11-03-2018

EDITORIAL
SUndAy,
MARCH 11, 2018
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Sunday, March 11, 2018
objectively viewed
state of medical care
Afemale aged about 40 years died in a so called private
hospital located in the old part of Dhaka city sometime
ago. It would be counted as routine death but for the
fact that the relatives of the deceased seemed to rightly raise
a hue and cry that the death was the cause of wrong
treatment and negligence. The death news received
considerable media focus and lent afresh to rising concern
about the state of medical care in the country. Sub-standard
medical centers are found to be doing good business
exploiting often the innocence and helplessness of their
victims as they rush to these in desperation from not finding
a berth in the overcrowded public hospitals.
There are services which are extremely important for the
simple reason that these involve human life. The same are the
medical services and for the obvious reasons no compromise
can be allowed in running them properly or in their standards.
Therefore, it is shocking to learn that there are medical centers
in this country which are functioning without any
authorisation from the official health authorities though such
approval is a basic legal requirement for their treating patients.
The authorization is supposed to ensure that these privately
run clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals are properly
equipped in the sense of having the necessary equipment and
trained and qualified people to treat patients safely and
effectively. It is not that authorization cannot be bought and
sold for money in this country. Even then, it provides the
assurance of a minimum of standard whereas the
unauthorized ones are not binded by any regulation or
supervision and prove to be like death houses than curing
places.
And that is what is happening to patients who get admitted to
such unauthorised clinics at Khulna. According to a report,
there are some 123 functioning clinics in the city out of which
only 32 have been officially permited to function while the rest
are yet to get approval. The unauthorisedclinics without
proper operating chambers, equipment and well-qualified
doctors and staff are in no position to discharge proper
treatment to patients. In one of them, a caesarean operation
was attempted under candlelight and the mother had to fight
for survival in the post-operation period.. In another reported
case, the so called surgeon of an unauthorised clinic had cut off
the respiratory passage of a patient when he was doing a
tonsillitis operation under the light of a kerosene-lamp.
The health risks to people at such unauthorised medical
centresare countrywide. The picture is the same in all major
cities and townships throughout the country. According to
another report, there are now more than 2,000 clinics and
diagnostic centres in Dhaka city but the government's
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) gave license to
only 898 of them to operate.
A sustained drive of the government needs to target hard
these unfit and unacceptable medical centers. Some may
contend that such a drive may create a dearth of services for
sick people. But probably the sick ones would be better off not
receiving any services from such dubious centers where they
are most likely to get inadequate, ineffective or even wrong
treatment. As it is, these medical centers are quite adept at
making money at the expense of unsuspecting people. Taka
500 may be charged for a pathology test which should fairly
cost no more than Taka 50. An operation charge might be Taka
10,000 or much more depending on cases and done by an
unskilled person in conditions to be hardly considered as safe
for the patient.
Like the clinics and diagnostic centers which hardly do
justice to their names, the state of medical education and
training in large part is found to be no different.There are
certain areas where training of professionals must be
foolproof. Teaching and training to create such professionals is
held to be like a sacred duty where there cannot be any room
for concessions, compromise or acceptance of poor quality.
Medical training is one such very vital area because those who
train to be doctors are entrusted to discharge duties that relate
directly to the life and physical well-being of humans
The number of privately run medical colleges in the country
is 35. But most of them are, reportedly, medical colleges in
name only. Out of these medical centers of learning and
training, 25 were allegedly given operating licenses on
political considerations and connections to influential persons
under the past administrations. Certain criteria have to be met
prior to getting official approval to run such medical colleges.
The criteria were hardly fulfilled while this approval was given
to them on political consideration and influence peddling. Not
even a few of them have satisfied the initial requirements or
infrastructures needed to qualify as higher centres of learning
in the medical field. All or nearly all of them do not even have
an hospital within or near the campus area. But this
requirement is an indispensable one for laying a claim as a
medical college. Doctors with high qualifications and
experience who can be relied on to impart proper medical
training or to teach successfully at that level, are non existent
in these colleges. Facilities for practical classes on anatomy
that require morgues, dissection units and other related
paraphernalia, are also not to be found in these so called
medical colleges. Laboratory facilities for learning in pathology
and related areas are similarly non existent or exist in very
inadequate forms. Libraries are the main possessions of these
medical colleges in most cases. But the libraries are also not so
resourceful like the ones at the publicly run medical colleges.
The greatest inadequacy seems to be in the area of practical
training. In the publicly operated medical colleges, the
attached hospital proves to be a ready training ground and for
acquiring practical knowledge of the illnesses and procedures
for their treatment. Lacking in this vital area, the private
medical colleges can hardly provide this invaluable experience
and training to their students.
