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THE whole political community as well as other sections of society appear traumatised by the sudden death of Saifur Rahman in a car crash in Brahmanbaria on Saturday on his way to Dhaka from Moulvibazar. The messages of condolence that poured in from all quarters, political and non-political alike, and across the party divide, go to prove the esteem in which the 77-year-old former finance minister was held even by his political opponents and detractors. The nation itself felt greatly diminished.
   M Saifur Rahman was a politician in a different mould. He did not climb to political leadership by the conventional path of student politics; he changed course in the midst of his professional career when he was handpicked by the late president Ziaur Rahman, first as adviser in charge of commerce, later finance minister, while Zia converted his military regime to a civilian one. He was the longest serving finance minister in the nation’s history, having formulated 12 national budgets. It is not only that he made his debut in politics at a mature age of 44 he also displayed a kind of maturity and moderation in his 33 years of political career. Compared to his peers he darted fewer invectives in the direction of opponents and did nothing to fuel the bitterness and acrimony that had been vitiating the political scene. He was not crudely partisan and proved himself to be accommodative and receptive to dissenting voices. This helped to raise the dignity of his party (in which, unfortunately, there were not too many like him) and grow a culture of tolerance as far it was possible to do so given the times, the human material and the system within which they were framed. But there can be no denying that he was a faithful devotee of crude market economy, in which market forces, not the greater interests of the people at large, are allowed to have the final say in the economic affairs of a country. In present-day parlance he would be called neo-liberal.
   The policy of uncontrolled market economy that he pursued was only slightly tempered by his support of safety net for the ultra-poor and rural education, particularly for the girl. The safety net programme could not go very far but the first step was taken, while enrolment of the girls in the primary schools has increased significantly. Another memorable legacy of his was to mobilise local resources for development financing. Before him dependence on foreign development partners for financing developmental projects was overwhelming. In the last two and a half years of his life he must have been filled with a sense of helplessness. Those who had been watching his role over the years could sense that. The military-backed interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed mounted a drive against political leaders through vilification, incarceration and legal action in order, perhaps, to set the stage for non-political forces to establish their rule. They wanted to rope in Saifur Rahman in their campaign. Saifur Rahman could not take any principled stand, perhaps, because there were charges against some of his family members and the interim government was using this as a weapon to force him to submit. These must have been agonising days for the aged leader. He, however, eventually came out of the trap, defying the deviating step that he was blackmailed into.
   However, the mainstream of society would remember his positive legacies – the legacies of his political outspokenness, his pioneering efforts to mobilise national resources to finance national development, his contribution to spreading of female education in the rural areas, and on top of that all, his liberal attitude towards opposing views particularly in politics.

A stronger radio network
could save lives

Weather experts predict higher frequency and intensity of extreme weather events with climate change induced by global warning. What that really means is that as the globe heats up, its climate will begin to change, at one point irreversibly so. One of the fallouts of this changing weather would be the increase in frequency and ferocity of natural disasters. The ‘once-in-a-20-year flood’ will begin to occur every five years and the ‘once-in-a-five-year-cyclone’ may occur every other year. The signs are already becoming clear. The intervals between major floods are decreasing as it is in case of cyclones. Although cyclones are still not that frequent because many do not make landfall or cause severe damage, the number of times that there are higher danger signals in the bay have increased significantly.
   Given this situation the need for a strong wireless network in the bay to warn fishing trawlers cannot be overemphasised, especially since a few hundred people die every year caught in storm in the deep sea. According to a report in New Age on Sunday, the communications equipment in Chittagong with an initial capacity of only 150 square kilometres has been reduced to 100 square kilometres. The report also quoted fishermen complaining of not being able to request emergency help on radio because the internal communications network was not large enough for them to contact the mainland.
   There is a strong likelihood that this problem will only increase in the future and the government would then be hard pressed to install stronger networks on an urgent basis. But there is no point waiting for an even more compelling situation because a stronger network would help save more lives, by not only sending out warnings about weather but also by receiving distress calls from the sea and acting upon them.

