Ivy"s victory in ncc polls ;2012 's most positive event

     The year 2012 is gone we are already in 2012.In my opinion , the most positive event in Bangladesh last year was the victory of Selina Hayat Ivy in Narayanganj City Corporation election and The Daily Star published her picture smiling with a 'V' sign in the front page of 'New Year Special 2012.' This was not an ordinary victory, it reflected the hopes and aspirations of the mass people against all odds and oppressions. She had to fight against a formidable adversary who got the blessing of the ruling party. But people liked Ivy's simple and hard working nature. Above all, she was not involved in corruption . Ivy is an exception . She was elected first when the BNP was in power and now when her own party withdraw their supports from her, she was elected again. Her father was elected in 1974 in a similar way.
BNP lawyers should join war crimes prosecution 
Recently one of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)'s top leaders urged the government to stop the activities of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) . The BNP has made it clear that it stands against the prosecution of crimes against the prosecution of crimes against humanity. We cannot betray the ideals and values of our Liberation War. The crimes that were committed in 1971 must not be lost. We are grateful to the government for starting the process. There may be some criticism , but the people of Bangladesh should trust it.

Imran khan promises a ray of hope for Pakistan

      It seems that the people of Pakistan have become frustrated with the two main political parties and their selfish, outdated, and corrupt polities. The politicians have failed to fulfil the minimum expectations of the Pakistani people even after more than half a century of the country's independence. News reports seem to suggest that the ordinary citizens are increasingly extending their support to Imran Khan, the former cricket captain who led Pakistan to its first and only World Cup win.
      Imran has thus far proved his mettle in every field that he has worked in.Pakistan is in dire need of a leader who is honest , dedicated, dynamic and farsighted, and the legendary cricketer seems to fit the bill. He is a real fighter and could very well prove to be a real statesman. Imran founded Tehrik-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) in 1996. In his illustrated career, he reached the peak when Pakistan won the World Cup under his captaincy in 1992. He also founded a state -of-the art cancer hospital in his  mother's name for the poor people in Lahore.  Critics may doubt about his political sagacity but when two major political parties fail repeatedly then radical change is the demand of the time.

Press freedom

      Benjamin disraeli once said:'The press is not only free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy. It was not granted for us by aristocracies; but it sprang from the people and with an immortal instinct, it has always worked for the people.' He was prime minister of the nation that was the birthplace of the Westminster model of government.
     When we read news of a ruling party lawmaker assaulting of a ruling reporter,  it is a blow not only against the constitution which has enshrined freedom of speech.'Unto this silence , we must bring speech, and into these parched weary hearts, the ring of hope.' In accomplishing the wish of Rabindranath Tagore, every newspaper and electronic media in Bangladesh, I am confident, will withstand all the persecution it undergoes for the cause of justice.
 Help guardians and studen:
    Coaching business by many teachers of government and non-government secondary schools in Dhaka city have become a familiar phenomenon over the years. The government has recently formed a committee headed by a joint secretary to prepare and submit a report in this regard within a week. Coaching business is not only exclusive to Dhaka; rather , it has spread to all divisional towns and even upazila headquarters.
    We, the guardians, are really helpless in the face of the onslaught of coaching and private tuition business of teachers, which limit children's creativity besides putting a strain on their guardians' finances. Pragmatic steps should be taken to remove coaching business permanently.

Is there any hope for Bangladesh?

   It's hard to believe it's almost been a year since the High Court abolished corporal punishment in all schools. It seems only like week that crusader Sir Frank Peters was beating the drum and waking the nation to the untold sufferings of thousands of children at the hands of some evil tormentors commonly kniwn as schoolteachers.Many thousands of adults (I included) can readily recall their worst days at school when they were beaten mercilessly for something silly and trivial like wearing long hair. They, however, can be considered the 'lucky' ones. There are other children who ended their abject misery by committing suicide.
    It's hard to imagine this evil practice has flourished for so many decades and that foreign and local alleged child protection agencies like, UNICEF, Save the Children, Oxfam , World Vision and the National Human Right Commission among them have stood by in silence, watched from the sidelines, allowed it to happen for years, and are still doing nothing to help offset the inhuman cruelty still inflicted daily.
     I agree entirely with Sir Frank when he says that a notional mind change is urgently needed and that must happen soon. There is no better and more appropriate place for this to begin than in the classroom.

NGOs should be decentralised

     The residents of Dhaka are fed up wasting valuable time on travelling from one place to another . People do not visit their relatives due to traffic congestion . Usually , it is a 15 -minute drive by bus to reach my office at Mohakhali from Mohammadpur in the early morning but coming back usually takes around one hour and a half, and sometimes more.I know one Jahanara who lives in Mirpur, Her younger sister Monoara, who lives in Shantinagar, has not visited her house for more than one year due to severe traffic jam.
     It is good news that Dhaka UNICEF office is going to be decentralised soon. I know two of my friends who have been working in UNICEF Dhaka office for more than three years. One of them has been transferred to Bogra and the other to Mymensingh , with UNICEF establishing regional offices across the country. Many national organisations working in Dhaka should be decentralised soon.

Low wage in private school

      A report in a daily newspaper about the teacher of private getting low wage has caught my attention it is easily understandable that due to poor remuneration the quality of education is being hampered in those schools In this  connection I remember one incident .one of my acquaintences got a teaching job in a reputed school .I congratulated him but his response was lukewarm. When I asked him why he did not look happy, he told me his salary. I was surprised ; I couldn't belive it. Later he told me that once started private tuition side by side his school job he would be earning a respectable amount. What I realised that day is that in the name of employment, the private schools are exploiting teachers. A few days back I want I heard a guardian complaining about frequent changes of teachers. Another guardian quipped that how would a teacher stay long since the authorities were paying very meagre salary.
    I know that school takes exorbitant fees but pays the teachers very poor salary. In the end the students suffer due to frequent changes of teachers. Due to the poor salary structure teachers are not paying full attention to classrooms and more interested in teaching outside the class . It is high time to look into the matter and stop the anomaly in the private education sector.