There cannot be any playing around with human lives and
only thoroughly trained professional in the field are duly
expected to attend to patients. Thus, one shudders to think
how dangerous persons are being created to pose as doctors
when they are actually ill equipped in every sense to treat sick
people. They are more likely to emerge as killers of people
from their lack of abilities, know-how and proper medical
knowledge. There is no estimate available here about the
number of those who got degrees from these so called private
medical colleges. Surely, they are not to be regarded as
equivalents of their counterparts passing out from
government run medical colleges where the training and
teaching of potential doctors are undoubtedly superior. It is
imperative that this lack of uniformity in skills and training
should be bridged. Private medical colleges should be
immediately warned to go for improving their standards, fully,
in every respect or face penalties including closure.
Fresh overtures hint at a thaw in India-China relations
In an economic system that is still
globalized, conflict does not
automatically equal economic setback.
This is because the conflict is no longer
simply a shooting war, but a complicated
struggle of wills.
India and China are cases in point. Last
year they had a serious military standoff
over the Doklam border region, which came
on the head of tensions between them over
a clutch of other issues - the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor, Beijing's foiling New
Delhi's efforts to bring Jaish-e-Mohammed
chief Masood Azhar under United Nations
sanctions, and China blocking India's bid for
a membership in the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG).
Yet according to official Chinese statistics,
its trade with India has been booming. Twoway
value reached a record US$84.44
billion in 2017, an 18.63% increase over the
previous year. And what is more, India's
exports to China saw a 40% increase, thus
somewhat mitigating New Delhi's
complaint of an imbalance. India has long
complained about a trade deficit that was
more that $52 billion in 2016 and remains
around that figure even now, though the
overall volume of trade has increased.
The Narendra Modi government's ties
with China have waxed and waned. Initially,
both sides even spoke of the possibility of a
quick border settlement through out-of-thebox
solutions. But thereafter it became clear
that there was no meeting point there.
Communication broke down over the NSG
and Masood Azhar issues, and India
publicly refused to endorse the Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI). Indeed, it stepped up
to the plate in the West Pacific in helping
revive the "Quad" grouping with the US,
Australia and Japan. India's relations with
China involve the four C's - conflict,
competition, cooperation and containment.
The areas of conflict are well known - the
border, and China's relationship with
Pakistan.
China may not think India as much of a
competitor when it comes to the economy,
but politically New Delhi remains a potent
presence in areas that border both India and
China, especially in South Asia. The two
sides cooperate on a range of areas; India
was among the early supporters of the Asia
Infrastructure Investment Bank and is, of
course, a partner of China in BRICS and of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO). As for containment, this is actually
the hidden theme in their relationship -
China thinks that India is trying to contain
its rise in collaboration with the US and
MAnoJ JoSHI
Japan, while New Delhi believes that
Beijing's policies in South Asia are aimed at
preventing India from playing a larger extraregional
role.
Recent Indian moves signal New Delhi's
effort to restore balance in a relationship
with Beijing that had gotten frayed, in large
measure by India's megaphone approach
on contentious issues that the two countries
confront. Many of these could have been
The narendra Modi government's ties with China have
waxed and waned. Initially, both sides even spoke of
the possibility of a quick border settlement through
out-of-the-box solutions. But thereafter it became clear
that there was no meeting point there. Communication
broke down over the nSG and Masood Azhar issues,
and India publicly refused to endorse the Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI). Indeed, it stepped up to the plate
in the west Pacific in helping revive the "Quad"
grouping with the US, Australia and Japan.
resolved through quiet diplomacy
Recent Indian moves signal New Delhi's
effort to restore balance in a relationship that
had gotten frayed, in large measure by
India's megaphone approach on
contentious issues that the two countries
confront. Many of these could have been
resolved through quiet diplomacy, but New
Delhi wanted to appear muscular and tough
and sought to browbeat Beijing without
really having the wherewithal to do so. This
has led Beijing to look at India with more
M SHAMSUR RABB KHAn
wary eyes.
Until recently, despite periodic
transgressions on the undefined Line of
Actual Control that marks the Sino-Indian
border, things were reasonably calm. Now,
after the Doklam crisis, the Chinese appear
to be seriously shoring up their military
posture along the entire LAC, and so the net
result could well be a setback to the
maintenance of peace and tranquility on the
border. As for the Indian Ocean, there is no
direct confrontation, but the Chinese
presence is marked and steadily growing.
Despite the bravado and bluster of its
generals, India would be seriously
disadvantaged if it actually had to fight
China and Pakistan simultaneously.
However, this is not a probable scenario.
