Cracking the jaws and claws of Communal Extremism

The Prme Minister Modi has said, "Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable." [1]
Indeed a bold announcement from the honorable Prime Minister of India with a view to ending unjust communal violence which basically got pumped up based on rumors. (i.e., of the 63 attacks since 2010, 33 (52.4%) were based on rumors, according to our analysis of media reports). [2]

The entire South Asian region, especially Pakistan, Myanmar and now Bangladesh are also infected by communal tensions and violence. Everyday, people of different castes (i.e., Shia, Sunni, etc.) and religions (i.e., Hindus, Christians) are getting killed in Pakistan, we are still observing that in Myanmar extremist-Buddhist are following ethnic cleansing of Rohigya Muslim people with direct-indirect support of law enforcing forces and govt. even, and in Bangladesh- hundreds of homes of Hindus and different tribal groups have been vandalized in last several months.

Bangladesh has been actively re-iterating zero tolerance to extremist terrorism [3] [4], but still yet to observe a significant change in de-facto situations as the brutality against tribal groups by Bangali people have not come to zero yet [5] [6]. 

In this critical moment, it is really appreciative that how commoners of India and Bangladesh have always come out of home and made strong protests to this communal tensions, violence, intolerance, "divide and rule"-political approaches, indicating that we all want a very sound, peaceful and progressive South Asian region [8].

Surely, it is good to see that the present Modi Govt. have not ignored to protect rights of Muslims and followers of any other religion, as given in the Constitution of India, under Articles 15 (1) stating-
"The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them."
And also in Article 16 (1),
"There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State." [7]

We do strongly believe, as the words strongly spoken by the PM Modi, we hope to see certain visible changes at the field levels in India and also in entire sub-continent to break down the jaws and claws of communal extremism.

References:
[1] http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/killing-people-in-name-of-gau-bhakti-not-acceptable-says-pm-narendra-modi-1718368
[2] https://goo.gl/cqJJX9
[3] http://www.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/85582/2017-03-16
[4] http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/05/22/pm-global-effort-block-terrorists-weapon-supply-line/
[5] https://goo.gl/Z2Yozj
[6] http://bangla.bdnews24.com/bangladesh/article1125086.bdnews
[7] https://india.gov.in/sites/upload_files/npi/files/coi_part_full.pdf
[8] http://time.com/4838566/india-beef-lynching-attacks-muslims/

Follow Up: Did Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council really call Bangladesh govt. for Beef Ban?

Enamul Hafiz Latifee writes,

It was out at some daily newspapers and online news sites that Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council had called to ban cow-ox slaughtering in Bangladesh on 26 February, 2016 while some of their representatives participated at an occasion in Jackson Heights, USA. Based on that news I made an immediate reaction through my Facbook account in following manner,

To slaughter cow-ox, is not prohibited in any of the Abrahimic religions (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, Islam), then what does it mean when Bangladesh's Hindu-Christian-Budhha Oikko Porishad asks the govt. of Bangladesh to ban on Cow Slaughtering, clearly it reveals that they are actually trying to poke the Muslims of this country with manipulated manifesto again, trying to create and trigger up conflicts, and I know it well, this is not the opinion of well-aware and concerned Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists who are living in Bangladesh.It seems, in Bangladesh, some Anti-Islamic and in broader sense Anti-Abrahimic Neo-Nationalism is going to take place, and surely movement of this group is making everyone to think of a new term 'Extremist Secularism'- indicating, a form of secularism which tries to eradicate the name of Islam and in wide sense Abrahimic Monotheism from the world by any mean and at any cost.Now, it's your duty to wake up and make protest in proper way being patient and strategic. 

- ‪#‎EHLatifee‬ 

Later, from Bangladesh end of  Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a press note was circulated all over the media that they have not asked anything like so and some other people have misused their Council's name. The press not is added here for everyone's knowledge though,

However, it's very pity that the claim seems to be very weak and falsified, as if from the video shared by Time Television USA shows that Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, USA did really call for beef ban in Bangladesh, though it's verily peculiar that why did not they call USA govt. for banning cow-ox slaughtering, as if the Council is operational in USA. Well, the video is included here below for curious people who crave to know the truth only,

Nevertheless, patience, tolerance, love and respect should be kept by all the religious communities and should not poke any other religion like this, as if Cow-Ox is an pet animal to the followers of Abrahimic Monotheism and not equivalent to God or worship-able from any angle to them as like followers of Hinduism do. 

ঘুষ, বাংলাদেশ এবং তুমি

লিখেছেন ইনামুল হাফিজ লতিফী,

ফরেক্স রিজার্ভ ২৭ বিলিয়ন ছাড়িয়েছে এতেই খুশিতে আত্নহারা সংশ্লিষ্ট সবাই। কিন্তু, এটার প্রধান নিয়ামক যারা সেই প্রবাসী শ্রমজীবি মানুষদের দেশ থেকে বিদেশে যাওয়া থেকে শুরু করে ঐদেশে তাদের ন্যুনতম মানবাধিকার সংরক্ষণ নিয়ে কি কাজ হচ্ছে তার কোন আপডেট কোথাও দেখি না। অন্যদিকে তাদের পাঠানো বিপুল পরিমান ফরেক্স দেখিয়ে বুঝানোর চেষ্টা করি বাংলাদেশের অর্থনীতি ভাল আছে, আদৌ কি তাই?

