The toothless tiger

Mushfique Wadud finds out how the recent reform proposals for the ACC Act 2004 will render the institution powerless

photo by Al-Emrun Garjon

According to the law, permission must be granted by the government to prosecute judges and public servants,’ informs Mohiuddin. ‘Such a law is necessary to ensure that the government officials can work without fear. If there is no such law, the officials will not work properly because of fear,’ he adds.

Dr Shahdin Malik believes that section 197 of the criminal procedure protects government officers from charges of alleged criminal activities, committed in the course of official duty. For example, a police officer will be protected if in tackling mobs, he uses more force than necessary. ‘This protection does not cover corruption,’ says Shahdin.

The debate over Indian movies

Mushfique Wadud talks to people involved with the film industry in Bangladesh about the recent debate over the screening of Indian movies in Bangladeshi cinemas

The government’s two-mindedness over decision-making was once again evident during the recent controversy over screening of Indian movies in Bangladeshi cinema halls. In the space of 24 hours, people got two messages. First, the government had lifted the ban on the screening of Indian movies and then, that it had stayed on the previous decision.

On April 24, an international news agency reported that Bangladesh has lifted a four-decade ban on Indian films, quoting the commerce minister. However, just one day after the report, on April 26, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a cabinet meeting asked the commerce ministry to repeal the decision to withdraw a ban on import and display of Indian films in cinema halls. According to a newspaper report, the prime minister expressed her dissatisfaction over the decision regarding the lifting of the ban slapped in 1972. The repeal decision came just hours after a protest, at the Film Development Corporation, by producers and actors involved with the Bangladesh film industry.

Death knell

Mushfique Wadud finds out about the struggles of construction workers with low wages and extremely hazardous working conditions

photo by Al-Emrun Garjon

Around the afternoon, Shahjahan, a construction worker, had just got off from his shift at a constructed building in the Mirpur 10 area. Although his duty for the day was over, he was waiting around for his day’s salary. While he waited, the contractor was having a cup of tea at a nearby stall.

At one point, Shahjahan, accompanied by some colleagues, went to the tea stall to request the contractor for payment. But the contractor asked them to wait some more. Shahjahan waited till 8pm but did not get his payment. During this time, the contractor sent him to run another errand at the under-construction building.

‘Such strenuous work followed by delays in payment is a daily affair for us,’ shares Shahjahan. ‘We are never paid overtime for the additional work.’ Shahjahan and his colleagues were handed their payment around 9:30pm that day.

‘The library culture has not developed in our country’

One of the leading poets of the country, the director of National Book Center of Bangladesh and a revered freedom fighter, Rafiq Azad talks to Mushfique Wadud about modern poetry and the role of libraries in developing a reading habit among people

photo by Al-Emrun Garjon

It is sometimes said by critiques that since independence, the country did not find enough notable poets. Being a leading poet in the country, how do you asses the contemporary poets?

I have a different opinion about the poets and poetry of present time. I think poetry develops very silently. In every decade, there must be five or six leading poets. I do not think this decade is any different.

We cannot fulfill the demand because of illegal lines’

Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) talks to Mushfique Wadud about the authority’s plans in resolving the ongoing water crisis

photo by Prito Reza

There is a crisis for water every year during this season. Unfortunately, the situation is apparently worsening as time goes on. What do you think are the reasons behind the crisis?

The shortage of water does not trouble the legal subscribers. WASA has enough supply of water to meet the existing legal demand. Unfortunately, there are a good number of illegal connection holders around the Dhaka city. Because of them, we cannot fulfill the demand.

There are mainly two reasons as to why the crisis for water becomes acute in this season. Firstly, the level of underground water is down and secondly, because of constant load shedding, the pumps do not work. As a result, the water supply of a certain area just collapses. Normally, we have a demand of 205 crore litre but we produce 190 or 195 crore litre.

From food to factories

Mushfique Wadud talks to experts about the recent gas crisis and the possible ways out of it

It was 4pm. Lunch was yet to be cooked in Shahana Islam’s household, as her family, including her six-year-old child, anxiously waited for the gas supply to return. It had been unavailable for five hours till that point, with no certainties as to how much longer the wait would persist.

Such anecdotes are almost commonplace in several parts of the city as households are met with an added ordeal of inefficient, inadequate gas supplies for most parts of the day. Housewives are barely able to cook during the day, as a result of the low pressure in the supply of gas, instead staying up well past midnight, when the pressure is adequate, to prepare meals for the next day. The situation has persisted since winter, when it had been even direr.

A crisis that plagues life

Mushfique Wadud talks to city dwellers and experts about the ramifications of the recent water crisis and the ways in which to best overcome the situation

photo bySanaul Haque

It is said that water is among the fundamental sources of life and such an adage holds more than a degree of truth,

in the context of an urban dwelling, where a sound water supply is an outright necessity.

And with the water supplies from WASA falling agonizingly short of meeting the daily needs of most city dwellers, a crisis is definitely looming in the horizon, if it has not already manifested itself.

Over the last few weeks, the sight of people queuing up for long hours in front of a water pump to procure some water, albeit largely unclean and undrinkable water, is becoming an increasingly familiar one.

To add to their woes, some have to compromise their office shifts, some their household works while others, a day in school, just for the sake of collecting water.

Waning exports

Mushfique Wadud talks to trade bodies and experts about the recent decrease in export earnings

photo by Prito Reza

During the tenure of the previous BNP-led four party alliance, businessmen were extremely vocal at blaming the political agitation for the negative growth of the export items. The government also criticised the opposition’s role for the negative impacts on the economy.

However, during its fifteen month period, despite not being faced with any significant political agitation or strikes, this government is still afflicted with low exports. While there has been a negative growth in the export of most major export items, businessmen and experts fear even worse times ahead.