they are doing under an absolutely correct argument that people want and deserve the right to determine their own, and their societies' own, fates. But that right cannot be imposed with the bullets of a gun.

Therefore, the call for establishing democracy in the Middle East and other poor and disadvantaged countries are but a ploy to keep them under control with in an empire.

Sober thinkers and writers have pointed out that it's America, more than any other single force in the world, that's standing in the way of global democracy. Whenever and wherever they are present an orderly transition of power is found to be stumbling.

From thrashing the United Nations to routinely breaking global treaties to mounting unilateral invasions, official US policy is now to use force to get what it wants, regardless of whether it's what the majority of the world wants. That's not democracy. In another word, world's most powerful nation is also associated with most of its record number of armed conflicts. Afghanistan is a case in point. US troops present themselves as daily targets in bases across the country, bases ostensibly still devoted to hunting Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants, but instead mostly focused on protecting themselves from rival warlord armies and gangs who resent their presence and who completely control the entire country save daylight hours in the capital city, Kabul. Now "moderate" Talibans are working with US forces, a sign of American desperation. And nothing has changed for better as starvation still stalks the length and breadth of the country and other problems unmitigated.

According to one American commentator, most of the Islamic world, and a lot of the rest of it, considers the United States to be the force that makes the ongoing brutalisation of Palestine possible. Israel is the largest recipient of US aid, most of it military, even though Israel, with the world's fourth-largest military, hardly needs it. It is now clear that terrorism is bred because Israel is there to cause it. If Israel is allowed to violate international law and human rights at will, obviously those with their backs glued to the wall will move before they die. That famous law of physics, 'very action has equal and opposite reaction' will operate.

In Central Africa, a brutal war, largely invisible to the commonman has now claimed a staggering four million lives since 1995. A confusing morass of invading armies and mercenaries -- where the forces of Rwanda or Uganda are, on a given day, either being trained by or outgunned by the forces of Bechtel and Halliburton -- has as its heart the mineral-laden eastern region of The Congo, which among other prizes has most of the world's supply of several rare minerals. The riches wind up in American pockets.

The guns come from America, and Washington is far more directly involved than virtually anybody realises. But it's Africa, so almost nobody here knows or cares. Similar is the story for Darfur. It's only crime is that its possible oil wealth is equal to that of Saudi Arabia and the USA wont allow others to have any share or influence there. The simple question will answer the reason for the current death and destruction there. There are other examples where Washington continues to quietly expand its support of and direct work with the military (and paramilitaries) responsible for the worst human rights record in the Western Hemisphere: Colombia. The US provides political and economic support for Russia and Vladimir Putin's regular genocidal assaults on civilians in Chechnya; establish bases and provide military, intelligence, and secret police training in Uzbekistan and other dictatorships across Central and Southwest Asia. It deploys "War on Terror" troops throughout Indonesia and the Philippines and "War on Drugs" troops throughout the Andes and provide arms and training to police in Nigeria, an oil ricjh country where the US corporate interests are well entrenched. And not for nothing the US maintains some 720 army bases across the world.

All told, according to a study, the US military is now active in some 60 countries around the world. The dozen or so examples above are among the most egregious -- and what is the US doing killing people in even a dozen countries? -- but they have several factors in common: 1) No war has been declared against any government in any of them; 2) none are on the same continent as the United States; 3) All target poor countries' civilian populations; 4) In few of these cases have serious attempts been undertaken, especially by the US government, to find a just and peaceful resolution to the situation; and 5) Most Americans know very little about any of them, as national corporate reporting is generally either uncritical or, more commonly, nonexistent. The exception is Iraq, where the "factual" reporting is so markedly different from that in Britain and Europe that it might as well be describing a different conflict.

In this background it is right to pause and question whether 2009 will bring in a respite? Sweeping change rarely happens overnight. As such, it's often not even obvious to people when they are in its midst. Over the last two decades, despotic governments of all kinds, in over 30 countries, Communist to fascist to democratic dictatorship, have fallen in the face of the demands of ordinary people to determine our own destinies.

But those were at the cost of huge bloodshed. But the situation for the common people has not much changed partially because the vested power has only changed the tactics of their programmes. However, a silver line is that the current collapse of capitalist economy led by the USA and the subsequent efforts by them to control their own greed and exploitation. Whether this will come to the benefit of the poor majority of the world is to be seen in 2009.

Now, with extraordinary speed in our unipolar world, we're seeing a second wave of nonviolent revolutions, one with a more explicitly economic component.

The "Washington consensus" that imposes neoliberal economic and political straitjackets so as to make poor countries poorer and to send their wealth to the banks and gated communities of the rich countries faced critical opposition in many Latin American countries where pro-US government had been overthrown paving way for some sort of international balance. These developments represent the demands of ordinary people, as filtered upwards through their governments, that they be allowed to determine their own policies and futures. The force at work is both so simple that politicians ignore it and so powerful that politicians cannot control it. It is hope, particularly the hope of ordinary people in all parts of the world. It is our hope for peace and for lives without fear of hunger and privation and a better future for our children and grandchildren. Revolutions, the political scientists say, happen not when conditions are most desperate, but when hopes have been raised and are then threatened. And so it is today. The government of the United States, with its guns and its extraordinary wealth, represents not the hope but the threat. Whether under new dispensation, the US policy will change to favour peace or extend the rule of threat will determine is to be seen. A change will obviously bring some respite.

Another favourite neocon axiom is that countries strongly linked in the global economy are far less likely to be ravaged by economic downturn. The theory has been proved wrong this time.

They wanted to say that as the globe shrinks, no country can be an island unto itself any longer. The sooner that the United States starts behaving as though it is one country among many, rather than a global bully, the better the prospects for peace on earth become.

The irony is that the post-9/11 bellicosity of the Bush Administration has been so extreme that in the long run it may lead more directly to a world with a common aversion to wars and empires. The reason why the US issue occupied major part of this overview is simple. In this uniplolar world the leader decided directly or indirectly the going-on, even the everyday activities. According to Pentagon budget, it is about 900 billion only for espionage and motivation, etc.

This can map the depth of the activities. If we give a little longer look into the incidents, activities and developments around they world, none of them is free of US touch. The only thing is that the superpower decides to ignore some minor details in some cases leaving it to its regional agent or support such as in this subcontinent. Therefore, the shape of thing in those cases will be little different and will be allowed to roll so long it does not clash with the interest of the superpower.

Since the economic slumpdown in the past year has been a deterrent factor the US may decide to behave differently partly to reshape its image and partly to re-rail its home front. Its economy faltered for its support to the military machine which is intact and marching ahead.

Therefore, the military-led policy will hardly change unless there is realisation that the human race will be in jeopardy if the stress remains only on the military front and peace is derided. Smaller countries like Bangladesh and others with their leaders changed or ushered in so long they fulfil the demands of the world masters. This year the developments in the subcontinent clearly show the dark possibility that the fate of Bangladesh may face yet another test where its existence will be examined. It appears there has been enough motivation among the people for collective suicide.

It appears that the small minority of powerful publicists working for the vested power has effectively enlisted support of the people and joined their forces. The event in Mumbai is just a harbinger. That is the map of the subcontinent will be changing once again after three decades where not three but several countries will emerge.

Thus those who hope for peace after the turbulence of the past year, caused by pervasive greed for wealth and power, will be disappointed.

(The writer is the editor, the Naya Diganta and a former editor of The New Nation).

Mostafa Kamal Majumder

Change of leadership is the beauty of democracy," so spoke the outgoing American President George W Bush the other day as his experience of life at the White House was being aired by a foreign television channel. His tenure is over and he is no longer entitled to living in the most famous home in the US.

Bush Junior is lucky in that he has served a maximum of two terms as President. His father George Bush was denied the second term following the Gulf War of 1991 as the US electorate did choose William Jefferson Clinton who was president for two terms during the intervening period. Democrat James Earl Carter was also denied the second term in 1981 after his bid to secure the rescue of US hostages from Iran did end in a disaster in the desert.

Against the backdrop of another democratic election being held in Bangladesh it's worth recalling a comment made by former US President Carter on monitoring of the 1991 elections. Carter had prepared himself, but could not ultimately come to monitor the polls following the 9/11 attacks in the US. At the close of a short visit to Bangladesh before that election he told a questioner, "Observing election in Bangladesh is a rewarding experience, because it is here a national past-time and even a rickshaw-puller believes that he has a say in who should be the next prime minister."

The present election in Bangladesh has also attracted observers from the US, the European Union and Asia. In another day's time the voters would elect members who would form the next Parliament and the next government.

National elections always create an air of festivity all over Bangladesh and a lot of noise as rivals compete to have popular support in their favour through different modes and methods of communication. Election campaign scenarios are by and large similar in all democracies. At campaign time the nation looks divided as rivals not only profess different economic and political thoughts but also at times tend to use offensive language against each other. The difference between established democracies and the nascent ones lies in that results are accepted in good grace in the former and most often challenged in the latter. By and large democratic nations stand more united after elections than before.

One problem of democracy is that the elected person may not be the best one from a constituency in honesty, competence and track record because normally party nominees win elections as they are backed by political organisations and their workers. Individually honest and competent candidates generally fail to attract sufficient numbers of voters to win elections. The Election Commission this time has made provision for casting 'no' votes so that voters can express disapproval of candidates nominated by parties and those contesting independently. It's to be seen whether this would have a moderating influence on the choice of candidates in subsequent elections, but it can be said without any hesitation that modern democracies cannot function without democratic political parties.

Parties winning elections rule with the willing consent of other parties that remain in the opposition. The losing parties again do not rest till the next election, but instead keep a vigil on those who are at the corridors of power. In the absence of this vigil the parties in power cannot be kept in check. The vigilance function is however, also done by conscious citizens and the news media, also known as the fourth estate. The bond that keeps together the winning and the losing parties is the General Will of the people expressed through the Constitution - written or unwritten. The Constitution sets down the rules of the game which democratic political parties are pledge-bound to uphold and which they cannot do without.

The political parties, so to say, the people of Bangladesh should thank themselves that they succeeded to give to themselves a consensus Constitution in 1991 after 44 years of trial and error that had started with the creation of erstwhile Pakistan. In fact, it was on the question of framing an acceptable Constitution that Bangladesh parted with Pakistan and emerged as an independent and sovereign nation. There is a tendency in some quarters to talk in the language of those who had torn apart the 1956 consensus Constitution of the then Pakistan. Field Marshal Ayub Khan had probably stupidly done this disservice to his nation to introduce Basic Democracy that he had thought was 'suited to the genius of the people'. Needless to mention the scheme did suit the purpose of consolidating his power base. He ruled with all pomp and grandeur for ten years and gave to Pakistan a glorious period of economic development. The cost however, was the severing of political and social fabrics in the absence of which the country fell apart within two years of his resignation from power.

In independent Bangladesh some people did raise feeble protests against the 1972 Constitution for not consulting people of all shades of opinion. The argument of critics was that the Constituent Assembly that framed it comprised overwhelmingly Awami League representatives elected for the Pakistan National Assembly and the then East Pakistan Provincial Assembly. The document, by and large accepted by the people, however did not remain in shape following the introduction of the one-party Bksal system in 1975. Since then power changed through coups or elections but the system with an all-powerful president at the helm remained in place till the mass upsurge of 1990. The present Constitution is the result of the democratic aspirations that grew during nine years of movement against autocracy. It is however, not the holy Qur'an and thus not sacrosanct and can be amended by following the required procedures laid down in the Constitution itself. But any fundamental change to it may be disastrous. Because such change might alienate people, and in the event of such alienation nobody can tell when the nation would experience a meeting of minds again, as was the case in 1991, to be on a consensus on the fundamental law of the land. So, even though amendments might become necessary to tune the Constitution to changed needs and circumstances, there is the need for caution that this fundamental law is not changed at will. If for any reason a major shade of political opinion feels alienated and develops dissent against the Constitution the body politic would start suffering from a serious wound which would take a long time to heal. The unity in diversity guaranteed under the Constitution should not be disturbed. Instead, it should be protected at all costs.

A Bangladesh-born US citizen during a visit to the country recently expressed her disapproval of the ways the major political parties in Bangladesh are run, and commented, "It's better the politicians stay away from power. They are corrupt and their leaders secure selfish interests at the cost of the people." She however, changed her short-sighted view when she was confronted with the question as to who would then take responsibility of the affairs of the state in the long term. Ad-hoc arrangement is always short term. Under such dispensation of things people also plan for the short term. Investment, production, employment and economic growth suffer as a result. Nearly two years of the Caretaker government clearly demonstrated the weaknesses of a non-political government that lacks active support from the grass-roots.

Questions are raised as to who would protect against a democratically elected government from degenerating into party dictatorship or one-man rule which is again intolerant of the opposition. A close look would indicate that such questions come from frustrations when high expectations are not met. Due to revolution in information and communication technology the people can compare the behaviour of our politicians with those in established democracies every day by observing their activities as reported by the print and the electronic media. Many people often forget that in terms of economic and social development the country is at least a century behind the established western democracies. The Indian democracy has become stable because of its uninterrupted functioning for six decades. A scrutiny would show that the Indian politicians look and behave more like Bangladesh politicians than those in western democracies. They are steadily improving. There is no reason to believe that Bangladeshi politicians cannot improve. There is no scope not to improve if elections are held at regular intervals. Because at the close of every term politicians have to go back to the people for mandate for the next term. No punishment can be greater for a political party than its defeat in the election. Politicians take lessons from such punishment. Those who do not perish. This rule can be no different in Bangladesh.

How again, one's attention can escape the saying that the people get the government they deserve? Famous British Prime Minister (from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963) Harold McMillan is reported to have once revealed, he was angry with a post office employee who was removing a special telephone set as he returned to the 10 Downing Street residence following his resignation from the post. The post office man quietly replied, "You are no longer entitled to using this set, Sir!" Recalling the incident many years later McMillan reportedly observed, this is why democracy is firmly rooted in the UK. Eternal vigilance is the price of democracy. Not only the leaders but also the government employees and the people should see to it that nobody is above the law and things are done only in accordance with law which guards against excesses by those who are in power. Can the US President, who is the most powerful head of state on earth, stop or delay the November 4 presidential election held once every four years or refuse the transfer of power to the president-elect on January 20? No, he cannot. The American people would not accept such deviation from constitutional obligations. American democracy is more than two centuries old. Yet complaints are sometimes made about fairness of elections there. In fact, democracy can never be fault-free because it is all about and is practiced by human beings who can never be perfect. Democracy will always be noisy and messy because under this process decisions are taken by consulting people's representatives. The system however, is smarter as it is stable and all concerned own the decisions.

(The writer is the editor, The New Nation)

Harun ur Rashid

Bangladesh stands at a crossroads and the path to a new invigorated Bangladesh depends how the new political forces emerge after the national elections on December 29th and accept the environment, characterised by mutual tolerance and respect, rule of law and accountability to people.

Democratic practices in tatters in the past:

Although democratic government was restored in 1991, regrettably the leaders of both major political parties-BNP and AL- fell out with each other. Furthermore, the two former Prime Ministers ignored some basic democratic norms in running the administration and the situation had developed what academics of political science could call democracy of "the tyranny of the majority and the recalcitrant minority". Such phenomenon destroyed the spirit of representative democracy in the country.

Politics became a big investment because if one would become a MP, it was a gateway for him/her to make money by being corrupt. Criminalisation of politics became the routine affair. A section of Ministers and MPs have allegedly pampered criminal elements to make money by extortion so long they would bring enough votes for politicians during the elections.

If MPs and ministers were charged with corruption bureaucrats were not far behind them and followed their political masters.

State institutions became weak and it is alleged that successive governments have appointed their own people in the state institutions. In the perception of public, there was almost a complete breakdown of integrity of some of the state institutions. Bureaucracy became politicised and those who "did not go with the flow" were marginalised.

Furthermore, confrontational politics accompanied by violence on the streets led to a situation in which declaration of emergency was proclaimed on January 11 2007, postponing the election on January 22, 2007 ( Emergency has been lifted on 17th December 2008).

Caretaker government:

Since January 12, 2007, Bangladesh has been undergoing through a path that is extraordinary and cathartic. The interim non-party caretaker government has been on a drive as far as possible to get rid of corrupt elements, muscle men and black money so that a new political level-playing field is created with a view to holding a multi-party fair, free and credible election.

The caretaker government attempted to eradicate as far as possible corrupt and criminal elements in society with the active assistance of armed forces and law enforcing agencies and has been able to demonstrate to what extent and how deep corruption has seeped into different layers of society and government, including political leaders, public servants and businessmen.

Powerful persons including former Prime Ministers who once were considered themselves "untouchables" were detained for alleged corruption or abuse of power.

The interim government was able to re-constitute some of the State institutions, such as the Public Service Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Election Commission.. Separation of judiciary from the executive has been implemented with the approval of the Supreme Court.

The Election Commission has been able to prepare list of voters (more than eighty million) with an identity card, describing names, photographs and finger prints. This has been a groundbreaking exercise by the Commission with the active participation of the armed forces and they deserve commendation.

Any reform or unprecedented tough action tends to be risky and has pitfalls. And some actions of the care-taker government are no exception.

There have been allegations of high-handedness and denial of due process to suspected corrupt politicians by some human rights organisations against the interim government. Some allege that the care-taker government has gone beyond its boundaries set by the Constitution.

Political parties and nomination process:

In total, 39 political parties registered with the Election Commission are contesting the 300 parliament seats and 1,597 candidates are in the race.

It is discouraging to note that most political parties have not been able to nominate all clean candidates to the parliamentary seats.

It is reported by NGO Sujon that BNP has nominated 4 convicts, 16 accused, 12 loan defaulters,7 relatives of top party leaders and one corruption suspect while AL nominated 10 accused, 1 convict, 8 loan defaulters, two relatives of top party leaders and one corruption suspect. JP nominated 1 convict, and 4 loan defaulters, while Jamaat-e-Islami nominated 3 accused and one corruption suspect and other parties nominated 10 loan defaulters (The Daily Star: 4th December 2008).

It is reported that 42 out of 130 loan defaulters are to contest the election, securing legal protection from the judiciary. The Adviser for Finance told the reporters on 3rd December that "As a citizen of the country I don't want the loan defaulters to take part in elections. But the government has nothing to do if they contest through the loopholes in the laws".

Observers and some media have pointed out that the nomination of candidates show political parties have not changed their old mind-set and rejected many individuals who wanted to reform political parties.

Election Manifestos:

The major parties -AL and BNP- have released their election manifestos on 12th and 13th December respectively. AL issued it in English language while BNP in Bangla language.

If one compares the AL 23-points mainfesto with 35-points manifesto of BNP, observers say many of their promises for good governance, accountability, independence of judiciary, strengthening of Anti-Corruption Commission and political decisions on consensus basis on important national issues are similar.

Furthermore demand for direct election for women, instead of reserved seats in the parliament, has been delayed until 2021 by both major parties.Women rights groups view it as disappointing.

If two manifestos are compared , in three respects they differ. First, AL's manifesto provides a vision for the country for 2021 and deals with some contemporary burning issues while BNP's manifesto enumerates primarily micro issues.

Second, BNP's manifesto criticses the care-taker government while AL's manifestos does not and describes the rule of the caretaker in the following words " with various limitations, weaknesses, lapses as well as some successes."

Third and most important difference appears to be the way the two parties ends their manifestos with different nature of slogans..

AL concludes with three slogans-Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu and Long Live Bangladesh, while BNP ends its manifesto with Let Allah provide strength to serve the country for benefit of people, Allah Hafez, Bangladesh Zindabad, and BNP Zindabad. (English translation is mine)

If one analyses the slogans, it appears that AL's slogans are primarily based on pro-liberation ethos and separation of religion from politics, while BNP's slogans are Islam-based, attempt to emphasise the link between religion and politics and uses non-Bangla words such as "Zindabad", a relic of Pakistan days. Although major parties' manifestos call for some achievable and lofty goals, observers say if past experience is any guide, lack of commitment to or unwillingness in, implementing promises of manifesto remains the problem.

Some observers said that major parties have not taken a clear stand on the issues of hartal and siege programmes, which are the biggest obstacles in the economic advancement. Furthermore, many political analysts argue that major parties did not say what they would do if not voted to power.

It is of no use to blame elected political leaders when people do not vote for competent and honest candidates. There is a saying that people get the government they deserve.

A few new features in national elections:

There are a few new features in the ensuing national elections. It is reported that 33% per cent of total voters are the first-time voters About 5 million voters who are prisioners in 67 jails across the country will be, for the first time, eligible to vote through postal ballot.

It is reported that female voters are more than male voters. Out of total 810,58698 eligible voters, 412, 36149 females and 398, 22549 males.

A total of 55 women candidates will contest the national elections, although 82 women candidates submitted nomination papers from 88 constituencies.

The figure 55 women candidates is favourably compared to 38 women candidates during the 2001 national elections from 46 constituencies and 36 women candidates during the 1996 general polls from 48 constituencies. Furthermore there is a provision of "No" vote in the voters card.

A few innovative voter's awareness programmes have commenced to provide publicity among voters not to vote for suspected corrupt or convict or accused or defaulters of loan persons.

Each catchword in the programmes is about who to vote for, who not to vote for, how to vote and how to identify the right person to vote for and why voters should not vote for certain people.

During the presentation of short film-sketch in one of the programmes, a wife requests voters not to for her criminal husband or a son pleads not to vote for his father as he is a defaulter of loan.

Each of its programme ends with a rhyme jingle Amar vote Ami debo, Dekhe shune, chinney debo ( My vote belongs to me and I will vote after due consideration and identifying the right person) . Some of film-sketches are already shown through various media across the country.

What do people expect from the elected leaders?

People expect good leadership with a vision for the nation after the election. Vision includes a future which is better than the current situation and is achievable within a time framework. Vision is a bridge between the current and a future optimum state.

People expect that the outcome of fair and free election is accepted by major parties in grace and concession speeches are made, congratulating the winner-parties, by the leaders of the defeated political parties. That is the spirit of democracy because the people have made a choice and elected a winner.

There should not be anymore confrontatational politics. Parliament should be the vehicle to debate, discuss government policies and programmes and place alternative proposals by opposition parties.

People expect good governance. Governance ordinarily means the process of how decisions are made and how decisions are implemented. Transparency and objectivity in these decision are necessary in spending funds for the welfare of the public.

People expect good leaders must shun direct or indirect influence of relatives, friends and party followers and must not engage themselves in appointing individuals to positions of responsibility regardless of merit.

Since government spends tax payer's money, leaders must understand that the tax payers have the right to know how their money is spent. This is known as accountability that emphasises public should be informed why a particular decision is made and how it is being made. Accountability to people is the hallmark of good governance.

Another dimension of accountability is when something goes awfully wrong within their allocated portfolio, the government leaders should resign. Recently we have witnessed that India's Interior Minister, National Security Adviser and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra resigned because they failed to prevent the deadly Mumbai attacks on November 26th. This is in keeping with the spirit of democratic accountability.

People expect good leadership to abide by rule of law. The rule of law is interlinked with democractic norm and in a democratic society, the rights and freedoms are inherent in individuals, the guarantees applicable to them and the rule of law form a triad. Each component defines itself, complements and depends on the others for its meaning.

The rule of law has been considered as one of the key dimensions that determines the quality and good governance of a country. The rule of law does not mean rule by law. Laws are made by states but states are themselves subject to the rule of law.

Rule of law is one of the foundations of human rights because it is clear in domestic areas. Efforts have always been made to secure legal protection for individuals against arbitrary execesses of state power. Independence of judiciary is an important component of the rule of law. Under the rule of law, accuser cannot be at the same time the judge. In some ways it refers to accountability of actions or omissions of public officials. People expect that the next elected government will face huge challenges and some of them are:

Reduction of Poverty

Control of population growth

Inadequacy of health facilities

Better quality of educational system

Water security

Energy security

Food security

Personal security

Environmental security

Socio-economic development

Fight against terrorism including intolerant Islamic fundamentalism

The next elected government is expected to make policies and programmes for overcoming these insecurities and meeting the challenges.

Bangladesh is a poor nation. About 49% of its people live below poverty line. In Bangladesh there is a wide disparity of income between rich and poor. Some say about 10% of the rich own 40% of the total land in the country, while poor 10% own only 1.84% of land. There has not been genuine land reforms and agrarian reforms.

Economic and social policy are like breathing in and breathing out-they go together, they are not alternatives.Mere economic growth may not result in developoment.

There are three simple questions to ask to measure development: What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? What has been happening to inequality? If all these have declined from high levels there is a period of development.

Prevention of terrorism including intolerant attitude of some extremist elements in the country is another big challenge for the positive image of Bangladesh.

Global warming is a big challenge for the country. Global warming will not only cause sea level rise, submereging coastal belt of Bangladesh but also many disastrous consequences, such as less crops, more health hazards with infectious diseases and less fresh water.

A study by the UK Department of International Development (DFID) in late 2007 presents a likely picture of Bangladesh in 2030 that causes for concern. It has been predicted that population will be 200 million with 40% under the age of 15. An additional 6-8% of Bangladesh will be permanently under water: flood-prone areas will increase from 25% to 40% by 2050. Three quarters of the Hmalayan glaciers may have disappeared with disastrous consequences for areas dependent on the Ganges and Brahmaputra.

Environmental refugees from rural areas will flock to the cities where flood defences will be erected and over 80 million people will live in urban slums. Dhaka will be one of the world's largest cities with 30 million people.

Urban migration could mean that elderly, female-headed house-holds and poorest of the poor are abandoned in the countryside. Arsenic could remain a massive health threat, reducing crop productivity and contributing to food shortages.

Bangladesh is sandwiched between China and India. This has provided both challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh. Good leadership will involve making prudent choices to exploit geographical position that includes inter-connectivity ( transit rights) in the region and gradual integration of economy with other countries such as India, Myanmar and China to get the nation on the road of progress and prosperity.

Furthermore, it has been increasingly difficult to tell the nationality of a product because of economic globalisation. For instance, what is the nationality of Reebok sneaker, which has an African name, is made by an American company in South Korea and displays Union Jack?

Bangladesh's economy cannot remain aloof from economic globalisation and good leadership is to recognise this phenomenon.

Bangladesh has gone through a painful political process. A process many Bangladeshis believe they had to have at some stage, given the past political malaise engulfing the country. In financial market metaphor, the country has gone through a "correction".

How successful the correction has been will depend on the people how they vote, and for whom, at the general election. Corruption and other ills of society cannot be removed by law or by force. Unless people elect honest and competent people to the parliament, corruption or abuse of power cannot be totally eliminated.

Personally I am optimistic for Bangladesh's future because I believe our voters will have the opportunity to elect new leaders in a changed political environment that underscores good governance and transparency in their public actions within the framework of liberal representative democracy with free media and strong secular civil society. Voters and elected leaders must not fail this time.

(Harun ur Rashid, Barrister-at-law, was a former Ambassador of Bangladesh to the UN, Geneva, He also served as Ambassador to Nepal, Australia and the Philippines. He is the author the of several books.)

Abu B. Siddiquee

After the Higher Secondary School exam some examinees of the locality decided to have a youth club in their area. They set up a socio-cultural cum sports club and named it 'Green Room'. Almost all the time the enthusiastic youths frequented the club and remain busy in practicing gym, playing badminton and carom. They yell in exultation, scream with joy, burst into uproarious laughter even on a trifle matter reverberating the clubhouse.

Within hours the news has spread in the town. Abdur Rashid, one of the main organizers of the 'Green Room' has committed suicide. He is run over by the train. The wheel of the mail train has divided his body into two halves. The rail lines, wooden slippers, and the surrounding stones stained with dark red blood. A swarm of flies are flying and humming to appease their appetite by the clotted blood of ever-rested Abdur Rashid,

On hearing the sad demise soon a crowd gathered on the spot. All are having the same expression with the same voice,

'What a pity! The poor guy finally embrace this fate!'

'Not being able to tolerate such a disgrace he has committed suicide.'

None was touching the dead body; all were waiting for the arrival of the police.

All squared Hatem Ali, the Town Sub Inspector of Police, arrived with his squad at the spot. Looking at the face of Abdur Rashid and his pale trunk the police officer became awe-stricken. Astounded, he felt a prick in his conscience for a moment. The crowds are watching the police activities with curiosity. Completing the usual formalities the dead body is wrapped in a white sheet and laid out on a police van to transport it to the morgue for autopsy and to have the expert opinion of doctor about the cause of this unnatural death, whether it is an accidental, suicide or homicidal. A constable to identify the dead body fetches Abdur Rashid's father.

Usually, in the juvenile phase of life emotion and impulse play a great role; in this period some young boys or girls remain irrationally imaginative and become over reactive. They are very easily excited by a trivial affair. Whenever these enthusiastic youths of eighteen to twenty-five happens to come together they create a lively atmosphere everywhere irrespective of time or occasion; it may be a funeral ceremony or the transfer of a wounded person to hospital who has met with an accident, or a victory celebration of game or the reception of a renowned person.

Abdur Rashid is one of them. He is full of energy and vitality. An eagerness to serve and sacrifice is the element in his emotion. When the professional climbers refused to pluck green coconut from a risky tree he used to climb that tree with a wonderstruck skill. He is the one to rescue a drowned person from the river or pond before anybody else. In anybody's need he was the first one to come forward. His fidgety black pupil always twinkling with vibrancy and his mind is always restless to carry on some startling task. He is the one who has taken necessary steps to clean the courtyard of the club and arranged all the essentials of the clubhouse meticulously with earnest efforts including the numbers of lights for playing badminton at night.

This year the club organisers have decided to stage the play of Sirajuddowla and to publish a wall magazine. They have also arranged a gymnastic competition and a cultural function. Raja, who is a good orator, assigned to conduct the play. The responsibility of the wall magazine fell upon the meritorious student Zafar Bin Hatim, the son of the town Sub Inspector of Police, Hatim Ali. Abdur Rashid is given the charge of cultural function and gymnastic competition. The funding is arranged by donation from the guardians of the club members but that is insufficient to meet the expenditure. What to do now! The members called a meeting and ultimately decided to have the patronage of the local political and social leaders.

Usually the leaders, who are involved in any party or social associations, remain eager to utilize any type of youth organizations, be it a recreational or cultural or sport. As such here also the youths of the club 'Green Room' were not disheartened. A brooding party leader of the locality came forward to shoulder their burden. He volunteered to finance the club 'Green Room' and thus hold its political control wholly.

