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Thursday, November 13, 2008

[chottala.com] Bush urges Saudi religious reforms

Bush urges Saudi religious reforms
Bush, left, has a close relationship with
the Saudi king [AFP]

George Bush, the US president, has challenged Saudi Arabia to overturn its ban on apostasy - the changing of a person's religion - at a United Nations interfaith conference in New York.

Bush called on the conservative Muslim kingdom to change its attitudes towards the practise that is strictly outlawed in Saudi Arabia and punishable by death.

Bush said his own Christian faith had sustained him throughout many challenges during his presidency.

"We may profess differ creeds and worship in different places, but our
faith leads us to common values," he said.

However, the outgoing US president was unapologetic about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that his country was "protecting" Muslims.

"Through the generations, our nation has helped defend the religious liberty of others - from liberating the concentration camps of Europe, to protecting Muslims in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said.

The UN has described the two-day conference in New York, which is sponsored by Saudi Arabia, as being designed to bridge differences between religions and cultures.

Rights issues

All 192 UN member states were invited to the event, which the king set up following one he helped organise in July in Madrid, Spain.

Saudi police can detain those suspected
of changing their religion [EPA]
However, Saudi Arabia's involvment has sparked criticism from some rights
groups of its own record.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said a UN discussion on religious discrimination should spotlight places "where religious intolerance runs deepest, and that includes Saudi Arabia".

On Wednesday, the first day of the conference, Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, praised King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for his Middle East peace initiative.

"I wish that your voice would become the prevailing voice of the region, of all people. It is right, it is needed, it is promising," he said.

Western 'intolerance'

Earlier, King Abdullah had said it was "high time" the world learned from history that differences between followers of different religions and cultures "engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification".

The Saudi monarch called for all peoples and nations to promote peace, harmony and tolerance, saying "terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilisation".

Representatives of other Muslim states repeatedly stressed what they described as Western intolerance of Islam.

Asif Zardari, the Pakistani president, took up the theme on Thursday, saying that "imaginary fear of Islam has been rising".

 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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[chottala.com] Bengali Band Show - 11/15/08

Please see attached...Thanks,
 
Miro

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[chottala.com] Fw: CAB Chittagong Organized Advocacy Meeting on Tobacco Control:To safe the future generation, stop tobacco cultivation and use

CAB Chittagong Organized Advocacy Meeting on Tobacco Control

To safe the future generation, stop tobacco cultivation and use

 

About 1.1 million people are engaged in smoking and if it continues by 2025 it will be 1.6 Billion and around 5 cro people will die for tobacco use finding from World Bank reports. The findings also say in 2007 57 thousands people died in Bangladesh to use tobacco and most of them are low income people. The Bangladesh annual development budget is 25 thousand cro but the tobacco industries handling 10 thousand cro. If the taxes will increase for cigarettes then national revenue will increase 4.11% and it will increase 70% then it will goes to 29%. Due decrease the fertility in the paddy land tobacco cultivation diverted to Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Chittagong Hill tracts from Rangpur. 11 lac hectors of land cultivated for tobacco in Cox's Bazar district only, so it hamper the crops cultivation in this areas and which is the cause of  food crisis. The findings were shared at the Advocacy Meeting Tobacco Control on 9 November 2008 at Caritas Auditorium, Chittagong...  The meeting was organized by Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Chittagong and World Health Organization (WHO) Bangladesh.. 