ওয়ার্ল্ড ব্যাংকের 'ডুয়িং বিজনেস্‌ ২০১৬' প্রতিবেদনে দেখা যাচ্ছে বাংলাদেশ গত এক বছরে ২ ধাপ পিছিয়ে গেছে, গত বছর ছিল ১৭২তম স্থানে এবং এ বছর অবস্থান করছে ১৭৪তম স্থানে তাও আবার পৃথিবীর ১৮৯টি অর্থনীতির মাঝে।

বাংলাদেশ বিশ্বদরবারে যতোই চিল্লাচিল্লি করুক এদেশে বিনিয়োগের খুব ভাল পরিবেশ রয়েছে, সবরকমের সুবিধা রয়েছে, লাভ বাইরে নিঃশর্তভাবে নিয়ে যেতে দেয়া হবে- আদতে এসবে কোন লাভ হবার নয়। এদেশে শিল্প প্রতিষ্ঠার জন্য আগামী ১০ বছরে সবচেয়ে বড় সমস্যা হতে যাচ্ছে গ্যাস ফুরিয়ে আসা, জ্বালানী-বিদ্যুৎ সংকট, মানব-প্রকৃতিসৃষ্ট ভয়াবহ দুর্যোগ যার ফলে এদেশ রয়েছে পৃথিবীতে অন্যতম ঝুঁকিবহুল (সিডর্‌-আইলার মতো টর্নেডো-সাইক্লোন বেড়ে যাওয়া, উপকূলীয় এলাকায় লবণাক্ত পানির পরিমান বেড়ে যাওয়া, দেশের ভিতর বিশুদ্ধ মিষ্টি পানির পরিমান কমে যাওয়া ইত্যাদি)।

এমন অবস্থায়, যখন মাথা ধরে আসে এটা চিন্তা করলে, সবকিছু ঠিকঠাক থাকলেও এতো বড় বড় সমস্যা থেকে বের হয়ে আসা সহজ হবে তো, তখন দেখা যায় কৃত্রিম কিছু সমস্যার জন্য বাংলাদেশের সবকিছু থমকে আছে। গত ২৮ অক্টোবর যখন একটি আন্তর্জাতিক কনফারেন্সে অংশগ্রহণ করি তখন দুপুরের মধ্যাহ্নভোজের মাঝে একজন রিটায়ার্ড আর্মি অফিসার জানালেন, তারা কয়েকজন বন্ধু মিলে সাভারে একটি গার্মেন্টস ফ্যাক্টরি দিলেন এবং তাতে গ্যাসের সংযোগ পেতে তাদের বাধ্য হয়ে ১.৫ কোটি টাকা ঘুষ দিতে হয়েছে-এরকম হাজার হাজার কাহিনী রয়েছে প্রতি-স্তরের ব্যবসায়ীর মাঝে। বাংলাদেশ একটি মুসলিম-প্রধান দেশ, যদি তাই-ই হয় ঘুষ যে খাচ্ছে তারা কিন্তু আমাদের এই সমাজ থেকে উঠে আসে, তারা কিন্তু ২-১ জন নেতা-নেত্রী নয়, বরং তাদের সংখ্যা লাখ-লাখ, ইসলামে ঘুষ গ্রহণ-প্রদান, দুটোই পুরোপুরি হারাম, সূরা আল বাকারায় ১৮৮ নাম্বার আয়াতে উল্লেখ আছে,

"And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful]." (Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 188, Chapter 2, The Holy Qur'an)

হাদীস-সংকলন গ্রন্থ যামী-আত্‌-তিরমিদিতে দেখা যায়,
Abdullah bin 'Amr narrated: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who bribes and the one who takes a bribe."
Grade : Hasan (Darussalam) (Vol. 3, Book 13, Hadith 1337, Jami` at-Tirmidhi)

ইসলামে ঘুষের বিষয়টি সরাসরিভাবে কুর'আন এবং সহীহ হাদীস দ্বারা নিষিদ্ধ। যারা এটা বুঝেও বারবার নিষিদ্ধ-ঘুষ নিচ্ছে এবং দিচ্ছে তারা আদতে কি কোথায় গিয়ে দাঁড়াচ্ছে সেটাও বের করে দেখার বিষয়।
ঘুষের অর্থনীতি তৈরি হবার প্রধান কারণ ম্যাটেরিয়ালিজম এবং ভোগবাদিতা, এবং এজন্যই এই অর্থ খরচ হয় অবৈধ যতোধরনের কাজে, এলকোহল্‌-ইয়াবা থেকে শুরু করে বিলাস-বহুল গাড়ি-বাড়ি (তাও আবার কর ফাঁকি দিয়ে কেনা, দুই নম্বর রড-সিমেন্ট দিয়ে বানানো ফ্ল্যাট উচ্চ দামে বেঁচে দেয়া) ছেলে-মেয়েদের আরেকটা নতুন নতুন পশুতে রূপান্তর করা।

যাই হোক সবচেয়ে লজ্জার বিষয়, আমরা যে পাকিস্তান আর আফগানিস্তানকে বিভিন্ন কারণে ঘৃণা করি এবং গালি দেই, সেই দুটি হাজারও সমস্যা থাকবার পরেও ব্যবসায়ে বিদ্যুৎ পৌছে যায় বাংলাদেশের আগে-ভাবতে গেলে অবাকই হতে হয়। বাংলাদেশে ব্যবসায়ে বিদ্যুৎ পেতে গেলে গড়ে সময় লাগে ৪২৯ দিন, তাও ঘুষ দিয়ে, অথচ আফগানিস্তানে লাগে ১১৪ দিন এবং পাকিস্তানে লাগে ১৭৮ দিন। একটি সাধারণ ব্যবসা শুরু করতে গেলেও বিদ্যুৎ সবচাইতে প্রয়োজনীয় অনুষঙ্গ, তাতেই এই অবস্থা। সম্পত্তি নিবন্ধন, ব্যবসায়িক বিরোধ নিষ্পত্তি, ভবন নির্মাণের অনুমতি, সরকারকে কর দেয়া- প্রতিটা ধাপেই ব্যবসায়ীদের ঘুষ দিতে বাধ্য করা হচ্ছে।

