Workers Party has no connection with AL or 14-party combine: Rono
Fazle Rashid | Thursday, 10 July 2008
NEW YORK, July 09: Haider Akbar Khan Rono, a firebrand student leader of the 60s, now a leading light of the left politics, categorically stated here the other day that the Workers Party has no connection either with the Awami League or with the 14-party alliance. He called for forging an unshakeable unity of the left leaning parties to provide an alternative to BNP and Awami League. He chastised both the parties for failing to live up to the expectations of the common people of the country.
Rono was taking part in a meeting with the visiting journalists from Dhaka and the members of the local Press Club run by Bangladeshi journalists. The discussion, presided over by senior club vice president Dr Wajed, was lively and ran for well over four hours. Host of issues now bedevilling Bangladesh including government assault on the media came up for discussion.
The journalists team to the Fobama conference is made up of Mohiuddin Alamgir, editor Naya Diganta, Nurul Kabir, editor New Age and Toufique Imroze Khalidi, Chief Editor of bdnews24.com. The other member of the team Rahat Khan, editor Ittefaq excused himself from the meeting as he had a family engagement to fulfil.
Nurul Kabir was critical of the present government. The fund of goodwill this government had when it came has evaporated over the year due to inept handling of the complex situation, Kabir asserted. He said it would be foolhardy to expect an unelected government to usher in a democratic government.
Imroze Khalidi mostly dealt with the professional side of journalism saying there is room for vast improvement. Mohiuddin Alamgir recounted experience in his long career in journalism. He said how his flippant remark about stoning Ayub Khan during a visit to Rajshahi laid the foundation of a massive movement that ultimately dislodged him from power.
There was a general agreement among the local Bangladeshi journalists that the FOBAMA conference was poorly managed and was in total disarray from the day one. It did not lack fund. It had raised over $15000. The venue of the three-day conference was hotel Hilton in the heart of Manhattan which in itself is an indication of its healthy state of the fund.
This scribe was among hundreds of Bangladeshis who were annoyed , frustrated and angry with the organisers for the abject failure in starting the cultural function on the concluding evening of the conference. The large crowd had gathered to listen to Close UP one stars who were supposed to perform. The function billed for 7.0 pm did not start before 10-30 pm.
Feud and schism was evident among the organisers. This is of course nothing newsworthy. Fobama has already split into three. Further fragmentation will not surprise anyone. There are hundreds of organisations here, each with two or more factions. The division is either on political consideration or due to personal ego and ambition of the men behind the organisations.
This is the biggest drawback of the Bangladeshi diasporas here. The Indians and the Pakistanis are well united and present a unified stand when presenting their cases.
Rono was taking part in a meeting with the visiting journalists from Dhaka and the members of the local Press Club run by Bangladeshi journalists. The discussion, presided over by senior club vice president Dr Wajed, was lively and ran for well over four hours. Host of issues now bedevilling Bangladesh including government assault on the media came up for discussion.
The journalists team to the Fobama conference is made up of Mohiuddin Alamgir, editor Naya Diganta, Nurul Kabir, editor New Age and Toufique Imroze Khalidi, Chief Editor of bdnews24.com. The other member of the team Rahat Khan, editor Ittefaq excused himself from the meeting as he had a family engagement to fulfil.
Nurul Kabir was critical of the present government. The fund of goodwill this government had when it came has evaporated over the year due to inept handling of the complex situation, Kabir asserted. He said it would be foolhardy to expect an unelected government to usher in a democratic government.
Imroze Khalidi mostly dealt with the professional side of journalism saying there is room for vast improvement. Mohiuddin Alamgir recounted experience in his long career in journalism. He said how his flippant remark about stoning Ayub Khan during a visit to Rajshahi laid the foundation of a massive movement that ultimately dislodged him from power.
There was a general agreement among the local Bangladeshi journalists that the FOBAMA conference was poorly managed and was in total disarray from the day one. It did not lack fund. It had raised over $15000. The venue of the three-day conference was hotel Hilton in the heart of Manhattan which in itself is an indication of its healthy state of the fund.
This scribe was among hundreds of Bangladeshis who were annoyed , frustrated and angry with the organisers for the abject failure in starting the cultural function on the concluding evening of the conference. The large crowd had gathered to listen to Close UP one stars who were supposed to perform. The function billed for 7.0 pm did not start before 10-30 pm.
Feud and schism was evident among the organisers. This is of course nothing newsworthy. Fobama has already split into three. Further fragmentation will not surprise anyone. There are hundreds of organisations here, each with two or more factions. The division is either on political consideration or due to personal ego and ambition of the men behind the organisations.
This is the biggest drawback of the Bangladeshi diasporas here. The Indians and the Pakistanis are well united and present a unified stand when presenting their cases.