IRRESPONSIBLE comments about Ayub Quadri. Thanks.
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--- "Syed Aslam "@yahoo.com wrote:
> Ayub Quadri weighs
> resignation as artefact scam deepens
>
>
> Mon, Dec 24th, 2007 6:58 pm BdST
> Dhaka, Dec 24 (bdnews24.com) – The
> crisis over the theft of two rare relics destined
> for display at a Paris museum threatened Monday to
> snowball into a huge national embarrassment with
> cultural affairs adviser Ayub Quadri considering
> calling it quits.
>
> Latest: CTG cultural affairs adviser Ayub Quadri
> is not resigning. I believe, it was a stunt !
>
>
http://www.amadershomoy.com/online/news.php?id=298&sys=3
>
> The Candy Man or the Stunt Man
>
> The Candy Man
>
> BabyFace Ayub Quadri
>
>
> He was charming, witty, and took blame upon
> himself. Adviser Ayub Quadri, was the Minister of
> Education, Minister of Primary and Mass Education
> and Minister of Cultural Affairs, Government of the
> People's Republic of Bangladesh. He was the perfect
> guy to rely upon for damage control. The public
> school background showed, as did the many years as a
> top bureaucrat. He had been a member of the elite
> Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP). An old boys network
> that still holds clout in the subcontinent.
> The Press Information Department (PID) auditorium
> on the 3rd floor of Building 9, in the Bangladesh
> Secretariat was packed. Unlike many other
> Bangladeshi events this press conference started on
> time. Squeezing through the footpaths, crossing
> fences, lifting my bicycle over rickshaws stuck in
> traffic, I had panted my way to the secretariat. The
> police at gate 2 had been too perplexed by a bicycle
> going through the gate to even stop me for papers. I
> arrived just as the first question was raised. It
> was a packed hall, and while I thought I would stay
> at the back, I realised that I needed to get up
> there to stand any chance of getting a question in.
> I sat on the floor in between the video tripods.
> The journalists had done their homework. And while
> there were a few questions that were repetitive, by
> and large, they knew what they wanted. In response
> to a question about the alleged corruption charges
> against one of the government officials involved in
> the transaction, the adviser joked. "Well I am the
> person in overall charge. The police don't seem to
> be after me for corruption." Pretty answer. Pity it
> didn't answer the question.
> The large table with the adviser in the middle was
> imposing. The Secretary of Culture on the left and
> another officer on the right played a largely
> ornamental role. So did the entire row of officials
> in the back. They did however lean forward to
> whisper in the adviser's ear from time to time. The
> question came up of the alleged transportation of
> the bronze casket in 1959 to France, which Mr.
> Zakaria, the ex Secretary of Culture had mentioned
> in a press conference on the 1st December. The
> adviser let the question slip, saying he'd heard of
> such accusations and was looking into it. A member
> of the back row broke ranks and retorted, "There is
> no such record." Mr. Zakaria, also an ex director of
> the department of archaeology, had mentioned a 49
> year fight to get back this prized possession,
> without success. A journalist mentioned the case of
> the 30 paintings of Mohammad Younus. They had been
> sent to Yugoslavia, on a government to government
> exchange. None had ever come back.
> Quadri again said he didn't know. "Don't know" was
> quite a common response to questions. Candid
> perhaps, but not particularly useful.
> In answer to the questions about the
> irregularities regarding the loan inventory, the
> adviser did provide figures, but no documents he
> could back them up with. Questions from the floor
> pointed to the disjoint between the figures he
> quoted and the ones given in the government
> documents submitted to the court. That they didn't
> correspond to the inventory produced by the French
> themselves. He promised to provide updated documents
> this very evening. Tomorrow morning at the latest.
> Why the government had provided documents to the
> court which did not tally with the shipment, was a
> question that never got asked, and was certainly not
> clarified. The mystery of calling a press
> conference, but not having these documents at hand
> was never solved by the guests.
> "I have full confidence that the items will come
> back." He said, taking the weight of the world on
> his shoulders. As to why Bangladeshis should have
> confidence in him, was one that was never clarified.
> "The company that had packed the crates have been
> doing so for 300 years," he mentioned. The doubters
> have been asking for the packers to be named ever
> since the beginning, but have not been given an
> answer. Those who had thought the press conference
> would enlighten them were disappointed.
> Since only government members of the committee
> were present, there was no one to question the claim
> that everything had been done to please the
> committee. That the committee had been fully
> satisfied with the proceedings. The fact that the
> official letter by the committee, in the hands of
> the press, said something entirely different was a
> mere technicality.
> The inconsistencies were the problem. We still
> don't know exactly how many items are being sent.
> Neither do we know exactly what is being sent. The
> few specifics the advisor provided, that there were
> "50 silver coins, and 8 gold coins," might have
> helped in purchasing supplies for an Everest
> expedition, but didn't help much in evaluating
> either the value, or the specifics of a museum item.
> Especially when the court record states "50
> punchmarked coins" in one entry and an unspecified
> number of "gold and silver coins" in another.
> Assuming the number of silver coins in the latter
> entry is non-zero, and that the punchmarked coins
> are all silver, we still have a problem. The French
> inventory specifies "93 punch marked coins." Are the
> "gold and silver coins" non-punchmarked? Do they add
> up to the "8 gold coins" the adviser was referring
> to? 50 + non-zero number = 50 and 50 + 8 = 93 in
> Ayub Quadri's arithmetic.
> There are bigger issues. He generally accepted
> that the insurance value was low, but claimed that
> it was an academic issue in the case of priceless
> items. Especially since he was confident that they
> were all coming back. However the French press
> release, issued on the 25th September 2007, stated
> that the insurance value was 4 million euro. The
> adviser today clearly stated 2.6 million euro. So
> who are we to believe? We are after all talking of
> the most prized possessions of a nation. Consistent
> statements help remove doubt. The adviser's
> "confidence" might work on a poker table, but does
> little to put a worried population at ease.
> He brushed off the accusation about whisking off
> the items in a hurry, or that there was any question
> of impropriety or stealth in terms of going against
> court directives. When asked why such an important
> event, which was covered by all major independent
> media, was completely unreported on state
> television, he smiled. The gentleman on the right
> did speak up this time. He pointed out that the
> question was "irrelevant."
> Other questions remain. Gold and silver coins is
> one thing. In the documents presented to the court
> by the government, even one of the most valued
> items, the large (and extremely rare) bronze statue
> the Vajrasattva does include an insurance value (not
> always the case for other items listed) of 200,000
> euro. This item too does not have an accession
> number.
> Quadri was unruffled throughout, never losing
> cool. Always extremely pleasant. His only admission
> to some concern was in answer to a question about
> when the items would come back. He said in no
> uncertain terms, "April." He added, "Until then, I
> will stay worried, and looking at the mood in the
> room, I can tell that you too will not rest." I hope
> he meant 2007.
> As a child, we would watch the candy floss man
> take a tiny spoonful of sugar, a dollop of colouring
> and would watch with amazement as the machine spun
> out a pink web, which he would twirl around a stick.
> One portion was only dui poisha (two paisa). A
> figure which we could realistically save up. The
> large pink fluff, folded on contact, and melted in
> the mouth, but did give a sense of attainment. We
> called it hawai mithai, sweet made of air. This
> candy floss press conference too, had little
> substance but plenty of form.
> Whether the media kids will feel they got value
> for their dui poisha is something we'll see in
> tomorrow's headlines.
> 3rd December 2007. Dhaka.
> ———
>
>
http://shahidul.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/the-candy-man/
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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