One-day lot of shouts could be heard in the clubhouse. Such type of brawl is quite normal for the young people of that age. But this time it was a different story. Few years back Kanika, the daughter of the lawyer Guha Roy, came first in a dance competition. She is now a grown up college going girl. Abdur Rashid approached lawyer Guha Roy to allow his daughter for a dance performance in the cultural function of the club 'Green Room'. Kanika is beautiful, smart and well articulated. Abdur Rashid met Kanika several times to discuss matter related to the function. One day Zafar Bin Hatim, the editor of the wall magazine, saw Abdur Rashid gossiping with Kanika by the side of the pond near a bush keeping his hand over Kanika's shoulder. The scene excited Zafar Bin Hatim so much that without wasting any time he came to lawyer Guha Roy to inform about the affair.

Zafar said,

'Uncle, what is this? Kanika is a smart and intelligent girl. How can she make friendship with a spoiled boy like Rashid who has passed his School Final exam in third grade? Any way this can't be tolerated.'

In reply lawyer Guha Roy nodded his head and said,

'You are right, my son. Kanika has mistaken. Her friend should be a talented one with a conscientious personality, great morality and righteousness; somewhat like you.'

The matter did not end there. An urgent meeting of the club members called upon. Zafar could convince all the members that none should oppose the club ethics and everyone ought to remain cautious about one's position in the society. The affair of Abdur Rashid was informed to all. ' Oil and water is unmixable', this maxim is repeated several times in the arguments. If Abdur Rashid wants to make friendship with Kanika then he has to be an intelligent, talented, conscientious with good morale.

At the beginning though Abdur Rashid made a sharp argument subsequently he calmed down smelling clearly that the matter has turned into a competition. As usual the number of Abdur Rashid's supporter were less.

'It's true that oil and water never blends perfectly, but oil floats over water; if Konika wants she can easily float in my life,' Abdur Rashid thought.

Few days passed. Again the town was stirred with another event. The political leader Hedayet Hossain has rivalry with the patronizer of the club 'Green Room'. One early morning one alive cobra snake is found in his first floored bedroom. The snake sat in a circle expanding its hood. All those present in that room ran away out of fear. In the corridor somebody has left a small wicker worked basket with covering lid; mud stained the floor showing impression of shoes. It appears from the evidence that somebody has kept the basket of snake in the corridor with the intention of killing Hedayet Hossain with snakebite.

Town Sub Inspector Hatem Ali arrived with his accomplished personnel. He called upon a snake charmer, who subjugates the snake and kept it in the basket that was left in the corridor.

'This snake is a poisonous one. None could escape death if it bites.' The snake charmer uttered his expert opinion.

The Town Sub Inspector recorded the remarks of the snake charmer. He also cited some name of the people present there as a witness. The snake charmer expressed his respect for the Inspector and left the place with the snake in the basket and the tips given to him.

Now the Town Sub Inspector scrutinized the site of occurrence to find out the clue of the incidence. That was a rainy night in its first half and as such the ground was softened. He followed the footprint and found that the impression ends at the root of the drainpipe through which the roof water drains. Due to the softening of mud the ked dipped down and made a clear impression, also the mud stained pipe and mud stained wall gave a definite proof that last night the man with the snake has utilized that pipe to climb up.

The crowd straggled with a fascinated gaze; they were watching the skilled activities of police. The experienced Town Sub Inspector gave a stealthy glance at the feet of those present there. Suddenly his face brightened up with a flash of success. He called out loudly,

' Rashid, come here.'

In a moment Rashid's face turned pale like a white paper. One constable came forward and presented Rashid to Town Sub Inspector. He fixed his eyes at the ked Rashid wearing. The ked were mud stained. He became certain and said,

'Rashid, place your feet in this impression in the ground.

Rashid placed his feet in the impression. To everybody's surprise the size of the shoes, the equality of the impression, even the height of the mud around the shoes exactly fitted his ked.

The Town Sub Inspector of Police asked, 'Rashid, is that you?'

Rashid struck dumb, he could not answer.

The ked were taken out of Rashid's feet. The under-surface of the shoes were printed by using melted wax. The prints of the mud impressions were also taken.

Rashid was handcuffed and taken to the police station. Finally he was sent to jail with the charge sheet of attempt to murder a political leader in a planned way.

The simple hearted father of Rashid asked the political leader Ahmed Sharif for help but failed to draw his attention. He went to the patron of the club 'Green Room', but all were in vain. He begged to the other political leader of the town. They did not pay any heed to him. He went from door to door of all the lawyers of the town. At last lawyer Guha Roy agreed to fight for Abdur Rashid.

After a lot of refutation, reasoning and analysis of law, the lawyer Guha Roy made it possible to grant the bail of Abdur Rashid.

Abdur Rashid was freed from the lock up. His father accompanied him home riding in a rickshaw; sitting by his side Rashid's father kept his hand affectionately over his shoulder. On reaching home he asked Rashid to have his bath. Then they sat for meal. While taking meal his father said very tenderly,

'Why have you done it, my dear son? What's going to happen with us now? To save you I need money. this small house will go to others possession for arranging money. You have two sisters who are yet to be married. Your younger brother is studying in school. He also needs to be brought up.'

Rashid's brother and sisters were standing nearby and listening with a loose heart what their father has been saying. Rashid's mother who was serving the meal wiped her eyes again and again with a part of her sari. Abdur Rashid remained silent.s

After the meal is over all went to sleep in their respective room. Rashid's younger brother used to sleep with him. With a great courage his younger brother asked,

'Brother, to stay in jail is very troublesome, is it not?'

Abdur Rashid gave a short cut answer, 'yes.'

Abdur Rashid's younger brother fell asleep. Rashid could not sleep. He was thinking deeply. He was going over the whole events of past few days.

In accordance of his understanding with Ahmed Sharif, the political leader, Rashid had collected the snake to keep it to the house of Hedayet Hossain, the opponent of the patron of the club 'Green Room'. He bought the snake from the same snake charmer who was called upon by the Police Sub Inspector. Just to have an adventure and being allured for the prize-money, Rashid has kept the snake whose poison teeth were removed earlier.

After receiving the prize-money from leader Ahmed Sharif for his success in performing the work laid upon him Rashid became curious to know the after-effects of his performance. Hence he went to the spot of occurrence and observing the police activities.

But destiny is very cruel. His lack of commonsense has led him to be caught red handed. His folly put him to jail; his aged father is going to loose his last resource. The sisters are to be married; the younger brother is to be brought up. What a misfortune has befallen on them. His action has defamed his family in such a way that they have no courage to face the society.

Now to save his tottering family Rashid is left with the only option---the option of death. If Rashid doesn't remain alive then his insolvent father won't have to loose his abode to meet the expenditure of litigation. All the defamation will be faded out in course of time before his sisters attain the marriageable age. His brilliant younger brother will take lesson from Rashid's fate. He won't do any mistake in future like Rashid; if he leads a quite and composed life he would be able to earn fame in course of time.

It is almost morning. Rashid wake up on hearing the call of Morning Prayer. At a time from loudspeaker of minaret of mosque the uttered word could be heard 'assalato khairum minan-naom, prayer is better than sleep'. Rashid left bed and made ritual ablution. Then he offered his fajr (morning) prayer. Now his mind set at ease. The south breeze is blowing softly.

Rashid came out of house. He is tranquil by the mild south breeze and the solemnity of the road. He walked slowly towards the rail line. Just now the mail train will pass over. In the distance the locomotive's whistle shrieked. The train rumble seeped upwards, Rashid could hear the sound of the train saying 'Where will you go? Jhikarghacha,' 'I am running you also run'. With any word the sound of the train could be tuned. Rashid is tuning the words with the train rumble he used to say in his childhood. He is walking slowly to the edge of the platform.

Suddenly he remembered Konika. How will he show his face to Kanika? A sense of guilt covered him. The rumbling train nearing him, it seemed to tune different now. He could hear the jingle, 'death is better than defame, death is better than defame.' As the train is approaching him the piquancy of those words are heightened. The train is closing neart nearertnearest; piercing the tantrum of the ear it is squealing, 'death is better than defame, death is better than defamet' As if a drum is beating hard inside Abdur Rashid's skull. No more Rashid could tolerate it. Like a mesmerized person he jumped over the rail track.

The onrushing train in a flick of second passed over him and dividing his body into two halves speeded terrifically towards destination.

Wali-ur Rehman

When I first read about Pablo Neruda the Nobel laureate for literature and later Yevgeny Yevtushenko, I found in both a similarity and contrast. I was enthralled with Neruda's poems of love - unparalled in its dept and rawness. He started his life as a communist - whose devotion to certain beliefs never wavered including his praise for Stalin and Lenin. Pablo Neruda also served as a diplomat; his assignment to Paris by Salvador Allende as Ambassador (1970-1972) was one of his finest moments in life. My cousin Syed Altaf Hossain also, a communist, used to hide in our village home to avoid being arrested by Ayub rigime. He was an h

onest man to the button - to the extend that upon his death, he left his wife and children without a home, and property. Only in his last days, he joined the cabinet of Bangabandhu as the Shipping Minister of State only to end with his assassination. He is the one who introduced me to some of famous Russian authors.

In 1966, Pablo Neruda was invited by the playright Arther Miller to the International PEN Conference in New York. Neruda read his poems to a packed hall and recorded some for the Library of Congress. Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican author suggested this PEN Conference heralded the "beginning of the end of the cold war". Neruda died soon after Agosto Pinochet took over in a military coup. He declared Martial Law so that nobody could go to his funeral - but millions went there disobeying the Pinochet curfew as a protest against his dictatorship.

Yevtushenko, on the contrary (July 18, 1933) was the first voice against Stalin's dictatorship - even before Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov. His first poem Staraya Zima (Zima Junction) 1956, was widely praised in the world including by Boris Pasternak and Robert Frost. But he was expelled from the Literary Institute of Russia for his extraordinary "individualism"!

In his Babi Yar, he denounced the Soviet distortion of historial fact about the jewish population by the Nazis at Kiev in September 1941 and the Soviet anti-Semitism. The Soviets discribed holocaust only about atrocitities against the Soviets - but it was really a genocide of the Jews. Yevtushenko was a poet who did not fear to speak the truth. He also protested against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968; while sympathizing with the helpless waiting of the Czech President Dubcek, he said he will break with the iron curtain. Though he supported Mikhail Gorbachev and later in 1991, Boris Yeltsin, he denounced him for sending tanks to Chechnya. He now (2007) teaches at the University of Tulsa (Oklahama) and at Queens College (City University, New York). He was a good friend of the Che Guevera, Salvador Allende and Pablo Neruda.

In the American history, the struggle between the evil and good, between democratic and non-democratic forces have even going on before and since Alexander Hamilton's peace negitiations between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson. In todays America, the battle is still on. No wonder, J.F Kennedy said, 'Democracy is never a final achivement it is an only effort to reach a goal'.

Alphonse Gabriel Al Capone (January 17, 1899 - January 25, 1947) is a household word. Many films have been shown on Al Capone brutalities and his lust for money, and how bad he operated in a mafia - ridden world, where witnesses were scared even to go to the court. His notoreity during the Prohibition Era, when in the Chicago underworld his Cause naustra friends made money by selling liquor, bootlegging, prostitution, moonshine operatious, illegal breweres and gambling, brought him media attention to whom his answer was "I am just a businessman', giving people what they want and all I do is to satisfy a public demand". Capone became a celebrity. Alcatraz brought the end of this Neapolitan. His notoreity brought him - fame and films and books, TV Series, Cartoons and fiction. Mario Puzo's 1969 'The Godfather' was the ultimate 'story' of the mafia leader. And the plot saw such actors as Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery.

In Chicago, once his happy hunting ground, two former Governors are serving jail and the present one may go these soon. The same city also produced leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Barak Obama.

Who does not know the names of Bonnie Parker (October 1, 1910 - May 23, 1934) and Clyde Barrow (March 24, 1909 - May 23, 1934), known popularly for the film, Bonnie and Clyde or the song "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde". They were small - time thugs, but through the decades, many cultural historians have analysed Bonnie and Clyde's enduring appeal to the public imagination.

ER Milner, a historian and writer and authority on Bonnie and Clyde put the duo's enduring appeal to the public, during the depression of 1930's into historical and cultural perspective. Bonnie and Clyde "represent the ultimate outsides, revolting against an uncaring system". To them the unregulated capitalist system had been abused by big business and government officials". What an irony, we hear the same songs today in Washington D.C and the Wall Street. It is not the industrial revolution nor is it the discovery that created Dr. Jackyel and Hyde: it is Everyman.

Even earlier on, Butch Cassidy and Sun Dance Kid brought a similar emotional feeling amongst many of us. A great country, a great society only can accept those aberrations and still move on to become the greatest power on earth.

Contrast the above with the history of Bangladesh, thirty-seven summers gone, with the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib brutally assassinated, and another military President murdered, the struggle goes on to rediscover our glorious history, our identity. President Ershad was only a hiatus. He gained the sobriquet of an autocrat, but he never claimed to be a democrat either. President Zia brought back Maulana Moududi. He repeal off the Collaborators Act. As a result, today, we have the rise of Political Islam with the Holy Quran and Sunnah distorted rationalizing the killing of Muslims in the name of God. Zia inculcated personal simplicity, he understood the depth of bureaucratic corruption and that's why he could manipulate the referendum. He called the Secretariat including the Foreign Ministry a snakepit, but at the same time he said, "Money is no problem, I shall make politics difficult for the politicians". His lived so simply that he did not hesitate to go Havana for the non-aligned summit with a multicolored pair of shoes wearing a dark suit and met Fidel Castro, with me as his note taker. He took me with him leaving my senior colleague behind to undo the injustice done to me following the murder of Bangabandhu. I was made the first OSD of Bangladesh, because I protested the murder of Sheikh Mujib. Zia disagreed with the then Foreign Secretary. Another colleague years later, as Foreign Secretary, took it upon me and - he had me dismissed from the service under a black law by framing a false charge against me. My crime was that I resigned from the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1971. But I won the case in Begum Zia's own court of law on her watch! Her Attorney General termed the Begum as a vindictive woman. He warned me to be careful. He even wanted my nameplate to be removed from the gate of our house.

Ershad brought in the Eight amendment. He antagonized the entire robed fraternity on both sides of the aisle. He sent senior members of the Bar to goal. It was a grievous blunder. He should have shown respect to them for the contribution they made in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign Nation-State. Ershad was too early for his time. In the unitary state he wanted to have a second chamber, he wanted High courts in the six Divisions to bring justice to the doorsteps of the poor. He perhaps had an ulterior motive also to remove pressures from the most vocal and active leadership of the legal fraternity. Only future can tell whether he was right or wrong. We are still too near history. In Ranke's words - at last 50-100 years have to pass before the true history of a country can be written.

The British has a second chamber-but so did they have Henry the VIII and Anne Bollen or Reverend Sir Thomas More whose muffled cries can still be heard from the silent chambers of the Tower of London.

Ershad's undemocratic rule coupled with the cries of Milon and Noor Hossain is perhaps eclipsed by the elected autocracy of Begum Zia (2001-2006) with the cries of thousands of men and women killed in the South by her goons with rape and loot, arson and tortures particularly on the minority Community all were considered to be crimes against humanity by the International Conference held in Dhaka on February 13 and 14, 2002. Unfortunately the organizers miserably failed to drive home the gravity of the crimes - to the Human Rights groups, at home and abroad. It was a missed opportunity which will never come back.

Never again since the liberation war had such atrocities been inflicted on our opposition: add to that the brutal murder of Shah SMS Kibria MP and Ahsanullah Master MP and the best journalists of the country including Shamsur Rahman of Jessore and the attempt on Sheikh Hasina on August 21, 2004 which she barely escaped, with her ears and eyes permanently damaged, with 24 people dead, including the opposition woman leader Ivy Rahman. Hundreds are still carrying shrapnels in their brains and bodies. Mayor Hanif breathed his last sigh with those shrapnels in his brain.

In order to divert attention, one George Mia of Barisal was up as the real murderer! It was under Begum Zia's watch that 500 bombs exploded in 63 Districts - Begum Zia's Government suggested it was all media creation! Two judges, trainees of Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs, were victims of cold-blooded murder. The media continued to face the wrath of the Zia administration. So much for the rule of law during her rule.

The truth is now coming out under the Caretaker Government; Mufti Hannan of JMB, a banned terror group, trained by the Jihadist in Pakistan and Afghanistan, is relating the gruesome story of JMB and HUJI - 2 and Bangla Bhai, all masterminded by some BNP leaders including the elected MP Pintoo and Aminul Haq of the North Western Bangladesh. The question always comes to my mind why those murdered were all Freedom Fighters and not one non-freedom fighters?

Truth shall out. As the British Parliament ordered that Cromwell's body must exhumed and tried before the House of Parliament since he was guilty of regicide. The trial was held with the caracas in front of the House of Commons and the judgment was given against the murder of Charles I and found guilty and reburied.

Much is said about Justice Shahabuddin. He lost his credibility the day he demanded to get back to the Supreme Court after serving as the acting President of Bangladesh. When we jump to blame Bangabandhu about the 4th amendment, one finds equally the learned Justice having lost his credibility as the guardian of Judiciary. Similarly some learned Justices stand equally accountable to the people for justifying the Military takeovers citing the Doctrine of Necessity. No Doctrine ever can justify the taking over of power through illegal means and then get it legalized through a pliable judiciary! If the Judiciary wanted to uphold the constitution, the Supreme Court should have handed down a verdict that the speaker of the Parliament should take over as the acting President following Sheikh Mujb's murder. But that was not so. When over 300 accused are given bail in 300 minutes, when an NGO - leader - turned-adviser publicly said, not once but twice, "go to the court and you will get bail, where were the guardians of law on both the sides of the aisle"?

Justice Sandra O' Conners, while comparing law with poetry, also said that Judiciary is not above criticism. For every judgment they are accountable to the American tax-payers. In Bangladesh it is not so. Jeffrey Toobin would be horrified. The poet rightly said, ÒGgb †`kwU †Kv_vI Lyu‡R cv‡e bv †Mv Zzwg ttttÓ

Justice Shahabuddin's judgment demands scrutiny. A time may come when this small country with the worlds largest population per square kilometer may have to be divided into several provinces for better Justice delivery system and better administration.

Ershad will stand out as a human being with all his faults and foibles, but he will be remembered for his positive contribution too; he created the infrastructure in the country: East and West, North and South, Panthpath, the Vijoy Sharani, the Sena Kunja, the Osmani Bhaban, side by side, there is also a witness at Karwan Bazar famous trading the undemocratic of his rule. During his rule he encouraged cultivation of Rajanigandha; as a matter of fact the brought back the lost glory of flower culture in the country. We're exporting flowers abroad, though small in quantity but with a potential future. And Biman was flying in time. Today foreign remittance of $ 8 b. owes a lot to him - ten thousand illegal Bangladeshis in Italy was legalized though his efforts - today Italy has 1 lac 50 thousand Bangladeshis. In the tri-state New York, over 1 lac Bagalis are there largely due to his efforts. But the negative side of his rule cannot ever be overlooked. But he has asked for pardon for his mistaken and he is the only to pleader who several six years imprisonment. That is the Bangladesh we have today. BNP's corruption and misrule certainly places Ershad on a higher pedestal. His corruption is eclipsed with that of BNP. Omit rightly the London Economist said, "not one major all of power was added between 200`-2006. Bangladeshis are like bare pillars only standing as a symbol of corruption during her rule".

Thus I remember the American history of Bonnie and Clyde, of Butch Cassidy and Sun Dance Kid.

Let us now look to a brighter future. With 35% first time voters, this country cannot fail and shall not fail. The Golden Jubilee celebration will see this country as a mid-level developed one, and a Zero growth population. That's the true vision 2021.

(The author is a senior member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), He is working on a Book on South Asian Terrorism. The Brookings Institute and Center for International Policy will supervise portions of his Book. Email; shahrukr@ dhaka.net )

Prof Muzaffer Ahmed

In the days when market has became supreme in economic policy making, Lord Nicholas Stern has described climate change as the greatest and widest- ranging failure ever seen. The Secretary General of the United Nations has described atmosphere as our "most important public good". Undoubtedly, climate change is one of the core areas of concern as the quest for sustainable development cannot be considered without taking into account climate and climate change which have important impacts on biodiversity, water, forests, land and oceans as well as economic activities involving agriculture, industry and services. The climate change, though not a new phenomenon, has gained a faster pace for a much larger population than in the past. As a common and collective good, changes in global environment affect all nations, and as a global resource, climate resource need to be managed for the benefit of all in the present and in the future as well both nationally and internationally and most importantly intergenerationally. This requires "an equitable international regime" as pointed out by former UN Secretary General Dr. Butros Butros-Ghali. Unfortunately, such a regime is yet to emerge and take roots. Even the national regimes do not take proper consideration of the interlinkages between climate changes, ozone depletion and air pollution through economic activities, by physical, chemical and biological processes and by the impacts of policy decisions. The dominant economic powers and emerging economic powers have failed to adopt common perspective with respect to increasing global environmental risks particularly for the least developed countries which remain most helpless in this regard. The South Commission recognised that future of developing countries rests with them but noted that "they will need access to substantially increased flows of financial resources, strengthened scientific, technical, professional and related institutional capacities and the best available technologies to become full partners in achieving climate security".

Bangladesh is one the most vulnerable countries that suffer and will continue to suffer from global warming and climate change. Bangladesh is a large flood plain with low elevation from sea. Bangladesh has high density of population with attendant high level of poverty whose intensity increases with natural disasters now related to global warming. Bangladesh suffers from severe climatic events which claim lives of millions, destroys livelihood of millions and further washes away the developmental gains achieved through governmental and non governmental efforts. The Stern report shows that the cost of climate change is severe and can reduce per capita consumption per head by 5 to 20 percent. Recent climate calamity in Bangladesh named "Sidr" indeed shows such reduction in the standards of life. This is just one example of how people and eco- system suffer from changes in weather patterns and resultant heavy rainfall, flood, drought, cyclone, storm surge, etc. Between 1991 and 2000, 93 major disasters caused 2,00,000 deaths and $ 5.9 billion in damages in Bangladesh.

Even though it is limited in number, scientists estimate that a sea level rise over the last 100 years has already eroded 65% landmass of 250 sq km of Kutubdia, 22% sq km of Bhola and 180 sq km of Sandwip islands. Bangladesh has suffered from coastal inundation, erosion, saline intrusion, water-logging, de-forestation, acidification, loss of bio-diversity and large scale displacement of population. Future climate change will certainly have more intensified impact on Bangladesh. Bangladesh will experience heavy and at times unseasonal rainfall, flash flood in certain localities, cyclone and tornadoes, dry and desert-like weather in certain parts, high tidal waves and inundation of coastal areas. Some of these are caused by unthoughtful water and land management, unplanned filling of waterbodies, urbanisation, unplanned road building and such man-made interventions. But much is due to non-recognition by the development programmes in the countries of atmosphereric commons. The poverty ridden people must be ensured of life in dignity and a future of hope based on harmony with nature. Climate change is an all encompassing issue involving food security, energy security, health security, livelihood security, security of history and heritage, and freedom from fear involving threat to peace. We must recognise the widest dimension of global warming in all its facets in all the countries, particularly the least developed countries in the coastal regions of the world. The Stem report has pointed out increasing cost of any delay is taking action to mitigate effects of greenhouse emission and IPCC fourth report has confirmed that global warming is accelerating rapidly. The UN climate change Secretariat has pointed out that the poor are already victims of Climate Change and these poor in the low income countries would suffer most from the climate change unless the developed countries act now to limit greenhouse emissions significantly and the poor countries are helped to adopt strategies to address the need for energy demand for accelerated development, to develop low carbon technologies and to prepare for minimising the consequences of current state as well as the future possibility.

Global warming will continue for decades to come and it started many decades earlier. This has predictably serious consequences for Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a vulnerable country in this context and such vulnerability causes stressful condition on developmental efforts made in the past and socio-economic development possibilities in the future. To recall the geographic location of Bangladesh with Himalayas in the north and Bay of Bengal in the south, geo-morphological character of Bangladesh has a distinct coastal topography comprising Ganges tidal plain, semi-active deltaic plain and the largest mangrove forest in the world. As a result of three mighty rivers, particularly eastern region of Bangladesh not only experience erosion, flooding, new shoals, discharge of silt but has experienced natural calamities that has caused repeatedly displacement of people, hardship on women, destruction of institutions and loss of physical infrastructures.

The climatic hazards in Bangladesh are extensive throughout the year. Cold wave, particularly in the north, make life miserable in late December, January and February. Flash flood comes in late April and May, while severe flood is a regular visitor in late July and August causing erosion. Drought in the west has become a hazard in May, June and early July. Cyclone and tornado affect the land mass in April, May and June while rain in August, September, October and November. The country is hardly free from natural and climate hazards for any length of time. If one adds the man-made environmental hazards to it, one may conclude that in Bangladesh climatic hazards are varied and wide. The richness of Bengal was based on nature i.e. rivers, green natural forests, water bodies, diversified flora and fauna, rich soil for agriculture, crop diversity and small enterprises in cottages. The material resources have been impacted by unfavourable, commercial, regulatory, and unhelpful legal interventions by colonial and now globalised market system. There has been loss of varieties of renewable and non-renewable resources including quality of air, water, atmosphere and landscape. The accelerating climatic change through destruction of resources has deepened the crisis of underdevelopment.

Natural disasters caused by climate change holds the households susceptible to aggravation in social and economic terms. According to a survey, 70% of households are victims of flood, often at odd times, and above the normal level, 45% are victims of cyclone, 31 % to river erosion, 22% to drought and 35% households on average lose their house, landholdings and economic resources due to natural calamity each year. Over the last years such calamities have caused migration, increased indebtedness, sale of assets, homelessness, demand on government for charitable assistance, dropout from schools, early marriage, desertion of families, increased susceptibility to human trafficking, non-availability of safe water, deforestation, disrupted communication, water logging, etc. In addition, common property resources such as water bodies, forests, grazing land, fallow land as well as social institutions like schools, mosques, medical service outlets, playgrounds, etc have been destroyed and disrupted. The economic institutions like hats and bazzars are also subjected to disruption and destruction by natural hazards which have roots in climate change. The loss of common property resources as well as infrastructure and social institutions affect the poor though their access is inequitable vis-a-vis the non-poor.

The Brundtland Commission on environment and development demonstrated how environmental degradation jeopardises the development opportunities in the developing countries by adversely affecting ecology and reducing the quality of common resources like land, air, water, forests, etc. The technologies in use in the developed countries for increasing productivity has caused rise in carbon emission and transfer of such technology through aid and investment to developing countries have intensified the climate change induced disasters.

The trade-off between development and safety from such disasters requires reexamination of lost indigenous knowledge and research for new low carbon technologies. The least developed countries are unable to undertake such research for lack of capacity and resources and often are deprived by the application of intellectual property rights. The IPR is justified by economics of investment and private property but with respect to common property we need to reconsider its application.

The call for synergy between environment and development in the interest of sustainable development which will not exhaust resources, disturb eco-system and promote intergenerational equity has become a necessity. Such sustainability has both a global dimension and specific locational dimension. Its intemperate implications can only be understood by tracing changes and their impact putting a value to environmental goods while considering developmental goals. The interconnectedness of sustainable developmental changes with respect to imputs, institutions, resources, technologies, energy with protection and augmentation of quality of environmental resources as well as human security is a dimension which has often been overlooked in the past leading to an alarming scale of environmental including climatic change related problems that we face today. The impact of intensified economic activity for growth and better standard of life is certainly disproportionately and adversely suffered by poorer countries. The late-comer advantage is not visible, rather the prescription for carbon trading has an implication of slower growth for such countries. As such climate change with attendant vulnerability is likely to threaten development investments and efforts in the least developed countries like Bangladesh.

The mitigation and adaptation approaches are complementary to each other. The adaptation in countries basically means living with climate change disasters. International cooperation on adaptation has been under-financed and there is lack of understanding about the intensity and extremity of the climate change-induced calamities in developing countries like Bangladesh. As a result, climate change apartheid in adaptation in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu has already emerged. Adaptation in developing least developed countries is very expensive in terms of loss suffered and opportunities lost. Desmond Tutu quite rightly has pointed out that adaptation has become another name for continued global inequity and social injustice. Even then we need to incorporate adaptation strategies in our poverty reduction and development plans. This requires to be financed by the rich countries that have benefited from a development process over centuries at the expense of the poor colonised countries of which Bangladesh is one. The winners need to compensate the long standing losers to ensure livelihood security, poverty reduction and human development. To do so we need to have proper information about climate change effects, appropriate technology and system for climate proofing risks with flood defence and drainage system, reservoirs, irrigation canals, saving rivers and canals, planning physical infrastructure to help mitigation from water logging and sea level intrusion. Sporadic work does not provide long-term solution. Bangladesh needs institutions that can locate adaptation opportunities in all related sectors and prescribe variations with variable climatic change impacts. Institution for risk management is a necessity. These need to be supplemented by insurance and assistance programmes for social protection including livelihood and human development.

As the historic responsibility for climate change calamities lies with the developed countries but these countries have failed to deliver their past commitments. It must be recalled that current adaptation financing is too little; much too fragmented and it is certainly too late. The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), funded through GEF's LDC fund is inadequate due to underestimation of adaptation cost, segmented by nonholistic project approach and weak links to security concerns including human development. The financing for adaptation must be seen as a response to increased financing needs caused by increased climate change induced disasters and not as a substitution for aid for development if we want to mean business with respect to MDGs and PRSP goals. We need to remember that vulnerabilities that are associated with climate change induced disaster cannot be dealt with micro level project-based initiatives that goes with NGO and short-term GO intervention. The adaptation strategy has to be multi-sectoral, multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Financing strategy has to be innovative and responsive to long-term holistic needs of developing countries. Carbon trading, as perceived as a market solution, is a case which Lord Stern has termed as the most despicable market failure involving the most important common property good. It tendes to forget the long term destitution. We require levies on the big polluters, the developed countries and an agreement in this respect is needed urgently. But no formula for financing that will benefit the most threatened countries like Bangladesh. On the other hand, such measures will neither be just nor equitable. How do we estimate the extent of depression in production possibility curve over centuries? How do we know the shape and location of community indifference curve involving a normal good and a disutility good with inequitable income and opportunity distribution? These complicate the principle of compensation and therefore we set our proposal for compensation on the basis of available current information which is distortive and unjust in nature.