তো একেবারে সংক্ষিপ্তভাবে দেখা যাক 'ঘুষ' যা নেয়া-দেয়া অনৈসলামিক তা দেশকে কোথায় নিয়ে গিয়ে দাঁড় করাচ্ছে,

স্বল্প রপ্তানি-নির্ভর ব্যবসা= স্বল্প রপ্তানি= স্বল্প ফরেক্স= বাড়তে থাকা উন্নয়ন থমকে যাওয়া= মানুষের মাঝে জীবন-চালনার প্রতিটা উপকরণ নিয়ে হাহাকার শুরু হয়ে যাওয়া= পলিটিক্যাল আনরেস্ট= জ্বালাও-পোড়াও, সন্ত্রাসী কার্যক্রম বেড়ে যাওয়া= বাংলাদেশ এগিয়ে যাওয়ার স্বপ্ন দেখতে গিয়ে কয়েক ধাপ পিছিয়ে যাওয়া, স্রেফ সময়মত সবকিছু না করবার কারণে।

তারপরও কি দেশে ঘুষ আদান-প্রদান বন্ধে কোন আন্দোলন হবে না, এটলিস্ট হাজারটা মানব-বন্ধন? আমার মনে হয় না যে হবে, কারণ ঘুষ তো তোমায় আরাম দিয়েছে, যার দরূণ তুমি ভুলে গেছ এই বৈশ্বিক জীবন-ই শেষ কথা নয় বরং সবকিছুর শুরু মাত্র।

Riba: Grace or Curse?

Some people ask that though Riba is prohibited but how is it justified or what are the rationals to prohibit it? They go further, as from the notion of  Time Value of Money all know that $1 of today does not worth the value of $1 next year or say after so many years, and if interest rate is not paid on the deposited principle then one after so many years principle will count zero money balance. More, some may include a skeptical incident that, if there is yearly 5% on average inflation in an economy, and if someone deposits $10000 in a bank, then after 1 year true value of her deposited money will be, $[10000- (0.05*10000)]= $9500, and on other side, by utilizing it if Bank takes 8% interest rate from borrowers then why cannot she take 4% of it, even after taking it her loss accounts (5-4)%= 1% and after 1st period she gets true money of $[10000- (0.01*10000)]= $9900 which is less than her deposited amount, and will it be Haram or prohibited then?

To answer it concisely, it needs to refer the literal meaning of Riba,  Arabic word Riba means unjust, excess, exploitative gains made in trade or business. It is termed as usury and interest. Not only in Islam it is prohibited but also in Judaism and Christianity it is prohibited, one verse from Old Testament can be asserted here,

"And in case your brother grows poor so he is financially weak alongside you, you must also sustain him. As an alien resident and a settler, he must keep alive with you. Do not take interest and usury from him, but you must be in fear of your God; and your brother must keep alive with you. You must not give your money on interest, and you must not give your food out on usury." (Leviticus 25:35-37)

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, all these monotheist religions define usury, interest rate or riba not only a matter of Money Trade but also excess profit from any kind of trade which actually exploits people, sucks the potential expansion of economy as a consequence, collapse the overall economy one day, sooner or later. Lusts, whatever form it takes, ultimately cuts the head off, cause it also inspires people to earn more money by manipulating financial matters and gain by exploiting others. Riba is the starting point of it. Bribery too. But, as a   whole, for all, these things fetch huge financial crises like USA, Argentina, Greece and EU did have and are having still. It may also flow to other countries. More the interest and usury, more the risk to get in the crises.


Perhaps, there are different kinds of Riba according to Islam and it's scholars, i.e., Riba-al-fadl, Riba-al-nasia, Riba al-qarud, Riba al-buyu and Riba al-jahiliyya. Riba can arise in trade too, an incident can be noted down here,

"Once Bilal brought Barni (i.e. a kind of dates) to the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "From where have you brought these?" Bilal replied, "I had some inferior type of dates and exchanged two Sas of it for one Sa of Barni dates in order to give it to the Prophet; to eat." Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Beware! Beware! This is definitely Riba (usury)! This is definitely Riba (Usury)! Don't do so, but if you want to buy (a superior kind of dates) sell the inferior dates for money and then buy the superior kind of dates with that money." (Book 40, Hadith 12, Sahih al-Bukhari)

Now, I would like to ask that person, why was the Money created? One should know, it's main function is not to hold for long long and so long time as a lazy object but to do transaction, so why to restrict it's volatility by keeping it idle for years after years. Notion of Islamic banking is to make money more volatile to invest in real businesses, to earn profits and incur losses, though Islamic Banking has become only brand name at present days, no Islamic bank of Bangladesh is fully following the Islamic rules, but still they are better, because, they invest in a project after their own feasibility study. Depositors over there are more safe. The more return you get today, the more you are in danger that the business will collapse soon.

