The Asian Age – Defence minister A K Antony: China Gwadar work is a worry

B R Srikanth, Asian Age Correspondent

Thursday 7 February 2013. Defence minister A.K. Antony became the first minister in the UPA government to admit that China taking over the operations of Gwadar, the strategically located port in Pakistan, that overlooks a key oil shipping corridor in the Gulf, was a matter of concern for India.

Gwadar port, was handed over to state-run Chinese Overseas Port Holdings last week after previously being managed by Singapore’s PSA International, giving the Chinese, entry to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf.

“The Chinese are now constructing that port on Pakistan’s request. In one sentence, I can say that it is a matter of concern to us. My answer is simple and straightforward,” the defence minister said, speaking on the sidelines of Aero India 2013 which opened here on Wednesday.

The minister, however, declined to elaborate on whether more armed forces would be deployed along the west coast in the light of China taking over the port, which together with Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Chittagong in Bangladesh completes the Chinese “string of pearls” encircling India.

Mr Antony pointed out that though bilateral talks with China were progressing well, the Indian government was strengthening its armed forces along its eastern border in the light of reports that infrastructure was being boosted on the other side of the border.

“We cannot complain about upgrade of infrastructure (by China), but there’s no slackening on our side. It is only a state of preparedness (on the part of armed forces). It is not for confrontation,” he added. The minister noted the presence of a Chinese delegation for the first time at the Bengaluru air show, terming it a “welcome step” as both countries were trying to improve relations.

When asked about India’s preparedness to deal with the situation post 2014 when American troops’ drawdown from Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Mr Antony said, “even before the Afghan pullout, the geopolitical situation around us has been very critical, and government is aware of it and we are taking steps to meet any eventuality.

The pullout by US and others from there 2014 onwards is a matter of serious concern to us. We are taking sufficient steps to safeguard our security,” he said.

http://www.asianage.com/india/antony-china-gwadar-work-worry-023

Special to the Tribune – UK cancels varsity licence, Indian students in trouble

Shyam Bhatia in London

Friday 31 August. Indians are among the foreign students facing an uncertain future, including possible deportation, following the British Government’s decision to strip the London Metropolitan University’s (LMU) right to sponsor visas.

Both current and future students are in a state of limbo after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) revoked the university’s ‘Highly Trusted Status’ (HTS), meaning it will no longer be allowed to authorise visas, leaving even enrolled foreign students uncertain about whether they will be able to complete their courses.

Even worse, as many as 2,000 foreign students face deportation unless they find some other approved university or college that is prepared to sponsor them.

“The implications of the revocation are hugely significant and far-reaching, and the university has already started to deal with these” says a statement issued by the university, one of the largest in London.

“It will be working very closely with the UK Border Agency, Higher Education Funding Council for England, National Voice of Students (NUS) and its own Students’ Union. Our absolute priority is our students, both current and prospective, and the university will meet all its obligations to them,” the statement said.

The Border Agency is concerned that some students at this particular university have remained in the UK without valid visas and others have used their visas by way of getting into the country as illegal immigrants. London Metropolitan has also been criticised for failing to adequately test both the English language and general academic ability of its foreign students.

Indians currently represent about 10 per cent, or 350 students, of the foreign student body represented at the two central London campuses of the university.

LMU vice-chancellor Malcolm Gillies has denied his university was a threat to immigration control. Responding to the British Home Office claims that the university’s licence was being revoked “due to a failure to comply with their sponsor duties and the resulting threat to immigration control,” he said, “The university is extremely disappointed with this news. It comes after six weeks of suspension during which the university has done everything it could do to demonstrate that the current state of its operations warrants continuing HTS (highly trusted sponsor) status and that a new management has worked to remedy past weaknesses.”

Students confused, in panic

Amitabh Das, a first year student from Kolkata studying for a degree in public relations, told The Tribune, “Definitely, we Indian students will be affected. It’s very sad that the university may not be there for us to continue and we may have to go back if the university’s sponsorship licence is taken away. I am a 20-year-old and completely confused about what to do.”

