DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Friday, October 11, 2013

11

Is Iran really ready to make a nuclear deal?

Louis Charbonneau 
estern nations are struggling to answer one key question as they assess con icting signals from Tehran ahead of next weeks big-power meeting with Iran in Geneva is the Islamic Republic ready to make a deal on its controversial nuclear programme? While it is clear that Iran wants an end to the crippling international sanctions world powers have imposed on it for refusing to halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive atomic work, Western diplomats say it is not clear whether Tehran is prepared to signi cantly curtail its nuclear activities. On the one hand, Iranian o cials recently suggested in New York that they plan to present a new o er to six world powers on October 15-16 in Geneva, Western diplomats say. On the other hand, the Iranians have indicated the opposite that they want a new o er from the six powers before proposing anything. Obviously they are very much worried about the sanctions, a senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity. Obviously they want a lifting of the sanctions. But how much are they ready to pay? I dont know. The main unknown, the diplomat said, is the position of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei: Nobody knows the answer to the central question, which is whether Khamenei has decided to strike a deal. Iran, which rejects allegations that its atomic programme is aimed at giving it the capacity to produce bombs, has been negotiating unsuccessfully for years with the so-called P5+1 - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. Irans new centrist President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with dozens of delegations, many of them European, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. Tehrans nuclear programme was one of the main topics of discussion.

sidered by Western Kremlinologists as a liberal because he was drinking whiskey.

Concrete steps?

Sometimes symbols matter. The most signi cant piece of symbolism during the UN General Assembly, Western o cials say, was Rouhanis telephone call with US President Barack Obama, the rst conversation between the heads of governments of the two estranged nations in over three decades.

Iran might be willing to take some concrete steps in the interest of securing sanctions relief

The glory days of Jahangirnagar may be long gone, as the university su ers from various problems

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Save Jahangirnagar University

W
Ekram Kabir 

hen we were toiling with our troubled education life during Dhaka Universitys most rowdy days, we used to envy our friends who went to Jahangirnagar University. Our JU mates didnt have to su er as we did, they didnt have session jams, they didnt have any undue interference for getting seats at their halls of residence, they even completed their masters much ahead of us and went into the job market at least two years before us. They were so fortunate to have such a fantastic environment at their university. During our time, JU was the emblem of a perfect seat of higher studies in Bangladesh, as the erstwhile dictator couldnt pollute it with his Machiavellian tactics. Those were the sunny days for JU and all the people involved with it. Those glorious days are long gone and now the university is groaning with pain due to politics by the vice-chancellor, teachers, politics by so-called students and politics by other employees. Given the state of the a airs now at JU, it seems that the university is doomed and is no longer an institution for any education. Its unacceptably painful to see that the university has come to this. A section of the teachers has been demonstrating against the VC,

demanding his resignation. They have been sitting in front of VCs residence for a long time. Earlier, a few weeks ago, they kept the VC captive inside his o ce room. Then a few weeks later, the VC, along with his spouse, had also come out of his residence and staging a sit-in, protesting the teachers sit-in.

tion of appointing the dean. The employees had been staging work abstention in protest of this. This continued for quite some time and the pro-BNP teachers have now announced that they would again start their agitation on 22 October. Such isnt a normal picture of a university, for heavens sake!

To the minds of the commoners like us, the Jahangirnagar campus cannot be termed as a place for education any more; the progovernment and pro-opposition party educators seem to have lost all credibility as educators

He had announced that he wouldnt budge from there until the teachers didnt move away from there. It was also reported that a section of government party students wing had met the VC asked the VC not to move away from that place. Then on October 9, the VC with the help of Chhatra League workers reportedly tried to clear his way by pushing two demonstrating teachers. The teachers, in their counter-move, pushed the VC. There was an incident of chasing and counter-chasing between the teachers and Chhatra League workers. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the registrar and his deputy had been kept inside their of ices on the ques-

To the minds of the commoners like us, the Jahangirnagar campus cannot be termed as a place for education any more; the pro-government and pro-opposition party educators seem to have lost all credibility as educators. The goings-on at the JU campus clearly indicate that appointed educators, including the VC, of this university have gotten involved in national politics and serving their own party interests. On the other hand, the government, the education ministry for example, is seen enjoying the comedy that has been being staged there. Although the education minister has warned the pro-BNP teachers with legal action, he didnt say anything to the VC and the Chhatra League workers there.

Its not understandable how a political party can gain by nurturing national-level political activities inside a university. The question can also be raised as to how far the educators, who are involved in national politics, are capable of educating their students, as their minds are not into educating the pupils. We, who have seen our Dhaka University teachers get politically divided during 1982-90, know the educators themselves can destroy the educational backbone of a university. Our fouryear course to eight years to complete; and you can imagine the education that we received from our educators. In such circumstances, the students su er the most; they lose interest in education; their entry into the job market gets delayed; their parents feel the brunt of this delayed passing-outs of their wards. JU also has some really passionate educators who, we presume very few in number, remain as a silent minority and want to remain busy with education only. We urge them to raise their voice for saving the JU from this dire situation. If they remain silent as usual, the consequence of the present situation would really get out of hand. At the same time, we urge the government for freeing this university from clutches of national-level political activities. z Ekram Kabir is the executive editor of Natunbarta.com.