China is not likely to intervene in any India-
Pakistan issue, though it is quite possible
that Islamabad would consider
embarrassing New Delhi were India to be
involved in any border confrontation with
China. As for any larger war, that is not likely
to happen, as long as rational calculations
guide the policies of the three nucleararmed
nations. Indeed, one of the greater
failures of Indian diplomacy has been its
inability to break the so-called Sino-
Pakistani nexus. This has severely
constrained its regional policies and
compelled India to seek a somewhat
lopsided "alliance" where Washington seeks
India's military commitment in the Pacific,
but steers clear of any commitment to New
Delhi's more vital interests in the north
Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Source: Asia times
Sad history of police ‘encounter killings’ in India
The official handling - or failure to do
so - of a phenomenon known in
India as "encounter killings" by
police has been condemned by the
country's media as a "failure of the justice
system." According to Wikipedia, the
term has been "used in India and
Pakistan since the late 20th century to
describe killings by the police or the
armed forces, allegedly in self-defense,
when they encounter suspected
gangsters or terrorists."
Recently the chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh state, Yogi Adityanath, reacted
to criticism over encounter killings by
threatening that those who believed in
the language of the gun should be
answered in the same manner.
"Two members of the Gaitonde gang
had been shot to death in an encounter
with the Flying Squad in Bhayander. The
police had acted on received intelligence
and intercepted the two as they
proceeded to a factory office in that
locality; the two extortionists had been
hailed and told to surrender, but they
had instantly fired at the squad, who
then retaliated." This story, as narrated
in Vikram Chandra's 2006 book Sacred
Games, is much like those offered by
police whenever a fake "encounter" takes
place in India.
On February 3, Jitendra Kumar Yadav,
a 25-year-old gym trainer, was going
home with three friends after attending
a wedding in Ghaziabad, near New
Delhi, when he was asked to stop his car
and was shot at by a police sub-inspector.
The officer was arrested and suspended
along with three other police personnel.
Since the late 1970s, huge numbers
of Egyptian workers have been
streaming into Arab Gulf countries
as a result of the dramatic upturn the
region has seen thanks to increasing oil
prices. Saudi Arabia received the
greatest number of Egyptians from all
intellectual and social levels.
Later on, millions of workers,
including educated, semi-literate and
illiterate people, returned to their
country with a new mentality, as if they
were born there again. This seemed like
a result of the Muslim Brotherhood's
infiltration of Gulf societies after the
group was repressed by Gamal Abdel
Nasser in the 1960s. This infiltration
found a strong ally in Saudi Arabia's Al-
Sahwa (Awakening) project. The
interaction between these two
fundamentalist groups created a hybrid
group of many names, giving Egyptian
society a new ideology and new
approaches. This hybrid group
returned to Egypt, and called on
Egyptians to follow a new religion,
antagonizing Christians and Sufis, even
making them apostates. This group
behaved similarly to Al-Sahwa
members in Saudi Arabia, dressed like
them, grew their beards like them, and
thus they seemed to many people like
real Saudis.
Al-Sahwa's ideology often arrived in
Egypt in a fierce and aggressive
manner. The group attacked Coptic
beliefs from the minbar (pulpit) of
mosques. For years, it was not
uncommon for an imam to question
Copts' beliefs during his khutba
(sermon) or even insult them verbally.
On February 6, the Delhi High Court
sentenced seven suspended
Uttarakhand policemen to life in prison
for killing a 22-year-old student in a fake
encounter in Dehradun in 2009.
Another alleged "encounter" in 1991
led to the 2016 sentencing of 47
policemen to life imprisonment for the
slaying of 11 Sikh pilgrims in the Pilibhit
district of Uttar Pradesh.
Since Yogi Adityanath became the
chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, 34
alleged criminals, mostly Muslims, have
been gunned down in 1,142 encounters.
But it's not just that state; India as a
whole is notorious for extrajudicial
killings.
The country's National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) has reported that
555 cases of alleged fake encounters
occurred from 2009-2013 in India.
Saudi crown prince’s Coptic Cathedral visit ‘a response to the radicals’
ABdEllATIF El-MEnAwy
Mosques' microphones used to deliver
these attacks to people all over Egypt.
Some Islamist groups even issued
fatwas (decrees) giving the right to take
Christians' money and property, and
sometimes even their lives.
On Fridays, Copts used to hear imams
in mosques near their homes mocking
and insulting their beliefs with the most
hideous words. This situation lasted
three decades, until January 2011. After
that date, this movement became even
more aggressive. Its followers broke
into the political sphere and its symbols
became ever more present on the
cultural and political scenes. Fatwas
banning Muslims from greeting their
Christian neighbors on their religious
holidays were issued, when previously
Muslims and Christians were used to
sharing each other's joys and sorrows.
Greeting Copts on their holidays
became prohibited by members of the
Muslim Brotherhood, who used to
appear on TV in Saudi uniforms and
associate themselves with the approach
According to the National Crime Record
Bureau (NCRB), there were 591 custodial
deaths reported across the country
between 2010 and 2015. The police often
claim to have acted in self-defense when
they encounter suspected gangsters or
terrorists and gun them down.