Another Indian student said in a message sent to LMU, “I have read that the university’s student visa licence has been suspended by the UKBA. Can you please let me know the status of your college now? I almost applied for the September 2012 intake for MSc Aviation Management. Now, I am in two minds. Please, please, please clarify.”

Student Union official Adnan Pavel said, “Our licence has been suspended for the last six weeks and the university is suffering. Government ministers say no final decision has been made, but students are scared about what may happen.

Long-term, there will be a negative impact, especially for students from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh who will be reluctant to come. They will prefer to go to a university in countries such as USA, Canada and Australia.”

Pavel, who is from Bangladesh, told the local media: “If the university’s licence was revoked while I was out of the UK I might not be able to come back. I am the only son and my parents were waiting for me. But after I read the story and saw how critical the situation was I couldn’t fly. I paid £580 for a flight with Emirates, but I lost all the money because I cancelled at the 11th hour.”

He added: “Students are in panic, they do not know what to do. Some of my friends studying for PhDs just need to complete their dissertations. Which university will take them if they just need to complete one semester?”

Another Bangladeshi student and union official, 26-year-old Syed Rumman, 26, told London’s Evening Standard newspaper: “I am also on the university’s governing body. If I am forced to leave, the students would lose out on representation. The students are panicking. They have come all the way from their home countries and have left their families, and this news is causing a lot of stress for them. This would be a threat to higher education across the whole of the UK. People think a British education is the best in the world but they won’t come here if this happens.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120831/main8.htm

BBC News – Muslim homes razed in Burma’s Rakhine state – report

Tuesday, 14 August 2012. The largest Muslim area in the Burmese city of Sittwe was razed to the ground in recent communal violence, a UK broadcaster has reported.

A team from the UK’s Channel 4 News gained access to Sittwe, which has been off limits to reporters for months.

They filmed an area once home to 10,000 that had been reduced to rubble.

Days of violence in Rakhine state began in late May when a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered by three Muslims. A mob later killed 10 Muslims.

Sectarian clashes spread across the state, with houses of both Buddhists and Muslims being burnt down.

Most Rohingya Muslims have been moved out of Sittwe into temporary camps.

The Burmese government declared a state of emergency following the outbreak of violence and has since prevented foreign media from visiting the region.

However, the Channel 4 News team filmed the area of Sittwe known as Narzi, which it reported was once home to an estimated 10,000.

Local Rakhine Buddhists were picking through the debris of the houses, which had once been the Rohingya area of the city.

One man told reporters that the Muslims had set fire to their own homes in an attempt to burn down the whole community.

The UNHCR has said that about 80,000 people have been displaced in and around the Sittwe and Maungdaw by the violence.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said that forces sent to quash the unrest were reported to be targeting Muslims.

She has called for an independent investigation.

There is long-standing tension between Rakhine people, who are Buddhist and make up the majority of the state’s population, and Muslims.

Most of these Muslims identify themselves as Rohingya, a group that originated in part of Bengal, now called Bangladesh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19263926

The Asian Age – Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to consider ‘corrective’ steps on Indo-Bangla border

Rajnish Sharma, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 11 August 2012. The Cabinet Committee on Security will soon discuss threadbare security along the India-Bangladesh border and suggest “corrective measures, particularly in areas of strategic importance like border fencing, checking infiltration and smuggling”.

Top government sources said the comprehensive security review at the CCS level was necessitated by the recent ethnic violence in Assam, whose roots lie in cross-border infiltration. The government, sources added, attached a lot of importance to the violence in Assam and was keen to ensure there was no repeat of such incidents in future. This is more so as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam.

“It is an easy excuse to say Assam has a history of such ethnic clashes. But this time we need to get to the root cause and fix it. This review is a great opportunity for security agencies as it will go beyond Assam and look at security hazards in the entire Northeast due to the highly porous border,” a senior government official said.

