Voters' dilemma

Badrul Islam, Uttara, Dhaka
Thirty-five years has passed since Bangladesh became independent and yet our elected representatives, have failed to provide for the voters, their Constitutional right for "Democratic Government" and an "Electoral Body" that will formulate procedures for a "Free and Fair Election". Today the Voters find themselves in "the horns of a dilemma" in respect of three major points; (1) Will there be an election? (2) Will they be able to vote? (3) Will they be able to trust their elected representatives, collectively (in power and in opposition) to follow democratic principles to the letter, in formulating policies that will assure them of an enriched and secured life?
The "dilemma" is directly attributed to the recent failure of the "Dialogue" between the AL and BNP, mainly due the lack of political will, wisdom, and strategy; and indirectly to the CG system, which is not free from weaknesses as the voters and political parties are now witnessing.
However, the voters find it pathetic and difficult to comprehend that their elected representatives as leaders and political activists: (1) lack human qualities and feelings, (2) that in utter disregard of human life and sufferings, adopt undemocratic methods to settle their disputes, (3) that without consent from voters (through a simple "YES" and "NO" poll system) opted directly for a programme of laying siege and blockade paralyzing the country, (5) in the street battles, against each other, its Bengalis killing the Bengalis and (4) When all the "Hullabaloo" is over, the voters have to vote for these representatives!
In his article," Strange indeed is this land"( The Daily Star July 2,2006) Shahnoor Wahid states, "Then we have this special breed of people who go about doing business of politics as they are not good at anything else. Strangely enough, these self-proclaimed people's leaders or netas in Bengali are always asking for people's blood! They goad others to lay down their lives so that they may go to power and buy brand new duty-free cars."
The "dilemma" for the citizens continues, as elections must be held for Bangladesh to continue to remain within the frame of democracy.
Meanwhile, concrete solutions have, NOT, yet been found. The ten member Advisers are facing compounding problems, but, as reported in all TV channels, they have jointly submitted to the President/CA their recommendations and now "It's only the President " who will decide-and that's the major weakness of the CG system; whereas, if the Election Commission was strengthened and made a completely independent institution, the President couldn't negate the decision of the CEC.
Let's pray for wisdom to prevail amongst all those who are negotiating for democracy and especially the President, who, by virtue of his position, is currently the most powerful administrator ; but hopefully as citizen first, and President next, he will remain morally obliged to work for the well being of the nation.

Feel free to post your comments on the article below.

CBd thrilled with 10 Advisers for CTG

Drumroll... from left in the picture are the Care Taker Advisers and they are Human rights activist Advocate Sultana Kamal, Chairperson of Scholastica Pvt Ltd Yasmin Murshed, Prof Emeritus Sufia Rahman, Journalist Mahbubul Alam, former secretary Dhiraj Kumar Nath, former inspector general of police M Azizul Haque, former foreign secretary CM Shafi Sami, Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, former cabinet secretary Dr Akbar Ali Khan and Justice Fazlul Haque is being sworn in as adviser to the caretaker government by Chief Adviser Prof Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban last night at around 10:30 pm.

There was a lot of speculation amongst the parties and the media and amongst the deshbashi about the 'who' factor. Who will be the adviser to the CTChief? Now we have a group to lobby for reform, for positive change and for meaning change. Everyone should get ready and make sure they have their talking points ready. CBd is going to be sending an Idea portfolio to the CTG. All your suggestion is welcome. GO join CBd yahoo-group today so your ideas are included. We must give them very good ideas and create the best way they will absorb this information in the shortest possible time. Now what to do about MA Aziz? Let us think about ways to help him resign his post. Read about the CTG apointment here

'Banker to the poor' Dr Younus the Greatest of all.

OSLO (AFP) - Attack the causes of poverty and you remove the roots of conflict -- that is the message the Nobel Committee wanted to send out by awarding its Peace Prize to the creator of a micro-credit scheme which benefits millions, analysts said on Friday.







Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, the so-called "Banker to the Poor", and the Grameen Bank he founded three decades ago were the surprise winners of the award for pioneering a system of small-scale loans that has helped 6.6 million people escape the grind of poverty.
As the head of the Nobel Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, said: "Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty."
A glance at recent Peace Prize winners reveals a shift in emphasis in the thinking of the secretive five-member committee away from the classic role of peacemaker, as it has honoured people working in the fields of human rights and the environment.
Asle Sveen, a Norwegian historian who closely follows the Nobel Prize, told AFP: "It is the first time that the fight against poverty has been rewarded in itself.
"There were enough good nominations in the area of conflict resolution in the strictest sense but the Nobel Committee is increasingly taking the fight to the fundamental reasons for which war is waged.
"It is not enough to make peace, this peace must be a just peace and the causes of war, such as hunger and poverty, must be treated at their roots."
Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai was another surprise winner in 2004 and the latest award shows that the Nobel Committee is moving with the times, said Sverre Lodgaard, the director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
"Challenges to peace have become different over the years. We have become more aware of new connections which impact on our security.
"Peace is not just the absence of war but also the absence of reasons for having a war. The committee has been good at updating its concept of peace," Lodgaard said.
"The prize this year is distinct because it's really focused on Yunus' contribution to alleviate poverty.
"There is a good justification for that. There are more lives lost because of extreme poverty than because of war."
He said the Nobel jury had probably expanded its reach as far as it could go for now.
"I don't see much of an expansion in terms of fields or subject areas for a while because I think that the Committee has come to its outer limits," he said.
Lodgaard said however that new categories within the existing fields, such as artists or poets, could be rewarded for their role in creating the conditions for peace.
Stein Toennesson, the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, said he believed a genuine peace broker such as former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who helped end a three-decade conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh last year, should have won.
"Yunus and the Grameen Bank are very good winners but I would have preferred someone who did something earth-shattering for peace," Toennesson said.
Ahtisaari, a veteran mediator whose also led Namibia to independence and helped end the fighting in






We the Change Bangladesh team salute Dr Younus for making us proud to day to be a Bangladeshi.

Calculationeering

Ershad just negated his joining BNP coalition in Khulna saying he may contest on all 300 constituency on his own. This man is a master of misdirection. Unpredictable and unreliable. He says one thing and does another. In the end what he will do is anybody's guess. Election Calculationeers analysing how to create majority in Sangsad realises how irrelevant Jammat will become if JP joins the four party coalition. Amongst the masses Jammat has little support on its own. In 91 Jammat got the least number of seats. Only in coalition does Jammat do well. Especially under BNP in 2001 did Jammat win most seats. Some people want Ershad to join four party coalition for this very reason. We at CBd watch in horror as we have still no voter list, no effort by the poltical elite to seat for talks to lessen the burden on the caretaker government and abosolute disregard for national interest.

When common sense leaves Chairman of Board of Investment

this is the result. The defamation suit filed by Executive Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI) Mahmudur Rahman and the consequent warrants issued is a mockery of our lower courts. This is one more example of what happens when the judiciary is entwined with the legislative. If this kind of desperate measures are taken by the steward of this administration during its last leg, when will calm cool headed national priority strategic thinking take place? Something is rotten in the state of Bangla and it's not the Civil soceity. Its important to understand the lead up to this current debacle.

Voice of America Interview of ChangeBangladesh.

Few days ago there was a brief interview of ChangeBangladesh organization in Voice of America Bangla by Sarkar Kabiruddin where Kawser Jamal on behalf of ChangeBangladesh expressed the organization's views and ideas and its existance in different part of the world. For more information about our organization please stay tuned to our website.
www.changeBangladesh.com

Here is the short description and a link to the interview please give us your feed back.