Approaches to mitigation will determine how successful the global community can face long-term global challenge justly. We cannot afford any delay. Mitigation would take time to be effective. The basic approach requires that we shift globally to a low- carbon technology. Such carbon emission targeting will need national level budgeting. The developed countries have accepted the need for urgent and concentrated action. But carbon budgeting suffers from problems of benchmarking resulting in under ambition, use of inaccurate indicators, inadequate sectional coverage and insufficient urgency. Because of these, there has been a limited progress in aligning climate security goals with energy and development policies. This is so because the costs of carbon emission are uncertain. They are spread over the countries as a common good, most of whom have no voice or capacity to require a global agreement. The international cooperation to finance technology transfer is absent or weak. The UN FCC provides a platform for addressing global cooperation under UN leadership.

To conclude, Bangladesh already suffers from different types of climate related disorder. The government of Bangladesh with the help of development partners has invested over $ 10 billion in different projects to make Bangladesh invulnerable to climate change induced natural disorder. The climate change action plan must be based on comprehensive disaster management systems and approaches involving various sectors, proper planning, implementation and maintenance of physical and social infrastructure, intensification and extension of research knowledge for informed planning against climate change disasters, adoption of low carbon technology and check on environmental degradation, strengthening development to reduce poverty and improve social indicators, ensure human security including income security, food security, health security, energy security, livelihood security on a rights-based approach and finally, building of institutions to ensure the above.

The incorporation of the strategy as mentioned above would require much larger development budget as well as improvement of quality of public, private and NGO sector expenditures. This requires a heightened political will, improved negotiating skill, integration of homegrown need-based concerns and knowledge, participatory decision making at various levels and sectors as well as continuous research and better inter-sectoral coordination. Given that the government of Bangladesh is able to ensure these, the international community must make commitments to ensure that threatened security risk is mitigated through their cooperation in this regard.

We need speed but speed is only relevant if we are doing the right thing in right direction at right time. It must be realised that if the large section of mankind is to sustain and benefit from the explosion of knowledge then the thinking with respect to survival and progress requires reassessment of our past. If we do too little and too late, mankind will be at risk. Bangladesh needs a robust programme in this regard supported by the international community. The reasons are obvious. First, Bangladesh is one of the least polluter countries. Second, Bangladesh has suffered over many decades from climate change induced disasters. Third, Bangladesh is most vulnerable to the predicted climate change- including sea level rise. Fourth, the developed countries will take time to make technological change to reduce carbon emission significantly and thus climate change will continue to impact on late- comer developing countries, particularly those which are over populated, have low elevation being a flood plain country and which cannot mobilise resources for adaptation and mitigation putting at risk the attainment of MDG goals.

Bangladesh is thus a test case for initiating action programmes for developing and implementing a development planning process that incorporates climate change as a variable and that requires to negate impacts that come as externalities created by activities in developed countries.

(Professor Muzaffer Ahmed was a faculty member of the Department of Economics, Dhaka University and is at present the chairman of Transparency International, Bangladesh)

Atiur Rahman

It is heartening to note that election manifestoes have generated sufficient public interests. Earlier preparation of election manifestoes used to be only rituals. People mostly ignored these manifestoes and political parties, even if voted to power, hardly bothered to implement these promises. But this time both media and concerned citizens have taken greater interests in the manifestoes. Some of our stalwarts of civil society misunderstood election manifestoes as final policy documents by raising issues of implementation and financing. This is a bit of an unfortunate perception. Election manifestoes are normally policy promises for which they tend to be dream statements. Not all these dreams can be realised in the short or medium terms. Yet, political parties are supposed to post promises around for which concrete strategy of implementation and financing will have to be derived. So the debate on implementation and financing has alerted the politicians to think about costing of the programmes and subsequent budgetary constraints. I am sure whichever party is elected to power will set up committees to translate most of these promises into doable actions. I have seen both the manifestoes. Apparently the manifesto of Awami League is well researched with a long term vision and some well-laid out programmes. On the other hand, the manifesto of BNP has no long term vision and appears to be quick responses to immediate problems. There is also not much concrete prioritisation of the programmes. Yet both parties have highlighted some of the pressing problems (e.g. inflation and electricity) in their manifestoes. Below a comparative review of the issues covered by both the parties in a prioritised manner has been made. The top issues covered are inflation, law and order including policies regarding militancy, energy security, local government, remittance etc.

Inflation: The reduction of inflation received top priority in the Awami League's manifesto. The party promises that measures will be taken to reduce the unbearable burden of price hikes and keep it within acceptable limits, takeing the people's purchasing power into consideration. To achieve this, Awami League will assign the highest priority to the production of domestic commodities. The manifesto also vows to make arrangements for timely imports to ensure food security. A multi-pronged drive will be undertaken to control prices along with monitoring the market. Hoarding and profiteering syndicates will be eliminated. Awami League also promises to set up an institution for commodity price control and consumer protection.

BNP promises to take actions to prevent price hikes and reduce quickly. To bring the price level of the basic necessities within the purchasing power of the general public, they will increase food production and provide subsidies to reduce the production cost of agricultural commodities if necessary. To reduce unemployment, they will restart inactive or closed down factories, inspire local and foreign businessmen and companies to invest in new industries and initiate large-scale development activities. Their promises even go as far as to include the nationwide free distribution of daily necessities to the poor, helpless, old and unemployed people. To deal with natural disasters, BNP promises to build up food reserves and if necessary they will take steps to import food items through the private sector or by the government itself. Employment will be provided to at least one person of every family.

Law and Order situation and policy regarding militancy: Awami League has taken a strong stance against terrorism and religious extremism. They have promised to control these with an iron hand. The manifesto vows to form a South Asian Task Force for fighting the challenge of terrorism and militancy. It also promises to stop the use of religion for politics.

BNP has taken a commitment to enhance the law and order situation as their very first goal and will put all their efforts to fight militancy if they can form the government. For the future, they have vowed to reform existing laws to ensure the security of lives and assets as well as to ensure peace and order. Domestic law enforcement agencies will be given training, modern arms and other necessary facilities to become more capable of maintaining law and order. Any attempt to commit terrorism in the name of religion will be halted from the very beginning.

Governance: Awami League pledges to take multi-pronged measures to fight corruption. The manifesto states that strict measures will be taken to eliminate bribery, extortion, rent-seeking and corruption. They will adopt a strong stance against those having questionably earned black money as well as loan defaulters, tender manipulators, and users of muscle power at every level of goverment and society. The manifesto also promises to enhance peoples' right through forming citizens' charters in every department. Also, widespread computerisation will be undertaken to minimise opportunities for corruption.

BNP has made commitments to undertake strict measures to terminate and block various sources of corruption. They have also committed to take efforts to bring transparency and accountability in the transactions carried out by government and state owned enterprises, help the Anti-Corruption Commission to act freely and take efforts to help media and local government to increase public awareness on corruption. Each MP will have to disclose their assets by giving a statement within 30 days after taking oath, according to the manifesto.

Energy Security: Awami League promises to take a comprehensive long-term policy on electricity and energy.

The manifesto pledges to ensure economic utilisation of oil, gas, coal, hydro power, wind power and solar energy. Establishment of large and small power generation stations, coal extraction, and oil and gas exploration has received great emphasis in the manifesto.

The party plans to undertake a crash programme for quick implementation of ongoing and proposed power generation stations, import of electricity from neighboring countries, arranging 100/150 megawatt gas turbine projects on an urgent basis, and the reactivation of past Awami League initiatives for constructing 10, 20 and 30 megawatt power stations. A schedule for the repair, maintenance and overhauling or salvaging of old power stations will be planned to increase and stabilise power production. The manifesto pledges to give priority to exploration and exploitation of new oil and gas fields and to formulate a coal policy. BNP manifesto includes a commitment to produce and supply electricity according to a transparent and effective policy. To achieve this, they will execute public sector projects and encourage establishment of private small plants. They will also examine possibilities for wind, water and solar energies and take initiatives to set up a nuclear plant. Local Government: Awami League has promised reforms of local government institutions in their manifesto. It states that Union, Upazilla and District Councils will be strengthened through decentralization of power. District Councils will be transformed into centres for implementation of programmes on education and health and all other development plans, as well as programmes for maintenance of law and order. Every union will be made into headquarters of development and administration of the area and developed as a planned rural township. It also plans to develop every Upazilla headquarter as an industrial growth centre and a planned township.

BNP promises to decentralise administrative system for the overall development of the country. The party pledges to strengthen the capacity of the elected members of the local government institutions.

Remittance: Awami League's manifesto promises to take special initiatives to attract expatriate's remittances in productive investment. It plans to develop a consultancy network to use expatriate's talents more productively. BNP promises to stop the harassment of expatriates both abroad and domestically. The responsibility of ensuring that fair wages are given to Bangladeshi workers abroad will be assigned to the embassies in the respective countries, according to the manifesto. They also promise to develop initiatives to give returning expatriates productive avenues for investment and employment. Other issues: Under Awami League initiatives for parliamentary reform, the parliament's effectiveness would be strengthened and the public administration would be made free from political and partisan influence. 33 percent of parliamentary seats for direct election would be reserved for women. Other initiatives include the prohivition of child labour, pledges to implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in full etc. Awami League announced a series of economic development initiatives.

AL envisions a rise in industry's share in GDP from 25 percent to 45 percent, a fall in the service sector's from 50 percent to 45 percent, and of agriculture's from 22 percent to 15 percent.

These changes are natural if an economy has to graduate to a more modern, industrialised status. According to AL's vision, a 'Digital Bangladesh' would be built, and unemployment would be cut down to 15 percent from the current 40 percent while employment would be increased from 4.2 crore to 9 crore by 2021. It promises to build a deep seaport and modernise Chittagong and Mongla seaports along with all land ports, while connecting the country with the Asian Highway and Asian Railway. Agriculture and rural development would be given the highest priority as a policy instrument for eradicating poverty, and food security would be ensured for the ultra-poor.

Other socio-economic initiatives include an expanded safety net programme such as rationing and free education up to the undergraduate level. In addition, steps would be taken to deal with global warming effectively and to ensure freedom of the mass media. BNP intends to focus making parliament effective and functional by taking some pragmatic steps. The speaker and deputy speaker will have to resign from their party posts after nomination and the next deputy speaker will be nominated from the opposition.

The BNP manifesto further suggests that parliamentary standing committees will be formed by the second session of parliament and the chairmen of important committees will be picked from the opposition bench. The BNP remains committed to forming an all-party parliamentary committee to ensure transparency in the Anti-Corruption Commission. They will also establish for the judiciary a separate secretariat under the Supreme Court. With regards to science and technology, they pledge to set up a high-tech city for development of information technology. Translation of the Promises into actions: The major challenge for any party forming government will really be translation of the above promises into actions.

The new government will have to examin the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and revise it to incorporate the promises it made in the election manifesto. The new government will also have to flag some actions against inflation, particularly food inflation and the electricity to make the voters understand that they care for their pressing needs.

There has to be pruning of the budget as well as mobilisation of resources and allocations to address the priority actions indicated in the election manifesto. Finally, each ministry will have to be alerted by the Prime Minister-elect to take into cognizance the relevant promises made in the manifesto.

In other words, there has to be a policy advisory group to work on election manifesto and monitor how far those promises are being realised. Voters' expectations from the new government are indeed sky-high this time. The new government will have to be much more cautious in managing these expectations.

(The writer is Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka and Chairman, Unnayan Shamannay)

Dhiraj Kumar Nath

Democracy is considered as the most advanced and enlightened form of government. Real democracy depends on an educated electorate", said Thomas Jefferson, one of the United States' first Presidents. In his view, "democracy also depends on certain level of true civilisation, that is, people who are civil and can respect the rights and needs of other people."

Democracy, the best form of Government: Democracy is considered as the best form of government representing people's power since it signifies a form of government in which people hold power under a free electoral system. There are, in fact, two major ingredients very much distinct in democracy, such as,

a) all members of the society have equal access to power,

b) all members enjoy universally recognised freedoms and liberties.

Besides, democracy in its true sense can guarantee freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of press. These are, in fact, issues most demanded for a civilised society to ensure fundamental rights of people.

Democracy also means that there should be periodic (or regular) and genuine elections and that power can and should change hands through popular suffrage and not coercion and force.

In democracy, political opponents and minorities have a right to express their views and have influence in the policy-making process. More precisely, in democracy, there is scope for respect and protection for basic civil and political rights.

Democracy with people's participation: The local community participation is the corner-stone of modem notions of citizenship because its institution and decision -making procedures may allow for a more direct form of democracy in which voices of ordinary individuals can be heard most easily. It involves meaningful dialogue, debate and discussion of all people in an effort to solve problems that arise in the community. Grassroots level democracy facilitates "political education". More informed and educated citizens make democratic decision- making by the people possible and more effective.

John Stuart Mill and other advocates of parliamentary democracy at the local level argued that unlocking the virtue and intelligence of the populace would foster good governance and promote social welfare. This is possible only with the participation of the community and unconditional support of the people living at the grassroots level.

Virtues of democracy: Views of Bangladeshis: Bangladeshi people, by and large, without reservations have confidence in democracy, since in a democratic system the government represent the will of the people which, in other words, is known as the rule of majority. The establishment of the democratic system was the spirit of our freedom movement and genesis of the war of liberation of Bangladesh. At the same time, people do not like to see the tyranny of majority or the brute majority in power dominating the normal discipline and distorting the canons of justice.

Bangladeshis believe that the supreme power should be vested with the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free and fair election in an atmosphere of equal opportunity to all. This is, in turn, called level playing field demanded by all political parties and public at large.

The most important ingredient of the public view in Bangladesh is that democracy, in true sense, should be devoid of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions, priorities and privileges.

Essence of grassroots democracy: "Develop grassroots democracy and ensure that the people enjoy democratic rights in a more extensive and practical way. The most effective and extensive way for the people to be master of the country is that they exercise their democratic rights in accordance with the law to manage public affairs and public service programmes at the primary level". This was the observation of President Hu Jintao in his address on the 17th China Party Congress.

Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes whereas much decision-making authority is shifted to the lowest geographic level of organisation.

Nowadays, comprehension and integration of democratic politics in the local administration are considered as best ways of reforms and appropriate strategies for the implementation of the democracy at the grassroots level. The values of transparency and openness in decision - making, steady political participation, public evaluation of local level leaders and democratic direct elections became important to these reforms.

Grassroots democracy and empowerment of people: Central to any meaning of grassroots level democratic governance is the concept of selfgovernment and administration closset to the people. The essential notion is that inhabitants of a given area have the right and responsibility to make decisions on those issues that affect them most directly and on which they can make decisions.

With the strengthening of democracy at the grassroots level, values of democracy are established among the people living in rural areas, especially in villages. The practice of democracy helps to understand the rights and privileges of the rural people.

According to Mahatma Gandhi," India lives in villages and unless village life can be revitalised the nation as a whole can hardly come alive." This was the spirit, which prompted India to form Panchayati Raj system in India. The Panchayati Raj system is now operating in India on the basis of few basic principles to empower the local level institutions, such as:

a) People's participation in the administration.

b) Capacity building of the population.

c) De-bureaucratisation of the system,

d ) Decentralisation of the powers.

Policy framework in Bangladesh:

The Constitution of Bangladesh in its state principles at Article 9 specifically mentioned about the importance of government at the grassroots level. This has been more explicitly spelled out at Articles 59 and 60 of the Constitution emphasising on the Local Government administration.

Very recently, the Bangladesh Election Commission in the Representation of People's Order, 2008 as amended, in its clause 90(B) has made a mandatory provision to get nomination from the grassroots. It provides that political parties shall nominate their candidates for the upcoming 9th Parliament election on the basis of the recommendation of the party committees representing at the grassroots level. The vision is to empower the grassroots level leaders to act as major icons at the national politics and also decisionmaking processes.

Historical Perspectives: In fact, historically in the geographical territory of Bangladesh, local government has been respected and honoured as the basis of vibrant democratic system. During thirteen century, village leaders used to recover the taxes through panchayet system. The major objective of the panchayet system was to ensure the good governance by imposing discipline in the society, encouraging education and celebration of religious festivals. Mughal emperor encouraged establishing cities and appointing Kotwals as the chief executive of cities after dividing the same into mahalas. During British regime, there was experiment of local government including Permanent Settlement or Zamindari system by Lord Cornwallis. The Chowkidari Act of 1870 added a new dimension to the local government system.

The Local Self-Government Act was enacted in 1885 through which the local government system achieved its legal status to conduct business as government. The Union Board was established in 1919 and for the first time British gave attention to rural areas besides revenue collections.

During Pakistan regime, four tiers local government system as basic democracy at the Union Council, Thana Council, District Council and Divisional Council were introduced. A major break-through to decentralise the local government was achieved with the introduction of Thana Parishad and Thana Administrative Reorganisation Ordinance on 23rd December 1982. This was however, annulled in 1991.

The present non-party caretaker government has however, revised the system and abolished the concept of gram sarker. The Upazila system is now a reality and the election of Upazila shall now be held in mid January 2009.

Looking Forward: Managing the impact of globalisation and urbanisation, promoting effective service delivery, fostering social peace and creating opportunities for employment are among the main challenges facing democracy at the grassroots.

Keeping this in view, it is necessary to develop local leadership and institutional capability to establish rule of law through good governance.

The significant decentralisation will generate leadership at the grassroots level and ensure participation of the people in the management of the state affairs and also expedite the development processes.

The country is now at the critical stage of reformation with the mission to strengthen the Local Government institutions in a real democratic atmosphere. The government has also set up a Local Government Commission to suggest the possible ways and means to build up self-sustaining units at the grassroots level. The nation is eagerly waiting to see strong and vibrant democratic local institutions operating independently in the country.

(The writer is former Adviser, Non-Party Caretaker Governmen-2006.)

Salma Khan

What we need are not just few women who make history but many women who make policy". Geraldine Ferraro

The main characteristic of economic development of the second half of the last century has been a wide recognition of women's contribution in the whole process of growth, particularly in food security, poverty alleviation and health care system leading to a realisation that for sustainable development and peace, there is a need to promote and protect those rights of women which matter.

However, in many societies spheres of activity women are still subjected to inequality in law and in fact. Intentional and unintentional discriminations against women prevent society as a whole from recognising equal rights of women in both domestic and public spheres. As they are kept out of the top decision making process, important political, legal and economic trends which affect their lives directly, are forged and reinforced bypassing them.

Since last two decades with global awareness on women's issue, it is now moving to the forefront of national agenda for social and economic development. Women in Bangladesh have made significant strides in education and fertility control leading to their increased participation in nations' socio-economic development. They are increasingly visible as workforce, entrepreneurs, healthcare giver and household managers. In our democratic process women are a major factor not only as voters but also as frontline participants at different political rallies and party campaigns. In spite of such gains unfortunately women are being systematically kept outside the power corridoor both in politics and higher public offices. Such exclusion of women from top policy formulation and implementation process is not only contrary to achieving a squarer deal but also stands as a stumbling block to desired social transformation in Bangladesh. To remedy such inadequacy, women's equal participation in power is seen as a necessary condition.

A New Horizon for Bangladeshi women: According to the World Bank report (March 2008), Bangladesh stands as a shinning new example in South Asia, "a poor country achieving impressive gains in gender equality". Bangladesh has experienced a significant decline in birth rate in a very sort time. Between 1971 and 2004, the country halved its fertility rate and gender gap in infant mortality has closed, both of which have impacted favourably on women's mobility and reproductive burdens. Near universal primary education has been achieved and girls secondary school attendance exceeds that of boys. Adult literacy rates for women have increased by 9 per cent compared to 7 per cent increase for men. In educational attainment the country has surpassed all expectations. Bangladesh used to be in the rank of countries having life expectancy of women lower then men, but now enjoys a higher female life expectancy than men which is a better performance on the scale of South Asia.

Micro-credit revolutions substantially increased women's earning potential. Female labour force participation rate has increased dramatically between 1983 and 2000 both in urban and rural areas. Vast numbers of young women are leaving their villages to work in factories in urban areas. Nearly 2.5 million women are working in garment industries alone. Women also comprise a significant majority of primary school teachers and healthcare workers.

Undoubtedly, in the achievement of such impressive development indicators women have been the hidden engine of growth. A quiet revolution has taken place in transforming the gender norms and roles. More women are taking part in the functioning of informal decision making in the household and community level. Yet they are largely excluded from rights that are aimed at free agency of women.

Women's exclusion from power in public arena now remains a major concern for their equal participation in high level decision making and policy formulation process which is essential both from the point of justice and ethical dimension of democracy as well as a necessary pre-condition for sustainable development.

Equal participation of women in politics and decision making: The declaration of the International Women's Year in 1975 by the United Nations followed by the Decade of Women 1976-1983 and adoption of the historic UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1981, brought about discernible change in the global attitudes towards women's role in power and decision making. The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 gave further impetus to the issue reaffirming the need for equal participation of women in decision-making process as a pre-condition of establishing a democratic society.

The Constitution of Bangladesh (articles 9-10, 27-28, 37-39, 50, 66 and 122) guarantees equal rights of men and women in matters relating to state and public life and further states that steps should be taken to facilitate women's participation in all spheres of national life. Unfortunately their participation in politics and decision-making levels does not reflect such policy imperatives.

Like most countries women in Bangladesh make up half of the electorate and have attained the right to vote much earlier (since 1920s' erstwhile Bengal/ East Pakistan) compared to many developed countries. But in real sense women's participation in the political process has been very limited except in case of two women in the top leadership positions who made lateral entry into the party through political inheritance. Generally, women remain unrepresented at various levels of the government, in the Parliament and other executive bodies.

From 1972 and 2006, during the rule of Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party, only 23 women held cabinet positions as against 395 men. In successive Caretaker Governments, women's presences were also minimum.

In the first parliament of 1973, 15 seats were reserved for women who were nominated by the ruling party. From the second parliamentary election in 1979 onward up to the eighth parliamentary election held in 2001, major political parties gave nomination to only 159 women candidates (including women party leaders), out of which 34 were elected.

During the same period the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party led governments gave cabinet positions to only 23 women (including the Prime Mister and the Leader of the Opposition) as against 395 men. Furthermore, when women are included in the cabinet they are always given less important portfolios with the rank of deputy minister.

Women's participation in the local government bodies depicts somewhat better picture since 1997 after the introduction of reservation of one quarter seats for women in Union Parishad and municipalities. At present over 13,440 women are involved in the local self-government and 22 women are holding the position of chairman out of a total of 4480. However research findings indicate that though the quota system played definitive role in enhancing women's participation, they face difficulties in performing their functions due to lack of appropriate organisational arrangements, political support and gender stereotyped social attitudes.

Women in Bureaucracy and Civil Service: Since 1982 women were allowed to compete in civil service examinations which is a requirement for being recruited into the cadre service of the Government of Bangladesh.

Though earlier in 1976, the Government undertook a policy of reserving 10 percent gazzetted posts (officer level) and 15 percent non-gazzetted posts for women in order to bring in more women in the government service, interaction of various factors have obstructed effective implementation of the quota policy.

According to latest data, out of 49 secretaries there is only one woman, at the next step out of 55 additional secretaries there is only 1 woman and out of 275 joint secretaries there are 5 women. Only 4 women are holding the post of Ambassadors.

Bangladesh now has a flourishing private sector playing dominant role in employment creation both at the executive and management level. Though the strength of women's employment in private sector is not available, it is apparent that nearly in all multinational and corporate bodies including private commercial banks, CEO's are men. However, in some commercial banks there is a percentage of women director.

Critical areas of concern: Lack of commitment within the government, political parties and private sector entities to establish the goal of gender balance in power structure and decision making. Lack of awareness about constitutional provisions and international obligation (CEDAW, PFA) to establish substantive equality of women.

Inefficacy of quotas or reserved seats in legislative bodies and executive committee of political parties.

Insufficient machineries and strategies for women's access to decision making positions both in public and private sectors.

Discriminatory social attitudes and practices and unequal power relations between men and women within the family limiting women's potential to develop required skills to break the glass ceiling.

Gender role conflict at home makes it difficult for women to reconcile between the family and demanding professional life.

Strategic interventions: To ensure women's equal participation at political and decision making process, which is essential both from the point of view of ethical dimension of democracy as well as a necessary condition for balanced growth and sustainable development, temporary special measures aimed at accelerating defects equality between men and women must be established. In the present political context of Bangladesh, reservation of 33 percent seats for women in the national Parliament should continue.

However, for women to be directly elected against these seats, reserved constituencies have to be redefined. As an alternative, it may be made mandatory for political parties to nominate at least 30 percent women candidates for the next election.

To increase women's presence at higher level of administration and policy formation bodies, the existing quota system should be revisited. Experience indicates that instead of facilitating women's recruitment, in many cases this has worked as a ceiling when jobs are distributed on the basis of regional population density. For effective monitoring of quota system, gender desegregated data should be generated.

To facilitate women's employment in private sector decision-making level, women's groups and NGO's should form alliance with national business federations, chamber of commerce and other trade bodies to propel women into positions of power. Parliaments and corporate offices are basically women unfriendly and maintain odd working hours. Change in social perception on gender roles, more flexible working hours and sexual harassment, free working environment will encourage more women in political and decision making careers.

To bring about a systemic change in levels of participatory decision making and to make it gender balanced, increased awareness at all levels is the first pre-condition. The administration, policy makers and media are needed to be sensitised for this. Targeted and appropriate training programmes for women leadership should be introduced.

Concluding remarks: Virtually in all countries in the world women make half of the population and it makes sense that they equally participate in the policy formulation and decision making process so as to influence matters that affect their lives in the family, community and society at large.

For building a more equitable, harmonious and discrimination free society, there is increasing consensus that good governance must involve a equitable partnership between men and women in the process of decision making at a level generally considered the "critically mass" (30 to 35 percent) necessary for qualitative change in the gender relationship.

Today's daunting social, economic and political problems, emerging issues of structural adjustment, environmental degradation, and trans-border migration - all create a disproportionate impact on women and children. This on the one hand, necessitates putting women's issue and concerns in the relevant agenda; on the other hand, access must be created for women in the top decision-making level for infusing gender perspective in all these areas. Equality is the only way to achieve development and peace.

While women are increasingly gaining access to polities and public service, when it comes to leadership and decision making positions, they are still a distinct minority.

To bring about a systematic change in the participatory decision making process, the Government must take into account that many important political, legal and social trends are both forged and reinforced at the national and international levels, which is entirely male dominated, and therefore, it is essential that women are adequately represented in national delegations, negotiation teams and employees of the international organisations. To achieve the desired goal of de jure and de facto equality of women, Bangladesh Constitution and the CEDAW Convention suggest adopting temporary special measures aimed at accelerating the process to ensure equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. There has been enough evidences that when women assume power at the top decision-making level, they wield power for political and social change and bring about new agenda for peace in a more creative method.

A society that foster women's leadership career along with men can also foster peace, progress and sustainability.

(The writer is former chairperson UN CEDAW Committee and former Division Chief Planning Commission)

M Anwar Hashim

History bears testimony to the fact that the absence of inter-faith harmony is a serious obstacle to peace, security and cooperation at both national and global levels. Wars and armed conflicts between and among states as well as within national frontiers in the name of religion have resulted in senseless killings, immense sufferings of innocent people and large-scale destructions. The need for promoting and maintaining inter-faith harmony in a multi-religious world, therefore, cannot be sidetracked.

The end of the four and a half decades-long cold war has gone a long way in bridging the East-West divide. The collapse of communism has facilitated open practice of religion in Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These positive developments have, however, been overtaken by the mindless and savage attacks on the Twin Tower and Pentagon on 9 September 2001 allegedly masterminded by Osama bin Laden-led Al-Quaida followed by US-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, two Islamic countries, with hardly any justification in terms of international law. Coupled with other inauspicious developments in the global arena, these events have strained the Islamic world's relations with America and adversely affected inter-faith harmony. This has the potential for creating a religious divide between Christians and Muslims unless well thought out measures are taken with a sense of urgency.

It is worth mentioning that religious doctrines, symbols and practices, however varied they may be, rarely give rise to conflicts and confrontations. At the most, these can create social distance and limit interaction between believers of different faiths. A few examples may be cited in this context. The modes of worship in all major religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism and Sikhism - are different. Likewise, the places of worships for devotees of different religions -church, gurdwara, mosque, temple and synagogue - have their own distinctive designs and characters. Normally, the churches are decorated with paintings and statues representing Jesus Christ and the Saints, and the Hindu temples contain images of their gods and goddesses; but the Muslims consider it wrong to have any form of depiction of human beings or animal in mosques. Idolatry is considered a sin in Islam but Muslims do not interfere with Hindu religious festivals like Puja or Rath. The Christian concept of Original Sin is alien to Islam; and so are the doctrines of Karma, incarnation and rebirth, which have found expression in Buddhism and Hinduism. For all practical purposes, these are non-issues for sane practitioners of any faith.

At any rate, the divergence in dogmas and rituals are far outweighed by a significant convergence emanating from the same or similar spirit of virtually all religions. The message they seek to convey to humankind is universal and embodies all fundamental ideals of moral and ethical life, such as benevolence, charity, compassion, justice, kindness, love, restraint, tolerance and truthfulness. Side by side, it calls for avoidance of arrogance, cruelty, greed, jealousy, vanity and viciousness. The message, in fact, contains many time-honoured principles of right and wrong as well as virtues and vices. The noble ideals of human dignity and rights are not inimical to any religion. Every religion allows its followers a reasonable degree of material comfort and profit linked to genuine entrepreneurial efforts but repudiates obsession with making money and worship of wealth. Indiscriminate killing is not condoned by any faith. Also, no religion approves homosexuality or same sex marriage. Indeed, religions provide the guidance that the human beings need and seek. The common spirit of all great religions amidst doctrinal and ritualistic difference validates the illustrious mystic Jalaluddin Rumi's saying: "The lamps are different but the lights are the same."

In spite of this, the world today has been confronted with the inauspicious phenomenon of religious tension and conflicts. This is due to the manipulations and exploitations on the part of self-serving religionists belonging to two main categories ---- political elites and religious fanatics-both at national and global levels. As for political elites, they sometimes shed crocodile's tears to whip up sentiments of religious communities for gaining or regaining or perpetuating their dominance. In their unprincipled struggle for power, they tend to foment and sustain both rational and irrational hopes of the majority as well as founded and unfounded fears of the minority. Besides, they try to divert attention from the people's woes by igniting religious sentiments when they fail to deliver on their promises. Religious fanatics, on the other hand, not only seek to promote and propagate narrow and sectarian notion of the faiths practiced and preached by them but also overtly display intolerance towards countenance of beliefs and practices not compatible with their own. Regardless of whether they do so wittingly or unwittingly, their acts almost invariably lead to conflagration between different religious communities.