Even with 0 (zero) interest bank can run, even with 10% (not necessary or allowed to make 200% profits by exploiting people) profit a business can run. To run in 0% interest, bank can act as some percentage of share holder of the project that it has invested, and if it invests in 100 projects, if even 15 projects fail, then remaining 85 projects will help it to accumulate wealth, and then it can repay some inflation (or, deflation) adjusted money to the depositor, but no extra profit. Cause, without doing nothing, keeping money idle, there is no rational for depositor to attain profit but his money is safe in a secured place, and with ups and downs of the business cycle, his money will not get suddenly vanished, that is enough to provide with and providing no profit should be imposed as penalty, but opposite case of existing now and at present days, banking system is making people rent-seeker, but human being is not born to be this, but to be working and praising the one almighty.

Even, if no inflation adjusted money is given to the depositor, it is quite good, EU countries are now thinking of cutting money as a percentage of deposited amount in the name of service charge from  the depositors. However, Bangladeshis owned banks are exploiting less, do you know one thing, Interest Spread of foreigners owned Standard Chattered Bank is ~10.3%. Can you even think of at what extent unjust is going on and how much wealth they are outlaying from this country?

Hope, I have answered the question and many more things. And Allah knows the best. Thanks for reading.

The article has got published in,

1. Interest (Riba) : A blessing or nuisance to humanity ?

Labor Economics 6th Edition by George J. Borjas: Human Capital

Ability Bias

If even two people have got same level of schooling but they may earn different level of earnings, and it is due to their differences in respective abilities, which is known as Ability Bias in course of calculating effect of schooling on people as if workers comprising different level of abilities do not fall on same wage-schooling locus. And this inability of understanding about ability bias can lead policy makers to take some policies which are not needed now or may lead to give more importance to schooling all people which may not be proven profitable societally even at some circumstances.

Estimating the Rate of Return to Schooling

After adjusting the data for differences in other worker characteristics such as race, sex and age, the typical method for estimating the rate of return to schooling is calculated using the data on the earnings and additional year of schooling of different workers and then finds out percentage wage differential. Generally used regression model regarding this is,

 log w= bs + Other variables

Where, w= worker’s wage

s= numbers of years of schooling pursued by the employee

b= coefficient that indicates percentage wage differential between two staffs who differ by one year of schooling when other variables are let to be constant

But even though the data set is adjusted to sex, race and age but this model cannot evaluate the real situation of wage differences in a worthy way, due to one year more schooling, due to the differences in ability such that IQ level of workers.

Even if we take persons comprising same ability level, then also the study shows different results, as if some early studies reported that the rate of return to schooling in a sample of identical twins was 3 percent and most recent studies show that it is 15 percent (Borjas, pp 251, 2013). It means there some other factors which are controlling the Discount Factor of laborers when to evaluate the effect of schooling in measure of wage differences and without measuring the discount factor properly rate of return to schooling cannot be measured in the justified way.

Maximization of Workers Lifetime Earnings

To be out of the problem that is inherited in Schooling Model, if we be able to find the age-earnings profile of a particular employee in both situation, i.e., when he has chosen to go to college and when he has chosen to stop after high school, then by comparing the two categories we can test the main hypothesis of schooling model. Though it sounds simple to conduct, but we cannot because once a worker makes a particular choice, we can only observe the earnings stream associated with that choice. And the solution comes to this thing comes from Borjas (2013),

“Even though we will never observe how much a worker who quits after completing high school would have earned if he had attended college, we do observe the earnings of those workers who did attend college. We could then predict the high school graduate’s earnings had he attended college by using the observed data on what college graduates actually make. Similarly, even though we do not observe how much college graduates would have earned had they stopped after high school, we do observe the earnings of high school graduates. We could then predict the college graduate’s earnings (had he not attended college) from the salary data for high school graduates.”

But this is valid when only those pupils and workers lie on similar wage-schooling locus.

Selection Bias and Corrections to it

Let us start with a numerical example,

Worker	Earnings in Blue-Collar Job	Earnings in White-Collar Job
Hafiz	$20,000	$40,000
Latifee	$15,000	$41,000

Here, Hafiz is better in blue-collar job and Wendy is better with White-Collar job that is why they are earn better  than other one at their own particular  area.

Assume that both faces discount rate of 10 percent. So,

Hafiz’s present value if he does not go to school= 20,000+ (20,000/1.1) = $38,182

Hafiz’s present value if he goes to school= 0+ (40,000/1.1) = $36,364

These suggest, Hafiz will not go to school as his Present Value is higher in terms of $ earned when he does not go to school.

Again for Wendy,

Latifee’s present value if she does not go to school= 15,000+ (15,000/1.1) = $28,636

Latifee’s present value if she goes to school= 0+ (41,000/1.1) = $37,273

These above calculations indicate that Latifee will go for school and then will take white-collar job.

But if we do overall comparison between Hafiz and Latifee, then we would say Latifee did wrong by taking educations and should have gone to the blue-collar job. Hence, this kind of situation is known as Selection Bias cause, Latifee necessarily is not efficient for blue-collar job but additional level of education has made him to do white-collar job. However it is known as selection bias as the inference is contaminated by rejecting their particular proficiency on respective distinct fields.

Perhaps, there are so many methods that can be used to reduce or remove selection bias, and one from those is to take large number of workers who are pursuing higher education or quitting after higher school only, and this confirms that on average workers take the schooling option that maximizes the present value of lifetime earnings. And empirically it is found out that the workers who have comparative advantage in doing skilled job, they will do that and other will do less skilled jobs, who have comparative advantage in it.