Kawsar Jamal for Change Bangladesh
By Sarkar Kabiruddin Washington30-July-2006
Interview with Kawsar Jamal
Listen to Interview with Kawsar Jamal
Kawsar Jamal is an IT professional and has his own consulting firm on web site designing and net-working. He studied in the University of Arkansas, Little Rock and lives there.
In an exclusive interview with VOA Bangla Service he talks about his newly formed website group called , “ Change Bangladesh.” The objectives of this group is to implement programs as envisioned by the new generation of Bangladeshis across the board and take Bangladesh forward along the direction of modern development.
Kawsar says the group's immediate plan is to motivate Bangladeshi voters to cast their votes in the coming elections based on the merit of candidates, specially their honesty & integrity and not necessarily on party lines or any other consideration .


Please click here to listen to the interview

http://www.voanews.com/bangla/2006-07-30-voa4.cfm

The International Technology Academy( TITA) at Dhaka,Bangladesh

Changebangladesh have started to receive some outstanding project proposals. One such non-solicited came from amongst our very own Mr M. Chowdhury, he is a Chemical Eng and CEO of Amreteck Pharma Group,also serving as Senior Validation Engineer, Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA. The concept of the academy is unique to say the least and could create a network of professional network for Bangladeshis home and abroad thus strengthening our local industries with non-foreign Bangladeshi consultants. This project is very much inline with our Competent leadership initiative. Please read the proposal and liberally comment. We are very excited that changebangladesh may become a conduit for Bangladeshi working professionals all over the world to go back home and create a sustainable dynamic economy. Hope is in the dreaming. Dream with us of the impossible. Together we will make change a reality for Bangladesh.

Link

Destructive role of Chief election Commisioner(MA Aziz) confusing voter list issue

Here we are again with the election knocking at the door and the voters of the country have little clue if they are on the list and if not where they can go to fix the error. The election commisioner is playing a dubious role at best and worse leading the country into an uncertain time without a prepared voter's list. The Bangladesh Observer did an editorial on the topic this week, a must read. The daily star reports today the consequence of these bad leadership by the EC. A much lamentable state of affairs. This must be fixed.

Taking a closer look at the Bangladesh election commission

Yesterday’s clashes with the opposition and cops are unprecedented development of demented illogical analytical minds. What the heck are people thinking fighting their own people?! We seem to have totally failed to ingrain the importance of muslims respect for each other, respect for countrymen, the teachings of Islam as a religion and just plain common sense.

Don't give me equal protest rule argument, its mute for the Bangladeshi context. Figure out other means of protest. We have done this same hartal,gerou thing for way too long. Its past getting old. Be creative! Leave our streets alone. Its belongs to all people in Bangladesh not only the activists.

Today's post is going to take a closer look at this mess and try to make some sense of it all.

Why are activists surrounding the EC? They are mad cause the man in charge just sucks. So Why does he not resign? Well lets just put it this way-he is too stubborn and stupid to realize what he is doing to his country. He has no vision and lacks sympathy for the continuity of the institution that he works for. Same goes for that judge who does not make any public statements about whether he will stay or go if BNP makes him chief when the Caretaker governments takes control.

Historically, the significance of the election commission has been at the whim of the one in power. The institution was enacted since the constitution but was not allowed to function because the formers leaders of the country was basically power grabbers. Yes, including the co-fathers of the nation; Mr Mujib(the father of the nation depending on whom you talk to) and Mr Zia(the other father commander-in-chief depending on whom you talk to here as well). They saw little use of an independent place where everyone is registered and verified and voted their opinion come election time. This is a human instinct to hoard power once in charge and by this measure none of the preceding people who came to power measured up. For that matter the people in power now are doing a piss poor job of strengthening an institution(EC) at the crux of any democracy .

By the way what is democracy-”Will of the people”- well will of the people this week is to march in the streets, how exactly is that serving the working man and woman who drives our economy? ‘It’s the economy stupid’, here I quote former U.S. President Bill Clinton slogan directly from his first presidential campaign. He is a smart man so why are we in Bangladesh trying to reinvent the wheel? Do we not think it’s the economy that will provide for us and our children? What is the point of paralyzing communication network, surrounding office buildings and parading on our arterial streets that keep our economy running smoothly? Where is the common sense of our political elite gone? We in changebangladesh want to know, when will it be back? Do you need help political leaders, do you need to talk? Talk to the people whom you are serving,talk amongst each other, figure it out. The streets are not yours alone. Be responsible and have some common sense. It’s the economy stupid!

