Donations vs Nomination Business

By Adnan Anwar

Donations, by definition:

1. The act of giving or bestowing; a grant.
2. That which is given as a present; that which is transferred to another gratuitously; a gift.
3. (Legal definition) The act or contract by which a person voluntarily transfers the title to a thing of which he is the owner, from himself to another, without any consideration, as a free gift. --Bouvier.

The basic connotation of the word donation is giving without receiving any consideration in return.

Today, our political leaders are confusing donations with their business of selling nominations. Receiving Taka 5 crores in return for a nomination is surely not donation. It is selling nominations, pure and simple.

Furtnermore, I would like to know where are these so called donations kept. Are they kept in an account in the name of the party, or are they kept in the personal accounts of the leaders and spent as they wish.

Bangladesh Emergency Six Months On - BBC

By John Sudworth, BBC News, Dhaka

Six months after widespread rioting forced the cancellation of January's general election, Bangladesh remains under a state of emergency. And six months on there are many people who may feel less kindly disposed towards the philanthropic general. A series of military raids have seen dozens of senior politicians, many of them former cabinet ministers and household names, arrested and jailed. Gen Ahmed argues that that is exactly where they should be - more

Army chief feels need to review the Constitution

Army chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed yesterday said the constitution should be reviewed through a "constitution commission" for preparing new laws and mechanisms to ensure accountability and effective governance. ...more

The vortex of lies and denial

Today, the nation is caught in a vortex of lies and denial. But what surprises and angers us most is that none of the leaders has ever apologized for the wholesale plundering of national wealth by his/her party men! ...more

Roadmap for polls Sunday

The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday will announce a tentative date for holding the stalled ninth parliamentary elections and declare the roadmap to the polls in which the date for completing the voter list with photographs would be mentioned.

Sources said the chief election commissioner (CEC) on Sunday would make the roadmap public in a press conference at the EC Secretariat. more