WB seeks immunity as it's actions go against people
Speakers tell discussion
Staff Correspondent
The World Bank (WB) seeks blanket immunity in Bangladesh just to protect itself from any legal proceedings against its anti-people activities, speakers said at a discussion at the LGED Bhaban in the city yesterday.The WB must not be treated as a UN organisation, as it is a banking institution, they said at the discussion organised by Alliance against World Bank Immunity in the wake of possible passage of The International Financial Organisations (Amendment) Act, 2004. An amendment to The International Financial Organisations Order of 1972, likely to be passed in the parliament, will provide the Bank with "immunity from every form of legal process." "The WB is eager for immunity as it is aware that its actions go against people's interests,' said Mohammad Zakaria of Action Aid Bangladesh. Terming the WB as an extension of the US treasury, economist Professor Anu Muhammad said the bank has incurred huge damage to the people's interests in the name of development. If the Adamjee Jute Mills could be laid down at the dictate of the WB on the pretext that it had incurred a loss of Tk 1200 crore, what should be the fate of energy company Unocal that caused a damage of Tk 6,000 crore in the Magurchhara gas explosion, he questioned. Corrupt government officials and politicians make the WB function possible, he said. The WB's hegemony is sponsored by the US hegemony, said Dr Salimullah Khan, research director of CAAC. Presenting the keynote paper, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of Supra said the WB Country Director Christine Wallich 'told a lie' when she claimed on the BBC that the bank has institutional immunity across the world. "It enjoys institutional immunity only in Ghana and in the US," he said. Citing a correspondence between two ministers concerned, Advocate Mizanur Rahman Apel said the amendment in the immunity bill has been prepared as per dictation of the WB legal expert. Such immunity goes against people's aspirations, equity, justice and democracy, said the executive editor of the daily New Age, Nurul Kabir, who moderated the discussion. If the WB works for welfare of the people, why does it ask for blanket institutional immunity in the first place, Swapan Bhuyan of Bangladesh Krishak Federation wondered. Granting institutional immunity to the WB will violate the constitutional rights of the people, speakers said. Ahmed Swapan of Voice, Asst Professor Zakir Hossain of Rajshahi University, the Daily Sangbad Executive Editor Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, among others, spoke on the occasion.
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