EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

 

Bench-Bar relations

Civility must be maintained

Recently retired Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque declined to accept a formal farewell from the Supreme Court Bar Association on the eve of his going into retirement. Obviously, he was miffed by the fact that during his tenure as head of the nation's highest judiciary he faced constant resistance from the SCBA, whose leading figures could not or would not agree with some important legal decisions reached by the Supreme Court under Justice Haque's stewardship. Also a faction of the SCBA led by its president made it known that they would not attend the reception accorded to the newly appointed CJ Mohammad Mozammel Hossain.

To the nation's great discomfiture, and whether or not anyone acknowledges this fact, a certain degree of politics or a reflection of it has contributed to this unsavoury situation. It has been observed that while lawyers with a pro-government bias have generally been friendly toward incoming or outgoing judges, those identifying with the political opposition have usually refrained from cooperating with the judges. Such a situation has been more or less common during the tenure of various governments and not just the present one. Our question is: should the time-honoured tradition of lawyers showing respect, despite their professional or political perceptions of how the judiciary may have performed, to judges be undermined in this manner?

The truth must not be lost on anyone that at this point of time, Bangladesh's judiciary remains one institution the nation can turn to where showing a path out of the woods on critical issues is concerned. The role played by the higher judiciary in dispensing with some amendments undermining the constitution and even the state is to be appreciated. Much as some lawyers may not agree with those moves, we believe that it is important to keep alive and aloft certain traditions of respect and civility which have consistently helped people to keep faith with the legal profession and the judiciary. Some conventions cannot simply be pushed aside.

Investment in foreign farms

A window of opportunity opens

THE news that two Bangladeshi firms have leased in large chunks of farmlands in Africa to grow rice, wheat and other kinds of food grains is very heartening. First because, it is indicative of our local entrepreneurs' coming of age as they are now looking for overseas investments. Second, they have chosen agricultural farmlands as the area of investment. Third, their objective is to bring the lion's share of the produces back home with a view to reducing our growing dependence on food grains import. Above all, it is thinking out of box and looking for new pastures.

The government's support to facilitate those companies in signing lease deals with the African governments--Uganda and Tanzaniais undoubtedly commendable. It is further reassuring to learn that more entrepreneurs from Bangladesh are looking for similar investment opportunities in Africa.

African countries hold out huge prospects for overseas investment in the farming sector. Many countries including China that have the necessary capital and expertise have taken hold of the opportunity earlier than others. Bangladeshi investors' entry into this area is evidently reflective of their growing capital that can be invested abroad as well as the attainment of the expertise that goes into such ventures.

The African countries like Uganda and Tanzania that are wooing foreign investment in the farm sector on easy and lucrative terms, definitely want to see their own manpower employed in agriculture. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, on their part, will be able to make profits, help the country in addressing its growing demands for food grains as well as enrich their experience and knowledge profusely in food grain production in different other climes. This will no doubt go to add to Bangladesh's own wealth of research experience in agriculture.

To succeed, the companies that have pioneered in this kind of overseas investment, hopefully, will also learn to adapt and associate themselves well with the local people and their culture with due respect. Since it is a very potential sector meriting extensive exploration, the government needs to continue its encouragement and support to the willing entrepreneurs.