While work on the 3,400-km fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border is said to be progressing at a “satisfactory pace”, certain patches are still an area of concern. Sources claim that a stretch of at least 40 km at different places in Assam is still not fenced. In addition, there are riverine areas which are not patrolled properly. Floodlighting along the fencing also has to be expedited, officials said.

After the recent ethnic clashes, the intelligence agencies have told the government there was an “erratic increase” in population in some Assam districts, including Kokrajhar and Dhubri, among the areas worst affected by rioting.

http://www.asianage.com/india/ccs-consider-corrective-steps-indo-bangla-border-832

BBC News – UN urges Bangladesh to take in people fleeing Burma violence

Friday 15 June 2012. The United Nations has urged Bangladesh to accept refugees fleeing violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma.

Tens of thousands of refugees have fled Burma’s province of Rakhine by boat. About 30,000 are already in camps in Bangladesh.

As many as 1,500 are said to have been turned back in recent days.

The UN’s refugee agency in Geneva, the UNHCR, says women and children have been left adrift on boats in the river Naf without food or care.

“There are now a number of boats drifting in the mouth of the Naf River with desperate people onboard in need of water, food and medical care,” the UNHCR said in a statement.

“It is vital that these people are allowed access to a safe haven and shelter.”

The violence flared after the murder of a Buddhist woman last month, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims which killed 10 people.

Burmese officials have said the fighting has killed 29 people and thousands of homes have been burnt down.

Stateless group

Most of the refugees travel to Bangladesh by boat through the river Naf which marks the border with Burma.

The majority of the mainly-Muslim Rohingya refugees already in Bangladesh are staying in two camps in Cox’s Bazar district.

Rakhine state is named after the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority, but also has a sizeable Muslim population, including the Rohingyas.

The Rohingyas are a Muslim group and are stateless, as Burma considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

According to reports, rioting began on Friday last week in the town of Maung Daw, spreading to the state capital Sittwe and neighbouring villages.

Two days later, President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency there.

On Thursday Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi warned that the strife would continue without “the rule of law”.

Speaking in Geneva on her first trip to Europe since 1988, she said the situation should be handled “with delicacy and sensitivity”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18460804

The Hindu – India, Bangladesh to resume talks on Teesta Treaty

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, 10 February 2012. The treaty was put on hold after West Bengal CM protested against its provisions.

India and Bangladesh will take the first step towards revisiting the proposed Teesta river treaty when officials exchange river flow data at a technical meeting of the inter-governmental Joint Rivers Commission in Kolkata on Friday.

India had put the treaty on hold after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, unhappy over the treaty’s provisions, pulled out of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delegation to Dhaka last year.

Official sources here said the West Bengal government has been taken on board this time, which Ms. Banerjee’s aides had alleged was not the case when the Teesta Treaty was finalised. “The involvement of the West Bengal government is of paramount concern as far as the Government of India is concerned,” said the sources. In case of Teesta, both sides are also thinking of involving Sikkim, the uppermost riparian State.

“Essentially we are going ahead with different elements of reaching an agreement. The issue is not dormant,” added the sources.

While agreeing to put off the signing of the Teesta Treaty, Dhaka had asked New Delhi to ensure that the agreement would be examined after some time. An agreement is expected to pave the way for the signing of a similar agreement on the Feni river and five minor ones — Dudh Kumar, Manu, Khowai, Gomti and Muhuri.

The sources said West Bengal or any of the other State through which over 50 rivers flow into Bangladesh will be kept in the loop while signing water sharing agreements. The States were briefed and their advice taken during negotiations on a protocol on land boundary that was signed during Dr. Singh’s September 2011 visit to Dhaka.

In fact, senior officials from the Foreign Office here had travelled twice to Kolkata to brief the State government during negotiations on the demarcation of the entire land boundary and the status of enclaves and adversely possessed areas.