Such religionists have caused immense harm to the noble ideal of inter-faith harmony cherished by the vast majority of humankind. Regrettably, they either ignore or are ignorant of the teachings of their own religions. Often they use rhetoric to make up for their ignorance or distortion of religious ideals. This is evident from the fact that a wide range of narrow-minded, sectarian and chauvinistic slogans from different political and religious groups across the globe calling for, among others, preservation of "Western civilisation" in the face of high tide of "Islamic fundamentalism", combating "Islamic terrorism", relentless struggle against "despotic Islamic regimes", promotion of "Hinduvta" as a safeguard against "Islamic militants", "Jehad" against American imperialism" etc. have fomented animosity, bitterness and hatred between religious communities in recent years. Such inflammatory slogans have at times helped create an authoritarian mindset among practitioners of the majority faith as well as over-assertive and separatist tendencies on the part of religious minorities.

A section of the Western media, both print and electronic, and academics have also contributed to the spreading of biased and negative sentiments against other peoples' religions. They have even tried to make divisive issues out of non-issues. For instance, the architectural grandeurs of places of worship, which only fulfil the believers' non-functional aspirations, should necessarily be viewed as a non-issue. Similarly, making a religious issue out of outfits does not make sense. Yet, Oriana Fallaci, a well-known Italian journalist, based her claim of superiority of the Western civilisation over the Islamic civilisation on these counts, saying: " Our churches and cathedrals are more beautiful than their (Muslims') mosques. . . . . . . . . .. If some (Islamic) countries' women are so stupid to accept wearing the chador t. that is their problem. But to treat them with indulgence and tolerance is suicide." Such contemptuous remarks ignore the facts that the quality and content of teaching and preaching inside any places of worship is far more important than their outward simplicity or ornamentation and that a chador-clad female is likely to face lesser risk of sexual abuse than a woman wearing mini-skirt or micro-mini or bikini or topless.

Nevertheless, the dark and ominous cloud overcastting the world's horizon of religions is not without a silver lining. The individuals and groups on both sides of the divide having firm belief in inter-faith harmony heavily outnumber those who foment conflicts and confrontations in the name of religion. They disapprove of all forms and manifestations of bigotry, conservatism and fanaticism. Many try to reach out to one another and to promote non-violence. Despite their distinctive advantage in numerical terms, they have not been able to make any major contribution towards the attainment of their lofty goal so far. This is essentially because of incident-specific, area-centred, damage control-oriented and largely uncoordinated nature of their endeavours. Be that as it may, they should be encouraged to continue and intensify their positive and constructive efforts in right earnest.

Side by side, it is essential to adopt appropriate measures having in mind the ground reality. It seems that inter-faith dialogue is the most effective means of reducing communication gaps, identifying areas of mistrust, bridging misconceptions and promoting understanding among practitioners of different religions. The important prerequisites for such dialogue include, among others, mutual respect, acceptance of religious diversity and, above all, constructive and forward-looking approach. It ought to be borne in mind that any claim of superiority of one faith over another, attempt towards intimidation and coercion, indulging in blame game, castigating any religion for misdeeds or mindless acts of a few individuals or groups and focusing on doctrinal issues would, in effect, make any dialogue on inter-religious harmony a non-starter. In other words, any manifestation of "we versus they" syndrome would make it a counterproductive exercise.

The efforts aimed at promoting inter-faith dialogue has been going on in different parts of the world through the convening of conferences, seminars, symposia and workshops at the initiatives of fair-minded social and religious groups. It is necessary to strengthen and, if possible, institutionalise this process so as to transform it into a peaceful global movement for promotion of religious harmony. People from all walks of life, especially political elites, religious leaders, legislators, jurists, academics, professionals, members of law enforcement agencies, journalists, and representatives of civil societies and NGOs, need to take part in dialogues at local, national, regional and international levels. They should learn to listen to others, and to speak and respond in a dispassionate and objective manner. This would facilitate a better understanding on their part of the religions practiced by others and prompt them to forge meaningful relations on the basis of shared spiritual and moral heritage of humankind.

A lot can be achieved at the level of state. In most countries, the constitutions unambiguously provide for non-discriminatory treatment to all citizens irrespective of their religion, sect, caste and creed. In order to ensure proper implementation of this provision, it is of utmost importance to promote good governance with special focus on the rule of law, human rights, human security and social responsibilities.

The primary and predominant responsibility of combating religious intolerance, preventing enlistment of unemployed youths into the ranks of fanatics and promoting inter-faith understanding lies with the government of the day. Hence, an effective performance of this task is greatly contingent upon political will and strengthening of all state organs and institutions. As for non-state actors, they should play an important supporting role for the mobilisation of public opinion in favour of religious harmony.

It was religion, viz. Zoroastrianism, which espoused the noble ideal of a single human family as early as in the sixth century BC. Later, this concept also found abiding expression in other religions. And yet, the vision of oneness of humankind seems to have faded into oblivion as, to quote (late) UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, "on the bookshelf of life, God is a useful work of reference always at hand but seldom consulted". What is indeed, imperative in today's world is to strive for rekindling and upholding the universal ideals and values of all religions.

(The writer is a former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and Vienna and retired Secretary to the Government).

Dilara Choudhury

Bangladesh is poised to hold its ninth parliamentary elections on December 29, 2008. The elections are to ensure smooth transition from the army-backed caretaker government to a democratic order. Constitutionally, the caretaker government was to be in power for ninety days and, within these time period, it is to help the Election Commission to hold the next elections. The question is why did the present government linger beyond its mandated time-frame. It was argued that present government needed that time in order to carry out a number of reforms so that, after transition, we would have a qualitative change in the politics of the country, which would help democracy to take its roots in the soil of Bangladesh. Many reforms, indeed, have taken place but no major and qualitative change was brought to ensure the effective representation of women in the ninth parliament.

One, thus, wonders about the future of democracy in Bangladesh in the context of the common knowledge that without broadening the base of democracy and power sharing with the marginalised groups-the system lacks equibrilium, and as a result, its very structure remains instable. Women, who constitute 50% of country's population, are the largest marginalised groups, and in that context, how can democracy flourish without having a power sharing arrangement with women? If democracy is to function and marginalised groups are to be integrated into the system, then what better way there is to start it by sharing power with the women? This apparent difficult task becomes easy if there is an effective women's representation at every strata of country's power structure, especially in the parliament, which is the vital forum for the discussion of all public issues.

However, the history of having an effective representation in the parliament is as old as the country itself. For decades, since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the leadership grappled with the issue and more or less satisfied with fact that it could be resolved through the reservation of a number of seats in the legislature, which are to be filled indirectly i.e. through nominations or selections rather than elections. Following decades witnessed no qualitative measures except increasing the number of reserved seats from 15 to 30 until as late as in 1990s. Demands for introduction of women's reserved seats through direct elections went unheeded. The leadership argued that arrangement of indirectly elected reserved seats served women's interests in the context of their difficulties to confront large women's constituencies, which are three times larger than regular general constituencies. Women were also denied party nominations on similar grounds. As such, during the last BNP-led coalition government, the constitution was once more amended through 14th amendment to ensure women's effective representation in the parliament by increasing the number of reserved seats for women from 30 to 45 and having their proportional allocation among the winning parties. Needless to say that the measure was no more than an eye wash in the context of dissatisfactory performance of indirectly elected female MPs either in policy formulation or raising women's issues on the floor of the parliament. So far, no sound women leadership, as expected, has emerged even after years of "training." They basically served as the vote bank of the party that captured the majority in the parliament. Even after the increase of number of seats and their proportional allocation, no qualitative change was discerned from women representatives..

In the backdrop of the above scenario, it is evident that the caretaker government should have adopted effective strategies to ensure women's effective representation in the ninth parliament. On the contrary, present government did not incorporate increased number of reserved seats for women with rotational constituency at the Union Parishad level as suggested by Local Government Commission. The tragic fact is that no such endeavours were taken by the stakeholders including the civil society members who so loudly declare their love for democracy. There were hardly any debates, seminars, round tables, dialogue and discussion on the issue. Qualitative change could have been possible if the issue was seriously addressed. It also shows that neither the political parties, who are the main agents of social change, nor Election Commission paid any attention to the issue. Election Commission is taking pride that it pushed the parties to create a critical mass i.e. providing 33% women at every tier of party's structure by making it mandatory for the political parties but the fact of the matter is that the political parties have gotten away with it by stating that enough women are not available to fulfill the condition and that they would incrementally increase the number and fulfill it by 2020. If the Election Commission really wanted to give boost to women's political empowerment it should have made 25% mandatory nominations for the women for the political parties. Actually, measures like 25% compulsory nominations or introduction of additional member system (mixture of first-past-the-post system and proportional representation) should have been analysed and proper measures should have been adopted. One could take the example from Nepal where the issue of power sharing with women was seriously discussed, strategies were adopted which have created a critical mass of women in their newly elected Constituent Assembly. They have really broadened the base of their nascent democratic order.

At present, both AL and BNP are gloating that, this time around, they have given nominations to more women candidates than before but if one calculates the ratio, it is barely 5% of the total candidature. Further, if one takes into account of the seats contested by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina (three seats each) the ratio is much less. it is regrettable that in the much awaited ninth parliament, which was to serve as the vital forum for all public issues, the women's representation would still depend mostly on the indirectly elected 45 women representatives and a handful of directly elected representatives. The question is can this kind of women leadership able to confront and achieve success with regards to the gargantuan task that lie ahead in the 21st century in the backdrop of globalisation and its negative impact on the women. How can the women leadership, who do not have geographically designated constituencies, fulfill the hopes and aspirations of their constituents? How will they know how majority women are getting affected by the negative impacts of globalisation? Surely, they would be quite oblivious that there exist a large number of women in both organised and unorganised sectors, due to the demand of cheap labour by multi-national companies, without any societal or state sponsored security. And those women's rights are violated on daily basis beginning from rape, sexual harassment, persecution, discrimination, and trafficking, illegal migration to exposure to HIV and AIDS. They would also be quite unaware about the predicaments the working women face in their workplace like transport problems, lack of women's physical needs and baby care centers, inadequate maternity leave and so on so forth and their daily juggle between work and household work. Most important of all they would not be able to develop leadership, gain expertise, knowledge, and tools so they are ready to "play a brokering role for change through a synergy of partnership with government (states) and with civil society so that the market forces can be shaped to work in favor of women and gender equality." In a nutshell, women, by and large, would remain outside the democratic system and make it, as mentioned earlier, dysfunctional.

It is obvious from the above discussion that without having directly elected women representatives it would be hard to enhance women's leadership quality, efficacy in legislation, especially legislation dealing with women's issues and their role as individual legislator. Despite the overall disappointments we still would like to see our women representatives play a meaningful role and try to do their best to tackle the issues that confront women all across different strata of the society.

They must play constructive role in the committees, take part in the legislative process and most importantly cross the party line (not voting against the party) and form a women's caucus so that women's issues can be kept outside the party line. It is a tall order in the context of Bangladesh's prevailing political culture but one must hope that culture is not static but dynamic and amenable to change.

The party leadership which is held by two women must also play their proper role in enhancing women representatives' leadership in the parliament. Only then one can hope for a somewhat power sharing arrangement between men and women (no matter how nascent it may be) and only then democratic order would be strengthened. And the benefits of democracy would reach among all strata of society.

(Professor, Department of Government and Politics Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka)

Dr. M. Zahir

The categorical imperative of democracy as a principle of governing is a simple one. "Do not block the way of inquiry and of change with regard to social and economic matters." (Thomas Thorson, The Logic of Democracy 1962).

As former Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court said, policy-makers "are not monks or scientists, but participants in the living stream of our life". (Earl Warren, "The Law and the Future", Fortune, November 1955). As such, they are expected to make mistakes; a democratic system must allow for such errors and allow for the changes that should follow once errors are uncovered.

According to Justice Warren the principle of democracy merely provides a democratically oriented, social system with a mechanism constructed by men on the basis of democracy's instrumental principles; that is those values such as "majority rule", and "minority rights" that spell out the fundamental democratic principle through which the wishes of the society can be continuously reflected and modified in light of further acquisition of knowledge.

As President Abraham Lincoln said in his first inaugural address:

"A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects this does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or despotismt"

If the majority rule principle is the only practical solution to the fundamental question of "who governs" or who controls in a democracy, then the instrumental principle of political equality is the antecedent concept that determines just who will govern. It means that, excepting citizenship and age no criterion - be it wealth, sex, place of residence, race, religion or intelligence - can justify a denial of one's right to vote and to have that vote counted the same as any other vote. "The ballot box is the democratic process. Equality in voting - one man and every man, one vote - does not - by any means, solve all the problems of democracy, but without it, democracy is a sham." (Leonard Fein, editor, American Democracy,1965).

Pluralistic democracy stresses the importance of groups within the political system. The sovereign majority, seen as a set of minorities, that is, similar groups aligned together on an issue, is held in restraint and limited in such a structure; opportunities for other minorities to present their ideas on matters of importance and for negotiations to take place between various groups-and their elected representatives, within certain limits-in order to produce a more constructive and meaningful public policy are built into the political mechanism. Justice Warren believed that in such an environment, conflicts and problems stand a good chance of being resolved peacefully.

Accessibility is vital to the continuance of a democratic system.

"The likelihood of peaceful adjustment to a conflict", wrote Robert Dahl, "is increased if there exist institutional arrangements that encourage consultation, negotiation, the exploration of alternatives, and the search for mutually beneficial solutions. Conversely, the prospects of deadlock and coercion are increased if institutional arrangements severely inhibit such activities." (Robert Dahl, Modern Political Analysis, 1963).

Article 70(1) of our Constitution severely inhibits such a prospect for consultation, pointing of errors and representations of minority views in a majority party. This Article provides that a person elected as a member of Parliament at an election in which he was nominated as a candidate by a political party shall vacate his seat if he resigns from that party or votes in Parliament against that party. Thus, if a member of Parliament being present in Parliament abstains from voting or absents himself from any sitting of Parliament, ignoring the decision of the party which nominated him at the election as a candidate not to do so, he shall be deemed to have voted against that party.

This, in effect, means absolute party dictatorship. Parliament is after all a group of elected individuals from their respective constituencies but no one belonging to a party can have a will of their own while voting. People's power to legislate is exercised through voting by members of Parliament but because of Article 70(1), this becomes a matter of simply raising hands like dummies. Where is the exercise of power to govern by 300 members? It may well be then not a matter of election of 300 members but an election to power of political parties, thus encouraging the idea of "winner takes all".

If no dissension is allowed then there can not be any meaningful democracy which necessarily means discussion. What is the point of a parliamentary debate if all members know which way they are going to vote at the dictates of their party? We should then do away with Parliamentary debates thus saving a lot of money and acrimonious exchange.

When this provision was inserted by the framers of the Constitution in 1972, probably the memory of the ill fated Abu Hossain Sarker Government in 1957 influenced the Constitution makers.

The Government was installed and brought down within a week. But this was also because Bhasani NAP then switched side. But conditions have changed. India has no corresponding disqualification for M.P.s and in Britain, the mother of parliamentary democracy, floor crossing is common. There is some talk of amending Article 70(1) to allow dissension in some matters but not on finance bills or foreign affairs. Why should an M.P. be stopped from disputing or protesting what he feels to be unjustified tax or an unconscionable foreign policy? Through his individual dissent he may strike a chord with the national conscience and force the Government to revise its policy.

Sad to note that none of the political parties today have mentioned revoking Article ·70(1) in their manifesto. This shows the natural propensity of our leaders to be dictators within the party and the lack of tolerance for views of others. No wonder we have witnessed failure or suspension of democracy for a very significant part of our existence as an independent nation. Tolerance of contrary views even to the point of permitting rebellion and crossing floors, only strengthens the democratic practice. Unfortunately, no one pays heed to this very basic concept of democracy.

The sooner we get rid of Article 70(1) the better for democracy.

(The writer is Barrister at-Law and Senior Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court )

Qazi Kholiquzzaman

Concerns and fears relating to national and global economic health began to heighten in the developed world and across the globe with the collapse, precipitated in September 2008, of the banking systems in the US, the UK, and other European countries. However, alarm bells had started ringing earlier in the year with Bear Stearns bank hitting the rocks in the US and Northern Rock bank in the UK. The US Federal Reserve provided financial backing to JP Morgan Chase to buy out Bear Stearns and the British government virtually nationalised the Northern Rock, determining that the adverse implications of their failure could spell major financial sector upheavals in the respective countries and beyond.

Several years earlier (in 2002), the economy of Argentina collapsed, which was studiously implementing the Washington Consensus and the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. Even earlier, in 1997, a financial-economic meltdown occurred in East and South East Asian countries, which also implemented similar prescriptions. But no lessons were learnt from those failures.

That the neo-liberal policies were inherently flawed should have been evident from these examples. But, the western governments led by the US and the western controlled international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank kept promoting the neo-liberal paradigm around the world as the best economic policy ever invented.

Quick realiaation that the state must act as the turmoil turned disastrous : With the collapse of the western banking systems in the later half of 2008, the realities as to the inherent flaws of the neo-liberal approach began to dawn on western governments, even on the Bush administration in the US, the epicentre of neo-liberal onslaught around the world. I shall discuss the responses undertaken by the western states to the unprecedented challenges arising from the collapse of neo-liberalism after a brief review of how the neo-liberal approach fell apart.

The Meltdown: Why and the Nature : In large part, the financial management, particularly the derivative market, was unregulated and characterised by lack of transparency, non-disclosure, and lack of accountability. Phenomenally high monetary incentives were provided to the chief executives and other functionaries of the banks and other financial institutions if they succeeded in expanding businesses. They went after ever expansion of credit and mortgage giving activities without regard to the risks involved. All this led to a 'greed culture' which pushed the various banks and financial institutions into the abyss of toxic assets, and that, in fact, was the trigger of the collapse of the financial systems. It is well known that the greed-driven unprecedented expansion of sub-prime mortgages in the housing sector in the US started the process of the meltdown. While the banks and mortgage institutions pursued expansion of their operations without taking into account the risks involved, their top executives and others were rewarded with millions of dollars of bonuses in recognition of the expansions recorded, regardless of how had these been achieved and what the consequences might be.

The risks associated with these murky mortgages and loans led to an unprecedentedly huge unregulated credit derivative market, the most important form of derivative being the credit default swap (CDS). The swaps ran through, from one bank or financial institution to another and so on within the US and in other countries, particularly in Europe and other developed countries given the existing inter-linkages among the involved banking systems.

As of June 2007, the notional value of the outstanding CDSs was US$42.6 trillion, up from US$28.9 trillion in December 2006. Then, there are other forms of derivatives as well as large-scale speculative short selling, all of which added to the vulnerabilities of the banking systems.

It is ironic that Alan Greenspan, the longest serving former chainman of the US Federal Reserve Bank and a deregulator per excellence, in his testimony to the US Congress as the financial meltdown was playing havoc, conceded a grave error in relation to his faith in deregulation and said 'he had too much faith in the self-correcting power of free market and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton lending' and acknowledged that the banks and financial institutions have not protected the interests of their shareholders, for which neo-liberalalist greed at the top was responsible. Clearly, the greed of a few spelt disastrous financial and economic consequences for so many. These are forceful commentaries that forces of implosion are inherent in neoliberalism.

When the ever expanding sub-prime mortgages started going into default all around in the US, the mortgage-takers suffered from foreclosures of their properties and, as the housing market shrank, the banking systems involved were sapped of their lifeline, the cash. The banks and the mortgage companies were no longer able to extend credits due to liquidity shortages; and their share prices tumbled in the stock exchanges. The inter-bank lending virtually stopped partly due to non-availability of funds but also due to severe loss of trust in the sense that a borrowing bank-financial institution may not be able to repay the loan. The whole basis of neo-liberalist functioning of the banks and other financial institutions was shattered. Also, the ordinary savers in the banks such as small business owners, service-holders, and pensioners were threatened that they might not get their deposits back. Moreover, small businesses faced dim prospects in the face of non-availability of bank loans. Also, consumer spending tended to be adversely affected due to credit crunch on the one hand and job losses and uncertainties that appeared to be on the horizon, on the other. That meant that the financial sector turmoil threatened to translate into turmoil in the real economy. Recession, even depression, could not be ruled out.

In fact, the world's leading economies, viz. the US, the EU, and Japan are already in recession which is showing clear signs of worsening, despite swift government actions to get the financial systems back on track for properly conducting their legitimate businesses. Understandably, there are basic issues which remain to be addressed, and the mess created is not amenable to a quick fix. Industries and businesses are contracting or closing, with jobs vanishing in large numbers in these economies. Indeed, unemployment rate in the US has been rising steeply over the past months, reaching a 14-year high of 6.5% in October 2008. Further and steeper job cuts appear to be in the offing. In fact, world's three leading US auto-making industries, viz. General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford are collapsing and seeking government assistance to survive. In China also, many industries are contracting or closing down. Stock Exchanges in the developed countries as well as elsewhere continue to behave very erratically, with different share-price indices suffering losses one day and making some gains the next and so on unpredictably, around declining trends below the sharply lower levels to which they dipped in the initial days of the meltdown.

Although the US and British governments did not follow up, after Bear Stearns and Northern Rock were saved, in terms of actions to prevent further banking sector ailments, they responded quickly when widespread financial sector collapses started in September 2008. In the US, the government took over the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and injected huge amounts of cash into the insurance giant American International Group (AIG). After that the government undertook a US$700 billion financial sector rescue plan, money out of which is being funneled into the financial system. Moreover, things are changing fast, almost on a daily basis. More recently, the Citigroup also faced collapse with its stocks losing 60% of their value in one week; and on 24 November the US government (Treasury Department) agreed to bail it out by guaranteeing to buy up to US$306 billion worth of its bad loans and assets, and by injecting US$20 billion in cash into the bank (on top of US$25 billion infusion it received earlier as part of broader US banking-industry bailout). In exchange, the government will get an ownership stake in the Citigroup and the bank will have to follow certain agreed guidelines in extending credits and finances as well as in providing dividends and bonuses. This arrangement has been a negotiated agreement between the government and the Citigroup. On 25 November, The US Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced a plan to pump another US$ 8OO billion into consumer support programmes, involving purchase, from troubled financial institutions, of securities backed by consumer debts such as credit cards, car loans, and student loans (about US$200 billion); and purchase of mortgage backed assets from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a few other mortgage firms (some US$500 billion); and purchase of direct debts issued by the firms just mentioned (US$l00 billion). These initiatives, it has been suggested, should facilitate flow of more money to the consumers than has so far happened. Once Barak Obama takes over as US President on 20 January 2009, it is very much on the cards that the role of the state in facing the unprecedented financial and economic challenges will be further strengthened. For one thing, the goal of creating 2.5 million jobs has already been announced.

The US government is broadly following the same model, of responding, as has been initiated in the UK, in order to stabilise and rejuvenate the collapsed financial system and minimise the adverse economic consequences of the system's failure. The three core elements of the UK plan are liquidity support, interbank lending guarantee, and recapitalisation of distressed banks. The methods of implementation include: buying up of bad loans and assets to provide cash to the concerned banks and financial institutions, providing loans to them to improve their liquidity, buying up shares to acquire ownership stakes in them, uncrating interbank loans, and guaranteeing up to a large extent individual savings in them. The beneficiary banks and other financial institutions are required to conduct their businesses within the framework of agreed principles, guidelines, and conditionalities. Also, the EU nations closely follow the UK-initiated approach to heal off financial meltdown. The visible hand of the state has now assumed a preeminent position, as dictated by the unprecedented challenges to be addressed, in the management of the financial systems and supporting the real economic sectors, even in the US of President Bush and other neo-con stalwarts in his administration.

Obviously, the Bush administration was forced to undertake state interventions on a large-scale (including acquiring ownership stakes in companies, providing guidelines for business behaviour, and demand stimulation) in the absence of any other feasible option. Even without the financial sector meltdown, the US economy was getting into increasingly serious difficulties as a consequence of huge and rising extemal debt (which amounted to US$13.7 trillion of June 2008, about the same as the total US GDP) and increasing costs of Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The US faced a similar situation back in the 1970's as a consequence of Vietnam war and rising trade deficits. At that time the US managed to avoid restructuring its own economy by imposing large-scale restructuring and adjustments on other economies around the world. The methodo logy devised for the purpose, which came to be known as the Washington Consensus, was developed by the World Bank and the IMF in collaboration with and at the behest of the US Treasury Department and implemented with support from other developed countries. The purpose of the US in particular had been to commandeer savings from around the world to sustain its own economy, without making

unpopular structural and policy adjustments to its own economy in the face of the above mentioned severe problems. A basic mechanism used was to remove statutory controls over movement of capital within and across nations; and the key concepts were deregulation, privatization, and globalization. Countries around the world were persuaded, cajoled, even forced, using threat of no assistance for non-compliance if required, to undertake the stipulated structural adjustments and board the neo-liberal train. Obviously, deregulation was pursued in the US and other developed countries as well, allowing neo-liberalism to flourish.

But, this time around, there was no such option. Therefore, largescale state actions became absolutely necessary. It emerges that one US war (Vietnam) was an important reason behind the push for neo-liberalism to flourish and another two (Iraq and Afghanistan) have hastened, although it was inevitable anyway, its disintegration.

The British government in its turn agreed to buy a majority stake (about 57%) in the country's largest bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and a minority stake (about 44%) in Lloyds TSP and HBOS Banks. The government also took steps to nationalise the financial institution, Bradford and Bingley. For the purposes of guaranteeing private loans, buying up toxic assets, providing loans, and underwriting inter-bank loans, and so on, the British government has committed a total of between £450 and £500 billion. The beneficiary banks and other financial institutions will. be managed under terms and conditions agreed with the government relating to operations, top management remunerations, and transparency and accountability.

Clearly, the banking system in the UK has to a large extent come under the purview of the state in terms of a combination of ownership of shares, participation in management, and overall regulation. In addition, on 24 November 2008, the British government announced billions of pound sterling worth of tax cuts (£20 billion) and in government spending to stimulate consumer spending and revitalize the British economy.

There has emerged a new phenomenon in that an internationally coordinated approach to managing the unprecedented global financial and economic challenges has been mounted. First, the EU, the US, and other members of G-7 came together and agreed to an action plan, aspects of which have been outlined above. Soon afterwards, larger and emerging developing economies were brought into the process through a G-20 meeting held in Washington on 15 November 2008. Some of the outcomes relevant to the presea.t exercise are mentioned below.

In addition to actions taken by the western governments to stabilize and rejuvenate financial systems, there is also a broad agreement to use fiscal measures to stimulate demand, which is reflected in some of the actions (highlighted above) taken by the US and British governments to boost consumer spending and confidence. In the above mentioned G-20 meeting, the actions taken by the developed countries, as outlined above, have been endorsed and it has also been agreed to implement reforms to strengthen regulatory regimes in order to avoid future crises. Although regulation is primarily a national activity and the responsibility is with the national regulators, it has also been agreed that intemational cooperation among national regulators is essential to strengthen international standards and promote and protect the international financial stability. The use of fiscal measures to stimulate demands has also been endorsed. Another agreement reached is to provide assistance to the affected developing countries. Indeed, it has been agreed to do whatever it takes to get the economies moving everywhere.

It has also been agreed in the G-20 meeting "the Bretton Woods institutions must be comprehensively reformed as to more adequately reflect changing world economy and be more responsive to future challenges. Emerging and developing economies should have greater voice and representation in these institutions."

First of all, of course, what sort of confidence can one have on such a statement to eventually materialise? If the developed countries really want to follow through, it is possible that an attempt will be made to incorporate some of the larger and more powerful emerging and developing nations into the fold, but the large majority of the world's nations, which are smaller and economically and in other respects weaker, may remain neglected. I would strongly argue that it is absolutely necessary that the restructuring of the Bretton Woods institutions must be formulated and implemented with full participation of all UN members, ensuring proper reflection of the legitimate voices of all the nations in the policy-making and management of the restructured institutions.

It is important that any reform of these institutions start from the basic notion that they must not push or cajole countries to pursue the path of unfettered free markets, or, indeed, any other dogma. Rather, they must extend assistance to developing countries on the basis of the latter's own agendas formulated on the basis of their own realities and the needs and aspirations of their own people. These institutions must not be allowed to be in the driver's seat in relation to policy making in respect of any aspect of the assistance receiving countries. They must not be allowed to use the conditionality of not providing assistance if their perspectives are not embraced. Their mandate will be to assist, not lead.

The lessons and the advent of another economic: Order The recent developments involving commitments of the state regarding the management of the recent financial meltdown, ensuring future national and international financial stability, and creating conditions for the real economies to move forward benefiting all participants, as outlined above, are a clear testimony that neo-liberalism is in tatters. Indeed, history has not ended. Neo-liberalism has, in fact, imploded and a new history has begun to shape up.

They are those who, including Alan Greenspan, have compared the global financial meltdown with tsunami. But, this comparison is misplaced, even misleading. Tsunami is a natural phenomenon and, given current knowledge, cannot be prevented. It is the huge tidal wave caused by a submarine earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. A tsunami cannot be predicted, except perhaps only a few hours in advance. On the other hand, the current global financial meltdown has resulted from a particular policy regime pursued as a dogma over the past several decades. There have been indications over the years that the paradigm would run into serious troubles. Indeed, that unfettered capitalism would lead to such a debacle had been suggested by many economists and other observers. They have been calling for balanced roles of the state and the market to replace the ongoing neo-liberal unregulated free market. Among the economists, two names stand out: Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman.

They had been consistently and forcefully expressing their articulated dissenting voices, calling attention to the likely disastrous consequences of the neo-liberal paradigm, which the world is now witnessing. Also, there are politicians in the US and the UK, among other observers, who have been expressing similar opinions. Clearly, therefore, the disaster has stricken as a result of the deeply flawed and inherently implosion-prone neo-liberalism pursued over several decades. The tsunami comparison is, in fact, a denial of this long-evolving prognosis and the option that existed for avoiding the disastrous financial and economic consequences by changing course decisively and adequately when time remained.

