Rushanara becomes first Bangladeshi MP in UK

Rushanara Ali, a Bangladeshi living in the UK, has made history, as she became a lawmaker of the Commons on Friday.
Rushanara contested in the UK General Election 2010 with Labour Party ticket.
A British paper earlier described Rushanara Ali, 35, as a politically rated, eloquent, beautiful and a very crucial figure for Bangla Town as this area is vastly populated by Bangladeshis…..

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Declaration to fight anti-Semitism signed in London

A declaration pledging to challenge anti-Semitism was signed on behalf of all participating nations on Tuesday, the final day of the London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism.

Noting the dramatic increase in anti-Semitism being disseminated in the media and attacks targeting Jewish persons and property, the London Declaration was signed by 125 parliamentarians from 40 countries.

It called on national governments, parliaments, international institutions, political and civic leaders and civil society to “affirm democratic and human values, build societies based on respect and citizenship and combat any manifestations of anti-Semitism and discrimination.”

It made the promise that the parliamentarians affirm their commitment to a comprehensive program of action to meet this challenge.

Signatories also pledged to expose, challenge and isolate those who engage in hate against Jews and target the State of Israel as a Jewish collective.

It also called upon governments to challenge any form of Holocaust denial. Again in reference to Iran it stated “any foreign leader, politician or public figure who denies, denigrates or trivializes the Holocaust” must be challenged.
“There is a new sophisticated, globalizing, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism, reminiscent of the atmospherics of the ’30s and without parallel or precedent since the end of the Second World War,” former Canadian attorney-general and founding co-chair of the conference, Irwin Cotler, said.

“Silence is not an option. This time has come not only to sound the alarm but to act. For as history has taught us only too well: while it may begin with Jews, it does not end with Jews. Anti-Semitism is the canary in the mineshaft of evil, and it threatens us all,” he added.

“The Internet, the globalization of the media, a resurgence of the extreme right and an anti-Zionist hard left have combined to create a febrile environment, in which the spread of old and new anti-Semitic theories and attitudes have been able to gain traction with alarming ease,” said John Mann MP, chair of the Parliamentary Committee Against Anti-Semitism. “The Durban conference was amongst the manifestations of this trend.

“Anti-Semitism is a touchstone for other ills within wider society and unless we move to address its spread now, and as a matter of the utmost urgency, we will all pay a heavy price,” he added.

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US, UK may be losing patience with Islamabad: report

LONDON, Feb 11: The arrival in Islamabad of Richard Holbrooke and Britain’s appointment of its own diplomat as a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan indicates a loss of patience with the democratic government both countries had invested so much hope and diplomacy in, says Dean Nelson, the South Asia editor of Daily Telegraph, in a write-up (Pakistan will be a stern test of Washington’s ‘smart power’) published on Wednesday.

Recalling that before his arrival Mr Holbrooke had described the situation in Pakistan as “dire”, Mr Nelson said it would be difficult to disagree with his appraisal.

“Mr Holbrooke’s arrival, with unprecedented powers delegated by President Obama, and the appointment of Sir Sherard mark a new approach to Pakistan in which irritation and anger are not far below the surface. For this first trip, Holbrooke really will listen and learn, then he’ll come back and tell them,” Mr Nelson said, quoting one diplomat in Islamabad.

According to him, the Pakistan government has not yet sensed the plunge in temperature and was last week optimistically briefing on its strategy to bring the Americans to heel.

In his opinion, Pakistan will demand an end to bombing by US Predator drones on Al Qaeda and Taliban targets, which it says is a blatant violation of its sovereignty and also “it will propose that the drones be handed over to Pakistan’s military so that they can launch the raids themselves”.

But Mr Nelson notes that the sovereignty that Islamabad publicly asserts against American air strikes is one which it is unable to enforce against the Al Qaeda leaders and Taliban fighters whose writ runs stronger: it is their “emirate” now, and the United States appears ready to treat it as such.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are to be regarded as conjoined twins who cannot survive without each other, he asserts.

Mr Holbrooke is expected to support a new approach which will involve more Pakistani aerial bombardment of militant havens, the creation of a new elite police force to move in and control the regained territory, more aid for education, and secret talks with “persuadable” Taliban leaders and allies in Afghanistan, such as former prime minister Gulbadin Hekmatyar, to help them switch sides.
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