Corruption and sovereignty

           The rule of law means a society is governed on the basis of laws enforced equally. Corruption in Bangladesh creates an environment whereby some people are given privileges due to their ability to pay bribes. A rule-of -law society is based upon the trust and faith of the people that they are governed on the basis of laws enforced in a fair, just, and reasonable manner. Corruption undermines this basic trust. This especially weakens sovereignty in democratic polities, where legitimacy and popular will are essential requisites for an authority to call itself sovereign. In Bangladesh, corruption is recognised as a law enforcement issue. The laws against bribery are part of the criminal law enforcement mechanisms. Even the institutional mechanisms available are largely based on the law enforcement machinery investigating allegations of corruption and prosecuting wrongdoers. But this approach puts corruption along with other offences criminal law attempts to punish. However, corruption , if understood from the standpoint of its consequences for the rule of law, human right , and development, has a negative impact on state sovereignty. Transparency in governance is crucial to ensure the state exercises its powers in a responsible manner. Corruption of the institutions of the state does not allow the state to  capacity and the law enforcement machinery is weak.
      Corruption in the many cases such as share market scandal, different projects under the communications ministry examined provides a telling example of how the agents of the state either assume that their individual and clique prosperity translates into state prosperity and sovereignty or simply do not care for anything beyond personal enrichment . In both cases , the example of Louis XIV who claimed,'I am the state,' serves as a sensible reminder. Sovereignty in Bangladesh exercised as untrammelled power to exploit and dis-empower the citizens is an anachronistic idea that sadly prevails at many levels of governance in Bangladesh. Sovereignty exercised as a responsibility with human development as the end is the wave of the future that has not yet gained prevalence.May hurt our pride to admit it; however , the fact of the matter is that while there have been significant developments Bangladesh is still one of the most corrupt countries on the world map. The Corruption Perception Index, compiled by Transparency International organisation which conducts annual surveys attempting to aggregate perceptions of corruption within countries, ranks Bangladesh a lowly 139 out of a list of 180 nations. The war against corruption is formidable and not going to be easy to win. Wherever government money is spent or collected , there should be tight scrutiny which is the greatest need of this moment.

Licence to arrest, harass

   In James Bond the main protagonist has the 'License to Kill'. In Bangladesh , it seems, the law enforcers in plainclothes have the licence to arrest. Such wanton freedom to arrest people has already created panic among the public and will have a bad affect on our society . If such incident happens in the capital city , I shudder to think what we can expect in remote place .If law enforcers come in plainclothes how would people know if they are for real or just criminals in disguise? Such incidents could also give criminals a chance to abduct people in the name of arresting them as law enforcers. As a democratic country we cannot let such incident happen. It is againt our constitution which guarantees safety of every citizen.The government should look into the matter very seriously , conduct a judicial investigation and make sure that in future nothing of this sort is repeated.

Marching towards abyss

     Fidel Castro's well -presented full -page article, published in your editorial page , is a sound scientific analysis of what is happening and the dangerous aftermath of the methodology for exploration of methane from geological shale structures by the United States.Releasing the trapped methane gas from shale by forced hydraulic fracturing of the underground shale structure is a procedure in Castro's article. This procefure uses benzene and toluene to be injected mixed with water for the hydraulic fracture of the shale structure, releases water contaminated with carcinogenic benzene and toluene into water bodies.
    According to Castro, his observations are based on research findings of many knowledgeable West European scientists involved in the study of this method of methane gas extraction. They point to this and other hazards that may even upset the underground geological structures causing calamities like earthquake or floods. His observations sum up that the 'hydraulic process' can damage our underground shale structure and in his considered opinion it is 'an adventure that is far too premature and risky.' Finally, I express my admiration for Mr Castro, a few years older than I am , for presenting a lucid and well-researched paper of great international importance, providing knowledge and information on an important but new subject.

Science and humanities

     A serious problem in Bangladesh is the gap between academe and mass media. Professors of humanities, with all their leftist/rightist fantasies, seem to have little firsthand knowledge of Bangladeshi life and no impact whatsoever on public policy. I think most of us feel that it is a responsibility of the humanities to try to help better the conduct of human beings in their lives and manifold professional activities. The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology. The notion that every well-educated person would have a mastery of at least the basic elements of the humanities, sciences, and social sciences is a far cry from the specialised education that most students today receive, particularly in the public universities.
     However, the important distinction between understanding a subject and scoring well in the examination needs to be inculcated among students . Students cannot , given limited time, both understand a subject and score well. Because science is a scoring subject, and medicine and engineering have become standard career options , many merely want to score high marks.Schools should focus on making students understand subjects until they reach a stage where they have to opt for a stream. The mania behind science-based career options should also be deflated. It is true that advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defence, transportation, agriculture, health care, and life sciences is directly related to scientific advancement.
      Moreover, our government has to pay more attention with respect to funding of our higher education institutions. While the government 's move of paying more attention to science is welcome, the neglect of social sciences and liberal arts is worrisome. Only students who are not good enough for science or commerce streams take up the non-job-oriented social sciences. This attitude fails to embrace values that come along with a democratic polity-that require a flourishing regime of history, sociology, law, philosophy, political science, why, even a rationalist study of religions. Successive governments have completely ignored these areas, except when they wanted to write their own version of history now and then.