 

CAB Chittagong Regional President S M Nazer Hossain was presided over the meeting; Mr. A B M Azad Additional District Magistrate Chittagong was Chief Guest, Amongst others CAB central Programme Officer  Mr. Emdad Hossain Malek, Ex Secretary BMA Chittagong and Professor Chittagong Medical Collage Dr. AQM Sirajul Islam, Director Chittagong Chambers of Commece & Industries Mr. Mahfuzul Hoque Shah, President Bangladesh Teachers Association Abdul Wahab Chy, CAB City President Absar Khan, Deputy Chief Reporter of Daily Suprbhat Ali Haider, Ex President of Chittagong Union of Journalist(CUJ) Anzon Sen, Secretary of Trinamul nagorik Committee, Chittagong Hossain Shahid Mifti, Secreatry Jila Smazik Uddokta Parishad Ajoy Mitra Shaknu, Columnist Musa Khan, Journalist Nurul Mustafa Quzi, Abu Mosharaf Rasel, Niripam Das, Agriculturist Mohammed Younus, Sahadot Hossain, Nasir Uddin Anik and women activist laila Ibarhim banu spoken on the occasion. Mr. Quazi Iqbal Bahar Sabery, Secretary CAB Chittagong moderated the meeting.

Additional District Magistrate AMB Azad gives emphasis to undertake campaign to stop the use and production of tobacco at community and family level. He assured the participants mobile court will conducted to stop smoking in public space and he welcome consumers support to develop social campaign to ensure consumers rights.

 

Speakers say smoking is the gate to addiction, if we are not able to stop it, the future generation will be more vulnerable for drug uses.  Speakers criticized the activities of tobacco companies to advertise the young generation to tobacco use by gift and others was, which is serious violation of Tobacco control act 2005. As per tobacco control act about one third of the cigarettes packets must cover with warnings but the companies are not ensure it , and they are advertising their products through bill board, sign board and still now public places are not smoke free. Due to not functioning the act use and production of tobacco is not decreasing. Besides speakers also condemn the companies to encourage tobacco cultivation through providing incentive, seed, fertilizer and loan, which is prohibited in the tobacco control act. They also emphasis to raise awareness to inform the bad impact of tobacco cultivation which is damaging the fertility of paddy filed and health of farmers.  Amongst others journalist, teachers, law enforcing agencies, business group, NGOs and human rights workers attend the meeting.

 

Reported:
Subrata Kr Bala

Divisional Programme Organizer(DPO), CAB Chittagong

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Consumers Association of Bangladesh(CAB) Chittagong
House # 339 Road # 14 Block-B Chandgaon R/A, Chittagong-4212, Bangladesh
Tel: 031-671727, 04433382351, 01911602020, 01713110054


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[chottala.com] HC says Truth Commission illegal

HC says Truth Commission illegal
 
Thu, Nov 13th, 2008 5:24 pm BdST
Dhaka, Nov 13 (bdnews24.com) – The High Court has declared illegal and unconstitutional the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008 that allowed the Truth and Accountability Commission to come into being.

The ruling renders the operations of Truth Commission illegal.

The bench of justices Mir Hashmat Ali and Shamim Hasnain passed the order on Thursday on a writ petition filed on Aug. 25.

The petitioners are Supreme Court lawyer Adilur Rahman Khan, Unnayan Bikalpa Nirikkha Gobeshona executive director Farida Aktar, Awami League's women affairs secretary Dipu Moni and Odhikar acting director Nasiruddin Elan.
Dhaka, Nov 13 (bdnews24.com) – The High Court has declared illegal and unconstitutional the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008 that allowed the Truth and Accountability Commission to come into being.

The ruling renders the operations of Truth Commission illegal.

The bench of justices Mir Hashmat Ali and Shamim Hasnain passed the order on Thursday on a writ petition filed on Aug. 25.

The petitioners are Supreme Court lawyer Adilur Rahman Khan, Unnayan Bikalpa Nirikkha Gobeshona executive director Farida Aktar, Awami League's women affairs secretary Dipu Moni and Odhikar acting director Nasiruddin Elan.
 
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* Disclaimer: Any posting to the CHOTTALA are the opinion of the author. Authors of the messages to the CHOTTALA are responsible for the accuracy of their information and the conformance of their material with applicable copyright and other laws. Many people will read your post, and it will be archived for a very long time. The act of posting to the CHOTTALA indicates the subscriber's agreement to accept the adjudications of the moderator]




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