Schooling as a Signal

 According to Spence (1996), “The schooling model is based on the idea that education increases a worker’s productivity and that this increase in productivity raises wages. An alternative argument is that education need not increase the worker’s productivity at all, but that “sheepskin” levels of educational attainment (such as a high school or college diploma) signal a worker’s qualifications to potential employers.”

This above annotation means that education necessarily does not increase productivity of anyone but it gives signal to the job providers that high educated persons are furnished enough to carry on smart works which accelerate their wages than to other categories of labors. And to the employers schooling is a better system of signal rather than other differences in abilities to reveal as those cannot be found out easily and in minimum cost.

Bangladeshis have overtaken Pakistanis in Britain

A investigative report from The Economist,

MOST parts of Britain are doing better than Bradford, a smokestack town in West Yorkshire that has struggled since the collapse of the wool industry. But one comparison stings. Fatima Patel, the editor of Asian Sunday, a local newspaper, says Bradford’s leaders look ruefully at Tower Hamlets, a poor borough of London 200 miles to the south. And that comparison has an ethnic tinge, because Bradford is heavily Pakistani, whereas Tower Hamlets is the heart of Bangladeshi Britain (see maps).

In many people’s minds, and often in official statistics, the 447,201 people who called themselves Bangladeshi in the 2011 census and the 1,124,511 who identified themselves as Pakistani are lumped together. And the two groups have much in common. Mass immigration for both began in the 1950s. Both are largely working-class and Muslim. Both tend to vote Labour (see Bagehot). Both are concentrated in one business—restaurants in the case of Bangladeshis, taxi-driving among Pakistanis. But their fortunes are now diverging. And that says something about what it takes to succeed as an immigrant in Britain.

Even during the half-term holiday, the library in Morpeth School in Tower Hamlets is busy with mostly Bangladeshi children. Around three-quarters of the school’s pupils are so poor that they qualify for free school meals. A similar share do not speak English as their first language. And yet, last year, 70% got five good GCSEs, the exams taken at 16—much higher than the national average.   

Pakistani pupils do not fare too badly in school either, considering how poorly educated and badly off their parents tend to be. But Bangladeshis overtook them more than a decade ago and have pulled farther ahead since then (see chart 1). Some 61% of Bangladeshis got five good GCSEs in 2014 compared with 51% of Pakistanis and 56% of British whites.

That will help their job prospects. Both Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have low employment rates because so many women do not work. But among the young, Bangladeshis are more likely to be studying or in work. And Yaojun Li, a sociologist at the University of Manchester, calculates that Bangladeshis’ average monthly household income, though still low, is now slightly higher than that of Pakistanis.

Bangladeshis born in Britain are also more likely than their Pakistani counterparts to socialise with people of a different ethnicity, according to another study (see chart 2). Both still overwhelmingly wed within their own ethnic group. But among young men, for whom marrying out is easier, 26% of Bangladeshis now do so compared with 17% of Pakistani youths.

The explanations lie partly in the past. Pakistanis—many of them from the rural Mirpur Valley in Kashmir—began to settle thickly in Britain in the 1960s. They often took jobs in the textile mills of the north and the foundries of the West Midlands.

Most Bangladeshis came later. Many men arrived in the 1970s as refugees, but the peak of migration was in the early 1980s, when the women and children turned up. They thus arrived when British industry was on the ropes—which was oddly lucky, suggests Shamit Saggar of Essex University. Though many were working in the rag trade, they had not committed themselves to one doomed industry. Pakistanis had: they suffered greatly from the collapse of British textile-making.

Those early jobs also drew the two groups to different bits of England. Today half of all Britain’s Bangladeshis live in London, compared to one-fifth of Pakistanis. Bangladeshis do not just tend to live in Britain’s most successful city, they also live in a particularly vibrant bit of it: Tower Hamlets surrounds the booming office district of Canary Wharf. Schools in London have improved much more than schools elsewhere, partly because they get more government money but also because the best teachers want to work there.

Pakistanis in London also benefit from the city’s improved schools; they do better there than in the rest of England. But research by Simon Burgess of the University of Bristol shows that geography does not explain the whole difference. Bangladeshis did better than Pakistanis both in London and outside the city in 2013.

East End advantage

The growing success of Bangladeshis appears odd because their living conditions are often so dismal. More than one-third live in social housing, compared with a national average of 18%. Near Morpeth School, a fence outside grotty flats is topped with upturned nails to deter intruders. Pakistanis are more likely to own houses. But, since those houses are often in the wrong place, that has not helped them much. Those living in decayed northern towns are tied to properties whose value is hardly rising, stopping them moving to more dynamic spots. “It is a stake that only allows you to move around the corner to equally bleak economies,” says Mr Saggar.

Cultural conservatism, which has deepened among many British Pakistanis, makes things worse. Cousin marriage is more common among Pakistanis than among Bangladeshis, as is the bringing over of partners from the subcontinent, argues Parveen Akhtar, a sociologist at the University of Bradford. Nuzhat Ali, a campaigner in the city, reckons such marriages are actually more common among recent Pakistani migrants than among their grandparents. The practice means that more Pakistanis in a city like Bradford are first-generation migrants than might be expected by now. It might also mean that young men are less driven to succeed—the desire to find a marriage partner being an unstated reason for going to university among people of all races.