Daily star link

Wiki :politics of Bangladesh

Bravo Hasina and Khaledah you guys really help Bangladesh to get there.

Dogs, cats move freely in pediatric ward in Kishoreganj Sadar Adhunik Hospital: Sick babies share beds
KishoreganjA baby admitted to Kishoreganj Sadar Adhunik Hospital for treatment of pneumonia is now attacked with diarrhoea also.
Three-month old Asadullah was admitted to the pediatric ward on June 12. The kid was shifted to diarrhoea ward before pneumonia was treated.
"My son was attacked with diarrhoea because of the filthy atmosphere there (pediatric ward)", his father Misir Uddin claimed while talking to this correspondent during a visit to the hospital on Friday.
"Even dogs and cats move freely there", he alleged. The room is dirty and disease-carrying flies and insects are all around. There is stinky smell as the floor is not cleaned regularly, he alleged. "Now my son is fighting for life", he said.
This correspondent also found a dog roaming in a room in the ward.
Sick babies were seen sharing beds in the pediatric ward. Salma Begum, mother of 10-month old pneumonia patient Roman said, "I admitted my baby to the ward for treatment of pneumonia. She has been kept on a bed along with two others, she said.
Diseases spread from one baby to another as they lie on the same bed, another mother, Salma, alleged Shamsunnaher, mother of two-year-old Junayed was seen helping her son inhale oxygen from an oxygen cylinder, which should be operated by a trained nurse.
No nurse or doctor was found in the ward from 12 noon to 1:30 pm on Friday.
A total of 53 babies were seen on 22 beds in the pediatric ward.
When contacted, Civil Surgeon (CS) Saij Uddin said babies share beds because of lack of beds. Asked about allegation of unhygienic condition, he said he will look into the matter and take steps immediately.
There has been a rush of pneumonia patients in the hospital as the disease spread in the district in last two weeks. It killed two babies and attacked over 500 during the period, sources at the Sadar hospital said.
The dead are Diba, 7, of Binnati area of Kishoreganj Sadar upazila and a three-day old unidentified baby from Choddosota area of the upazila.
A dog moving freely in the pediatric ward in Kishoreganj Sadar Ahdunik Hospital. PHOTO: STAR

BhangChoor the path for the Victory to the parliament.

The V sign what does it mean?

What Victory sign is this?

Whose Victory was that?

Who are his bosses that he is showing the Victory sign to ?

Who won from this Victory of this Young Man? Surely not any living Bangladeshi.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Opposition activists fought pitched battles with police in the Bangladesh capital on Wednesday on the second day of a two-day strike to press for electoral reforms.
Police used batons and fired teargas shells to disperse activists in the city's Mahakhali and Mirpur areas, witnesses said. At least one car was set ablaze.
An opposition alliance led by the Awami League called the strike to try to force the government to accept demands for electoral reform ahead of next January's parliamentary election.
The demands include the removal of the election commissioner and an opposition say in the caretaker administration to be appointed to run the country ahead of the polls.
"We are agitating to assert our democratic rights. But the government shows no tolerance because it is an autocratic regime," said Tofayel Ahmed, a former minister and senior Awami leader.
More than 100 people were injured on the first day of the strike in clashes between activists and police. Seven vehicles including a police car were burned and about 50 other vehicles were damaged in the capital and elsewhere, police and witnesses said.
On Tuesday police detained about 200 activists, including women, across the country. They would be prosecuted for "attacking police, damaging public property and creating anarchy", police said.

The Question lies what are they getting out of it ? the Property and Cars and Publics belongings which are set ablaze and broken in to pieces who will pay for that?