The Centre had also obtained the written consent of States and kept its negotiating brief within the parameters of their advice, especially from the West Bengal government, on taking “pragmatic steps”, which meant retaining the status quo, on enclaves and exclaves. “We had gone along with the West Bengal government’s desire to use Sui River for demarcation of the South Berubari sector,” said the sources.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2876246.ece

The Asian Age – Fake notes come via Pakistani diplomatic bag

Rajnish Sharma

New Delhi, 12 January 2012. The National Investigation Agency and other outfits have established that the network running India’s biggest fake currency racket is being operated with the aid of officials at Pakistan’s high commission in Dhaka.

Classified reports accessed by this newspaper show high commission staff in Dhaka are using diplomatic bags to transport high-quality fake Indian currency from Karachi to Bangladesh.

Using both technical and human intelligence sources, the NIA has confirmed that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence was printing fine-quality fake Indian currency notes at a highsecurity press at Karachi’s Maler Cantonment. This is then airlifted to Bangladesh via diplomatic bags to bypass any inspection.

Indian intelligence even mounted surveillance on some airlines frequently used by the mission staff. Some consignments are routed through the Pakistani embassy in Kathmandu using similar a modus operandi.

Once in Bangladesh, the fake currency is smuggled into India through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border, with Malda in West Bengal being a major hub.

In a massive operation across 12 states, the NIA has arrested 13 persons and seized a huge quantity of fake currency.

It is suspected the entire network is run by 30 people.

“The ISI is printing the fake Indian currency at four presses — in Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar. But Maler Cantonment is the most sophisticated, where currency notes are of very good quality with a proper security thread and optically variable ink,” a senior official said.

The sources confirmed Hyderabad is a key transit point for smuggling the fake currency into South India: four arrests were from that city.

http://www.asianage.com/india/fake-notes-come-pak-diplomatic-bag-975

The Tribune – Sheikh Hasina urges India to be liberal in resolving water issues

Bijay Sankar Bora, Tribune News Service

Agartala, January 11. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed today urged the Government of “vast” India to be liberal in the efforts to resolve water issues between the two countries as well as to remove the prevailing bilateral trade imbalance.

Addressing the India-Bangladesh conclave at Pragna Bhawan here, Hasina, who arrived this afternoon to a red carpet welcome, said “Improved bilateral trade relations hold the key to remove poverty, the common problem of both the countries.

“We need peace in the region for trade to flourish across the borders and Bangladesh will not tolerate any act of terror and insurgency in the region.”

She added, “The stage has been set for the resolution of many issues between the two countries including those related to demarcation of the border in the wake of my earlier visit to India and the visit of Indian Prime Minister to Bangladesh last year. We expect our vast neighbour India to adopt a liberal approach in resolving the water issues.”

She said the trade imbalance between the countries was in favour of India. “Bangladesh imports goods worth about $4.5 billion from India every year compared to Indian import from Bangladesh worth about $521 million.

“There is, of course, need for political cooperation between the two countries for bilateral trade to flourish. Now that India and Bangladesh are enjoying close political ties, industry and business communities from both the countries need to exploit it to their advantage.”

Calling upon Indian businessmen to invest more in various sectors like power, telecommunication, textiles, health care etc, Hasina, at the same time, appealed to Bangladesh industry captains to improve their output to make inroads into the vast Indian market at this juncture when the Government of India was opening it up for them.

Earlier, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who accompanied Hasina, lauded the recent statement by Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram about Government of India’s intention to accord most-favoured-nation status to Bangladesh in trade and commerce.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, who was here to welcome Hasina, said India was keen to help Bangladesh in skill development of its youth.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120112/main5.htm

The Asian Age – Hasina visits Tripura on Wednesday to commemorate history

Agartala, 10 January 2012. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina makes a historic border crossing here on Wednesday with a 100-member delegation to commemorate the northeast Indian state’s role in her nation’s liberation.

She will be accompanied by her Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and a delegation comprising traders, prominent leaders, intellectuals and journalists during her two-day maiden visit to the state.

