#Title

What sort of a mindset is it?
FROM PAGE 1
in the US is far better placed than ours but shouldn’t his first port of call have been the Bangladeshi community? Wouldn’t that have been more honourable and dignified? What message does it convey when our foreign minister prefers to appeal to the community of another country -- however friendly -- and not to his own? Over the years, our own community’s power and prestige have risen and with it its ability to lobby and influence. Having lived there for years and last as our representative at the UN, he should know it better than many others.
What is most frustrating is our refusal to accept that the sanctions as something far more than a lobbying issue. It is about how our law enforcement agencies function, how respectful they are of our own laws, how much they respect an individual’s human and fundamental rights, and their rules of engagement in dealing with suspects in particular and the public in general. It is more about the process and general functioning of the institution concerned. We just don’t seem to get it.
The sanctions against Rab were imposed under The Global Magnitsky Act by the US Department of Treasury and deal with financial transactions of Rab. The sanctions stipulate that Rab members “will neither be allowed to own properties in the US nor engage in transactions with anyone in the US”. However, only seven former and current officials of Rab will be restricted from entering the US.
So we are using our valuable bilateral relations with India to get US visa restrictions lifted for seven officials and for facilitating commercial activities of Rab members. For this we are also appealing to the Indian diaspora in the US to lobby for us? So today it’s Rab, and if police tomorrow and the BGB the day after face questions on their performances, instead of addressing them, are we going to rush to another country for help? Is this how we conduct our foreign policy?
On addressing internal governance of our law enforcement agencies, our foreign minister said we have inbuilt mechanisms of accountability. May be we have. But are they working? When we last checked, custodial deaths hadn’t stopped. What about disappearances? Why do people who reappear after a period of “disappearance” never talk about where they were, how they were treated and most importantly who kept them confined? Do all of them suffer from amnesia just for those days? Or is it because he doesn’t want to recall the memories of that harrowing experience? Or is there something else at play?
There is a bigger danger awaiting us under the so-called Leahy Law of the US. This law restricts assistance to entities accused of committing human rights violations, specifically governing assistance by state and defence departments. (See our report dated January 16, 2022, by Zyma Islam). It is awaiting our consent. If we agree to abide by it, then every dollar we get as US assistance for security agencies has to be accounted for. If we don’t consent, then the assistance will dry up and along with it, some defence collaboration.
Why should we be in a position of fear that scrutiny by a foreign power will reveal serious shortcomings in how some of our institutions function? Why shouldn’t we concentrate on reforming our errant law enforcement institutions -- demand for which is widespread, and acting on it will greatly improve the government’s public standing -- instead of going from door to door pleading for assistance to extricate ourselves from humiliating laws imposed by others.
When our prime minister says that Bangladeshis will walk tall and with their heads held high it resonates with us, and fills our hearts with pride. This pride is hurt when other countries sanction us. Our pride is wrenched from inside when we read reports of international bodies revealing facts that we are too afraid to reveal ourselves. We bow our heads in shame when we know things to be true and yet see those in power blatantly deny them and blame others for it.
However, the way out of this world of such “untruths” is not through lobbying or pleading with others for a good word here or compliment there. The way out is through genuine and comprehensive reforms that we can truly believe in. We are economically strong. Let us now become morally and ethically robust. Let that be a part of our graduation to a middle income country.

India too hot

Says Modi, sends fire warning nationwide as Delhi landfill burns
REUTERS, New Delhi
India is getting too hot too early, raising the risk of fires, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned yesterday, as New Delhi sweltered in extreme heat and a burning landfill on the outskirts of the capital spewed toxic smoke into the air.
“Temperatures are rising rapidly in the country, and rising much earlier than usual,” Modi told heads of India’s state governments in an online conference.
“During such a time, we are seeing increasing incidents of fires in various places - in jungles, important buildings and in hospitals - in the past few days.”
The prime minister asked the state governments to prioritise fire-safety audits for hospitals. Dozens of people die every year in fires in Indian hospitals and factories, mainly due to illegal construction and lax enforcement of safety requirements.
Fires in Delhi’s filthy dump yards also contribute to the toxic air that people living in the world’s most polluted capital have to breathe.
As Modi spoke, firefighters were struggling to extinguish a blaze at the Bhalswa landfill site, a hillock rising above the northwestern edge of the city. Fumes from the burning waste forced a nearby school to close on Tuesday. Many of the pupils’ parents work as trash pickers at the site.
“We can’t make them sit here, it won’t be healthy for them at all,” Nayna, a part-time teacher who gave just one name, told Reuters’ partner ANI.
The cause of the landfill fire was under investigation, though such incidents are commonplace during India’s scorching summers, when temperatures regularly surpass 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) before the monsoon rains bring relief.
The capital has been hotter than 40 C for several days this month, with peak summer still to come before the cooling monsoon rains arrive in June.
The India Meteorological Department forecast heat wave conditions in the east, central and northwest of the country - which includes the capital - over the next five days and flagged risks to the health of infants, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.