The experience of Bangladeshis suggests that it is foolish to judge the success of immigrants after just a few years in Britain. It also bodes well for Somalis. Today they are among Britain’s most desperate migrants. But they, too, have the fortune to be concentrated in London. In parts of the city their school results are already improving sharply. They are struggling now—but their future could be much brighter. And their ambition is surging. Amina Ali, a Somali councillor from Tower Hamlets, is even hoping to be elected as a Labour Party MP in Bradford.

Source: Ethnic minorities Breaking out

Love: A complex emotion, under the light of Raymond Carver’s ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

                       Raymond Carver's short story, ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’ focuses on the vicissitudes of human emotion, especially the inconstancy and power of romantic love, however the story was formerly published in 1981 and has been the subject of some debates over the decades with issues made over editor Gordon Lish’s act to edit this story heavily (Champion).

It is also observed, irrespective of editor Gordon Lish's heavy modification, the story fires up the debate regarding the definition of love realized by it's four key characters, i.e., Terri, Mel, Laura and Nick.

Four characters are engaged in discovering the meaning of love by sharing their opinions.

Here it is seen at this early stage classic short story that four characters are sitting around a kitchen table in the afternoon and they are Mel, a cardiologist; Terri, his wife; Nick, the narrator and Laura, Nick's wife. They are drinking gin and discussing what the love is. Mel asserts that true love is “nothing less than spiritual love” and emphasizes the chivalric nature of romance and devotion. Terri recalls the abusive and possessive love of her ex-husband, and maintains that his physical abuse was a sign of his love for her (Carver). Initially, Mel is stunned, but then admits his fantasy of murdering his first wife, Marjorie, because she remains financially dependent on him. Nick and Laura believe that they are too much in love to be torn apart by external circumstances. Mel tells a story about an elderly couple badly injured in a car crash that he attended in the hospital. They were still in love after many years and their sole wish was to see each other. The devotion of the husband and wife affects the group. After musing about the confusing and transitory nature of love, the two couples finish the gin and seem to arrive at a new understanding of their marriages (Champion). But all of them are still sitting there by questioning themselves what is really meant by love after sharing incidents of Terri-Ed, Terri-Mel, Nick-Laura and that old couple, as there are so many factors that may force anyone to rethink about the deeper philosophies of this complex emotion which is being tried to catch here at latter passages.

Terri argues with Mel that though Ed was abusive to her but he loved her extremely.

In this story it is actually observed that arguments and counterarguments between Terri and Mel go on and after telling about her ex-husband, Terri says, “I was in the room with him when he died. He never came up out of it. But I sat with him. He didn't have anyone else.” “He was dangerous,” Mel argues. He claims further, “If you call that love, you can have it.” “It was love,” Terri strongly claims again. “Sure, it's abnormal in most people's eyes. But, he was willing to die for it. He did die for it”,  (Carver). And their argument continues without reaching a single point for a solution where in a good relationship where love sustains it is observed all the way that couple does compromise, sacrifice even love to be looser in between them being visibly irrational where their main rationality holds not to hurt his or her loved one but this thing was completely absent in midst of Terri and Mel.

Laura and Nick by their reactive gestures, ingenuously prove that love is actually what.

At the mid of the story just after the Mel’s dialogue it is seen that Laura, Nick’s wife has said, “I don’t know anything about Ed, or about the situation. But who can judge anyone else’s situation?” Possibly this quote alone throws the arrow to the readers that if each of us take and stick with any particular viewpoint of love then would it be justified or not. Just after it Nick, husband of Laura describes her wife as, “I touched the back of Laura’s hand. She gave me a quick smile. I picked up Laura’s hand. It was warm, the nails polished, perfectly manicured. I encircled the broad wrist with my fingers, and I held her.” By making Nick to say this, the writer Raymond Carver has tried himself to answer that what is the real love when we understand to grab it by our psychological state. As if it is clear even at present days’ societies over the world that when someone is deeply love with any other then he marks his loved one’s every physical, mental, internal and external details very carefully and works his mind to get cherished with a pleasant feeling to come up with that loved one more intimately.  And it can be concluded here that, though none of the mankind is perfect but a relationship can be perfect even between two imperfect people, if both of them can feel them by heart and works their neurons then to establish a perfect relationship between them as if unlike, Terry, Ed, Mel and that old couple, Laura and Nick are also very simple and not out of mistakes but they have got to know each other better than any others cause, they have understood real love is brought up from the heart and not only one but both should have an unlimited eagerness to have each other always, at every passage of this worldly journey.

Works Cited

1.      Carver, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. New York: Knopf, 1981.

2.      Champion, Laurie. "What we talk about when we talk." Journal of the Short Story in (1997): 1-9.

100pc hike proposed in salary of public servants!

Staff Correspondent

The Pay and Service Commission has recommended increasing salary of public servants by 100 percent on average, full implementation of which would raise the government spending on salary and allowance by 63.7 percent.

The commission, led by its Chairman Mohammad Farashuddin, submitted the report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday.

The report also recommended that the government provide each employee with a special package, including a flat and health benefits.

Farashuddin later told reporters the recommendation of pay hike was done to attract meritorious and efficient people to join government services. This is why the committee recommended a 120 percent hike in the basic salary of cadre officers at the entry level.

The pay structure has been recommended supposing a service holder has a six-member family, including his or her parents. The commission also took into account the salary structure in neighbouring countries and the private sector.

Muhith said the pay commission report would be implemented in phases, starting from July 1, 2015.

According to Muhith, the country's economic progress has been good and it is vital to have an efficient and satisfied administration for its management. The government has the money to implement the pay hike.

“Government's money is people's money and it has to be spent for the wellbeing of the people,” the minister said.