The prime minister, Shaikh Hasina’s approval of offshore oil and gas exploration deals in the Bay of Bengal with two international companies, ConocoPhillips and Tullow Oil plc, runs counter to her polls campaign pledges. The cabinet committee on economic affairs, headed by the finance minister, on August 24, approved offshore oil and gas exploration deals with the two companies in three sea blocks in the bay, on condition that they would not operate in the disputed areas in the blocks. Many rights groups including the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports have protested and brought out demonstrations against the government move to award the offshore blocks to international oil companies over the years.
   As regards the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, it came into being on August 18, 1998, at a meeting in the national press club, attended mostly by the left-leaning parties, groups and individuals. Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah was nominated as the convenor of the committee and Anu Muhammad was given the charge of the member secretary. The committee began its move with protests against gas export from Shahbajpur and Bibiyana. Later, it got involved in the movement against government-proposed open-pit coal mine in Phulbari, but it rose to prominence in 2002, when it organised a large convention which was attended by about 7000 people. There is no denying that all these movements have stemmed from the committee’s realisation that people’s control over the natural resources can play an important role in alleviating the poverty and misery that majority of the people are subjected to.
   According to a report front-paged in New Age on Thursday, more than 50 people, including the member-secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, Anu Muhammad, were injured when the police charged into the marchers heading for Petrobangla headquarters in the capital on Wednesday in protest against the government’s decision to award three offshore blocks to international oil companies. About 1,000 leaders and activists of the committee gathered at Muktangan where they held a rally in the morning before marching towards the Petrobangla office at Karwan Bazar where the protesters were scheduled to lay siege.
   The national committee announced the programme in protest against the government’s decision to award three blocks to two IOCs, with a provision allowing them to export up to 80 per cent gas. The committee feared such a move would threaten the country’s energy security. The police swooped on the protesters and clubbed them indiscriminately after they broke through the barricades set up by the lawmen at Paltan crossing at around noon and tried to march towards the Petrobangla office. Angry protesters fought pitched battles with the police at Bijoynagar for about half an hour before dispersing.
   Both the legs of Anu Muhammad were fractured in the police attack while a number of other left-leaning political leaders and activists, including Saiful Huq, Mushrefa Mishu, Jannatul Marium Tania, Montu Biswas, Srikant Samaddar, Biplab Mandal, Gazi Shafiullah and Sumi Akhtar sustained injuries. The injured were taken to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and most of them were released after first aid. Professor Anu Muhammad was shifted to Square Hospital from DMCH. This gratuitous police action on the peaceful demonstration brazenly points to the fact that the government is desperate to protect the interest of international oil companies instead of the national interest.
   Condemning the police action, Anu Muhammad told reporters that their campaigns were aimed at protecting the natural resources of the country. ‘We are not against the government; we are against the move to export our natural resources. It is the government’s responsibility to protect the lives and property of the citizens. I don’t understand why the police pounced on us,’ he said.
   When members of the national committee brought out the procession on Wednesday, they were only exercising their democratic right to register a protest, which is enshrined in the constitution of the republic. Hence, the ensuing police excesses on the protesters, which resulted in grievous injuries to nearly 50 people, including Anu Muhammad, amounted to infringement on the protesters’ constitutional rights. The conscious sections of the citizenry have rightly condemned the police excesses, which were not only unacceptable but also inconsistent with the Sheikh Hasina government’s promise for a change.
   The national committee organised this particular event in order to protest against unjustifiably allowing foreign oil companies to export up to 80 per cent of the natural gas they would find in the offshore blocks that have been recently awarded to them. This provision, according to reports, would be included in the new generic production sharing contract that is generally the primary tool of agreement between the oil companies and Petrobangla. Thus far the production sharing contracts prohibited gas exports through pipeline implying mandatory value addition, and thus potential foreign investment, employment generation and technology transfer. The contract also stipulated Bangladesh’s first right of refusal in case of gas sales.
   But it appears from reports that despite a rising demand for natural gas in the local market the Bangladesh government has decided not to buy gas from the foreign companies. This will eventually allow foreign companies to sell their product abroad to third parties for a higher price than what could have been offered by Petrobangla. In doing so, the government will also have to change the provisions prohibiting direct gas exports without value addition, and thereby absolving the foreign oil companies of their obligation to make substantial investment in the production of liquefied or compressed natural gas. The current provisions, as the government has decided to amend, have all the advantages for the foreign companies but there are almost no prospects of discernible benefits to the country. Thus, the reason for allowing gas exports, or Petrobangla’s refusal to purchase gas from the foreign companies and thereby allowing them to export, stand liable to be questioned. That is what the national committee sought to do but ended up being severely beaten for having done so.
   One of the many people who visited Anu Muhammad was Khaleda Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and former prime minister. Her gesture and condemnation should be appreciated but with a half-hearted approach because, like all previous governments, her government also sought to secure individual interests at the cost of the country’s natural resources. In fact, it was during the Khaleda Zia government that these new generation production sharing contracts were drawn up and it was also during her tenure that the law enforcers had swooped on the national committee for protesting against the proposed open-pit coalmine at Phulbari. One would expect that Khaleda’s newfound concern in this regard would not remain confined to gaining political mileage alone, but would go beyond that with an unflinching commitment to the cause the national committee has espoused.
   However, it should not be left up to the opposition political parties alone to protest against and effectively resist such an anti-national move by the government. Patriotic individuals and social forces must also join forces around the national committee and the cause it stands for.