Can we get this money from Mercantile Bank as Mr Jaheel (Jalil) the owner will pay

Can we get this money from the swiss account of Sheikh Hasina ?

Can we get this money from the Foreign account of the AWL Bank account ?

Whats the address to send the invoice of the damages being done ?

When BNP was in opposition they did the samething and now as AWL is in opposition they are doing the same thing?

DO they really care about us ? Do these two parties with their allies and chamchas really feel 1% for the country?

Sheihk Hasina's son and daughter live in USA all MP ministers sons and daughters stay abroad

in foreign country for education or better life .BNP Tareq Zia ride in the new series Mercedes and his daughters and families are in the security of Army what about the common people? You and me ?

Is there any one thinking about us the poor ones?

Is there a need for the emergence of the third force?

Lets make a movement against Hartal no matter who is in oppostion this strategy has to stop this won't work. We want Peace and harmony we want to live are we asking too much from these two uneducated ladies?

Feel free give your comments.

2 RMG units set ablaze, 100 damaged, 1 killed Are we Stupid?

Angry garment workers(inset), throng the highway in front of Dhaka EPZ demanding payment of arrear wages and higher wages. They torched buses parked on a field while a garment factory is in flames in the background. PHOTO: STAR






A garment worker of Savar export processing zone (EPZ) was killed yesterday as several thousand of his colleagues clashed with employees loyal to the owners of factories while rampaging through the area demanding that their 11-point charter of demands including a pay raise be met.
Workers of different garment factories in the EPZ yesterday came out on the street, set two factories on fire, damaged more than a hundred factories and a number of vehicles, and put up barricades to drive home their demands. They also demanded payment of all unpaid salaries, overtime wages, basic wages for all, and an end to harassment by employees loyal to the owners of factories.
They torched 10 to 12 vehicles on Parishad road in Ashulia inside the EPZ.
More than a hundred persons including workers, police and journalists were injured as employees loyal to the owners attacked the workers.
Rana, 25, a garment worker from the EPZ, was admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation with a bullet wound in the back. He died there in late afternoon. Tejgaon police sent the body to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy. Three other garment workers were admitted to hospitals with bullet wounds.
Another worker Saiful, 30, received treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital for an injury in the head.
This was the second incident of garment workers' protest in a week in the capital. Following the incident EPZ authorities announced a two-day shutdown of the factories.
Demonstrating workers became violent as a rumour spread that at least one worker in the EPZ was killed as law enforcers opened fire.
A witness said the incident started as workers of Universe Knitting Factory in the EPZ called a strike yesterday morning for fair 'piece rate' (rate of wages per piece of ready made garment).
Workers of the production unit, who do not get basic wages, demanded basic and overtime wages.
"Employees loyal to the owner keep three percent from our salaries for an unknown reason. They have been doing it for years making the workers angry," said Ashiq, a worker from Universe.
Following an altercation with the management regarding yesterday's strike and their demands, the workers of Universe got locked in a battle with employees loyal to the owner. Some workers vandalized some cars inside the EPZ. The Ansars opened a few rounds of fire to control the mob, which made the workers more violent and they started damaging factories, sources said.
The demonstrating workers went to other factories and asked the workers there to join them. Hundreds of workers stepped out on the street and started damaging vehicles and throwing brickbats at windowpanes of garment factories and the EPZ branch of Shahjalal Bank.
Within an hour several thousand workers with iron rods, bamboos, and wooden planks in hands blocked the Savar-Ashulia road and started attacking all garment factories around.
"They do not pay us wages regularly. So we are on the street and damaging factories," said a garment worker.
They put up barricades on the Ashulia-Tongi road, forcing several hundred vehicles on the busy route to halt in long queues till 5:00pm. Hundreds of workers were seen walking all the way from Savar EPZ to Tongi Bridge as no vehicle was plying the road.
Fire brigade sources said the workers set fire to the factory of Bando Design Ltd in Jamgara area near Fantasy Kingdom and to A-1 Garments Factory inside the EPZ.
"Suddenly they came and started throwing brickbats at my factory. Cloths worth at least Tk 15 crore were damaged as they set my factory on fire. They also burned five buses of my factory," said Siddiqur Rahman, chairman of Bando.
BDNEWS reported that Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) said agitators from outside incited the workers, forced into the EPZ and ransacked garment factories there. It said there are several Chinese, Korean and Malaysian factories in Savar EPZ.
PHOTOJOURNALIST ASSAULTEDSaiful Islam Kallol, a photojournalist of the daily Prothom Alo was assaulted by some employees loyal to the management of a garment factory inside the EPZ while discharging his duties there. He was assaulted as he went inside a factory to take photograph of a scene where some employees were beating some workers. The employees of the factory beat Saiful up and vandalised his motorbike.
RAB TOOK CONTROL As the workers became furious, the law enforcers allegedly took a passive posture at one stage. Later large contingents of armed police and RAB went to the scene at 2:00pm. A bullhorn in hand, a RAB officer reached the EPZ gate and told the workers that persons responsible for opening fire on them will be punished.
Getting the assurance the workers slowly calmed down. However, they continued damaging factories at different places outside the EPZ.
While throwing brickbats at a glass façade of Irish Knitwear Ltd, one of the workers said the owner of Irish Knitwear has not been paying workers' wages for the last two months.
As this report was being filed yesterday evening hundreds of police and RAB personnel took control of the area while hundreds of workers were still demonstrating at the EPZ gate.