The existing budget has Tk 28,709-crore allocation for salary and allowance of around 13 lakh government employees. Implementation of the recommendations will require another Tk 18,247 crore. This is excluding the enhanced salary of some 6 lakh non-government school and college teachers.

Asked if it would push up inflation, Muhith said, “Absolutely not. It will have no impact on inflation.”

The minister said the budget allocation for salary would not increase because of this pay hike and that it would rather come down.

The allocation for salary in the current fiscal year is 15.7 percent of the total budget.

But the budget gets bigger every year. So if this pay hike is implemented in full, salary of the government employees will eat up only 14.2 percent of the budget, said Farashuddin, also former Bangladesh Bank governor.

The commission suggested cutting down the number of grades to 16 from existing 20. It also recommended lowest basic salary at Tk 8,200, up from Tk 4,100. The proposed maximum basic salary is Tk 80,000, up from exiting Tk 40,000.

Outside the grades, Tk 88,000 has been recommended as basic pay for senior secretaries instead of existing Tk 42,000. Tk 1 lakh monthly basic salary has been proposed for the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister. At present, they get Tk 45,000 in basic pay.

The existing grade 9 will be merged with grade 8 and the basic salary has been suggested Tk 25,000 instead of existing Tk 12,000 and 11,000.

The current pay scale was implemented in 2009, four years after the previous one. The new pay scale comes into force in the span of six years.

The cumulative inflation rose by 63 percent in these six years and the commission kept that in mind while preparing the recommendation, said Farashuddin.

Recommendation for yearly increment has been made in a way so that the basic salary doubles in 15 years.

The yearly increase of 4th to 16th grade employees has been fixed at 5 percent and it will increase in an incremental way.

The commission chairman said those who will fall in the first grade will get an additional 5 percent of the basic pay or Tk 4,000 every month for performing additional responsibilities outside their duty.

Farashuddin said the commission recommended making the house rent and other allowances more logical. 

NON-GOVT SCHOOLS

The commission suggested implementing the new pay scale for the schools under Monthly Pay Order (MPO) six months after it is implemented for government service holders.

Farashuddin said the time for implementing the pay scale for the teachers is required for its objective evaluation. He said they recommended that the non-government schools deposit to the government exchequer a part of the money they receive from students.

SEPARATE PAY SCALE

The commission suggested a separate pay scale for Bangladesh Bank but urged the government not to give any separate pay scale for the public organisations incurring losses.

Farashuddin said there was no logic for giving separate pay scales for public universities, state-owned banks, financial institutions and insurance firms.

SPECIAL PACKAGE FOR FLATS

The commission made several alternative recommendations so that every government employee may own a flat. One of them is building flats by real estate companies by dismantling old government buildings.

The government will own 60 percent shares of the flats while the developers 40 percent. The flats will be distributed among public servants on hire-purchase basis.

Another recommendation is that a group of 10-20 government employees will be given 5-10 kathas of land where they will build flats. For the construction, they will be given loans equivalent to 50 months' basic salary.

Another alternative is that a group of government employees will purchase land and providing the proof of the purchase they will get house building loans equal to 50 months' basic salary at the bank rate.

INSURANCE POLICY

The commission recommended providing government staff with mandatory health insurance.

The government would deposit Tk 400 for each employee for general insurance policy, which would cover death in accidents, and treatment cost. It would also deposit Tk 100 for life insurance.

An employee would receive a maximum of Tk 5 lakh in insurance and the compensation package would be paid directly to the hospital.

Farashuddin said if it was done, the insurance sector would also throb. Though the government expenditure on insurance premium would be high in the first year, it would gradually come down.

He added they also suggested that the government set up a 500-bed cardiac hospital with the premium money for government employees.

CAR LOAN

The commission proposed a maximum of Tk 25 lakh car loan facility for officers of grade three and above and that the facility could be extended to grade four officers later.

PENSIONERS' BENEFIT

The commission recommended making the rate of pension 90 percent instead of existing 80 percent of basic salaries.

It also suggested that the facilities for pensioners be increased at the rate of the salary hike of the government employees.

SEPARATE BANK

The setting up of a bank styled “Bank for Steps to Prosperity”, owned and run by the government employees, has also been recommended.

Farashuddin said the government welfare fund has a piece of land at Dainik Bangla intersection and selling 20-25 kathas of it could fetch Tk 400 crore, enough for the capital of the new bank. Each government employee would have a Tk 4,000 share in the bank.

He added the bank would provide development and commercial loans possibly on single-digit interest rates.

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

The commission made several recommendations for civil service reforms. It suggested making the job tenure for voluntary retirement 20 years instead of 25.

It also proposed forming a development management pool, with officials selected on merit and efficiency. The commission also suggested taking exams for promotions.

Muhith said the government could take various initiatives as it had enough money. He said more initiatives would be taken in the next four years.

Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed said even if 100 percent of the Pay Commission recommendations were implemented, there would be no shortage of money and the government was capable of making it effective from this fiscal year.

Source: 100pc hike proposed

Malice in Humanitarian organization's heart?

Quoting from the Old Testament,

"Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them."

Source: Chapter number 25, Verse number 15- 17, Book of Ezekiel.

According to the Qur'an,

"But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now," or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment."

Source: Chapter number 4, Verse number 18, Surat An-Nisā'.

From these above quotes you may find lots of points to discuss, but my simple to take your attention is that if you do wrong after wrong, then you will be punished for must.
Well, what I mean to say is that, through the thousands of years of prophetic legacy the almighty, God has always stepped against the people who were not righteous, and have always has declared to punish them for their evil deeds.