Encounter killing gained popularity in
the 1990s and mid-2000s when the
Mumbai Police indulged in them to wipe
out the city's underworld. Bollywood
From the so-called "Bhagalpur blindings"in 1979-1980
in which police in Bihar state blinded 31 people facing
trial by pouring acid into their eyes, to the 1987
Hashimpura massacre during the Hindu-Muslim riots
in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, when 19 personnel of the
Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42
Muslim youths, shot all of them in cold blood and
dumped their bodies in canals, to the killing of 20
woodcutters in Andhra Pradesh state in 2015, India
has a dubious encounter killings record.
movies like Encounter: The Killing
(2003), Ab Tak Chappan (Till Now, 56
Killings, 2004), and Shootout at
Lokhandwala (2007) justified the
gruesome murders in the name of
ending crime by intimidating criminals,
and several police inspectors were hailed
as brave soldiers.
In his 2004 book In Spite of the Gods:
The Strange Rise of Modern India,
of the Saudi intellectual school.
This created a link between what
Salafist non-Azhari missionaries in
Egypt were doing and Saudi Arabia.
Copts became strongly persuaded that
all of the above was Saudi Arabia's
jurisprudence, religion and ideology, as
if the Kingdom was the one pushing
these non-religious members to
provoke sedition.
Pope Tawadros II was extremely
Al-Sahwa's ideology often arrived in Egypt in a fierce and
aggressive manner. The group attacked Coptic beliefs from the
minbar (pulpit) of mosques. For years, it was not uncommon for
an imam to question Copts' beliefs during his khutba (sermon)
or even insult them verbally. Mosques' microphones used to
deliver these attacks to people all over Egypt. Some Islamist
groups even issued fatwas (decrees) giving the right to take
Christians' money and property, and sometimes even their lives.
thrilled and emotional about
welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman as he and all the leaders of
the Egyptian church were well aware of
the value, importance and symbolism
of their meeting.
Since becoming Saudi crown prince,
Mohammed bin Salman has made
many decisions and taken many stands
that have had great resonance, and they
are considered important indications of
the change he is leading. But his visit to
the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo this week
and his meeting with Pope Tawadros II
Edward Luce explores the encounter
phenomenon and describes meeting one
police officer in Mumbai who claimed to
have been involved in "about 50"
encounters, and another officer who had
been involved in 80 such killings.
The police often claim to have acted in
self-defense when they encounter
suspected gangsters or terrorists and gun
them down
From the so-called "Bhagalpur
blindings"in 1979-1980 in which police
in Bihar state blinded 31 people facing
trial by pouring acid into their eyes, to the
1987 Hashimpura massacre during the
Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut, Uttar
Pradesh, when 19 personnel of the
Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded
up 42 Muslim youths, shot all of them in
cold blood and dumped their bodies in
canals, to the killing of 20 woodcutters in
Andhra Pradesh state in 2015, India has
a dubious encounter killings record.
D G Vanzara, the former police deputy
inspector general for Gujarat who was
indicted in six major encounters, served
a jail term from 2007 to 2015. Upon his
resignation in 2013, he said: "The
CID/CBI arrested my officers and me,
holding us responsible for carrying out
allegedly fake encounters. If that is true,
then the CBI investigating officers for all
four cases have to arrest the policy
formulators too, as we, being field
officers, have simply implemented the
policy of this government, which was
inspiring, guiding and monitoring our
actions from very close quarters."
Source: Asia times
was one of the most important and
significant positions that not only
Egyptians, Copts and Muslims will not
forget, but also the radical Islamist
groups that considered the intellectual
and religious direction in Saudi Arabia
similar to theirs, including being very
hostile to Christians.
Egyptians, Muslims and Christians
have never witnessed happiness and
joy on the face of Tawadros more than
they did when he greeted Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman. The symbol
of Orthodox Copts was extremely
thrilled and emotional about the visit
because he and all the leaders of the
Egyptian church were well aware of the
value, importance and symbolism of
the visit.
This visit tells Copts: As of today,
Saudi Arabia will not allow anyone to
attack you. Saudi Arabia will no longer
allow anyone to attack people from
other religions in its name. Saudi
Arabia accepts religious diversity,
believes in forgiveness, and promotes
coexistence among members of
different religions. Saudi Arabia,
represented by its crown prince,
visited the Coptic Cathedral, and thus
it is no longer acceptable for
missionaries to associate themselves
with the Saudi doctrinal school and
issue fatwas banning the greeting of
Christians. Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman himself visited Copts and
greeted them on a normal day, not
even on a holiday, and he sat in their
church.
Source: Arab News