The Tripura Central University will confer an honorary doctorate (honoris causa) to Hasina on January 12 during the university’s ninth convocation. The Tripura government will host a huge civic reception for Hasina at the famous Assam Rifles ground.

According to historian and writer Bikach Chowdhury, Tripura had six to seven camps under four different sectors from where the ‘muktijoddhas’ (freedom fighters) fought the Pakistani forces in the nine-month-long war in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan.

“A large number of Tripura’s youths, politicians, leaders and other citizens had helped the muktijoddhas in numerous ways to achieve their goal. In fact, Tripura was the ‘labour room’ of the Bangladesh liberation war,” Chowdhury told the media, adding these could have influenced Hasina’s decision to visit.

Political analyst and columnist Gautam Das recalled: “During the war, to evade Pakistani forces’ barbaric atrocities, over one crore (10 million) Bangladeshi men, women and children took shelter in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.”

“Over 1,600,000 Bangladeshis – a number larger than the state’s then total population of 1,500,000 – had taken shelter in Tripura alone,” he said.

Das, who has personal experience of the 1971 war, said veteran communist leaders Jyoti Basu and Nripen Chakraborty had played a key role in providing relief to Bangladeshi refugees and demanding Indian recognition to Bangladesh.

“Hasina’s illustrious father and architect of Bangladesh’s independence, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had become more famous following the Agartala conspiracy case. This also may be the reason behind Hasina’s visit to Agartala,” said Tripura Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury, who had done his primary education in the erstwhile east Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

The case related to charges of sedition, slapped by the then Pakistan government against Sheikh Mujib and 34 other people. Filed in January 6, 1968, it charged Sheikh Mujib and others in conspiring with India against the stability of Pakistan.

“Bangabandhu, as he was known, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was not involved in the case though he was named as the ‘first accused’. In fact, when the Agartala conspiracy case was initiated, Sheikh Mujib had already been in prison in Dhaka along with many others,” Das said.

Chowdhury said the Tripura government has been building an ambitious edifice and a park in southern Tripura in memory of Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives during the 1971 war.

“The park being built at Chottakhola, a border village, 130 km from Agartala, at a cost of Rs.2.3 crore, will have a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” Chowdhury told the media.

Hasina’s visit was eagerly sought by the state, with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Governor D.Y. Patil and the Tripura Central University vice chancellor Arunoday Saha inviting her to visit during separate visits to Dhaka.

“Hasina at once accepted our invitations and agreed to visit Tripura,” Sarkar had said, on his return. (IANS)

http://www.asianage.com/india/hasina-visits-tripura-wednesday-commemorate-history-582

BBC News – Saudi beheading of eight Bangladesh workers condemned

By Anbarasan Ethirajan

Dhaka, 8 October 2011. The public execution of eight Bangladeshi migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has been condemned by a leading human rights group in Bangladesh, Ain O Salish Kendra.

The workers were beheaded in public in Riyadh on Friday after they were found guilty of killing an Egyptian in 2007.

Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging in the same case.

More than two million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia.

The human rights group says the execution of Bangladeshi workers should be condemned by anyone who cares for humanity.

It says that although the executions were carried out in accordance with Saudi law, the public beheading of the workers will cause immense suffering and trauma for their family members back at home.

It points out that often foreign workers don’t understand Saudi court proceedings in Arabic and they rarely get lawyers to represent their case.

It has urged the Bangladeshi government to offer legal assistance to migrant workers facing trial.

The money sent home by migrant workers in Bangladesh play a crucial role in the country’s economy.

Amnesty International says since the end of the holy month of Ramadan, executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate.

The latest beheadings bring the total number of executions in the country this year to 58, more than twice the figure for the whole of 2010.

It says many of those executed in recent years have been foreign nationals, mostly migrant workers from developing countries.

It has called on the Saudi government for an immediate moratorium on executions and to commute all death sentences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15228607