Here is my 10 point proposal that will make politicians/government officials less desperate to stick to power and make the opposition less greedy to return to power. Poeple with mostly ideological interst and those who want to serve and make a change will only be interested in taking the job of governing Bangladesh.
1. No government housing ( No more minto road) for ministers, state and deputy ministers and advisers. ( Rent the Minto road houses to interntional hotel compaies, guest house operators. ).
2. No flag car and no governmnet provded transport except Prime minister, Chief Justice, Opposition leader, speaker.
3. Mandating the ministers and speakers to use public transport for travelling between Dhaka and constituency.
4. Bar the government and elected officials from travelling to foeign lands for treatment except the conditions which are absolutely not treatable in Bangladesh.
5. Put a term limitof on the position of prime Minister. My take on it is to make it a max of two.
6. Make it a rule, no family member of a prime minister can replace him/her. May need to wait at least one to two term before doing so. Same rule should apply for MPs, no relative/family member can contest from the same constituency for at least two terms.
7. Prime Minster and opposition leader must have a monthly open press conferece that would be telecast live.
8. There must be pre election and midterm debates directly between the prime minister and the oppisition leader.
9. There would be only one official residence cum office for prime minister. Similar accomodation/office must also be arranged for the leader of opposition. There must not be any government supply for food service, cook in these accomodations and any other government installations. All officials, starting from prime minister will have to do/arrange their own grocery shopping and cooking. They may hire cooks on their own, but not through government.
10. All the circuit houses, Dak banglows, governments rest houses must cease to exist. These all should be sold/rented to hotel operators. Officials, politicians using these accomodation may later get reimbursed from specific departments provided the trips non-political public interest have been justified.
rumi, April 30th 2006 |
Posted in Politics
44 years ago yesterday East Bengal lost one of it’s greatest leaders of all time, Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Huq. We, who grew up in the 70s and 80s knew part of Sher-e-Bangla. I don’t know how much the generation of 90s and this millenum know of Sher-e-Bangla A K fazlul Huq.
Sher e bangle A K fazlul Huq was born on 26 October 1873 near Barisal. After the traditional Islamic education and early schooling at Barisal Zilla School, he passed the FA Examination in 1892 and BA Examination (with triple Honours in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) in 1894 from the Presidency College, and obtained the MA degree in Mathematics in 1896 from the University of Calcutta. He later obtained BL degree in 1897 from the University Law College, Calcutta. Fazlul Huq started legal practice as an apprentice under Sir Asutosh Mookherjee. Huq had the good fortune of receiving affection in numerous and various ways from the likes of Aswini Kumar Datta and Prafulla Chandra Ray.
rumi, April 28th 2006 |
Posted in Bangla Diaspora
Friday, April 28, 2006: Hearing for Nineteen-Year Old Bangladeshi American Deported From Dhaka on Secret Plane
A detention hearing will be held on Friday morning, April 28, 2006, at 11:30 at the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York in downtown Brooklyn for nineteen-year-old Ensanul Islam Sadequee.
Attendance by community representatives at the hearing is very important. The community can provide much needed practical and emotional support for Ensanul’s family, who face a terrible situation. Both of Ensanul’s sisters, who live in different parts of the United States, are coming to New York hoping to see their brother. They remain deeply concerned about his treatment and his ability to get a fair hearing.
Moreover, the presence of members of the community would help ensure that the proceedings are conducted fairly. It would be a powerful message that the treatment of individuals accused of serious terrorism offenses remains of deep concern to a community vigilant against.
parvez, April 27th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
From Robin bhai:
People like Abul Khaer are thse who make Bangladesh work are neglected. Despite the fact thousands have died in launch disasters over the last 30 years Khaer can’t even get proper equipment to do his job.
“Time and time again I have asked for better equipment but my bosses just say that there is no money for this,” says Khaer.
Published in the Malaysian Star
Abul Khaer’s selfless dedication to his work ? recovering the bodies of ferry accident victims has made him a national hero in Bangladesh, reports SHAFIQ ALAM.
THE scene is etched in Abul Khaer’s mind: several thousand villagers line a desolate riverbank, their eyes following his every move as he prepares to plunge into the dark, swirling waters in search of the bodies of their loved ones.