In 'another world economic order', as indicated earlier in this paper, market will still play an important, even crucial role; but it will function under effective state regulatory regimes. The idea of minimalist state must be abandoned; rather the state and the private sector will perform balanced roles. In the socio-economic arena, the state will perform regulatory responsibilities and will ensure equitable access of the downtrodden to social and livelihood-related services. The state will also create conducive political, legal, and socio-economic environment for all citizens to live and work with full human dignity. Transparency, accountability and effectiveness must be the guiding principles of the functioning of the state. The private sector will be mainly responsible for production and distribution of goods and services in both real and financial sectors but will observe proper business ethics and operate within the prevailing relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.

The poor are too weak and, therefore, it is necessary for the State to assist them to fulfil their socio-economic-political legitimate needs and it has now been seen that the state had to corne forward to clean up the mess created by unbridled capitalism. It is, therefore, essential that the state be equipped to play the strategic role, as indicated above, that only the state can play; and it is in that context that the private sectors can best evolve for the benefit of all concerned.

However, a framework of private-public partnership design defined in terms of responsibilities, guidelines and rules of business that is suited to a particular country should be developed through a process of democratic dialogue involving all stakeholders.

Also, it is crucially important that the proposed socio-economic development process must be integrated with environmental protection imperatives in order to meet the challenges arising from the accelerating climate change. In other words, the issues of climate change and socio-economic development must be properly specified and addressed in an integrated fashion to promote sustainable development.

Implications of global meltdown for Bangladesh : Since capital account in Bangladesh has not rightly been liberalised and the banking system in Bangladesh is not integrated with the international banking system in any major way, Bangladesh has not been affected by the international financial meltdown.

But, the recession that is on stream in the developed world (including in the US, the EU and Japan) and appears to be worsening may create difficulties for Bangladesh. If (and there is hope, backed by wide-scale state action, in most of the leading developed countries) the recession does not become deep and does not last beyond 2009, the implications for Bangladesh will likely be negligible.

On the other hand, if the recession takes a greater toll in the developed economies and continues for several years, the impact on the world economy including Bangladesh can be severe.

Bangladesh must carefully and constantly watch and analyse the developments in the world economy, particularly in the developed countries and the developing countries with which the country has significant economic relationships, and make policy and other adjustments as may be required in order to minimise the possible adverse economic impacts and make the best use of any opportunities that may open up.

The main areas through which the recent and unfolding developments in the world economy, particularly in the developed economies, may be transmitted to Bangladesh include export and import, remittance, foreign aid (loans and grants) and foreign direct investment (FDI)

Export and import : The overwhelmingly large export sector of Bangladesh is garments and knitwear (RMG). This sector has expanded fast over the years and has always been very resilient. It keeps significantly growing at the present time as well (a growth rate of about 45% achieved during July-September 2008), facilitated by cost advantages and perseverance and because the competing countries such as China are moving on to higher value products so that some of the orders for the lower-end products vacated by those countries have been coming to Bangladesh.

The country's overall export earnings (US$4.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2008-09 are in line with the target set for the fiscal year (US$16.4 billion). In the event of a mild and short-lived (say for about one year) recession in the developed world and no significant reduction in the developing world growth, Bangladesh's exports are unlikely to be adversely affected much. But, the likely depressing international prices of Bangladesh's exports are an important cause for concern, which will become more serious in the event of a deep and prolonged recession in the developed world and significantly reduced growth in the developing world.

But, if the recession in the US, the European countries and elsewhere becomes severe and prolonged, Bangladesh must better watch out for possible difficulties in the international markets for the country's exports and take whatever action is necessary to keep the export sectors performing as well as possible. For one, thing, the flow of funds to the exporting industries should be facilitated through reduction of cost of funds (particularly the rate of interest) to strengthen the abilities of the industries to realise their potentials in the face of difficulties. Also, banking services to the industries should be improved to help them perform expeditiously. At the same time, it is important that legitimate benefits are ensured for all stakeholders including the workers so that the industries can function smoothly and efficiently without distractions.

Bangladesh may be hurt in another way. A possibility had been emerging for Bangladesh to secure increasing entry into software services market in developed countries, particularly the US and European countries. But, in the event of deep and prolonged recession in those countries, the prospect in this regard is bleak and may evaporate, as the companies in those countries requiring such services will face difficulties, cutbacks, even bankruptcies. Also, in a long and deep recession, foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into Bangladesh, which is small anyway, may be further squeezed as the companies restructure and remodel their investment programmes as a consequence of reductions in their investment funds.

Oil price has now declined by about two-thirds compared to a few months back-to around US$50 from around US$150 a barrel of crude oil; and prices of metal and various commodities have also dipped sharply. As an upshot, import costs of Bangladesh should fall, which is obviously beneficial to the country. To the extent, declining costs apply to machinery, petroleum products, raw materials, and intermediate products, the benefit is clear and unambiguous. But, in so far as finished consumer goods and services are concerned, which compete with Bangladesh's domestic products, cheaper imports will adversely affect domestic production. It is essential, therefore, that the international price movements of the relevant importables should be regularly watched and analysed and necessary steps taken to maximise benefits and minimise adverse impacts.

Remittances : The remittance receipt sector has also been clearly very resilient; but of late there have been signs of a slack in the remittance inflow. This may be because, fearing likely job losses, Bangladeshis working abroad are more careful in using their moneys, including remittance to Bangladesh. Job losses have been already occurring on a wide-scale in the US and other developed countries, although still mostly at the level of skilled/semi-skilled workers. But, that may also spill over to unskilled categories, partly because of linkage effect and partly because of slowdown in consumer spending leading to contraction in the demand for even lower end services.

In the Middle East, with the oil prices having recently tumbled, there may be cutbacks in various planned development projects and programmes in the regional countries, particularly if such low oil prices persist or fall further, which is likely in the event of a deep and prolonged recession in the developed world. That would imply adverse impact on employment including unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in which large segments of Bangladeshi workers in those countries are engaged. It has to be remembered that well over two-thirds of the total annual remittance received by Bangladesh comes from the Middle Eastern countries. Apart from possible job losses, new recruitment from Bangladesh may be adversely affected, restricting additional remittance opportunities. Our embassies in the concerned countries must carefully evaluate the unfolding situations in their respective countries on a regular basis and, in the event of difficulties emerging, take all possible diplomatic steps to safeguard and enhance the interest of Bangladeshi workers there.

However, the currently prevailing rather low oil prices are a significant reprieve for Bangladesh, insofar as the country meets most of its need for petroleum products through importation. But, there is a lot of volatility concerning international oil prices. Hence, the behaviour of oil prices in the international markets must be kept under constant review and timely actions taken to derive maximum benefit and minimize possible losses over time.

Foreign assistance : Clearly, the 'donor' countries are facing major economic turmoil. But, Bangladesh receives a relatively small annual total amount of foreign assistance in loans and grants, which is around US$1.5 billion.

Hence, it can be reasonably expected that Bangladesh will not face an unusual cutback in foreign assistance. In this context, it may be noted that a commitment has been included in the recent Washington G-20 declaration to "help emerging and developing economies gain access to finance in current difficult financial conditions, including through liquidity facilities and programme support."

It has also been agreed to encourage the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to support the development agendas of such countries.

On the whole, there may be some difficulties, but I do not expect a major setback with respect to foreign assistance to Bangladesh. The story may be different, however, if the developed world goes into a deep and prolonged recession. The Government of Bangladesh must surely remain constantly watchful in this regard, with its negotiating machinery active and forward-looking and keeping in sharp view the needs of the country. Also, improved productive utilisation of remittances should reduce dependence on foreign assistance.

Indeed, at this time of unprecedented challenges faced by the world economy, all key stakeholders in Bangladesh in relation to economic management, including the government, the banking system, and the industrial and business sectors must work in true partnership to protect the national economy from possible major external shocks and expand its opportunities and perfonnance.

It emerges from the above analysis that if the recession in the developed world is mild and short, Bangladesh should not suffer much adverse impact.

If, on the other hand, the recession is deep and prolonged in the developed world and economic growth in the developing world considerably slows down, Bangladesh will face very difficult extemal conditions to contend with and will likely suffer as a consequence.

The possible setback can, however, be minimised if the developments in the world economy, particularly in the developed world and other countries such as the Middle East with which Bangladesh has significant economic relationships, are regularly reviewed and analysed and necessary actions are taken firmly and in time to ride over the difficulties arising.

Looking Forward : The debate, relating to the World Bank projection of a sharp decline in Bangladesh's exports and GDP growth rates for 200809, that has over past few days occupied a lot of time of various people including high govemment officials and may continue for a while more, is a wasteful distraction. Volatilities and uncertainties in the coming months and beyond surrounding global financial and economic systems are sure to be so great and their implications for Bangladesh are so unclear that any quantitatively specific projection about export and GDP growth rates for 2008/09 are bound to be unreliable and can be misleading; moreso when, for example, the GDP growth rate for 2008/09 is projected by World Bank to be a specific number (4.8%), down from 6.5% projected by the Government of Bangladesh. The World Bank projection, therefore, has inevitably

Tamizul Haque

Barrister-at-Law

In Bangladesh there arose controversies about erection of idols including those of Bauls (sculptures), which were supposed to have been erected at the golchokkar of Zia International Airport. Rightly this has offended the believers of the faith of Islam. The removal of those statues which were proposed to be erected in the name of Bengali Culture did not happen thus peace prevailed ultimately.

On a study of Holy Quran I found several Ayat Numbers i.e. 6:74; 19:41-50; 21: 51-71, 26: 70-82, 29: 16-18, 24-25; 37: 83-98 which argue against idolatry. In particular Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) who argued with his father against idolatry and also with his people. I am particularly mentioning part of Ayat 74 of Sura Al-Anam which runs thus:-

X X X X X X X X X X X

"Takest thou idols for gods?

For I see thee

And! Thy people

In manifest error"

Whereas in Sura 19 i.e. Sura Marium Ayat 41 to 50 describes Light of Unity which Azar i.e. father of Ibrahim (A.S.) had not received. Chronologically I am mentioning below the explanation of Abdullah Yousuf Ali on Ayat 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 of the said sura.

(1) Material property passes from one to another: when one dies, another inherits it. Allah gives life and death, and all that survives after physical death goes back to Allah, the original source of all things.

(2) The reference to Abraham Ali His Salam here is in relation to his tender solicitude for his father, who had not received the light of Unity, and to whom Abraham (A.S.) wanted to be a guide and friend.

(3) Some are more receptive of Light than others. It is their duty and privilege to guide and point to the right way.

(4) Sawiyan-right, smooth, even; complete, perfect; hence the derived meaning: in xix. 10, in full possession of all the physical senses; in that context, not dumb: in xix. 17, when the angel appears in the form of a man, completely like a man, a man in all respect.

(5) The revelation is all the more heinous and inexcusable, considering that Allah is Most Just, Most Merciful, Most Gracious.

(6) To entertain a feeling of friendliness, instead of aversion, to Evil, is in itself a degradation of our nature, a Penalty which Allah imposes on our deliberate rejection of the Truth. And the friendliness to Evil also implies the sharing of the outlawry of Evil.

(7) Note the gentle persuasive tone of Abraham (A.S) in his speeches in xix. 42-45 (for we may suppose those sentences to sum up a long curse of arguments) and in xix. 47-48, contrasted with the brusque and repellent tone of the father's reply in this verse. The one was the outcome of the true light which had come to Abraham (A.S) from Allah, as the other was the outcome of Pagan arrogance and the worship of brute force. The spiritual lesson from this episode of Abraham's (A.S) life may be stated in four propositions: (1) the pious son is dutiful to his father and wishes him well in all things, material and spiritual, (2) if the father refuses Allah's Light the son will do his utmost to bring such Light to the father (3) having received the Light, the son will never renounce that Light, even if he has to forfeit his father's love and renounce his home; (4) even if the father repels him and turns him out, his answer will be a soft answer, full of love and forgiveness on the one hand, but firmness on behalf of Truth on the order.

(8) Where this promise of Abraham (A.S.) to pray for his father is referred to, and its limitations pointed out.

(9) Abraham (A.S.) left his father and the home of his fathers (Ur of the Chaldees) and never returned. He left because he was turned out, and because it was not possible for him to make any compromise with what was false in religion. In return for abuse, he spoke gentle words. And he expressed his fervent hope that at least Abraham (A.S.) would have Allah's blessing in reply to his prayers. Here was a prefigurement of another Hijrat many centuries later! In both cases the prayer was abundantly fulfilled.

(10) Isaac (Ishaque) and Issac's son Jacob (Yakub A.S) are mentioned here as carrying on one line of Abraham (A.S.) traditions. The other line was carried on by Ismail (A.S) who is mentioned independently five verses lower down, as his line got special honour in the Holy Prophet of Islam that is why he is mentioned after that of Moses.

On reading Sura 35 Fatir (The Originator of creation or the Angles) we find that the idolaters used their idolatry to retain their religious position in Makkah, one which gave them leadership of the Arabian tribes, and facilitated various privileges. Needless to say, the most important of these were power and glory. In Ayat 57 of Sura 28 Al-Qasas some Quraysh leaders used to say to the Holy Prophet (S.M) that "if we were to follow the guidance along with you, we would be snatched away from our land." Therefore Allah told them "Have we not established for them a secure sanctuary?

When this fact is well established in people's hearts and minds, it ensures that values, standards, as well as means and methods undergo a complete change. The truth is that might and glory belong totally to Allah. No one else possesses a fragment of either. Therefore, if anyone wants them, and they are incidentally expressed in one Arabic word, 'izzah, which combines both and adds connotations of dignity, then they should seek them from their only source: Allah Almighty. They cannot be found with anyone else.

The Quraysh sought to enjoy might and glory among the Arabs through idolatrous beliefs that lacked real substance. They feared to follow Divine Guidance, even though they acknowledged that it was guidance, because they feared for their own status. Yet those people, the Arabian tribes and clans, were not a source of might and glory. They could not give or deny these to anyone: "all might and glory belong to Allah alone, (Verse 10) If they enjoyed any measure of power and might, it was only because Allah gave them this. Therefore, anyone who wishes to have these should go to the original source, nor to a recipient of that source. Recipients can only give what they have in excess. Besides, recipients are also weak and in need.

This is an essential truth of Islamic faith which establishes values, standards, judgement, behaviour, ways and means, when this truth is firmly rooted in one's heart, one does not hesitate to stand up in dignity and glory to the rest of the world, knowing from whom one derives might and glory. Such a person does not bow before any despot, storm, calamity, state, or worldly force whatsoever. Why would they when all might and glory belong to Allah alone, and when no one receives any portion of it without His leave?

Nothing is needed more than the mention of Allah's blessings for people to see, feel and recognize them. Nevertheless, they do forget them. The earth around them and the skies above them give them abundant blessings and unlimited sustenance, in every step and at every moment. It is Allah the Creator who gives all this. They are asked whether there is a different Creator who provides them with all the good things in their hands. Obviously, they cannot say this. Indeed, they did not even claim this during their worst period of idolatry, associating all sorts of partners with Allah. Since there is none other than Allah to create and provide, why do they not remember and express gratitude? Why do they not address their gratitude to Him alone and express their thanks by praises and prayers? There is no deity other than Him.

Now I am going to discuss ayat 22 of Sura Bakhra which runs thus :-

Who has made the earth your couch,

And the heavens your canopy;

And sent down rain from the heavens;

And brought forth therewith

Fruits for your sustenance;

Then set not up rivals unto Allah

When ye know (the truth).

Abdullah Yousuf Ali explains the above Ayat thus :-

Further proofs of Allah's goodness to you are given in this verse. Your whole life, physical and spiritual, depends upon Him. The spiritual is figured by the Canopy of Heaven. The truth has been brought plainly before you. Will you still resist it and go after false gods, the creation of your own fancy? The false gods may be idols, superstitions, self, or even great or glorious things like Poetry. Art, or Science, when set up as rivals to Allah. They may be pride of race, pride of birth, pride of wealth or position, pride of power, pride of learning, or even spiritual pride.

Knowing that Allah has created us and those who came before us, and knowing that He prepared the earth for us to live on and built the skies above us, single-handedly and without a partner or helper, and provided us with water, the essence of life, how can we ever deny Him, set up equals to Him, or worship others as Gods beside Him?

The concept of setting up equals to Allah which the Holy Quran frequently and strongly condemns need not necessarily refer to the worship of idols or figurines or statues, normally associated with pagan religious practice and observed by the Arab idolaters. It could very well take other forms, some of which are very subtle indeed. To pin one's hopes on anyone other than Allah, to fear someone other than Him, to believe that others can bring fortune or cause harm, are all infringements of monotheistic belief and, therefore, forms of idolatry or, to use Islamic terminology, SHIRK.

The Prophet's learned companion, Abdullah ibn Abbas, said: setting up equals to Allah is a subtle form of idolatry, or shirk. It is more subtle than an ant stealthily walking on a smooth black surface in the thick of darkness. It is when someone swears by something other than the name of Allah or believes that dogs or ducks keep the thief away. It is when someone says, "By the will of God and the will of man or, where it not for Allah (god) and you". It is also reported that a man once came up to the Holy Prophet (S.M) and said: "Whatever you and Allah will. The Holy Prophet (S.M) replied: Do you take me as an equal to Allah?"

The early Muslims were extremely sensitive and alert to these subtle forms of idolatry. We today have to reflect on our own attitude towards this matter and determine how true and faithful we are to the pure and fundamental principle of Allah's Oneness.

A Divine Challenge

If we study the history of the Jews of Madinah who used to raise doubts about the truth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad's (S.M) Message, while the hypocrites, like the pagan Arabs of Makkah, were skeptical and called it into question. Therefore Allah Subhanahu Tahla in His Wisdom reveled Ayat 23 of Sura Al-Bakhara which runs thus :

And if ye are in doubt

As to what We have revealed

From time to time to Our servant

Then produce a Sura

Like thereunto;

And call your witnesses or helpers

(if there are any) besides Allah,

if ye are truthful.

Abdullah Yousuf Ali explains the above ayat thus :

How do we know that there is revelations, and that it is from Allah? Here is a concrete test. The Teacher of Allah's Truth has placed before you many Suras. Can you produce one like it? If there is any one besides Allah, who can inspire spiritual truth in such noble language, produce your evidence. Or is it that your doubts are merely argumentative, refractory, against your own inner light, or conscience? All true revelation is itself a miracle, and stands on its own merits.

The challenge starts off with emphasizing an important fact by describing the Prophet Muhammad (S.M) as Allah's servant. This description is significant in a number of ways: it is, first, an honour to the Holy Prophet (S.M) himself and an indication that to be a 'servant' of Allah is the highest honour a human being can attain. Second, it affirms the essence of servitude to Allah in the universal human context, calling on all men to submit only to Allah and renounce all partners that may be associated with Him. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.M), who attained the highest position of honour as a recipient of Divine revelations, is also honoured by being described as a servant of Allah.

Ingratitude at Its Worst

The Jews have left Egypt and, through Allah's grace and mercy, crossed the Red Sea safely and when Musa Ali His Salam went to Mount Sinai for forty nights to have an audience with Allah Subhanahu Tahla in his absence, they took the calf for warship and therefore they did grievous wrong. Even then Allah Subhanahu Tahla forgave them. This was the incident, which took place after the Ten Commandments and the Laws and Ordinance had been given on Mount Sinai to Musa Ali His Salam. Before going to Mount Sinai Musa (A.S.) had instructed his brother Harun (A.S.) to keep watch on his Ummah that is the Jews, but they got impatient of the delay and had made a calf of malted gold, and offered warship and sacrifice to it. Even then Musa (A.S.) prayed for his people and Allah Subhanahu Tahla forgave them.

The idolaters used their idolatry to retain their religious position in Makkah, one which gave them leadership of the Arabian tribes, and which facilitated various privilege. Needles to say, the most important of these were power and glory. Hence they used to say to the Holy Prophet (S.M): if we were to follow the guidance along with you, we would be torn away from our land (28:57). Therefore, Allah tells them: "whoever desires might and glory should know that all might and glory belong to Allah alone (Verse 10).

When this fact is well established in people's hearts and minds, it ensures that values, standards, as well as means and methods undergo a complete change. The truth is that might and glory belong totally to Allah Subhabanhu Tahla. No one else possesses a fragment of either. Therefore, if anyone wants them, and they are incidentally expressed in one Arabic word, 'izzah', which combines both and adds connotations of dignity, then they should seek them from their only source: Allah Almighty. They cannot be found with anyone else.

Surah Fatir (the Originator of Creation) Sura 35 ayat 10 is the authority for the proposition that Good and Evil are to be distinguished sharply. No good is ever lost; it goes up to Allah Subhanahu Tahla. The humblest Good, in word or deed is exalted to high rank. If man seeks for mere glory and power, there is no such thing apart from Allah. But seeking Allah, we attain to the highest glory and power.

It is the nature of Evil to work underground, to hide from the Light, to plot against Righteousness; but Evil inevitably carries its own punishment. Its plots must fail miserably. And eventually Evil itself is to be blotted out.

In ayat 30 of sura Nahal i.e. 16 was revealed of directives, commandments and laws, which are good and perfect for the those who fear Allah Sobhanahu Tahla. They go on to outline this good that Allah has revealed, according to what they have learnt from Allah's revelations: "For those who do good in this world, good reward is assured" (Verse 30) They enjoy a good life and have a good position. However, for better is their abode in the hereafter. It is certainly better than all there is in this present life.

Again the surah takes a step backwards to show the Allah fearing believers as they are about to die. It is an easy scene, as they are comforted by the angles. Those whom the angles gather in death while they are in a state of purity. They are in a comfortable, pure condition looking forward to meeting Allah, having nothing to fear. The angles greet them. This is a greeting of welcome and reassurance. They follow this by delivering the happiest news of all. Enter paradise by virtue of what you were doing.

The angles greet them "peace be upon him". At the end of this sense with its two aspect of death and resurrection, the surah queries what the idolaters of the Quraysh are waiting for? Are they waiting for the angles to gather their souls, or for Allah's command to resurrect them? For this is what happens to them on death and then on the day when resurrection takes place by Allah's command. Yet they have a clear lesson in what happened to earlier communities. They have been shown two images delineating what happens to both parties:

Whereas ayat 36 of sura Nahal that is 16 is the authority for the proposition that Allah the Creator, the Wise has willed that human beings should have an equal propensity either to follow His guidance or to go astray, and that their choice of which way to follow should be completely free. He has also given them reason and intellect in order to be able to determine which way to choose. He has placed in the universe numerous pointers to guidance, and these signs are there for them to see, heart, sense and feel wherever they turn at any moment of the night or day, leading their minds to the right conclusion.

Monstrous Claims by the Unbelievers

The surah then refers to another monstrous claim often made by different unbelievers. The Arab idolaters of the past used to claim that the angles were God's daughters, while the unbelievers among the Jews claimed that Ezra was the son of God, and the unbelievers among the Christians made the same claim for Jesus. The whole universe shudders as such false claims are alleged, because monotheism is inherent in the nature of the whole universe. Besides ayat on idolatry which I have discussed above I find other ayats in different suras which I am reproducing as hereunder for the benefit of my readers. Those who are interested to know more about them, they may study them from the Holy Quran.

Sura 12 i.e. Sura Yousuf ayat 106

Sura 7 i.e. Sura Al-Araf ayat 59

Sura 36 i.e. Sura Ya-Sin ayat 60

Sura 5 i.e. Sura Maida ayat 60

Sura 10 i.e. Sura Younus ayat 106

Sura 7 i.e. Sura Al-Araf ayat 26

Sura 17 i.e.Sura Bani Israil ayat 81

Sura 71 i.e. Sura Nuh ayat 23

Sura 14 i.e. Ibrahim ayat 35

While describing the hostility of the Quraish and the Jews The Right Honourable Sayed Amir Ali in his book entitled as "The Spirit of Islam" went on to suggest

The brotherhood of Faith, so wisely established by the Prophet, whilst it prevented the growth of jealousy, gave rise to a generous emulation, both among the Ansar and the Muhajirin, as to who would bring the greatest sacrifice in the service of Allah and His Prophet. The enthusiasm and earnestness with which these men and woman devoted themselves to the new awakening, the zeal with which they laid down their lives, was manifestation such as had not been seen since the best days of the Christian phase of religious development. The second, and at first by no means an unimportant party, was composed principally of lukewarm converts to the Faith, who retained an ill-concealed predilection for idolatry ; and was headed by Abdullah ibn Ubayy, a chief of some position in the city, who aspired to the kinghood of Medina. With this object he had gathered round him, like Abu Sufian at Mecca, a strong body of partisans. Everything was ripe for him to seize the reins of power, when the arrival of the Prophet upset his designs. The popular enthusiasm compelled him and his followers to make a nominal profession of Islam; but, ever ready as they were to turn against the Moslems at the least opportunity, they were a source of considerable danger to the new-born commonwealth, and required unceasing watchfulness on the part of the Prophet. Towards them he always showed the greatest patience and forbearance, hoping in the end to win them over to the Faith. And this expectation was fully justified by the result. With the death of Abdullah ibn-Ubayy his party, which has been stigmatized as the party of the Munafikin (the Disaffected), disappeared for a time from view. But the Jews who may be said to have formed the third party, constituted the most serious element of danger. They had close business relations with the Quoraish, and their ramifications extended into various parts hostile to the Faith. At first they were inclined to look with some favour on the preaching of Mohammed. He could not, of course, be their promised Messiah, but perhaps a weak dreamer, a humble preacher, dependent upon the hospitality of their old enemies, now their patrons, the Aus and the Khazraj, might become their avenger, help them in conquering the Arabs, and found for them a new kingdom of Judah. With this aim in view, they had joined with the Medinites in a half-hearted welcome to the Prophet. And for a time they maintained a pacific attitude. But it was only for a time; for barely a month had gone by before the old spirit of rebellion, which had let them to crucify their prophets, found vent in open seditions and secret treachery. One of the first acts of Mohammed after his arrival in Medina was to weld together the heterogeneous and conflicting elements of which the city and its suburbs were composed, into an orderly confederation.

With this object he had granted a charter to the people, by which the rights and obligation of the Muslims inter se, and of the Muslims and Jews, were clearly defined. And the Jews, borne down for the moment by the irresistible character of the moment, had gladly accepted the Pact. This document which has been carefully preserved in the pages of Ibn-Hisham, reveals the Man in his real greatness - a master mind, not only of his own age, as Muir calls him, but of all ages. No wild dreamer he, bent upon pulling down the existing fabrics of society but a statesman of unrivalled powers, who in an age of utter and hopeless disintegration, with such materials and such polity as God put ready to his hands, set himself to the task of reconstructing a State, a commonwealth, a society, upon the basis of universal humanity.

"In the name of the most merciful and compassionate God" says this first charter of freedom of conscience. Given by Mohammed, the Prophet to the Believers, whether of the Quarish or of Yathrib, and all individuals of whatever origin who have made common cause with them, all these shall constitute one nation. Then after regulating the payment of the Diyat by the various clans, and fixing some wise rules regarding the private duties of Muslims as between themselves, the document proceeds thus : the state of peace and war shall be common to all Muslims ' no one among them shall have the right of concluding peace with, or declaring war against the enemies of his co-religionist.

(The writer is an industrialist and contributor of articles)

Monowar Hossain

It is perhaps not well known that the founder President of the United States, George Washington, advocated against the concept of political parties and the first three Presidents of the USA were elected without any political parties. Apparently, the practice is still followed in some parts of Northern America. What follows in this article is

a modified version of an original that I had written more than a decade ago in a local daily under the title TIME For a new politcal order in Bangladesh :

A system of politics without political parties. At that time I was myself not aware of GW's political preferences or practices; however, my proposal was mostly unheeded or considered to be either pre-modern or Utopian by the few political pundits who cared to read it.

Since then we have witnessed two multi party parliamentary elections, each being described as rigged, grossly or subtly, by the losing parties that hoped to win.

There have also been two 3-monthly care taker governments and an elongated third one which took on the valiant task of eliminating corruption and carrying out various other measures presumed to be essential for the holding of a free and fair multi-party election, which is about to take place in a matter of days. So, is it wise to talk about party-less democracy now? I believe so. Because, without being cynical or disrespectful to the concept of multi- party politics, Bangladesh will take a long while to find an optimal political system. So, why not reflect on all the options dispassionately, keeping the good of the country constantly in full sight. Interestingly, the Election Commission has provided the voters an option to express their disappointment with candidates offered to choose from, with a no vote. A lot of us would be curious to see how many voters exercise this option. Let us now turn to a reconsideration of the old article.

Failure of the old Political order: The Old Political Order based on a party system has failed in Bangladesh. The most recent (circa March, 1996) evidence of this failure is currently all around us with ominous signs of a famine round the corner. The pattern of this failure is typical: a period of unity among the rival political parties in a common struggle against a foreign aggressor or a local dictator, followed by a period of internal dog fights for grabbing state power, leading to a disrupted civil life and a backward sliding economy, thus paving the way for another round of dictatorship and/or foreign domination. All through a culture of corruption, political victimisation and unproductive expenditure on party henchmen remains the hallmark of such a political order. Indeed, at this point in time all the political parties themselves appear to have been convinced about the need for a non-partisan and neutral caretaker government for carrying out an important task of governance, ie the holding of a free and fair election. First, it arose as an opposition demand and now the ruling party has also accepted it and is publicly committed to making necessary constitutional changes during the current session of the parliament. It is merely a logical extension of this conviction to conclude that a non-partisan, civilian government, enjoying public support, is the only institution which can govern the country in a free and fair manner. And this is the fundamental raison d'etre of a non-party political system.

Proposal for a new political order: The proposed constitutional change to accommodate a caretaker government for conducting the polls, arguably lacking in logical coherence, will only be a minor tampering in the political system, highly unlikely to rectify any of its basic ills. Specifically, it will hardly be able to guarantee a violence-free election, corruption-free administration, hartal-free economy and a mastan-free civil life. It is therefore; proposed that, if and when the question of any constitutional change is taken to the citizens for a vote, let them be given three choices:

i No change: ie keep the old order;

ii Partial change: ie introduce a non-partisan, neutral government only for conducting general elections; and

iii Comprehensive change: ie have a non-partisan government (arising from a non-party political system) to conduct all significant affairs of the country.