So who is behind this?

They are saying India is it because they don't have the guts to utter the word Opposition?

So India from thousands mile away putting fire in our Factories? Indain did progress a lot?

Isn't it all political ? are we stupid or the government is stupid or the opposition is stupid?

Check with the Election Comission if you are enlisted in the voter list?

Bangladesh Election 2007 : Voter Registration Issues tell us what you think is wrong with the Election ComissionThis survey aims to raise questions about the 8 days left to fix thehuge mismanaged eligible voter list database. The numbers to call are8129325 and 9129033 , find your names and make sure someone else isnot going to get a free ride on your ballot. Call your commisioner now

We seek your opinion on the National Election 2007

Please take our weekly survey.The more people responds the better the questions become. Also please tell us what questions you want to ask your politicians in your constituency. Be bold here . We respect your privacy. Mention which constituency and the politicians name. Send us your ideas to info@changebangladesh or comment to this post.

25 Issues for consideration

25 issues: help us prioritize them, what in your opinion belongs on the top. Number them and send us your comments. We also encourage you to write concept papers on each issue and send it to info@changebangladesh . Please mention clearly the issue you are wrting on. Help us frame a constructive debate and give reporters ideas on what to write on. We are developing the Issue Central on our site, your paper will link from there. If you don't want to publish your concept paper that is fine too. Just mention it. We respect your privacy.
Our target is 100 papers on each issue for the voters consideration. Please help changebangladesh by putting a priority number and send us comments on why you think they are more important than the next. Please participate and see Bangladesh change through dialogue.

Corruption issues
Desher Mati Security issues (against those who bomb us)
Power generation and distribution issues
Water purification and distribution issue
Unsustainable Price hike of essentials issues
Agricultural issues
Dhaka traffic congestion issues
Monga issues
Foreign direct investment issues
Hartal issues
Educational issues
Garments issues (industry in general issues)
Small Medium Enterprises issues
Student politics issues
Technology issues (ICT)
Macro-economic issues
Overcoming Leadership challenges (profit and non-profit sector) issues
Political leadership term limit issues
Article 70 of Bangladesh constitution issues
Separation of the judiciary issues
Autonomy of local government issues
Legislative committee functionality issues
Business Money in National Politics issues
Dredging issues (hoar, baor and main water arteries of the country)
Within Party democracy, institution building democracy issues