So, who the hell is some so called and self-claimed humanitarian organizations who try to protect the terrorists and play movements all over the world to safeguard those being slaughtered by saying that it's the violation of human rights. So to them, my question is, dear fellows, does not it violate anything when a killer kills other innocent people or a rapist rape a girl? What are you for, to protect human rights for actual or are some tools to work with propaganda for protecting world mafias?
- ‪#‎EHLatifee‬

Peshawar Children Killing: A short note

‪
#‎Pakistan‬ created extremist with a view to checkmating ‪#‎India‬ via ‪#‎ISI‬ with the help of ‪#‎USA‬. Later, the mega power got backfired & realized soon that it was the greatest mistake ever they made, but when a force is created then it's not easy to abolish.

Till some days before, why some Muslilm kills other Musllms by claiming that they are protecting Islam, and at the end I got my answer. This is due to believing in ‪#‎Sect‬ system which is completely prohibited in ‪#‎Islam‬ by the Holy Qur'an itself. To read more about this, you may visit,

http://ehlatifee.blogspot.com/2014/12/why-to-get-divided.html

However, those freak-minded terrorists have killed so many people including innocent children, whether in the Holy Qur'an it is stated very clearly at Chapter number 5, Verse number 32,

"On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land."

And those innocent children were with neither with killing now with creating mischief in the land, so whoever killed them is totally against of all the humanity as if they are let to kill all the humanity. Firstly, they cannot claim to be Muslim even as they believe in sect-ism, later they have killed innocent people. Secondly, as these terrorists have already killed innocent people, so that according the above Verse no. 32, Chapter no. 5 of Surah Al-Mā'idah, it is now being a duty to slay them for must, and it would be done at that time, when this kinda fanatic will be removed from the earth totally.

At last, I would like to pray for those innocent people who are being killed brutally for no valid cause. Let's unify against of the poison that is existing in our world community. May the almighty Allah bless the departed innocent souls with jannah and make us enable to get out of this crisis. Ameen.

- ‪#‎EHLatifee‬

Fasting on the day of 'Ashura: Implications for Muslim

From the below mentioned to hadiths, it is to be stated that fasting on the day of ‪'‎Ashura‬ expiates the sins of the last year but it is not obligatory to keep fasting on this day. Here you may have a look.

Abu Qatada al-Ansari (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about his fasting. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) felt annoyed. Thereupon 'Umar (Allah be pleased with him) said:

.... He was asked about fasting on the day of 'Ashura (10th of Muharram), whereupon be said: It expiates the sins of the preceding year.

Source: Hadith 253, Book 13 (The Book of Fasting), Sahih ‪Muslim‬

And in another hadith from Sahih-al-Bukhari is here to be mentioned,

Narrated `Aisha:

(The tribe of) Quraish used to fast on the day of Ashura' in the Pre-Islamic period, and then Allah's Apostle ordered (Muslims) to fast on it till the fasting in the month of Ramadan was prescribed; whereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He who wants to fast (on 'Ashura') may fast, and he who does not want to fast may not fast."

Source: Hadith 3, Book 30, Sahih al-‪Bukhari‬

Thanks for reading these hadiths with patience.

Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi from Muslim Scholars:Get concerned & step against ISIS/ISIL

The points noted out by the all the prominent Muslim scholars around the globe, find here why ISIL/ISIS is completely worth of going against of it & why should we even protest it's activities for must. Don't miss it to read please, indeed it is a real document which proves so much things.

1- It is forbidden in Islam to issue fatwas without all the necessary learning requirements. Even then fatwas must follow Islamic legal theory as defined in the Classical texts. It is also forbidden to cite a portion of a verse from the Qur’an—or part of a verse—to derive a ruling without looking at everything that the Qur’an and Hadith teach related to that matter. In other words, there are strict subjective and objective prerequisites for fatwas, and one cannot ‘cherry-pick’ Qur’anic verses for legal arguments without considering the entire Qur’an and Hadith.

2- It is forbidden in Islam to issue legal rulings about anything without mastery of the Arabic language.

3- It is forbidden in Islam to oversimplify Shari’ah matters and ignore established Islamic sciences.

4- It is permissible in Islam [for scholars] to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know.

5- It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings.

6- It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent.

7- It is forbidden in Islam to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats; hence it is forbidden to kill journalists and aid workers.

8- Jihad in Islam is defensive war. It is not permissible without the right cause, the right purpose and without the right rules of conduct.

9- It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief.

10- It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat—in any way—Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’.

11- It is obligatory to consider Yazidis as People of the Scripture.

12- The re-introduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam. It was abolished by universal consensus.

13- It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert.

14- It is forbidden in Islam to deny women their rights.

15- It is forbidden in Islam to deny children their rights.

16- It is forbidden in Islam to enact legal punishments (hudud) without following the correct 
procedures that ensure justice and mercy.

17- It is forbidden in Islam to torture people.

18- It is forbidden in Islam to disfigure the dead.

19- It is forbidden in Islam to attribute evil acts to God.

20- It is forbidden in Islam to destroy the graves and shrines of Prophets and Companions.

21- Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray.

22- It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims.

23- Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam.

24- After the death of the Prophet (pbuh), Islam does not require anyone to emigrate anywhere.


Download the Open Letter from here, http://lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php

The Combined (English-Arabic) version is available here, http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/pdf/Booklet-Combined.pdf