Outline of a party-less political system: There may be many variations of a non-party political system. Proposed below is one such system for the consideration of thinking citizens who are not scared to see a major change during their own life time.

a. Goal: The principal aim of a non-party political system is to ensure that the country is governed by the best talents in diverse fields, available among its citizens, under guidelines provided by some Fundamental Principles, Laws and Rules framed with knowledge, wisdom and caring, debated with information, understanding and reason and approved by an overwhelming majority of informed citizens.

b. Fundamental Principles: The Fundamental Principles are to be the inviolable guidelines for the conduct of all socio-political activities in the country and should be regarded as the mother of all laws, rules and regulations that would subsequently be needed to be formulated. The Fundamental Principles should be arrived at through an elaborate process of debate and deliberation among all the important stakeholders of the country and vetted through a nationwide referendum. These would be equivalent to a constitution in conventional political jargon, and are expected to, minimally, include the following:

- Fundamental human rights as adopted by the UN;

- Devolution of state power from the centre to the periphery;

- The source of power must be positive (ie ability to do good and not harm);

- Distributive justice (ie equitable access to the resources and opportunities for those who are in need);

- Democracy for progress and prosperity and not for disrupting civilian life and hurting the economy:

- A just and fair system of reward and punishment; one that brings out the good in humans to the benefit of society and contains the evil in them; rewards must be a balanced blend of the material (eg cash, promotion) and the non-material (eg national recognition);

- Non-violence in achieving all objectives of the society, including the punishment of criminals (there must be an opportunity of understanding one's crime and doing penance);

- Transparency in public affairs;

- Expeditious dispensation of justice by a judiciary that is strictly separated from the executive branch of the government.

- All higher level political and juridical positions (ie those requiring an exercise of creative and independent thinking) shall be filled through a combination of an objective evaluation of the candidate's competence for the job and the subjective evaluation of a relevant body of knowledgeable electors.

c. Political administrative structure

The proposed system shall have two tiers of elected representatives as explained below.

1st tier : National Political Forum (NPF)

The first tier of the proposed political structure shall be an electoral college, called the National Political Forum (NPF), consisting of all the local government functionaries elected by direct vote. The country shall be divided into a reasonable number (say 500) of political administrative units based on population, geographical area and natural resources (comparable to Upazila/ Thana). For each of these local units there shall be a local self-government, called a Local Council (LC), comprising eleven (chairperson + 10) elected members, each to perform a distinct and defined function requiring appropriate qualification and background. The NPF wi consist of all members (ie 5,500) of all the Local Councils. The chairpersons of all local councils shall constitute the National Political Council (NPC) and taken as truly representing the NPF unless otherwise claimed by a majority of members of the relevant LC/s.

2nd Tier : Supreme Political Council (SPC) & Supreme Executive Council (SEC)

The second tier of the proposed political structure will consist of a 60- member Supreme Political Council (SPC) and its derivative, a 20-member Supreme Executive Council (SEC). The SPC is the highest political body in the country (comparable to the parliament in a parliamentary democracy), while the SEC, a subset of SPC and equivalent to a cabinet of ministers in a parliamentary democracy, is the most powerful political body in the country. These two bodies shall both be elected by the National Political Forum during 5-yearly national elections through a process explained below under Elections.

The size and composition of the SEC (hence the SPC) and the desired qualifications of its members shall be determined through a process of reasoned thinking by eminent scholars and experienced administrators of the country and the various professional associations representing the main stream activities of the society and the economy, and guided by the fundamental principles. It is expected that 20 positions representing as many distinct and diverse fields would be an adequate size of the SEC, anything larger being indicative of a penchant for a large government. The desired qualifications are expected to include education, professional competence/experience, distinguished achievements, wisdom and patriotism.

d. Elections

All elections during an electoral term of 5 years shall be conducted by an Election Commission (EC) consisting of 5 members, each a distinguished and reputedly honest professional in relevant disciplines (eg judiciary, civil administration, law and order, mass communication and statistics/computer science). The EC shall be elected by the NPC of the previous electoral term and in its absence by a process of consensus among eminent scholars/experts in relevant fields.

For each position on the SEC a short list (5 to 10) of candidates based on the criteria of desired qualifications and background shall be prepared by the Election Commission and a profile prepared for each candidate following a general format. The candidates' qualification, professional experiences, distinguished activity/achievement records, positions on important national, regional and global issues and personal election manifesto indicating policies and programs to be pursued if elected, should all be adequately but succinctly reflected in the candidate profile, which will be distributed to all the members of the NPF at a reasonable time before the Election. About a week before the Election the NPF shall assemble in Dhaka and have a series of exposure sessions with the potential candidates through group discussions, debates, speeches and personal interviews. This process will inform the voters fully about the candidates who already are the most deserving persons in the country. Each voter shall give a ranking order to all the candidates. The candidate with the highest cumulative rank order shall be the elected member of the SEC for the designated position for a period of 5 years; the candidates obtaining the second and the third highest positions shall be ordinary members of the SPC. Adjustments for a minimal degree of regional representation may also be provided for.

The election of the local councils will be similar with some variations in respect of desired qualifications and projection of the candidate's background (the model tried out during the Tongi by-election of 1995 provided some experience to draw upon).

e. Roles of SEC, SPC, NPF, NPC and LC

The Local Councils shall act as true local self-government bodies within the purview of the country's Fundamental Principles, Laws and Rules, with set demarcations and linkages between the local and central governments for various periods of time. The local councils shall raise tax, pay contributions to the central budget and receive required techno-economic support and share of the national development program. Finance, Defence, External Relations, International Trade, Higher Education, Non-primary Health Care, Transport and Communication, etc shall remain the concerns of the central government, while responsibilities for all other matters are to be jointly shared by the central and the local governments in a manner that best suits the existing objective conditions and objectives of the nation and the area.

The SPC will frame the Laws and the Rules and participate in the formulation of national policies and programs based on consensus reached at the conclusion of the electoral exposure meetings, and subsequently reviewed through annual general meetings. The SEC will ensure that the country achieves its desired socio-economic and political goals, in the most efficient fashion and in full conformity with the Fundamental Principles and the Laws.

Towards that end the SEC shall formulate policies and programs to encourage and ensure the emergence and flourishing of private initiatives and investments in the achievement of skills and technologies and their application for producing goods and services in which the country has a natural advantage. The ordinary members of the SPC shall act to provide an internal check and balance on the SEC. All policies and programs have to be approved by a 2/3 majority of the SPC, undecided matters of importance being referred to the NPF or a referendum, as appropriate.

The SEC will not be involved in any individual allocative decisions but frame the rules by which such decisions are to be made. The respective bureaucracy will be entrusted with the application of these rules in making individual decisions. The SEC shall also ensure that the rules are strictly followed and in case it leads to visibly unacceptable results (as determined by an appropriate procedure) the decision shall be reviewed to identify causes and appropriate actions taken including a modification of the relevant rules, should that be needed. This would hopefully reduce corruption among politicians and decision makers, by removing from their role the distribution of material benefits to other people.

The ordinary members will also act as a built-in ombudsman in the system keeping an eye on any deviant behaviour of the SEC. They shall form a National Grievance Committee who will receive grievances and appeals for justice from all citizens, but preferably channelled through appropriate civil associations and/or professional bodies.

f. Accountability

Accountability shall be ensured for different organs of the political system through periodic activity reviews by relevant peer groups and electoral as well as supervisory bodies. For example, the Supreme Executive Council (SEC) shall be accountable to- The ordinary members of the SPC (ie peers) on a continuous basis through participation and review;

- The National Political Council (NPC), on an annual basis while reporting on progress of work during the budget session;

- The NPF on a 2.5 yearly basis (mid term review) and before a general election;

- Any organized body who can muster sufficient signatures for an emergency meeting of the NPC or NPF as and when needed;

- Any citizen any time through the grievance committees and the courts of law;

- An independent set of educated and patriotic journalists on a continuous basis.

Similar arrangement shall be there for various other parts of the political system. Accountability shall also be enhanced by a constitutional requirement of transparency in all public activities, thus ensuring accessibility to all governmental decisions and their underlying reasons/considerations on demand by any concerned citizen (researchers and journalists inclusive).

Possible weaknesses

Two main criticisms that are likely to be levelled against the concept of a non-party political system are

- Lack of historical experience and/or evidences of success; and

Lack of protection against strong individuals (like Hitler) or groups (eg the army) to grab state power and bring in dictatorship.

Against the first point, history does not, and hence should not, be allowed to define the limits of human creativity or new experiences.The world never experienced capitalism before the eighteenth century or socialism before the twentieth. It may also be pointed out that local government elections are legally not to be held on a party basis, though this rule is widely violated because of the strong vested interests of the existing political parties and a benign non-cognizance of such violations by the electoral authorities.

As for protection against usurpation of power by the 'bad guy/s', there may be a number of measures including strong constitutional provisions against such 'actors', a gradual reduction of the army with a concomitant growth of a national militia and a constant vigilance by all civil societies (which will receive a new lease of life in the absence of self-seeking political parties). Ultimately, however, it is in the mind of the educated citizens that the evil side of humans will be defeated.

Conclusions: The proposed outline, a simple blend of meritocracy and democracy, is rudimentary and not sufficiently thought through. Criticism and comments will reveal gaps and weaknesses which may then be addressed and the concept further developed. At this stage, no attempt has been made to speculate on the question of implementation. It is necessary first to ascertain if the concept is logically coherent and philosophically acceptable.

It is being shared with other citizens because of the present political imbroglio and the desperation felt by many to find a way to break away from the pattern of failure of the old political order referred to at the beginning of this article.

(The author is a former Chairman of BIDS)

Dr. M. S. Haq

The contribution of newspapers to for example, facilitating the building, 'modernization' and advancement of human civilization has so far been found, in an average sense and among other things, to be crucial, useful and result-generative - relative to time, space and other variables, though. Newspapers have been - in varying degrees and as appropriate - a source and a force of enlightenment for world people, for people-environment and environment-people transactions (used in a widest sense), and for the future of all concerned in the universe, to mention a few. It will not be out of place to mention here: newspapers were not in the past and are not at present immune to challenges and opportunities - whether natural or person-made or otherwise - associated with their (I mean, newspapers) survival, continuity and growth through a continually moving time, and a continually changing space at subatomic levels, per se. Besides, the newspaper has a rich history of its own despite ups, downs and parallels - from time to time and within the time - in its continuing life.

Please note: the term newspaper or newspapers has been used in a variety of senses in the article as the reference to the context appropriately permits. Further, the term newspaper or newspapers represents only the printed on paper form of newspaper or newspapers.

The domain of newspapers has, in the contemporary period, witnessed, relative to time, space and other variables - things like: mushroom or rapid or slow or steady growth of newspapers; poor or average or superior quality newspapers; newspapers having political or religious or other types of affiliation; newspapers possessing a variety of structural and non-structural dimensions; newspapers focusing on limited or wider areas and levels of interest or expectation or both; newspapers belonging to a variety of owners - public or private or of other types; sick or dying newspapers; healthy newspapers; birth or death of newspapers; newspapers with various faces or motives - commercial or semi-commercial or innovative or semi-innovative or non-innovative or profit making or non-profit making or otherwise; newspapers promoting tunnel visions or broader visions or other types of vision; newspapers taking sides - either directly or otherwise and in varying degrees - with say, ordinary people or poor people or rich people or influential people including inter alia knowledge people or hypocrites or powerful country (ies) or less powerful country (ies) or poor country (ies) or any combination of them; newspapers taking sides - either directly or otherwise and in varying degrees - with say, subjectivity or objectivity or honesty or fairness or terrorism or anti-terrorism or justice or injustice or freedom or liberty or human development or economic growth or diplomacy or poverty or gender equity and equality or global commons or entertainment or democracy or military rule or autocratic rule or human rights or corruption or anti-corruption or truth or false or any combination of them; newspapers having apparently satisfied worker-s (including inter alia journalists and press workers) or apparently dissatisfied worker-s or apparently motivated worker-s or apparently de-motivated worker-s or other types of worker-s; newspapers with classic orientations or non-classic orientations or other types of orientation; newspapers subscribing to say, communism or anti-communism or socialism or anti-socialism or capitalism or anti-capitalism or any combination of them; newspapers nearer to people or otherwise; newspapers facilitating for example, peace-making or peace-breaking or peace-keeping or war-making or war mongering or any combination of them; newspapers that are liberal or semi-liberal or anti-liberal or conservative or hypercritical or hypocritical or of similar or other types; newspapers promoting abstract thinking or realistic thinking, or creative thinking or destructive thinking or constructive thinking or strategic thinking or below the average level of thinking or average level of thinking or thinking of other kinds; newspapers marketing intra-disciplinary product-s or inter-disciplinary product-s or a mixture of above product-s of information, knowledge, understanding and application; and newspapers that facilitate unity or disunity (etc.) among world people or between world people - as appropriate.

In light of above, it now appears newspapers in their continually long journey through the human civilization have, among other things, created, met, sustained and promoted - from time to time and as applicable - a variety of markets (used in a wider marketing management sense - readers, market places, etc.), market segments, market demands, market supply chains, market accesses, market competitions, market facilities, market renewals and other opportunities; market challenges; market risks and vulnerabilities; market life cycles; market coping mechanisms; and market feedback mechanisms; all in pursuits of for example initiating, sustaining, promoting and recycling - either directly or otherwise - newspaper-market interfaces and market-newspaper interfaces for say, the satisfaction of stakeholders.

The cause, the effect and the causality of above and other developments pertaining and ancillary to present day newspapers are being instrumental in making the future of newspapers - in an increasingly interdependent world, a product of growing realization in pertinent areas - dependent on a host of factors: that are both within and beyond the control of newspapers; that are both linear and non-linear in nature and scope; that are both known and unknown to newspapers; to mention a few. A number of them have been presented below - not in the order of priority or importance - they are relative to time, space and other variables (as applicable) and they are based on developments in pertinent areas up to today, 21st day of December 2008.

1. The nature, scope and pace of present day development in areas say, science, engineering and technology has increasingly been instrumental in inter alia strengthening, sustaining and enlarging spaces for electronic media, including inter alia electronically driven cyber media, at local, global and other levels - putting a continuous pressure on for example, the survival, continuity and growth of newspapers throughout the world. It should, however, be noted here: the degrees of impact of above development on individual newspapers are not the same or the equal at a given time because the impact mentioned is, among other things, directly and inversely proportional to the coping capacity of respective newspapers at that time. In short, the reality is: the outcome of development in relevant areas is affecting - perhaps in a more negative way than in a positive way and in varying degrees - the health and the future of newspapers.

2. The present day challenges arising out of factors such as and as appropriate: internet insecurity; internet access related limitations on account of technological and non-technological inabilities in pertinent areas - long queues, long waiting time; and the continuing disparity when it comes to say, computer and computer use related choices of world people; have increasingly been instrumental in affording opportunities for newspapers to inter alia regaining and sustaining their lost spaces at least through a certain period of future time - at least until developments in pertinent areas such as: a full and meaningful use of upcoming quantum computers, that could hopefully do away with some of above limitations, takes place with a full speed; a maximum equity and equality in the use of computers is in place throughout the world; and breakthroughs focusing on media diversifications or media change or both take a significant toll - whether for good or otherwise - on the existing media, print, electronic and others. In short, it can be said: there could exist the prospect of a better future for newspapers in the days ahead provided that above and other opportunities in pertinent areas are harnessed in a timely and proper manner - facilitated by solid visions and missions, for example.

3. The gap between the number of website visitors (news related visits, etc.) and the number of newspaper readers; the gap between the average time, interest and effort available for reading newspapers and the average time, interest and effort available for visiting news websites; the gap between the affordability (used in a wider sense) of news website visitors and the affordability (used in a wider sense) of newspaper readers when it comes to the fulfillment of their needs and expectations in relevant areas; the gap between the culture of newspaper reading and the culture of visiting news websites, all in qualitative and quantitative terms - as far as practicable, though; the gap between the profit motive associated with newspapers and the profit motive associated with news websites; and other gaps associated with news websites and newspapers could inter alia be instrumental in the determination of future of the demand side and the supply side of newspapers.

4. Factors such as and as appropriate: ramifications of existing and potential conflicts - conceptual or otherwise - between and among traditionalists, non-traditionalists, neo-traditionalists and others; possible future roles of genomics - in terms of say, genes management and applications - in shaping intra-generational and inter-generational attitudes and perceptions in respects of life, living and continuity in the universe; implications of environmental challenges - physical, non-physical or otherwise - on human developments, used in medical, non-medical and other relevant senses; and changes in say, human anatomy, human habitation, human life style including inter alia leisure spending style, human working style and moral, as well as ethical standards of human beings in the next hundred year could either help alter for example, the present day mindset of newspaper readers and other stakeholders - increasing or decreasing or balancing risks, threats and vulnerabilities associated with the future of newspaper or help facilitate a progressive extinction of present day newspapers from the universe at an arithmetic rate of progression or at a geometric rate of progression or at other rate-s.

5. The present day - newspaper philosophy; newspaper economy; newspaper related commerce; newspaper market competition; newspaper organization; newspaper behavior; newspaper politics; newspaper journalism; newspaper transaction and transactional mechanics; newspaper image; newspaper contribution to say, societies; newspaper strength; newspaper weakness at say, conceptual and operation levels; stakeholder-newspaper convergence, as well as divergence; newspaper-stakeholder convergence, as well as divergence; newspaper morality; newspaper management; and newspaper worker satisfaction; to mention a few, have been, among other things and in varying degrees, influencing the creation, recreation, sustenance, promotion and destruction of the future of newspaper.

In countries like, Bangladesh, the future of newspaper is increasingly becoming victims - in varying degrees, though - of internal, external and other types of barrier and constraint, in addition and as applicable to what have been discussed so far in the article. A few of them have been presented below - not in the order of importance or priority - relative to time, space and other variables:

(i) Most of the newspapers have not yet been able to liberate them - either in part or in full - from the owner driven money machines. A few lucky ones, though, have so far been able to at least cope with the situation if not change the situation through measures such as and as appropriate: excessive print media commercialism; product diversifications; product economy (say, low priced and small sized newspapers); and business alignment or realignment (or both) initiatives, whether or not the capital of those initiatives is a product of corruption or a product of other type-s of illegal gratification or something else. In any event, the outcome of above situations is threatening, among other things, the future of quality of newspaper journalism in the country.

(ii) The average contribution of print media workers (other than journalists) to maintaining the present day health of newspapers is, in certain ways, found to be more effective and efficient than that of the journalists. One of the reasons for that is: while the market for all types of print media worker (including journalists) is shrinking at varying rates and speeds, the competition among say, the technical workers of print media for retaining their jobs even at a lowest possible rate of compensation via skills accumulated through years of work and against the backdrop of basic necessities of newspaper owners for keeping their newspaper machine running - is relatively higher than concerned others. It implies inter alia skills and competitions in a demand constrained market are among the driving forces behind the present day performance of technical workers - as applicable.

(iii) The critical mass of present day efforts towards bringing about a wholesome improvement in areas say, journalistic vision, journalistic expertise, journalistic skills, journalistic conduct and journalistic outcome is not seemingly adequate for strengthening and sustaining core bases of newspapers - between now and the future.

Further, journalistic excellence is yet to come out as a formidable force in support of ensuring and promoting at least a sustainable future for Bangladeshi newspapers through the foreseeable future. The factors such as and as appropriate: the quality of editorial products; poor editing; sleepy or complicated or stressful faces of newspapers; the extrovert or the introvert or the ambivert personality trait of newspapers; content-wise poor news items - say, 45 percent poor or 70 percent poor; priority-wise poor news items; arrogance; hypocrisies - committing something on the front page of newspapers and promoting something else on the same or on following pages; the 'always right' attitude of newspapers; naïve realism and conservatism on the part of newspapers when it comes to say, change for better in relevant areas; truth hiding and false mongering roles of newspapers - deliberate or otherwise; justification starved stances of newspapers; the game of deliberate misinterpretation or deliberate wrong interpretation or deliberate misrepresentation or deliberate misguiding for cheap popularity; and poverty associated with research, analysis, innovation and application facilitation when it comes to newspaper products dealing with substantive matters of say, local and global importance have been creating barriers - direct, indirect or otherwise - to future making processes of newspapers in Bangladesh.

(iv) The present day realities such as and as appropriate: (a) a drastic lack of political will to develop newspapers as for example, a vital interface between the people and the state in joint pursuits of peace, security, progress and prosperity of Bangladesh and the world at large; (b) the absence of a comprehensive law - governing the terms and conditions of service of media workers (used in a wider sense), facilitating the protection of people, media workers, media employers, media owners and concerned others from media abuses, media excesses, and other unfair practices on the part of media owners, media workers and concerned others, establishing grievance handling procedures for aggrieved media workers, media users, media employers, media owners and concerned others and procedures for settlement of dispute - all in one place, precise, concise and user-friendly; (c) the absence of a continually productive regulatory regimes for protecting, preserving and promoting the interest and satisfaction of all media stakeholders, the freedom of media and the welfare of media workers and concerned others - focusing on say, pay, overtime, fringe benefits and accident compensation; and (d) the paucity of development opportunity, motivation and incentive for media, media workers, media owners and concerned others aiming at say, facilitating the development of newspapers and promoting free and balanced thinking in societies are being instrumental in inter alia constraining a proper and sustainable growth of newspapers in Bangladesh.

(v) The present day media tendency towards copying things from others, a less than the required effort towards productive and legitimate media integration at local, global and other levels, poor intra-media and inter-media coordination in pertinent areas, media developments not based - as applicable - on lessons and best practices, the ongoing media divide and the media conflict at local, global and other levels, poor media monitoring (for example, self-activated), limited media focuses on science, engineering and technology, and limited media focuses on problem-solving and capturing the future are, among other things, affecting the competitiveness of newspapers as a viable component of the 21st century print media.

While it is clear newspapers have come under intense competitions from different directions and sources, it is also clear they are at present lying on the bed of opportunities, provided that the opportunities are harnessed in a timely and proper manner in pursuits of ensuring sustainability and growth of newspapers at a continually higher rate through the foreseeable future.

The success of newspaper in future would depend on several things. A few of them have been presented in a question form:

I. How best and quickest newspapers could establish their 21st century vision, promote that vision and implement that vision in the greater interest of newspapers, world people world countries and others?

II. How best and quickest newspapers could improve its competitiveness and acceptability in areas say, news research, news analysis, problem-solving, future hunting, forecasting, entertainment and inter-disciplinary knowledge, understanding and application? How best and quickest newspapers would be instrumental in inter alia enriching knowledge, understanding and application in the domain of journalism, for example?

III. How best and quickest newspapers (particularly, those suffering - at present - from financial hardships) could benefit initially from sustainable livelihoods practices? How best and quickest newspapers could transform existing challenges - mentioned above and others - into opportunities, existing opportunities into useable and recyclable opportunities, and evolving challenges into new opportunities, to mention a few?

III. How best and quickest cooperation of all stakeholders could be harnessed in favor of what I would call repositioning newspapers in local, global and other markets of development? How best and quickest newspapers could act as a catalyst to development efforts at local, global and other levels?

IV. How best and quickest newspapers, institutions of newspapers and other concerned institutions could adopt and adapt, in a sustainable fashion, to changing realities of life, living and continuity in the universe?

V. How best and quickest newspapers could improve, sustain and promote their comparative, competitive and other advantages when it comes to people's perceptions of newspapers as a reliable and dependable source of help and assistance in pertinent areas during peace times and in emergencies? What about newspaper cooperatives at grassroots and other levels - as applicable?

VI. How best and quickest newspapers would be able to ensure and promote, on a continuous basis, the right person for the right job at the right time and with the right type of compensation?

VII. How best and quickest newspapers would be able to build, sustain and promote popular people-newspaper and newspaper-people constituencies throughout the world for the benefits of all concerned? How best and quickest newspapers could fortify its position as for example, a promoter of human rights, freedom, liberty, equity, equality, anti-poverty, anti-terrorism and balanced as well as result-oriented decision-making in the universe?

VIII. How best and quickest world people would be able to establish at least a re-engineered media related world order for the benefit of all concerned?

IX. How best and quickest a universe formula (to be discovered) could - at least to a greater extent - internalize uncertainties associated with, for example, the domain of media including inter alia print media - newspapers and others?

The last word: let us work towards building, sustaining and promoting a prosperous future for newspapers in a collective, innovative, result-oriented and sustainable manner. Happy birthday to The New Nation! Happy New Year 2009 to all!

M. Mizanur Rahman

Culture signifies the art and objects of civilisation of a country and its people. It also specifies social, political and economic conditions of that country along with its sophisticated etiquette and ethical aspects of religious fervour. Wherein sociology pervades the human, it attaches a great importance to the religion of the people concerned. That religion may be varied in respect of the different communities living together as a nation. If that nation is culturally developed the communal harmony between different communities remains relative, peaceful and friendly. This has its global aspects too. By and large, the sphere of relativity between the people of the world is spreading liberally irrespective of social, religious and political differences from thousand of years. The most important human aspect is economic, that is trade and transactions. The expansion of global market for free trade is obviously an age-old human aspiration.

Though this traditionally cultural exchange between the nations is the go day it and day out. In terms of delivery of goods, transactions on 'give and take' policy appears to be as old as human civilisation takes its course that come up to modern age with some differences of panoply only. Thus the concept of human relations is mystically transcendental. It is not recorded how many nations had transactions with Bangladesh.

But therein lies the trace of race, religion, custom and many other items of business and trade transactions, cultural exchange in history along with alien relation to Bangladesh and its people.

However, we are to come back to our own base what we call Bangladesh, a sovereign nation state. We are Bangladeshi Bangalee nation. Our culture though age old, still we are to rethink about our culture in the light of its new form, modern form but we cannot do away with the old. Because, we keep our feet on the old foundation and stand and we look around and see our progress. We do not like to lag behind. We move forward.

Our past had glorious cultural heritage that we retell. Ours is not unilateral culture, it is multi-cultural state. Our language is Bangla (Bengali). But we speak the same language in different dialects, in different tones regionally throughout Bangladesh. Whatever may be our regionally spoken Bangla, except dialogues in literature, we used to write our Bengali language in the correct form. Our love for mother tongue Bangla knows no bounds. To establish this language as the states, language, heroic sons of this soil shed their blood and laid down their lives on 21st. February 1952. This led to the birth of a new nation after a War of Liberation in 1971. The very day of 21st February has been recognised internationally as the "Mother Language Day" by the United Nations and it is celebrated each year with due honour and sacred fervour.

It is a fact that in the backdrop of Muslim rule in Bengal for about 650 years, entire culture of this deltaic land of Bangladeshis based mainly on Islamic culture and tradition. However, the longest period was taken back by the Hindu and the Buddhist rulers over this plain, some sort of Hindu and Buddhist culture got its right/place here among the respective communities. They have had their cultural heritage and civilisation in a very limited space that they could spread within their jurisdiction Just after the advent of British rule in India on the fall of Nawab Siraj-ud-dowla (1730-1758) at Palashi in 1757, the European Christian missionaries took the opportunity to spread the religion of Christianity among the most impoverished people among the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist and they imprinted their cultural heritage along with other communities in Bengal. They have had Christian monastery, Cathedrals and various churches of different architectural forms having cultural heritage and their missionaries are active for spreading their faith throughout Bangladesh.

But none of the rulers from among the later communities could overwhelm the former and, as such, he supremacy of Islamic culture and tradition of the Muslim community pervades the plains of Bengal earlier in art, craft, music literature, architecture, food, dress, etc. Even nowadays the Indian national dress (Cap, coat, pajama (etc.) is made after Islamic traditional dress. Indian leaders like Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Pandit Jawahalal Nehru and other Indian leaders and some famous litterateurs viz. Raja Ramimohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chattapadhyaya, Rabindranath Tagore used to wear this Muslim traditional dress as befitting to their aristocracy. However, Tagore, being a bearded tall man at his age, had special fascination for Sherwani, pajama and round cap. He used to wear them occasionally. His Nobel prize-winning Gitanjali (songs offerings) is absolutely divine identity of Islamic fervour.

The Muslim rulers, especially the Mughals of India, earlier patronsed art, literature and music during their suzerainty. In the line of music the scriptural tradition they left so long is still in vogue. Similarly, when Sultan Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah ruled Bengal in 1342, he patronised art, literature, and music. Especially, he was famous for his taking initiative for the development of Bengali language to make it more comprehensive to the common people from the intricate form of Sanskrit.

When we visit the sites of works of arts and crafts of those rulers in Bangladesh, we become astonished how advanced they were at that period. For example, mosques along with their domes and minarets built so artfully and scientifically that make us spellbound till now! The most wonderful architectural works of saint Khan Jahan Ali is 60-dome-set mosque of the Bagerhat district of Bangladesh.

One will be amazed to see the excellent and wonderful works of art in making calligraphic words in Arabic form of Qoran-verses inscribed on the inner walls of the mosques. Nowadays the people of Bangladesh are imitating them to some extent but with gorgeous art works.

Earlier the Hindu landlords made some temples and tombs with the semblance of Muslim art-works. Some of their works bear the marks of wonder. One of these remarkable temples is built after the depiction of stories of the Hindu-epic Ramayana and Mahabharata. It is the temple of Kantanagar situated in a rural area about 25 kilometre north of Dinajpur town, has been described by a European as one of the finest temples of Bengal. It has been dated 1708-22, and built by Raja Prananath, as it has been said, a Hindu landlord of Dinajpur. The terra-cotta panels of the temple, which illustrate a typical form of Hindu architecture with a design in the form of wooden "Raths"(Chariots) arranged in tiers of bent cornices, mounted in corners with miniature curvilinear towers.

From the 2nd century B.C. to the 12 century A.D., the Buddhist rule has again and again alternated with Hindu rule in different regions of the sub-continent.

The Hindus against the Buddhists throughout these centuries waged both political and religious wars relentlessly. Ultimately, Buddhism was almost eliminated as a religious force in the sub-continent. The only area where the religion of the Lord Buddha has lingered is in the hill districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari, and Bandarban in Bangladesh. Here Buddhism has left a rich heritage of art and culture. Buddhism, during its chequered position, has left a rich heritage of art and sculpture in the form of exquisite stone and metal images or Lord Buddha and fine stone and terracotta plaque that have been discovered from ancient ruins and preserved as valuable treasures in the museums of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Bogra etc. The most famous architectural remains of the Buddhist period so far discovered are at Mahasthangarh in Bogra, Paharpur in Naogaon and Mainamoti in Comilla. Till now some Buddhists live in Cox's Bazar and Pahartoli (in Patuakhali). Some Pagodas, temples and monasteries in all these places are preserved to exhort teachings of the Lord Buddha, the spirit of love and equality and non-violence among human beings in the society.

As the experts assume it, very recently discovered remains and ancient archeological finds of architectural works of various items of worth at Wari Bateshwar in Narsingdi district of Bangladesh is linking the early Greek civilisation.

We are proud of our Bengali literature, art, music and songs viz., devotional and folk songs. Our world famous litterateur and poet Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the revolutionary and national poet, maestro, lyricist Kazi Nazrul Islam, great folk poet and lyricist Lalon Fakir, Hason Raja, great rural poet Jasimuddin, great artist Zainal Abedin, Quamrul Hassan, and Sahabuddin, most popular but great folk-singer Abbasuddin are worthy of their individual name and will remain ever brilliant images of Bangladeshi culture for ages to come. We are also proud of our Father of Bangladeshi Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (later, the prime minister - of Bangladesh) who struggled hard all his life to bring about sovereign Bangladesh on the map of the world. Also, the great hero soldier Ziaur Rahman (later, the President of Bangladesh) who geared up the Liberation War by declaration of independence of Bangladesh at a very crucial moment towards the birth of a new nation.

Bangladesh is throbbing now with vigorous economic activities viz., its. growth of agro-economy by various agricultural produces, livestock, fishery and horticulture beside tremendous growth of small and large-scale industries to meet the national as well as international needs.

Culturally, Bangladesh is advancing since its liberation from the yoke of the alien rulers. This is a nation-state of secular single entity. The works of litterateurs, artists, sculptors, sportsmen of Bangladesh appears to be abounding by and large. Bangladesh is on the march of progress and its people who are basically secular-minded remain in togetherness within harmonious entity.

Its culture is both national as well as international in character living with all people of the world in a policy of friendship to all and malice to none. It is now a well-built nation whose state policy is not to interfere in anyone's rightful interest and it does not like to be interfered also by anybody on earth. Its culture is sacred with love with and friendship mystically blended at heart and soul of humanism.

Muhammad Zamir

Most of us consider a free, fair and credible election to be the first step towards achieving the eventual goal of democratic governance. Special emphasis is also laid in this regard on the concept of arranging a 'level playing field' so that controversy does not surface after the polls and questions are not raised about its acceptability.

Elections in Bangladesh are volatile, to say the least. We have already seen how the previous Administration tried to 'load the dice' so that the election planned for January 2007 would prolong their tenure in office. There was careful and pre-meditated planning. It included efforts to affect the existing rules of engagement even in the matter of selecting the possible head of the next Caretaker Government. The retirement age of Judges was changed to facilitate the appointment of a particular individual. The voters list was diluted with spurious entries.

It was fortunate that this nefarious effort was undone through the changes that took place on 11 January, 2007.

Since then almost two years have passed. We are faced again with another parliamentary election in a few days. It has been a long haul. Within this period, efforts have been made to establish a credible paradigm. Full credit goes to the armed forces for helping the Election Commission in revising the electoral rolls, discarding ghost voters and duplications and initiating the onerous task of starting an ID base with photographs.

Emphasis has also been accorded by the current government to the introduction of good governance through the reconstitution of the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC), the Central Public Service Commission and the Election Commission and the revising of their organograms and their standard operating procedures. Significant measures have also been adopted with regard to ensuring independence of the judiciary from the executive and establishing a National Human Rights Commission and a Regulatory Reforms Commission. The principle of right to information has also been taken a step forward. One wishes that the process would have been taken to its logical conclusion through the appointment of an Ombudsman. Unfortunately, this has not happened.

Despite these positive movements, the political situation, as has been pointed out by the International Crisis Group from Brussels, continues to be 'complex and fragile'. Regardless of who wins the election, the next government and the opposition parties will face 'the challenges of making parliament work and contending with an army that wants a greater say in politics'. The new Parliament will also have to finish the task of ensuring greater transparency and accountability- indispensable factors in the matrix of good governance. It will require bi-partisanship and political will. It is hoped that these principles will not be in short supply.

The nation watched with dismay how returning to democratic governance was made unnecessarily difficult through lack of coordination between the Election Commission and the Returning Officers (over allocation of poll symbols), the opaque nature of decision-making by the Election Commission, the introduction of controversial rules within the polls process and the continuation of the emergency provisions. This resulted in confusion and complications. Principles related to being a defaulter, the providing of documentary evidence in support of a candidate's educational or wealth status or written support of one per cent of that constituency's electorate similarly become stumbling blocks.

The ideas had merit in themselves but the methods by which they were implemented opened doors of disagreement and in many cases led to judicial appeals. This left a bitter taste that could have been avoided if the entire process was handled with greater care. Hopefully, the next time round, the lessons would have been learnt.

In this context, it needs to be noted that just having an election should not be considered as enough. In the book of democracy it is just the first chapter. For all the political parties, the challenge will only start after the polling day. A smooth transition to a functioning democracy will require resisting the 'winner-take-all' mentality and co-operating in the tackling of serious national issues within the Parliament and its Standing Committees by identifying least common denominators.

In this regard, it has been heartening to note that the larger political parties, in their respective manifestos have laid emphasis on some common issues. They want to successfully tackle the problem of spiralling prices, graft control (the Awami League suggesting capacity building within the ACC), the power and energy crisis (with Awami League suggesting the exploitation of renewable resources), disaster management, food self-sufficiency, gender empowerment, water management and the providing of proper sanitation. Special attention is also expected to be given to the creation of a comprehensive employment policy and skill development training.

The Awami League has also stated that, if elected to power, it will initiate necessary steps to try war criminals, to complete the trial of those involved with the August 15 massacre, the 1975 jail killings and the grenade attack carried out on August 21. If these trials are completed, it will strengthen the rule of law and the factors associated with accountability. Consistent with this, steps should also be taken to uphold human dignity through the effective implementation of human rights, to prevent extra-judicial killings and deaths in custody and to carry out a careful parliamentary review of all the Ordinances issued during the Emergency.

It is understood that most political parties want to make the Parliament more effective. The Awami League and the BNP have already proposed that their parties will offer one post of Deputy Speaker and also Chairmanship of important parliamentary committees to the Opposition. This is a good initiative. It would however also be useful for arriving at a consensus in dealing with the controversial provisions of Article 70 (crossing the floor) of the Constitution. This is vital for democratic norms within the process of parliamentary democracy and also within the political party itself.

The Members of Parliament will also have to find common paths on how to become more business friendly and agree on measures pertaining to e-govemance, foreign direct investment, business process outsourcing and economic zones. They will also need to continue the ongoing drive against institutional corruption and 'system loss', ensure effective decentralisation in local government and set in place a community and village-based marketing system and strategy. Whoever wins, will also need to introduce a more effective management in the rural areas of the educational and health sectors.

Achieving these objectives might be difficult, but they are definitely not impossible. Political parties can accomplish their tough objectives if they discard the cronyism of the past and dysfunctional governance and adopt consensus-driven politics based on vision. We have resource constraints, but we must now stand up and demonstrate that democratic political governance, intolerant of corruption, can turn us into the middle-income country that we dreamt of during our War of Liberation in 1971.

(Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador and can be reached at mzamir@dhaka.net)

Abu Mohi Musa

The real meaning of love is so much spreading and deep which cannot be defined to reveal its significance in a nutshell without an explanation. For that reason most philosophers did not rack their brains with the definition of love. Love is very simple and captivating but entangled with great complexity. Before going for an elaborate discussion on it, we shall have to know the comments of ancient philosophers. World famous philosopher Bernard Shaw commented that love is like cigarettes, which start in fire and end in ashes.

The reflections of philosophers are very antagonistic and allergic to love. So to speak, either they have no actual concept on it or it was a self-deception of their futility in love like the proverb `the grapes are sour'. So it does not need any criticism, as it carries no value. Bertrand Russell, another world famous philosopher, defined love as 'foremost of happiness.'

If the significance of Russell's comment about love is analysed, it cannot be taken for granted as true. He did not explain what the meaning of happiness is. Whatever is the meaning, happiness is found in copulation. And one of the pre-conditions to gain the fullest satisfaction in copulation is love. So much it finds from the reality of his comments: he has not as much depth as falcon's eyes as regards philosophical interpretation of love. Nevertheless, it cannot be considered null and void though it is not fully true because, this comment is applicable to the relation of husbands and wives (and lovers).

There is no remarkable tenet about love. In this regard, somebody might have conceived that it is all the same to copulate with harlot as the coition with any woman without love. This kind of thought is absolutely based on his personal feeling. This feeling cannot bring out the real significance of love. The first ingredient of love is mental attraction. If it remains absent, the question of copulation with harlot does not arise. Sexual intercourse with a prostitute presupposes her consent, otherwise such a copulation would be considered as rape.

The quality of material substance is a matter of ideal. Like that, love and happiness are also the same ideal matter but it is bifurcated in two idealistic ways. Love is a worldly affair and happiness is a spiritual one. The word love is a meaningful concept, which can be compared with a mirror. Whenever one stands in front of a mirror in a specific form, his image is reflected like that, as there is no partiality of the neatness in a mirror. As a matter of fact, the word love is also like that. It is equal to all irrespective of caste and creed. But there is a distinction that the meaning of love is different for different persons. It cannot be identical at all. Mother loves her sons, father loves his daughters, brother loves his sisters, husband loves his wife and lover loves his lady-lover. Can the significance of their love be measured with only one scale of a balance? Can a wife love her husband from the angle of vision that a mother loves her sons? As regards individuals, things, animals and the Creator, the significance of love is not at all identical. The demand for love is different in nature to different persons, animals and the Creator.

Yet the latent significance of love of parents, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, lovers is covered underneath only one word - sheet of love. They could not determine the secret and true nature of love. Owing to the complexity regarding love, it was not possible on the part of the ancient philosophers to define it. Every philosopher racked his brain with it. Some of them expressed their own thoughts and conceptions. But their thoughts bounced against futility and went out of the boundary of love.

As someone told, 'Love means loss of valuable energy'. Is it possible to grope to get the image, nature and significance in it? Indeed, at the very beginning, whoever introduced the word love in whatever language, did he know what is love? Of course, not. Jajabar, a novelist, wrote about love in his book, 'love gives supremacy to life, glory to death, burning to the cheated.'

He made a very splendid comment. This comment carries literary value. Apart from that, we cannot have unanimity in this regard. Could he understand what is love? Love gives burning - that is why love is like cigarettes to some people. On the other hand, we can say, the other name of vitality is love or the name of love is vitality. For that reason, a scholar like Kits told, there is no such ill-starred in the world as those who did not derive love as well as did not give love to anybody.

We are consenting with this comment. For want of love, it may even lead a man to frustration, make him forced to go to cats and dogs. The reality of this comment is found in the life of German philosopher Sophen Hower. He is called a pessimist. He lost his father in early life. His mother used to go to bed with others ignoring him after the death of his father. Finding this, a change came over him and it was hard to maintain mental balance on his part. Only body is not called life. Life has also a soul and mind. For the cause of soul and mind, love is very necessary. No one can realise what is love from the formulation that love means loss of energy or the name of vitality is love. But according to time, space and object, it has some truth in it. Every object has merits and demerits. Love has also two sides. If anybody is frustrated in case of love, it may be ascerbating to him. But when a mother loves her son, how can it be proved that love means loss of valuable energy?

So, considering the watching of ugly feature in a mirror, it is unwise to blame the mirror. Love is like fire of cigarette in the eyes of Bernard Shaw, but it may be fragrance of flower to others. Indeed, it is neither fire of cigarette nor fragrance of flower. It is something, which can spread fire in the minds of a frustrated lover, at the same time it spreads the fragrance of flower to others according to time, space and objects.

The seconder of Sigmund Freud and Freudian psychology conceives that the fountain of love is carnal desire. Even the love of a child towards parents is lascivious. The infant daughter has furtive aptitude to make sex-contact with her father, like that the infant son desires his mother.

Though Dr. Foren directly did not say anything about sexual basis of relations among father and daughter, mother and son, but his tenet of love is virgin-related. He says, 'The love in one sense is primitive sexual desire.' According to Bauer and other philosophers, it shall have to be taken for granted that in lieu of the word love, it reminds of some unknown strong impulse, which forces them to come into contact mutually, they feel. Herbert Spencer defined the form of love that combines many sharp elements like i. physical needs ii. enjoyment of neatness, iii. affection, iv. sense of prestige, v. begging of approval, vi. sense of self-esteem, vii. thinking of own, viii. independence of task in breaking of personality, and ix. development of mental compassion.

Here Freud, Foren, Bauer and Herbert Spencer - everybody mingles love with sexuality. They comprehend that the significance of love cannot be registered without sexual desires. On the other hand, the rebel poet Nazrul Islam said, 'Sexual desire and love are completely separate things. Sexual desire is social excitement and love is steady, wide and universal.' Besides, he said, love which evokes man and woman physically from opposite sides to embrace each other is not love at all, that is different thing or extravagant passion and sexual desire'.

Their tenets make us comprehend as if nobody could regard love distinguishing it from the sexual desire. On the contrary, we can ask, whenever one can love a thing or loves a beast or a bird, is there any sexual desire in his love for them? My eldest son was very much loved by his maternal grandfather. My son did not weep much over her death, as much as he wept for his beloved mynah (bird) when it died. Is there any sexual desire in this love?

In this regard, we may look back to the barbarian era when there was no existence of family life, society and state. The human beings used to live in forests like wild animals. Also at that time the male felt sexual desire. The male enjoyed women and left them like rags where the body of a woman was targeted to fulfil sexual desire. That is why, women were the objects of sexual pleasure in the primitive or barbarous stage but they were not the objects of love. Those who are giving so much importance to sexuality have evoked it in love in this way, we think, they have had no real concept about love.

Whatever ingredients Herbert Spencer has raised to explain the real form of love, we can say, it has special characteristics but carries no special significance. Almost all philosophers have the same tune in the their ideas. Besides the comment of Freud is considered not only to be lowermost, but is very misleading too. It might have cleared, if it could be ascertained that under what circumstances and how far the impact of the ambience affected him when he made this comment. As he stated, `infant daughter has longing to make contract with father for sexual-desire. But does her father love his daughter to make sexual contact?

If it is not so, then where is the wellhead of love of her father? Why mother loves her daughters and infant sons? Even when mother becomes old, her son loves and looks after her. Where is the origin of love here? Of course, some philosophers denied the tenet that this might have originated from love. But it can be admitted that sexual desire may be the cause of ferociousness. There are examples in the world that sexual desire makes force to violate and after violation the victim girl is throttled to death.

Beasts and lower animals have no sense of humanity and its value but have something like instinct to love their kids. The beast-mothers fetch food and eat them. Even taking the risk of life mother faces hazards to safeguard its kids. Is their any question of sexual desire? Here it has attraction of innate maternity like the nature of magnet, which is primitive and unadulterated. It is very instinctive and the rule of creation. Mother loves her infant sons; it is also the attraction caused by the nature. When the family and the society did not exist in the barbarian era, the attraction of mother to her kids was prevalent. That cannot be sponged out from the minds of mothers.

Without the sense of maternity and attraction for mother, the existence of human being would have been endangered. Like that, other creatures would have also been obliterated from the world for ever. Here is a question: how did Feaud, Foren and Spencer determine lust in love? Of course, love consists of lust with other ingredients. And what type of love which consists of lust? When the innate son or daughter reaches maturity, then they feel sexual desire in their organs. Towards whom sexual desire is to be created of a son. A girl attracts a boy and a girl attracted by a boy to make a sexual contact is very natural.

As other beasts and animals have no sense of analysis to distinguish the relationship in between them, they can make sexual contact or coition irrespective of their parents, brothers and sisters. According to ancient tenets, love should be the basis of marriage. Ellen Key stated, `there will have only one condition of marriage, those who love each other, they are husband and wife. The sexual desire is the foremost condition of love. After marriage the love grows among husband and wife. But the condition of happy conjugal life is love.'

The tenet of Ellen Key is not satisfactory, who said that condition of marriage is love. That may knock the bottom of an argument. In Bangladesh such occurrence happens so often where bridegroom do not see the bride, but the guardian selects the bride for marriage with him. So before marriage the question of love did not arise. After marriage they may love each other. They are tied up. But after dalliance among a boy and a girl, they can marry.

Many famous scholars have had a concept that, `the definition of love cannot be made. Bonesetter told, 'there is no such word like love used so many times, nevertheless, there is a mysterious affair like that. It is such that we feel its impact very much, but do we know an iota of it. We measure frequency of stars but how we fall in love, we don't know.

To speak the truth, love is a very mysterious and complicated matter, no doubt. It is necessary to dive into the depth of life for realising love. If it is not possible to know life, it is impossible to know love. When love becomes obscure to know, it is to be said like Bonesetter that we don't know how we fall in love. The complexity in the terrain of love is the main cause for not getting the definition of love. If we can realise the complexity, then it will be easy to retrieve the actual meaning of love and make its definition. It was mentioned that the significance of love has been kept concealed with only one word - sheet of love.

So, in making a definition of love, the person will not be considered to be the receptacle, love will be the receptacle of that idealistic matter. As, for example, when the idealistic matter of love is kept in the hands of mother, the meaning of love will not be the same when it will be kept in hands of inamorata. There will have to be the ingredient of sexual desire in the love of inamorata and it is a must. When the same person becomes mother, the significance of love will change and love will be called maternity.

Before going to define love, let us try to know the ingredients which love consists of. There must be a clear idea about the ingredients of love. Then it may be easy to define. There are six general ingredients and in addition to that one ingredient is for husband and wife as well as lover and inamorata i.e. seven ingredients for husband and wife. The ingredients are:

1.Mental attraction, 2. Desire for welfare, 3. Interest, (a) Materialistic and (b) Idealistic, 4. Knowledge or sense, 5. Emotion, 6. willingness, and 7. sexual desire which is applicable to only husband and wife.

The first ingredient of love is mental attraction. It means, it has to be sounded well. It is a precondition of love. Without mental attraction love cannot be created. Suppose a young girl loves me, but I don't like her. In this case my love will not be created for her. Of course, question may arise here that it may sound well in case of lovers, but in case of parents? In this case, there may be the question of mental attraction. There are so many instances in the society that parents do not love their offspring and even sons do not love their parents. Because of that, the mental attraction may remain absent with other ingredients of love.

Desire for welfare is the second ingredient of love. As for example, a story titled as Bolai has been written by Rabindranath Tagore. In the story Bolai loves and takes a shine to a sapling of silk-cotton tree. He always takes care of it. When the naughty boys tear asunder the leaf of it, he feels very much sorry for that. It means, he has desire for welfare of the sapling. In films, when a villain kidnaps the heroin, the hero then and then runs after them to rescue her. This is the `desire for welfare' to heroine. Desire for welfare is an important ingredient of love.

Selfishness is the third ingredient of love. It is bifurcated. One idealistic and another materialistic. Bolai loves the sapling of the silk-cotton tree. Where is his interest? As the sapling grows up, it sounds well to him. It is self-satisfaction, he feels it. Here this selfishness is idealistic. The materialistic selfishness of love is that, if Bolai used to think, once the sapling would grow up and give him cotton and it would be used for the domestic use. The love of materialistic selfishness is considered to be low standard. But there must have to remain both idealistic and materialistic selfishness in the love of husband and wife. Indeed, there is no love without selfishness. There will be either idealistic selfishness or will have materialistic selfishness in love. In case of one, materialistic selfishness is the main object. And for another, idealistic selfishness is the main object.

The importance of sense or knowledge cannot be slighted over or lessened or as an ingredient of love cannot be deducted. As for example, a stripling every day observes five girl-students going to school along a road. Among them, he becomes sweet upon a girl but she looks very ugly. Complexion is not fair. Despite that he has taken a shine to her. Because, she has some extravagant quality that could draw him to her, which is not found in others. In this case, the knowledge analyses which quality of the girl sounds well, either figure or neatness or quality? On the basis of this sense, love may be created for that girl.

Emotion is a very important ingredient of love. It is such an ingredient which forces one develop artistry, lacking in that no one can even be literate, love cannot be created. Emotion creates the force or motion in mind. Sometimes that creates pains to get the contiguity of lover. Whenever he gets his lover close to him, then he feels satisfied. Due to emotion, parents keep themselves waiting for their sojourner son. Emotion creates motion for positive action. If and when a lover becomes frustrated, the emotion may turn into reverse and may be the cause of harmfulness. Even due to that the lover may kill his inamorata. Sometimes the frustrated lover may use drug or take alcohol to quench the pain. And temporarily he may get rid of the pain. In this position the love may give cremation.

After all, without inclination the question of love does not arise. As for example, a Muslim boy has taken a shine to a non-Muslim girl. His love consists of all the ingredients but due to her being non-Muslim, he apprehends that his parents may not accept their matching. In that case he may be reluctant to develop love with her. But if there is a strong impulse in him, defying his parents he may develop love and get married.

Practically without any ingredients cited here, love cannot be created for anybody. There are six ingredients for general love and in the terrain of husband and wife or lovers, the rest ingredient `sexual desire' must be counted. There will be two definitions of love. One is for general love and another for husband and wife as well as lovers. The definition of love as regards husband and wife as well as lovers cannot be applicable to others where love consists of six ingredients. This is the actual reason for futility to make definition of love. The ancient scholars could not comprehend this difference. That is why they did not rack their brains to make a definition of love. And for this reason famous philosophers Freud, Foren and Spencer esteemed the sexual affairs in love.

There is no sexual desire in love of brothers and sisters. The only ingredient `sexual desire' must have remained there in love of husband and wife as well as lovers. The definition of general love may be made as ` mental attraction to the matter, animal or human being with exclusive significance comprising of selfishness, which desires for welfare of the subjects.' Someone else may expect that the definition of love should have to be poetic. But there is no scope for that. Here out of six ingredients of love, only three ingredients remain present like mental attraction, desire for welfare and selfishness while rest three are silent.

When anybody bears love for others, then this love consists of six or seven ingredients that will come under discussion but the silent ingredients like emotion, knowledge and inclination need not be cited in the definition of love.

In the love between husband and wife as well as lover and inamorata the 7th ingredient like sexual desire shall have to remain present. In absence of this ingredient, the question of marriage does not arise and no one can have the dream for a home with the opposite sex. On the basis or centring of this love the system for marriage is prevailing, even the family, society and civilisation were built due to this love. Mother loves her sons, no diversity in it. It is universal, it is instinct. As the beast loves its kids, coddles. But the love of the lover and inamorata has diversity. Most of the poems, novels and the cinema-stories were written centring on the love of the couple. So the definition of love in this age may be made as follows: `The mental attraction and emotion of a man and a woman which make an act of impelling to find the attitude that brings them together physically is called love. In the chapter on happiness (written in the book Sristi theykay Dhawbangsha), happiness has been defined. Happiness is such an idealistic thing that is stored in the sexual concord. And for this divine happiness many emperors abnegate their imperial thrones. Love is more precious than that to them. And that is why, happiness has the space to be mingled with the definition of love in youth.

According to its character the word love takes different names, like attachment, affection, reverence, friendship, etc. All these words are substitutes for love. With these words the position of the character may be identified. As I regard my teacher, it means I love him like a son loves his mother. It will never mean that the son falls in love with his mother like a lover. The word love (in Bangla word Prayem) is used in two different terrains. One loves for lovers and secondly used for Creator i.e. Allah. The word love cannot be used for everybody. As I love my daughter, it means I show affection to her. But if I say that I make love (prayem) with my daughter, it will be wrong grammatically.

Love is double-faced like sacrifice and enjoyment. The love of sacrifice lasts long and it has an idealistic interest. On the other hand, the love of enjoyment has a short fixate which has the materialistic interest. But in the field of husbands and wives, there must be both the interests. The love of sacrifice reveals the identity of noble mind while the love of enjoyment gives out the identity of selfishness. Those who are selfish, cannot love people and cannot be patriots. According to weight, there are three classes of love. Class one love is creative in nature that is nourished by husband and wife. Love to Creator is considered to be class three. And all other love is class two.

Love remains or develops not only in human being; even beasts and creatures have love except two categories of creatures like tree and earthworm. But where is the fountain of these kinds of love? This love is very instinctive and very natural. It is observed that intelligent creatures like monkey, chimpanzee and human being feel or develop love. They live together in pairs. They may be well- wishers to each other. The main ingredient of love of the intelligent creature is sexual desire.

In the provinces of human being, there are two fountains of love. One is instinct and the other is sense of human value. And it has also two external wellheads. One is blood-related and the other is organ-related while beasts do not have those organs. Blood-related love is created due to blood relation as mother loves her son and sister loves her brother. In this case, mental attraction is not important. Even if kids are crippled, blind and very ugly to see, mother loves them. The sense of organ-related love is created in three ways. As for axampla, eye, ear, nose (and also tongue). Those who do not have these sense organs, cannot love anybody as an inert object cannot love. For human beings the eyes and ears are most important sense organs to love. Mental attraction may grow up at sight. Hearing the songs, some may like the singer. But in case of matter, only eye (and sometimes nose) is the important factor. First of all, it has to be sounded well, which is the precondition of sense of organ-related love. If anybody does not feel the interest, he may not approach to make love. The interest does not have any criterion. What is right to one is not the same to others. Personality may sound well to a girl, at the same time some girls may like a licentious boy. It absolutely depends upon her inclination.

We may divide the love into two segments. One is animate and another is weak. Sense of organ-related love sometimes can die out and sometimes resuscitate. Animated love is like when the both poles of magnet are pulled to each other. But weak love is one- sided. If the subject becomes out of sight this love may loose its mental attraction. Even animated love may die out. It depends on the susceptibility or impulse of the person. But the sense of organ-related love cannot die away. Of course, it may go asleep in the innermost recess of the mind. In case of a son who was lost from his mother or parted all on a sudden, mother perhaps, will never forget her son, but the perplexity for the son will not exist. If and when this lost son comes back to his mother, the impulse may burst into fire like volcano.

The attraction between man and woman is primitive and eternal which is very instinctive. But the distraction cannot be considered as natural. There are some vital causes lying behind attraction and distraction. When the inconsistency is crystallised in their characteristics or disharmony may cause their estrangement. In that case love between them may not remain alive. Men, naturally, may be selfish in case of love. Behind their love, a furtive longing is functioning, that is, just to reach a certain goal. This goal is called sexuality. After the final game, the love may turn into marriage or it may lead to estrangement. Before marriage, after the coition in a couple, the attraction of man may be feeble to some extent. The attraction of woman may remain unchanged. But this is not applicable for husband and wife. The conjugal life is based on sexuality. But due to inability to fulfil sexual desire, the relationship of the couple may freeze. Curtain may drop on their conjugal life.

It was told that there is a little space in the literature for the discussion about love of parents as well as brothers and sisters. Because it has no thrill and diversity but it has an attraction. The litterateurs have given importance to sense of organ-related love, as they are very much fond of diversity. Regarding love Rabindranath Tagore said, `To feel the infinity in life is called love, without love conjugal life has another name of adultery.' In this regard, I like to mention here that, Rabindranath was amorous but he has no real sense of love. Here is the question, which could feel the infinity in life, how much they were in number? If it were so, then the love would have become the personal property of them, of a few persons. There were so many instances or that happened in the life of the scholars who swallowed the wristwatch instead of boiled egg when they feel the infinity in life. If he would have told that to feel the infinity in life is the name of happiness', to some extent, it was taken for granted. Because happiness can make the man absent-minded. But love will never do so as the impulse, an important ingredient, which keeps rekindled. The impulse is always keeping the kindling in the life and he may feel excruciating. So both lovers cannot be absent-minded when they come in contact through love. Love is such type of a platform, where sweeper to emperor, wealthy and woebegone, everybody can make locus standi for him or her. Only in this field there is no difference among them. All of them are heroes and heroines from their sides. All are equal.

'Without love, the conjugal life has another name of adultery.' There is no logic in the comments of Rahindranath Tagore. The question of adultery in conjugal life may arise, when the wife becomes indifferent to coition or she forbids her husband from enjoying her, but her husband tries to enjoy against her will. They may have the difference of opinion in the conjugal life, but it is very natural for them to be stimulated in carnal desire. Because this is the basis of conjugal life. If anybody either husband or wife becomes indifferent to it, the word `conjugal life' can not exist. So the comment should have been like that, ` deviation of love, conjugal life is the blazing furnace of hell.' And that is why separation is desirable.

Heretofore it was mentioned that love is like such a mirror, when one stands before it in a particular form, his image will be reflected like that. For that the mirror cannot be blamed. Many lovers being deceived by the inamorata, lay blame on the whole womenfolk. But this is absolutely illogical. Woman is such a character who has no dye of her own. The vessel where she is kept, she sustains the tincture of the vessel. This is the natural characteristic of woman. The merits and demerits of woman, sometimes, depend on the male. A woman can be very nasty, but considering her activities, the whole womenfolk cannot be blamed. It is objectionable and undesirable.

Regarding wedlock with each other, it was told for the women that matrimony means nothing else except a long-term harlotry. The women rest assured of maintenance for the whole life in lieu of their sex-properties involving in the long term harlotry under the cover of marriage.' It is an adage of a civilised country like England, which was very vainglorious with wisdom. Who was the `maker' of this sentence, it is not known. But there is no reflection of philosophical thoughts on it; rather it gives out mark of their mean-mindedness. According to this comment, would he admit that his mother is a prostitute? All the prophets, philosophers, scientists and scholars came out of the womb of a woman. If the value of woman is two annas in all respects, but only in this field, their value is fifteen and half annas. If all mothers had desired that the kids in their womb would not see light and would be throttled to death, where the civilisation of the human being would have gone? How the maker would have boasted with pride?

Virtually women are feeble on various sides that is caused by nature only to maintain equilibrium. If women were strong both mentally and physically like men, they would have raped them by force. Life would have become undisciplined. A complete life means a pair of a male and a female. In the domestic life, the female may be weaker than the male, but from the outlook of importance the female is equal to the male. Light has no value, if the dark does not exist. Like that, male has no value if the female was not created. Some of the male members feel proud that they (male) are self-dependent.

But when they become self-dependent? After the delivery of the child, how much and how long he shall have to be dependent on his mother? And how much is the cost of the debt to mother? Apart from all that, at the age of youthfulness the male sometimes loses his balance. To keep the balance in male, women come to their life as nurse. Where woman is deceitful, there she is an embodiment of love. Where she is a female there she is an ambassador of peace. So in the conjugal life, it is not wise to distinguish who is superior and who is inferior?

Both male and female are superior creatures. Their love means organisation of a civilised society. Their love is a social tie. The lack of love may lead the conjugal life towards estrangement, it may conduct the society and civilisation to barbarity. For want of love, human beings may be ferocious for nothing. In the absence of love the whole world will steep down gradually towards destruction.

(Writer is a philosopher and columnist).

Dr. Ashraf Siddiqui

The Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath in one of his poems wrote.Come, O Poet of the nameless masses.

And voiceless minds

Reveal thou all their hearts' agonies.

This dead country with a songless atmosphere,

This dreary desert sucked dry by the heat of contempt

Fill thou this with the sap of joy!

Release thou the fountain in its utmost depths!

O master-artist! Let me hear their voice

Who are near and yet far off.

Be though their friends. Let them have

Fame for themselves thro' thy fame

I will salute thee again and againt

(Translation : Amiya Chakravarty)

Nazrul surely fulfilled the call of the great poet in many of his poems and songs to mention but a few like:

Come on O rebellious Hero! Come on!

Come on O Purifier of Falsehood! Come on !..

With your unsheathed sharpened sword of Truth.

And the lightning-flash of justice for the deprived all,

t..In the heart afraid of conscious rise for fight and right.

(Tr. M. Rahman)

Not many-only one poem-The Rebel 'Vidrohi' composed in 1921-in his post-21. was enough to fulfil the wish of the Great Poet who was then beyond to and was also relentlessly calling the youth, the 'purifier of falschood', in his' Balaka'-poems.

And, Nazrul wrote:

Proclaim, Hero! proclaim:

Towering high is my head

At the sight of which the Himalayan peak bends lowt

Proclaim, Hero! proclaim: my head is ever held hight

I am the sobbing sigh in the widow's heart;

I am the disconsolate cry in the despondent heartt.

I am the Great Rebel, will tire of war and be at peace.

Only then, when the anguished cry of the oppressed

Shall no longer rend the sky and air.

And the tyrant's terrible sword

Will no longer rattle on the field of battle.

I, the Rebel, will tire of war and be at peace onlytt.

(Tanslation : I bid.)

Not a matter of joke!

A young mantnot very much known-will write such a poem which, among many others, will agitate the great Tagore himself, which will start a great debate among the puritans and which, ultimately, will make Nazrul known to all-at least the scething youths reverberated with the spirit of nationalism.

Such was the beginning but not the end. He wrote:

I am a poet of today, and not a prophet of tomorrow!

Poet or no poet, you may call what you may feelt.

I do not care if I survive after the age

There are also many other golden boys

Rabi still burns over our head!

Let us Pray: may those who snatch

away the morsels of

Thirty-three crores from their mouth.

I will meet with their room in my writings of bloodt

(Trn:. Ibid)

Yes, such was Nazrul Islam, popularly known as the Rebel Poet of Bengali Literature, if not world literature.

Carlyle once held that behind every book is a man; behind the man is race; and behind the race is the social, natural and historical environments whose influences are reflected on literature. According to Sampson: 'An artist of the first rank accepts tradition and enriches it; an artist of the lower rank accepts tradition and repeats it, an artist of the lowest rank rejects tradition and strives for originality.'

Nazrul, it is needless to say, in any way, did not reject the tradition, rather he enriched it.

In order to get a better explanation of Nazrul's literature, it is therefore, necessary to know the environment in the country.

I, Nazrul was born in 1899 and from that time on the country was passing through various social and political transformations including formation of Indian Congress, proposal for partition of Bengal, revolt against the Indigo planters, peasants' agitation and various social and educational reformations initiated by Raja Rammohan Roy and others on the one hand, and Sir Syed Ahmed and others for the Muslim community on the other hand.

2. His birthplace Churulia in West Bengal, a dry and barren reddish-soil-land of coal mines with long stretched rows of Mahua taught people stoicism and as a result this geographcal area, from time immemorial practiced submission to the Deity in Saktaism, Baishnavism, etc. The area was popular for Sakta, Baishnave, Jhumure Tuso, Vado, Lato and other indigenous songs also.

3. His uncle Bazle Karim could read and even write poems in Persian and it is known that he was also the organiser of popular Leto songs and singing groups in which Nazrul also joined in his teens and earned popularity as a singing performer.

4.On the eastern side of their home was situated the historical fort of Raja Narottam Sinha as witness of many warfares and on the other side was the mazar (shrine) of Haji Pahloan and a pond named Pirpukur, which bore many of the legends of his spiritualism and divinity.

5. Nazrul's father Kazi Fakir Ahmad was the Khidmatgar (caretaker) of the mazar and also the Imam of the adjacent mosque. Nazrul learned Arabic from his saintly father, who was also the teacher in the adjacent Maktab; Nazrul could read Quran and used to say prayer regularly with his father. At the premature death of his father when he was 8, he taught Arabic in the Maktab and also worked as the Muazzin in the mosque.

6. In 1914. Nazrul for the first time had the opportunity to visit and stay in riverine East Bengal where he was brought by Kazi Rafiz Ullah, then a Police Officer in Asansol for further study with his relatives in his native and adjacent village, Trishal-Darirampur. The scenic beauty of riverine East Bengal villages, quite different from that of Churulia with its varied folksongs, Kabi, Jari, Sari etc, must have influenced the budding poet.

7. While Nazrul was only a school student, the Swaraj and Terrorist movements were gaining momentum and all these must have touched and made a mark in his poetic sensibility.

8. Nazrul while a student of class ten only, joined the 49th Bengal Regiment and was posted at Karachi and, as luck would have it, with the able guidance of a Punjabi Moulana, got an easy entrance to the vast land of Persian mystic literature so jealously stored by Rumi, Jami, Hafiz., Omar Khayam and others. It should be clearly noted that the influence of this Persian Literary tradition got eloquent expressions in his later creation of prose, poem and songs, as well as in dictions.

9. In 1919, after the conclusion of the First Great War, the people of this sub-continent aspired that they will now be granted Swaraj as agreed upon for participating in the war. But instead, various repressive measures including the brutal murders in Jalianwalabag and Gujranwala took place. Hundreds and thousands of nationalists, including freedom fighters were put in the jail and repressions continued including capital punishments for fighters like Abhiram and Khudiram, to mention but a few.

10. On the other hand, Khilafat Movement 'by no less Muslim leaders like Mohammad Ali, Shawkat Ali and others gained easy support from the Muslim community which till that time were working hand-in-hand with the Congress leaders was much acclaimed by Nazrul at least for an united effort as will be seen in his poems, songs and essays, fictions and novels eulogising the tradition of both Hindus and Muslims.

11. The country, it is needless to say, was waiting for a poet who will display exuberating feelings of the country, both Hindu and Muslim, and in Nazrul they discovered it. Nazrul wrote poems and songs inspiring the youths, students, the peasants, fishermen, labourers, the women and, in short, the suffering humanity all over the world. He wrote and wrote, He sang and sang :

'Come on, rebellious Hero; Come on!

Purifier of falsehoods and self-strong Sage! Come on!

----Declare to the world, O Lion of Man !

The message of ! I am;

Your real Swaraj or self-governmentt.

Sing the song of youth

Possessed of glittering pride and sharpened sword.

And desperately out, far and wide,

In search of impossible findst

I sing the songs of those

Who have brought to the hand of earth the

Charter of crops.'

'Allah is my Lord, no fear for me,

Mohammad is my Prophet,

of whom the world is full in praiset'.

'We are the strength, we are the force.

The band of students that we are

'Those repressed have now raised their head,tt.

The prisoners have torn the fetters and

broken the prison wallst..

Now he has learnt to like and lovettt

Hail to the new rise for the new destinationt'

(Tr. Ibid.)

Did Nazrul Islam to repeat, fulfil the aspiration of the great poet Tagore, who wrote:

'O Master-Artist! Let me hear

their voice,

Who are near and yet far off.

Be thou their friend. Let them have

Fame for themselves thro' thy fame

I will salute thee again and againttt'

(Tr. Amiya Chakravarty)

To answer this, one is to read Nazrul carefully not once, but again and again.

John Gray

Our gaze might be on the markets melting down, but the upheaval we are experiencing is more than a financial crisis, however large. Here is a historic geopolitical shift, in which the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably. The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over.

You can see it in the way America's dominion has slipped away in its own backyard, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez taunting and ridiculing the superpower with impunity. Yet the setback of America's standing at the global level is even more striking. With the nationalisation of crucial parts of the financial system, the American free-market creed has self-destructed while countries that retained overall control of markets have been vindicated. In a change as far-reaching in its implications as the fall of the Soviet Union, an entire model of government and the economy has collapsed.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, successive American administrations have lectured other countries on the necessity of sound finance. Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina and several African states endured severe cuts in spending and deep recessions as the price of aid from the International Monetary Fund, which enforced the American orthodoxy. China in particular was hectored relentlessly on the weakness of its banking system. But China's success has been based on its consistent contempt for Western advice and it is not Chinese banks that are currently going bust. How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.

Despite incessantly urging other countries to adopt its way of doing business, America has always had one economic policy for itself and another for the rest of the world. Throughout the years in which the US was punishing countries that departed from fiscal prudence, it was borrowing on a colossal scale to finance tax cuts and fund its over-stretched military commitments. Now, with federal finances critically dependent on continuing large inflows of foreign capital, it will be the countries that spurned the American model of capitalism that will shape America's economic future.

Which version of the bail out of American financial institutions cobbled up by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is finally adopted is less important than what the bail out means for America's position in the world. The populist rant about greedy banks that is being loudly ventilated in Congress is a distraction from the true causes of the crisis. The dire condition of America's financial markets is the result of American banks operating in a free-for-all environment that these same American legislators created. It is America's political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess.

In present circumstances, an unprecedented expansion of government is the only means of averting a market catastrophe. The consequence, however, will be that America will be even more starkly dependent on the world's new rising powers. The federal government is racking up even larger borrowings, which its creditors may rightly fear will never be repaid. It may well be tempted to inflate these debts away in a surge of inflation that would leave foreign investors with hefty losses. In these circumstances, will the governments of countries that buy large quantities of American bonds, China, the Gulf States and Russia, for example, be ready to continue supporting the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency? Or will these countries see this as an opportunity to tilt the balance of economic power further in their favour? Either way, the control of events is no longer in American hands.

The fate of empires is very often sealed by the interaction of war and debt. That was true of the British Empire, whose finances deteriorated from the First World War onwards, and of the Soviet Union. Defeat in Afghanistan and the economic burden of trying to respond to Reagan's technically flawed but politically extremely effective Star Wars programme were vital factors in triggering the Soviet collapse. Despite its insistent exceptionalism, America is no different. The Iraq War and the credit bubble have fatally undermined America's economic primacy. The US will continue to be the world's largest economy for a while longer, but it will be the new rising powers that, once the crisis is over, buy up what remains intact in the wreckage of America's financial system.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling that is going on in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism - the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the last 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded.While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm. Britain, which has turned itself into a gigantic hedge fund, but of a kind that lacks the ability to profit from a downturn, is likely to be especially badly hit.

The irony of the post-Cold War period is that the fall of communism was followed by the rise of another utopian ideology. In American and Britain, and to a lesser extent other Western countries, a type of market fundamentalism became the guiding philosophy. The collapse of American power that is underway is the predictable upshot. Like the Soviet collapse, it will have large geopolitical repercussions. An enfeebled economy cannot support America's over-extended military commitments for much longer. Retrenchment is inevitable and it is unlikely to be gradual or well planned.

Meltdowns on the scale we are seeing are not slow-motion events. They are swift and chaotic, with rapidly spreading side-effects. Consider Iraq. The success of the surge, which has been achieved by bribing the Sunnis, while acquiescing in ongoing ethnic cleansing, has produced a condition of relative peace in parts of the country. How long will this last, given that America's current level of expenditure on the war can no longer be sustained?

An American retreat from Iraq will leave Iran the regional victor. How will Saudi Arabia respond? Will military action to forestall Iran acquiring nuclear weapons be less or more likely? China's rulers have so far been silent during the unfolding crisis. Will America's weakness embolden them to assert China's power or will China continue its cautious policy of 'peaceful rise'? At present, none of these questions can be answered with any confidence. What is evident is that power is leaking from the US at an accelerating rate. Georgia showed Russia redrawing the geopolitical map, with America an impotent spectator.

Outside the US, most people have long accepted that the development of new economies that goes with globalisation will undermine America's central position in the world. They imagined that this would be a change in America's comparative standing, taking place incrementally over several decades or generations. Today, that looks an increasingly unrealistic assumption.

Having created the conditions that produced history's biggest bubble, America's political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape.

(John Gray is the author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (Allen Lane) Source: The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/28/usforeignpolicy.useconomicgrowth/print)

Ramzy Baroud

The plot, so unexpectedly, thickened in Iraq on a Sunday like no other. The two main actors - US President George W. Bush, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - took to the stage to perform another well-rehearsed press conference. The scripts were ever so predictable: Bush to tout the 'progress' achieved in Iraq, while al-Maliki to express gratitude for the freedom bestowed on his country. Both men were to caution from overstated optimism, and to forewarn of the great challenges that are yet to come. The two partners were to shake hands, smile and walk away. Things, however, didn't go according to plan on Sunday, December 14.

A surprise appearance by till then little-known Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi provided a most unpredictable conclusion to the public performance regularly held in Baghdad's Green Zone theater. Every joint press conference of US and Iraqi officials has, for years, concluded, more or less according to plan. Since the toppling of President Saddam Hussein's statue in 2003, in a well orchestrated - Shakespearean even - series of events, until that fateful Sunday, few have dared to violate the carefully prepared, monotonous media appearances, which often end with a handshake, unconvincing smiles, and the mutter of disgruntled journalists for failing to land a last minute question.

But al-Zaidi changed all of that when he hurled his shoes at President Bush at the exact moment the two main actors were scheduled to exit the stage - compelling the US president to duck twice, astoundingly escaping the makeshift, but largely symbolic weapon. Truth be told, Bush's timely dodges, were as impressive, as al-Zaidi's seemingly impeccable pitches.

Much has been said of al-Zaidi's daring act, which will indeed secure a permanent footnote in history books for an Iraqi man's footwear. Stories are told of poems, computer games and artwork idealizing al-Zaidi's shoes; and a rich Arab has reportedly offered millions of dollars for the pair of shoes that were meant as a "farewell kiss" to Bush. While most Americans are likely to remember Bush's legacy as that of a man who has guided a nation into unprecedented economic mayhem, Iraqis, and others, will remember him as a brutal, self-righteous zealot, who invited untold bloodshed, humiliation and the destruction of a once a magnificent and leading civilization.

According to the US government's logic, Iraq is now better off than ever before. As for the millions of lives that have been unjustly taken, and the millions of Iraqis on the run, their plight is a worthy price for freedom and democracy, precious US commodities that apparently come at a heavy price. Americans and the sanctioned Iraqi government are never to blame for any wrong doing. Iraq's tragedy is always someone else's fault, but largely the making of elusive terrorists, whose identities and sources of funds change according to whatever Washington's political mood dictates. The insurgents, as they were called until recently, were initially remnants of and Ba'ath Party loyalists, disgruntled Sunnis, then they morphed into foreign fighters, then they were depicted as al-Qaeda sympathizers, copy-cats, then al-Qaeda itself, then Iranian agents in cahoots with rogue Shitte militants loyal to whatever character doesn't suit the interests of the US and its allies. New characters were occasionally added to the Green Zone's ever predictable play, unwanted characters were swiftly removed, and the play's language was repeatedly rewritten.

Then al-Zaidi showed up and hurled his shoes at a grinning Bush, who just finished shaking al-Maliki's hand and was ready to conclude his own ominous chapter in Iraq, one filled with lies, deceit, and the blood of many people, in fact too many to count.

As al-Zaidi was being overpowered, then dragged away by Iraqi security - who must've tried to impress their American security 'counterparts' by teaching the poor al-Zaidi a lesson in good manners, Abu Ghraib-style - the script writers, and stage directors and actors were likely to have been summoned to discuss what CNN described as a 'security breach,' but what should be more accurately described as a deviation from the script. Their orders were straightforward and seemingly simple: to create a parallel reality to the anti-occupation fervor and bloodbath outside, by staging a play of few actors that depicts the occupier as a friendly, obliging outsider, violence against the Iraqi people as a war on terror on behalf of the Iraqi people, governmental corruption as a fostering process of democracy and good governance, and so on. Naturally, the moment that al-Zaidi flung his shoes at cowering Bush, a new, although haphazard play was drafted, mixing the painful reality outside the Green Zone, with the comforting, imagined reality inside. If the al-Zaidi episode is to be credited in one thing, it should be for tossing up the terminology of the two stages. Bush was called "dog" by angry Iraqis for years, but not in a press conference. Iraqis mourned their dead, cried for their orphans and widows, millions of them, outside and Green Zone, but never inside. An Iraqi man, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, in a seemingly fleeting moment, changed everything.

What also confused the script is that al-Zaidi was not al-Qaeda, or an al-Qaeda sympathizer, not a foreign fighter, not a member of the dissolved Ba'ath Party, nor was he affiliated with it in any way, and not even an Iraqi Sunni, for any such affiliation would fit perfectly in the political and media scripts that would demonize the man as an enemy of the Iraqi people, stability, democracy, freedom, and the rest of the redundant clichés. Al-Zaidi is simply an Iraqi man who has, as a journalist, highlighted the suffering of his people as politely, 'objectively' and 'professionally' as he could, and when he could no longer tolerate the lies told in the Green Zone's ever malicious drama, he scrapped the script altogether, chucking his shoes at the main actor: This is a farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." His words, although uttered for the first time in the Green Zone theater, echoed the voices of millions of Iraqis outside, who have chanted these words, for six long, tragic years.

(Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London).

Kobir A Chowdhury

In democratic society we get the opportunity to choose and pick new leaders to change our directions and political future with intervel of every few years. Citizens must participate in the election process to vote in every election, weather local or on national level. It is not an option but our civic duty. Politicians are elected and appointed by citizens to push their agenda and policies on their behalf. Citizens hire them (politicians) based on their characters, willingness, ability, experiences and determinations. We must exercise your right to vote and choose the leader who will represent our best interest.

Time and time again politicians promise us to fulfill our needs during campaign seasons. Yet they always break their promises: rather disappoint us and disappear until next election. We fall into their falsehood each and every time. When we are fooled by a politician for the first time they are lucky, second time around we must blame ourselves but third time we are fool. We can't accuse them for being lucky, blame us for repeating our mistake or be a fool for the third time. We have been acting as we are fools for decades to let politicians fool around us with serious issues. We are very vulnerable to our politicians.

No matter what they do we keep falling in their traps. We must put our act together now, be smarter, cast our vote for the right candidates and warn them about our expectation and their accountability. Politicians must fulfill their promises to represent common causes and needs of general public.

By definition (dictionary.com) politics is "The art and science of an administration of a government or the affairs of state and its population". Politician is the person who pursues and occupies an elective office chosen by the common people and for the common people.

Ordinary people choose extra ordinary leaders with vision to lead them towards greater possibilities and prosperity. R.A Butler (1902-1982) said: "Politics is the art of possible". True politicians are good people, elected by the people to serve the people.

During the campaigning season no doubt all politicians will come for vote.

They will some time promise to build the bridge where there is no canal. The best way to judge and know their credentials is not what they promise but by asking direct honest questions, know their backgrounds and accomplishments.

We must not be influenced by anybody weather they are our family, friends, neighbours nor try to influence anyone else to support one candidate over another simply because your vote is a very personal matter and we must take responsibility for it.

Candidates with history of corruptions and past convictions of any crime must not be allowed to participate in the election. Nonetheless we should ever elect any politician who has betrayed our trust more than once, abused power to only fulfill their financial needs and political future. We must identify and filter to isolate bad politicians from political process to prevent risks of taking our country back to where it has been for three and a half decades. If we let this only opportunity go by without isolation of top influential rotten leadership from every political party, we might suffer consequences like past for decades to come.

We must wake up and take control of our future by voting in the good politician and voting out the bad ones. Our future depends on this election and the future leader we elect.

We have to subtract the bad leadership from all parties especially the ones with control and influences, induct reliable, trust worthy, people free from corruptions and leaders with visions for future of our country, so that we have enough good politicians. That's the only formula to cure our national and political cancer like disease. Any other measures of reform will not help and may have more deadly side effects with no second chance.

We must candidate who is fair but most importantly he is duly qualified. He or she has to be honest, transparent and hard working. Our leaders must be worthy of good moral characters with dignity, sense of accountability and also a clear vision for our future.

They have to have skills to work with people and must be above and beyond discrimination against race, creed, gender, religion and culture.

It is hoped to be a free election. We have been part of a democratic society, exercising out rights to vote, working hard to support our families, educating ourselves to improve and prosper in life, on the other hand, many our leaders were never on our side.

Many of the politicians have always been corrupted, dishonest and greedy. In fact, politics has been the most influential career for financial security and wealth. Most politicians are very well of after a few years in politics while we are still at the bottom in the world map for poverty.

Yet people are dying of hunger, do not have enough clothes or a safe place to live.

But unfortunately we are number one or two most corrupted country in the world.

That's why most of our leaders residing in jail cells charged with corruptions and steeling from the very people who have elected them over and over again.

No matter what they promised or which party or who assumed power, general public was not benefitted upto expectation: it was always about them (politician and their party).

Neighboring countries are competing in the world with nuclear capability because their leaders are responsible and are held accountable.

It is earnestls hoped that the people of Bangladesh is ready, willing and able to change direction of our nation to be prosperous. People around the world recognise our ability, readyness and need for political change.

The real source power of any democracy is the ordinary men and women. Voters mandates and writes political history for better or worse. So far the history of our democracy has not met its goal. Leaders we have chosen in the past to represent us had mostly misrepresented, betrayed our trusts and abused power so much so that we can not trust them again.

People of our great nation has always been ready to take steps to improve their lives, has the ability and vision to choose good from bad and has the compelling desire and willingness to do whatever it takes.

We work hard, support our families, obey law and order of our land and do everything to be a good citizen. But many of our politicians have not kept any promise they made in any level of government and gave us nothing in return.

Our corrupted political system and politicians are no secret to the world. But no doubt Bangladeshis (ordinary citizens of Bangladesh) are recognised for hard work, respected for being trustworthy, awarded for being talented and compatible and as successful as any other human being from any other part of the world given the same opportunities.

In this election we must not let politicians take us for granted and must exercise our rights to vote more effectively to choose leaders that have been tested before and has the same readiness, the ability and the willingness to work for us and to change the directions of our country.

Change will not come if we do not change and keep electing the same politicians. We must change our policies to expect changes from politicians. It's time to change how we vote, who we vote for and make sure we stay in charge before we put them (politicians) in charge.

Despite what's happening with the election process and how it is being conducted what remains in our control is our votes until we waste it.

Let's improve ourselves, let us be true patriotic, let us dream bigger, and let's do what other democracies have done to get their politician work for them, let's make history for our next generation. We can and must do it. We have to do it now in this election.

We have let politicians dictate for too long. Reclaiming our country, our future, our dreams are long over due. We have to take back the power, must choose candidates with caution and make sure we do not repeat our mistakes. This might be our best opportunity to be free once and for all. We rather have dream for possibilities and a better future then live in the reality of our darkened past. Vote, tell others to vote and be part of history. It is the right thing to do.

Cardiovascular disease is a broad term used to describe a range of diseases that affect your heart or blood vessels. The various diseases that fall under the umbrella of cardiovascular disease include coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke.

The term "cardiovascular disease" is often used interchangeably with heart disease because both terms refer to diseases of the heart or arteries. By whatever name you call it - cardiovascular disease or heart disease - it's clear that diseases of the heart and blood vessels are serious problems. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 worldwide killer of men and women, including in the United States. For example, cardiovascular disease is responsible for 40 percent of all the deaths in the United States, more than all forms of cancer combined.

Brushing up on some basic terminology about cardiovascular disease can help you stay more informed, which pays off whether you're watching the news or meeting with your doctor.

Causes of cardiovascular disease: While cardiovascular disease can refer to many different types of heart or blood vessel problems, it's used most often to describe damage caused to your heart or blood vessels by atherosclerosis. This is a disease that affects your arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong and elastic.

Over time, however, too much pressure in your arteries can make the walls thick and stiff - sometimes restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. This process is called arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and atherosclerosis is the most common form of this disorder. So if atherosclerosis is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, you may wonder what ultimately causes atherosclerosis. The culprits are the same risk factors you've heard mentioned in connection with heart disease and cardiovascular disease: An unhealthy diet (lots of saturated fats), lack of exercise, being overweight and smoking. All of these are major risk factors for developing atherosclerosis and, in turn, cardiovascular disease.

Some forms of cardiovascular disease aren't caused by atherosclerosis. Those forms include diseases such as congenital heart disease, heart valve diseases, heart infections or disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy.

Types of cardiovascular disease: Your cardiovascular system consists of your heart and all blood vessels throughout your body. Diseases ranging from aneurysms to valve disease are types of cardiovascular disease. You may be born with some types of cardiovascular disease (congenital) or acquire others later on, usually from a lifetime of unhealthy habits, such as smoking, which can damage your arteries and cause atherosclerosis.

So, now that you know a little bit about cardiovascular disease and its causes, here are some specific terms used to describe the various forms of cardiovascular disease:

Coronary artery disease: This is a common form of cardiovascular disease. Coronary artery diseases are diseases of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. Sometimes known as CAD, coronary artery disease is the leading cause of heart attacks. It generally means that blood flow through the coronary arteries has become obstructed, reducing blood flow to the heart muscle. The most common cause of such obstructions is a condition called atherosclerosis, a largely preventable type of vascular disease. Coronary artery disease and the resulting reduced blood flow to the heart muscle can lead to other heart problems, such as chest pain (angina) and heart attack (myocardial infarction).

Heart attack: A heart attack is an injury to the heart muscle caused by a loss of blood supply. The medical term for heart attack is "myocardial infarction," often abbreviated MI. A heart attack usually occurs when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood through a coronary artery - a blood vessel that feeds blood to a part of the heart muscle. Interrupted blood flow to your heart can damage or destroy a part of the heart muscle.

Cardiomyopathy: Cardiomyopathy means diseases of the heart muscle. Some types of cardiomyopathy are genetic, while others occur for reasons that are less well understood. Types of cardiomyopathy include ischemic, which is caused by loss of heart muscle from reduced coronary blood flow; dilated, which means the heart chambers are enlarged; hypertrophic, which means the heart muscle is thickened; and idiopathic, which means the cause is unknown. One of the most common types of cardiomyopathy is idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy - an enlarged heart without a known cause.

Congenital heart disease: Congenital heart disease refers to a form of heart disease that develops before birth (congenital). Congenital heart disease is a broad term and includes a wide range of diseases and conditions. These diseases can affect the formation of the heart muscle or its chambers or valves. They include such conditions as narrowing of a section of the aorta (coarctation) or holes in the heart (atrial or ventricular septal defect). Some congenital heart defects may be apparent at birth, while others may not be detected until later in life.

Aneurysm: An aneurysm is a bulge or weakness in a blood vessel (artery or vein) wall. Aneurysms usually get bigger over time. Because of that, they have the potential to rupture and cause life-threatening bleeding. Aneurysms can occur in arteries in any location in your body. The most common sites include the abdominal aorta and the arteries at the base of the brain.

Valvular heart diseases: These are diseases of the heart valves. Four valves within your heart keep blood flowing in the right direction. Valves may be damaged by a variety of conditions leading to narrowing (stenosis), leaking (regurgitation or insufficiency) or improper closing (prolapse). You may be born with valvular disease, or the valves may be damaged by such conditions as rheumatic fever, infections (infectious endocarditis), connective tissue disorders, and certain medications or radiation treatments for cancer.

Pericardial diseases: These are diseases of the sac that encases the heart (pericardium). Pericardial disorders include inflammation (pericarditis), fluid accumulation (pericardial effusion) and stiffness (constrictive pericarditis). These can occur alone or together. The causes of pericardial disease vary, as do the problems they may lead to. For instance, pericarditis can occur after a heart attack and, as a result, lead to pericardial effusion or chest pain.

Heart failure: Heart failure, often called congestive heart failure, is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the needs of your body's organs and tissues. It doesn't mean your heart has failed and can't pump blood at all. With this less effective pumping, vital organs don't get enough blood, causing such signs and symptoms as shortness of breath, fluid retention and fatigue. "Congestive" heart failure is technically reserved for situations in which heart failure has led to fluid buildup in the body. Not all heart failure is congestive, but the terms are often used interchangeably. Heart failure may develop suddenly or over many years. It may occur as a result of other cardiovascular conditions that have damaged or weakened the heart, such as coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy.

High blood pressure: High blood pressure (hypertension) is the excessive force of blood pumping through your blood vessels.

It's perhaps the most common form of cardiovascular disease in the Western world, affecting about one in four Americans. Although potentially life-threatening, it's one of the most preventable and treatable types of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure also causes many other types of cardiovascular disease, such as stroke and heart failure.

Stroke: A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted (ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke). Both can cause the death of brain cells in the affected areas. Stroke is also considered a neurological disorder because of the many complications it causes.

Other forms of cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, increase your risk of stroke.

Peripheral arterial disease and claudication: You may be more familiar with the term "claudication" - which usually refers to pain in your legs during exercise - than you are the term "peripheral arterial disease." Strictly speaking, claudication is a symptom of peripheral arterial disease. However, claudication is often referred to as a disease itself. Peripheral arterial disease is a disorder in which the arteries supplying blood to your limbs - usually your legs - become narrowed or blocked. When this happens, your legs receive less blood than they need to keep up with demand. Claudication may then develop. When the obstruction is mild, you may have such symptoms as pain in your legs only during strenuous exercise. As the disease progresses and arteries become more obstructed, you may have pain or cramping in your legs even at rest.

Arrhythmias: Heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) occur when the electrical impulses in your heart that coordinate your heartbeats don't function properly, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. Other forms of cardiovascular disease can cause arrhythmias.

Staying informed about cardiovascular disease: You may be surprised how many different diseases fall under the umbrella of cardiovascular disease. The thing to remember is most forms of cardiovascular disease are often related to preventable risk factors.

For example, an unhealthy diet, smoking and lack of exercise can all lead to atherosclerosis, which in turn can cause one or more types of cardiovascular disease. Learning how cardiovascular disease is described and what the various terms mean can help you become more informed as you take charge of your health.