more on article 70:
1 .http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/11/19/d51119110290.htm
2. http://www.pmo.gov.bd/constitution/part5.htm
Article 70.
Vacation of seat on resignation, etc.
(1) A person elected as a member of Parliament at an election at 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 the party. Explanation. - If a member of Parliament-
(a) being present in Parliament abstains from voting, or
(b) absents himself from any sitting of Parliament, ignoring the direction 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. (2) If, at any time, any question as to the leadership of the Parliamentary party of a political party arises, the Speaker shall, within seven days of being informed of it in writing by a person claming the leadership of the majority of the members of that party in Parliament, convince a meeting of all members of Parliament of that party in accordance with the Rules of procedure of Parliament and determine its Parliamentary leadership by the votes of the majority through division and if, in the matter of voting in Parliament, any member does not comply with the direction of the leadership so determined, he shall be deemed to have voted against that party under clause (1) and shall vacate his seat in the Parliament.
(3) If a person, after being elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate, joins any political party, he shall, for the purpose of this article, be deemed to have been elected as a nominee of that Party.]

Still more for your background. Give us links to read.

Bibliography
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/03/11/d603111501108.htm
http://www.pmo.gov.bd/constitution/part5.htm
http://salamdhaka.blogspot.com/2005/11/yes-repeal-article-70.html
http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2006/03/04/index.htm
http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/E_0079.htm
http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/C_0338.htm

Welcome to Changebangladesh community blog

We welcome everyone to our changebangladesh organism. We call it an organism since our aim is to organically and sustainably grow to be one of many effective pressure groups to knock some sense onto our political leadership. It is not an organization yet. You can help us become one. Send us emails with your ideas to info@changebangladesh.com
We recently received some exposure from the alternative press. We encouraged everyone with blogs and other web outlets to link to us.

A lot is planned this year in our programs. Our "HaterModheJoggoPrathe" tool where each candidates five components stands for the five fingers of the hand.The five components are :

a. Biographical information

b. Campaign finance

c. Issue positions

d. Voting records in Sangsad

e. Public statements

The thumb stands for the candidates Biographical information, the thinking is its the 'fattest part of the equation' his psychological, personal and educational development. The index finger stands for campaign finance, the crux of human evolution to form the pinch and in contemporary Bangladesh politics, because of black-money and corruption, the Pinch is the ethical dimension that will make us in Bangladesh become effective "human" leader again.The peoples' "fist" is the people's power. This is all memory aid for the voter. We have borrowed these concepts from evolutionary biology and Brac. It is in a sad attemt to dumb down for all voters, ways to remember in that voting both what they should vote on, what they should consider for its country's next leadership. These crude examples obviously needs to be developed further but this can be a start. The inspiration of Brac oral rehydration program where famously their "pinch of salt, ak mot gur and ak litre pani makes for good saline "You are welcome to develop our programs, send us an email and let us know you are interested. They all involve producing substantive public policy debate instead of mindless heckling and uninformed political partisan rhetoric.

We really are not against the two parties. We believe the two big parties , AL and BNP among others should reform into leadership organizations and they must encourage a playing field where only substantive people with expertise join their ranks. We believe their student leaders do not belong on the streets. They must be nurtured back into the classroom, the labrotary and research conventions. They are the future leaders of the country. A leader cannot do what he does not know. We must nurture away from all violence, negative confrontation for the next generation. We have to stop shooting at our foot. All implications of what is the result is well ducumented.

The utilization of black money and muscle power is by no account helping the people at large. This is also harmful for the politicians themselves. We want to believe that politicians will have the best interest of the people at heart. They will be the gatekeepers of ethics in a land as ancient as ancient itself. Our 3000 long history speaks to our determination to exist and survive as an ethnic group. Contemporary politics does not speak to our golden sage heritage. We must rediscover our ancient traditions and adapt to modernity all that applies. We can do this. Think now together so we can act organically as a whole in december 2006 at the Probashi conference hosted by Center for Policy dialogue.

Together we can have "HaterModheJoggoPrathe"