A ferry with at least 100 passengers on board has gone down and the 38-year-old Khaer and an elite team of fire service divers have been called to the scene.
Abul Khaer: ‘It gives the relatives (of accident victims) a certain peace of mind if they can at least bury their dead.’
Read more…
admin, April 27th 2006 |
Posted in Progress
Don’t know if you all read Shahnoor Wahid’s new column. They are instant classics !
His latest on the punchman Akbar and recent developments
But we are keeping track of the deeds of your golden boys. After a fantastic bout of target practice shooting in Kanshot, your brave boys in khaki and blue practiced punching on the talkative photojournalists at Chhotagong. Oh, what a spectacle it was! Look at the expression on the face of the police officer as he is punching on the face of that old photojournalist. The anger and hatred mixed together to create an expression on his face so terrifying that the ungrateful people of the port city ran to hide under chokirtola (under the bed). I heard, sir, that even the Australian players got so scared that they were looking for some chokis to hide under.
The other news item that profoundly amused the cynics in this country is on and about Sonia Gandhi of India. It says that she does not own a personal car and that she only has Rs. 20,000 in cash and property worth few lakhs only. Ridiculous, isn’t it? Many lady politicians of the world, including some in the Land of Hope, were horrified reading about her condition. It is said that many of them felt to have been let down, in fact embarrassed, by Sonia. “How could Sonia remain so poor being so close to power when we have become billionaires within a decade? We have money in foreign banks. We have property abroad. We have money invested in foreign projects. We travel abroad with thirty family members and thirty-five suitcases four times a year. But look at her!” they thought.
Read more…
Asif, April 25th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
photo: New Age
What a sad end to a promising life!
Prominent social activist and the country director of Action Aid Bangladesh, Nasreen Pervin Huq, died yesterday following an accident yesterday at the car park of her residence in Dhanmondi.Sources said her driver around 9:30 am yesterday lost control of the vehicle and crushed her against a wall as she was waiting for the car at the car park.
This time in Dhaka, I heard a lot of good things about Nasreen Apa and how she was taking on some courageous projects on human rights. This is such a shame that she had to go this way. More on her life
admin, April 25th 2006 |
Posted in Our Heroes, admin
This morning some of us had a human chain at the Noboborsho rally for the people of Kansat which got very enthusiastic support from the general mass. We had banners that said, “They have killed people in Kansat, how can we say happy new year?” We asked people to raise their hand in support when they passed us and we got very enthusiastic support from them. It wasn’t much. It was a symbolic protest. We feel that the voices of silent majority must be heard.
Pictures of the protest are here
Asif, April 14th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
Some developments on Kansat:
1. Supreme Court asked the administration to not touch the Kansat people on Sunday. Kansat people as you know are asking for their right for electricity. The farmers need electricity for their survival. At least 5 of them were shot to death yesterday. Now fresh contempt of court has been filed.
2. Also BLAST may be looking to provide some legal help to the people of Kansat.
3. As I was just writing this email, I got a call from Iresh, our DP colleague, that ASK is doing a rally infront of Jadughar tomorrow. Also he arranged a congregation at 11 in front of art college and people will be wearing black in protest of the Kansat oppression.
Other than that there has been some political developments. Even though the opposition has ceased on this issue, do not think this is a political tussle between AL and BNP.
This is a nervous state and their petoa bahinis coming down on a some very poor farmers who were demanding for some very basic rights.
Asif, April 13th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
Pay close attention to what is going on for the last few days in Kansat. This movement is not a Awami BNP thing. A completely exhausted group of people finally got sick and tired of the injustice and finally is relentless in pressing their demand under a able leadership of Rabbani — a previously unknown non political leader. The interesting tidbit is that this area is a previous stronghold of the ruling party. In the last election AL got third place in this seat.
Asif, April 11th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
1. The biggest human rights abuse in Bangladesh takes place in the health care sector. Every one I am talking to, it is the same old story. The rich is going abroad, while the poor are getting the treatment that even stray dogs don’t deserve.
2. The debate was shown in Dhaka today. People watched it with great interest. Huda lost as per my own opinion poll — by a big margin.
3. Dhaka gets depressing after a week. The gap between rich and poor is just plain obscene. More on it later.
Asif, April 8th 2006 |
Posted in Human Rights