Iran rejects allegations that its atomic programme is aimed at giving it the capacity to produce bombs

There were a lot of smiles, said another Western diplomat who attended a meeting with Zarif. But what does it all mean? Are we ready to make a nuclear deal? We just dont know. According to the senior diplomat, the Iranian charm o ensive during the General Assembly sparked a urry of internal analyses in Western capitals among all the Iranian specialists, like at the time of the (Soviet Unions) Kremlin. He compared the blizzard of studies of Iranian behaviour and comments to the days when former Soviet Communist Party Chairman Yuri Andropov was con-

They said it showed the taboo against Iranian-US contact had been broken and both voiced a willingness for dialogue. So what are the Iran Kremlinologists predicting Tehran will bring to the table next week? There is no consensus. They (Iran) have said they are going to bring new proposals to the table, the senior Western diplomat said. That is consistent with public comments of Rouhani, who said Iran would bring its plan for resolving the nuclear stando to Geneva. According to an intelligence assessment of Rouhani prepared by a Western country, Iran might be willing to take some concrete steps in the interest of securing sanctions relief, including halting medium-level 20-percent uranium enrichment and freezing the expansion of its nuclear centrifuge program. But the diplomat who described the intelligence assessment said there were limits to how far Rouhani would allow Zarif to go in negotiating with the six powers. Rouhani will likely be willing to make more compromise o ers than before, the diplomat said. But he believes Iran wont have to make significant concessions on its nuclear project in practice. Rouhani led unsuccessful negotiations between Iran and Britain, France and Germany in 2003-2005 when he was secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council. Another person who attended a meeting with Zarif in New York said the Iranians indicated they would not be presenting any new proposals at the Geneva meeting but were expecting a new o er from the six powers. That is consistent with public comments Zarif made a few days ago - that the six powers, not Iran, must come up with new proposals. If thats what happens, the most we might get from Geneva is an agreement to meet again, the participant in the meeting with Zarif told Reuters on condition of anonymity. z This article has been syndicated from Reuters.

The curious case of Dargah Madrasa

Nikhil R Puri 

azrat Shahjalals shrine in Sylhet requires no introduction. Residing uncomfortably within the dargah compound, however, is a lesser-known madrasa. Uncomfortably, because Jamia Qasimul Uloom popularly referred to as Dargah Madrasa is run by men ideologically opposed to the practice of building and visiting shrines. The madrasas principal Mufti Abul Kalam Zakaria explains his madrasas stance: We venerate pirs and we even maintain contact with them. To maintain contact with a pir simply means to follow his precedent, to try and live ones life with similar devotion to God.

Mufti Zakaria represents the mainstream Deobandi view regarding the practice of pir veneration. According to Deobandis, one should study and emulate the lives of saints without celebrating them posthumously

Then comes the more perplexing part: But we dont believe that one should build a dargah. Asked how he reconciles his madrasas location (and nickname) with his stated beliefs, Mufti Zakaria opines that even Hazrat Shahjalal wouldnt have approved of his own dargah. Mufti Zakaria represents the main-

stream Deobandi view regarding the practice of pir veneration. According to Deobandis, one should study and emulate the lives of saints without celebrating them posthumously. As an institution, the dargah challenges the Deobandi belief that no grave (not even a pirs) should be embellished. Those building shrines, Deobandis argue, seek only to make money by practicing and promoting idolatry. That Deobandis and Su s disagree about the speci c manner in which a pir should be venerated is well documented. That this debate should reside and ourish within the dargahs compound, however, is puzzling to say the very least. So how did a Deobandi madrasa with views antithetical to the very existence of the dargah become the Dargah Madrasa? The late Ha z Maulana Mohammad Akbar Ali founded the Dargah Madrasa in 1961. Going by the accounts of individuals associated with other madrasas in Sylhet, Ali had been a student at Sylhet Alia Madrasa (a government-run madrasa then as it is now) in the 1950s before proceeding to Deobands parent institution Darul Uloom Deoband in India to pursue the Daura-e-Hadith course. Ali had close ties to members of the mazars managing committee from his time growing up in Sylhets Dargah Mohalla, on whom he could rely to secure a role in the dargah complex

transpired since 1961, chances are it wont happen at all. The second route to reconciliation requires Dargah Madrasa to revise its attitude towards the dargahs everyday practices not an easy task for an institution that prides itself on ideological consistency.

Early indications suggest that the madrasa has already begun making piecemeal concessions towards ideological compromise

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upon his return from Deoband. Oblivious to Alis ideological reorientation, the unambiguously Su men on the mazar committee appointed him as the imam of the Hazrat Shahjalal Mazar Mosque, and subsequently permitted him to establish the Dargah Madrasa. It was only after the madrasa began running along manifestly Deobandi lines that the men in charge of the mazar distanced themselves from Alis a airs. Today, the Su -oriented mazar committee and the Deobandi madrasa

committee operate independently of one another despite their shared quarters. One thing is clear. No matter how one chooses to view this puzzle, Dargah Madrasas ideology and location cannot go together. And there are only two ways to resolve this incompatibility. Either Dargah Madrasa relinquishes its location and nickname by moving to a more tting site, or it tweaks its ideology in accordance with the customs and practices of its current context. Since the rst possibility hasnt

While nobody should expect it to wholeheartedly embrace Su culture, the madrasa can begin by condoning and adopting those practices it considers least objectionable. Early indications suggest that the madrasa has already begun making piecemeal concessions towards ideological compromise. By subduing its Deobandi ideals, notes one observer, the madrasa can gain considerably from the goodwill of the shrines many visitors. Indeed the madrasa agrees, as there are two donation boxes in the dargah compound: one for the mazar and the other for its reluctant neighbour. z Nikhil R Puri is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford.