Bangladesh: Ershad firm on not joining polls

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The ruling Awami League has failed to convince the Jatiya Party to revise its decision to boycott the 10th parliamentary elections scheduled for January 5, JP leaders told New Age.
The JP chairman, HM Ershad, meanwhile on Friday night, said that he was not ill and had been detained in the name of treatment in Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka since Thursday night.
Law enforcers picked up him from his house at Baridhara about 11:40pm on Thursday and took him to the CMH.
As part of the Awami League’s efforts for a negotiation, Tofail Ahmed and Gowher Rizvi met JP presidium member Rawshan Ershad at her hosue at Gulshan in the evening.
JP presidium members Anisul Islam Mahmud and Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu who are known to be inclined towards the Awami League, also attended the meeting at Rawshan’s house.
After the meeting with Rawshan that continued for an hour, Tofail, also the industries minister, and Rizvi, the international affairs adviser to the prime minister, left Rawshan’s house and told reporters that it was just a ‘courtesy call.’
More than one JP presidium members confirmed to New Age that Tofail and Rizvi had also spoken to Ershad at the CMH in the evening but without any understanding being reached.
With rumours rife for all day long over a split in the Jatiya Party, change in the top leadership and participation in the national elections, the JP secretary general, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, at a press conference in the afternoon told reporters that Ershad would remain chairman of the party as long as he was alive.
‘Ershad was taken to the CMH as he was demanding inclusive and neutral elections,’ Hawlader said. ‘Agitation programmes will begin soon demanding the release of our leader.’
Ershad’s younger GM Qader at another press conference in the afternoon told reporters that his brother was quite well but he was taken to the CMH. ‘Ershad is, however, fine now. He will be allowed to come back home at his will,’ Qader said but declined comments when he was asked whether Ersahd was ‘arrested.’
The Jatiya Party will not contest the polls. Ershad is the party chief,’ Qader said. ‘I met my brother at the CMH and asked me to talk to the press to brief on his situation.’
‘All JP candidates have been asked to withdraw their nominations on time. This is the order of Ershad,’ Qader said.
Ershad in a press statement, meanwhile, on Friday night said that he was not ill and had been detained in the name of treatment in the CMH.
Ershad’s special adviser Bobby Hajjaj e-mailed the statement to journalists.
Ershad in the statement iterated his party’s stance on not participating in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
‘The Jatiya Party will not contest the elections if all parties do not do that. For this reason, party candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers,’ according to the statement.
He also denounced JP leader Mujibul Haque Chunnu’s acting as the party’s spokesperson and insisted that Mujibul’s statements should be regarded as his personal views, not the party’s.
‘I have not appointed anyone the party’s spokesperson. I will convey my messages to the media through Bobby,’ it said.
‘Do not be confused by statements, campaigns or propaganda from anyone else,’ the JP chief added.
Ruhul Amin Hawlader and GM Quader will lead the party in keeping with Ershad’s guidelines, the statement said.
Bobby told New Age that Ershad had told him to send the statement to the press.
Hundreds of JP leaders and activists, meanwhile, gathered at the party office in Dhaka, shouted slogan against the government for detaining their chief and demanded his immediate release.
They said that their chief was quite well but had forcibly been taken to the CMH.
The expelled Jaitya Party presidium member Kazi Zafar in a statement in the evening demanded the release of Ershad.

Bangladesh: Polls boycott led to arrest of Ershad: BNP

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday alleged that the arrest of the Jatiya Party chairman, Hussein Muhammad Ershad, had resulted from his unwillingness to take part in the next parliamentary elections.
The acting BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a statement also demanded an immediate release of Ershad.
He said, ‘Ershad was arrested as he refused to take part in the stage-managed polls.’
‘We are worried because of the way he was arrested. The arrest of Ershad proves that there is not an iota of democracy in the country,’ he added.
Ersahd announced the boycott of the next polls severing ties with the Awami League-led ruling alliance.
His being ‘picked up’ by the Rapid Action Battalion and being taken to Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on Thursday night soon after the execution of Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla had given rise to speculations in the political arena.
Jatiya Party presidium member Kazi Firoz Rashid on Thursday night claimed that his party chief had been arrested on Thursday night.
But the battalion’s director (legal and media wing) Habibur Rahman, however, set it aside saying that they had taken Ershad to the CMH as he had suddenly felt sick.
On Friday noon, GM Quader, younger brother of Ershad, also criticised the authorities concerned for detaining Ershad adding that the way Ershad had been taken to the hospital was not usual.
At a news conference, he said that in keeping with Ershad’s order, all party candidates would withdraw their nomination papers as Ershad was still the party chief.

Bangladesh: Shoot Jamaat, Shibir rioters Says Shahriar Kabir

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Writer Shahriar Kabir on Friday called upon the government to shoot the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir men who would be found running atrocities in the streets.
He made the call at a rally at Shahbagh organised by Ganajagaran Mancha, the youth-led platform campaigning for the capital punishment for the war criminals.
Shahriar, also the executive president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, sought military
intervention in resisting the ongoing countrywide atrocities of Jamaat and Shibir men.
He said that the government should not rely only upon the law enforcers to face the Jamaat and Shibir men.
‘Also the ordinary people, led by the Ganajagaran Mancha, should be involved in fighting against the Jamaat, Shibr and fanatic Hefajat-e-Islam who declared war against the country,’ he said.
Pointing at the Hefajat programme scheduled for December 24 in the capital, Shahriar said Ganajagaran Mancha must strongly resist Hefajat’s entry to the capital.
Ganajagaran Mancha spokesman Imran H Sarkar echoed him regarding the Hefajat programme.
Imran said that banning Jamaat and Shibir was the key to defeating anti-liberation forces.
Rights activist Khushi Kabir termed the execution of Jamaat assistant general Abdul Quader Molla as the first chapter to make the country collaborators-free.
Among others, Sammilita Sangskritik Jote president Nasiruddin Yusuf Bachchu, Martyred intellectual Dr Abdul Alim Chowdhury’s widow Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury, Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree president Bappaditya Basu and Bangladesh Chhatra Union president SM Shuvo addressed the rally.

Bangladesh: Chances slim for making Jan 5 polls participatory: CEC

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said on Friday that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the commission to ensure participation of all political parties in the January 5 general election.
When reporters asked him whether there were still chances for making the January 5 polls participatory, Rakib said, ‘Things are getting difficult.’
Talking to newsmen at the EC secretariat in the city, the CEC, however, said chances would remain for the parties to take part in the polls if all political parties made a ‘realistic decision’ and arrived at a political consensus.
‘And if a consensus is arrived at finally, it would be the parties which would instruct us what to do,’ he said.
A total of 1,107 candidates from 20 political parties, mostly belonging to the Awami League-led ruling alliance, had submitted nomination papers for the 10th parliamentary elections with most of the political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance, boycotting the polls.
After the scrutiny, the number of valid candidates stood at 880 on Thursday and many others, including those nominated by HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party, withdrew their candidatures by Friday, the last date for doing so.
EC officials said about 70 candidates of Awami League and Anwar Hossain Manju-led Jatiya Party-JP had so far been elected unopposed. They said the number was expected to increase.

Bangladesh: US urges political parties to refrain from violence

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Terming the current situation in Bangladesh a ‘sensitive moment’, the United States has strongly urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence and express views peacefully.
‘Well, we’re aware that his (Quader Mollah’s) execution took place on Thursday, and I think would underscore a few points - that now is a very sensitive moment in Bangladesh… we strongly urge all parties to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence - I think that’s a very key point - and express their views peacefully,’ said Marie Harf, the deputy spokesperson of the US Department of State, in a regular briefing in Washington on December 12.
The reply came when a question was raised on the execution of war criminal and Jamaat leader Abudl Quader Mollah and violence in different parts of the country following the execution.
‘We’ve long urged the authorities to assure that trials are free, transparent, and in accordance with international standards, but we’ve also urged all parties and their supporters to express their views peacefully, and again, to refrain from violence. That’s really what we want to see here going forward,’ Marie Harf said.
Condemned war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Mollah was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail at 10:01pm Thursday.
Street violence across the country flared up following the execution, leaving five people killed so far.

Bangladesh: Finance ministry mulls sanctioning Tk 100cr for upgrading major land ports

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The finance ministry plans to sanction Tk 100 crore to upgrade 12 major land ports of the country, a lion’s share of which would be spent to enlarge the small areas of the ports to ease the export-import activities.
Above 170 acres of private land are to be purchased out of the proposed fund to make the ports spacious so that goods at the ports are stored safely and goods-laden trucks are parked comfortably, officials said.
The prime objective of the investment is to facilitate export-import activities worth above $2 billion that take place through the ports concerned, mainly to and from India—the largest trading partner of the country, a senior official in the finance ministry said.
He said they were now examining a proposal of shipping ministry in this regard, and exploring funding arrangement from the revenue budget.
‘We have just started work towards providing Tk 100 crore in favour of BLPA after repeated demands made from the authority and endorsed by the shipping ministry subsequently for immediate release of funds to upgrade the land ports,’ a top finance official told New Age.
He, citing previous examples, said the allocations earlier given to BLPA on the similar head, were refunded by the authority in phases, and the proposed fund must follow suit.
Earlier, the BLPA in a letter promised to refund the allocation if extended to them by the finance ministry. The letter also had named the ports to be upgraded through enlarging their areas to erect storage facilities for goods and parking spaces for trucks.
The ports against which funding are being considered are—Bhomra, Hili, Banapole,  Gorbakura, Bilonia, Sonahat, Nakugaon, Ramgar, Tegamukh, Chilahati, Jibannagor and Mujibnagor. The last four ports in the list are proposed, according to the letter of BLPA.
Currently, the country has 18 land ports. The combined trading volume
takes place through the ports is worth about $3.5 billion, according to an estimate of National Board of Revenue.
The finance officials said they would be able to know next week about the exact amount to be sanctioned in favour of BLPA from the allocation of the current budget.
‘The disbursement could be made from current and next fiscals’ budgets,’ an official in the budget wing of the finance division under the finance ministry told New Age.
Officials in the BLPA said export-import activities would be largely benefitted once they can upgrade the infrastructure of the ports through enlarging their premises.
‘Land prices keep on soaring day by day,’ a BLPA official said, reminding that the authority had never been defaulter in repaying the government’s fund borrowed in 2004 and 2005 for the purpose of developing infrastructure.
‘Once the areas of land ports become larger, income of the port authority becomes larger too.’

Bangladesh: Railway official suspended

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Mohammad Zahirul Haque, the chief train controller of Bangladesh Railway, Dhaka has been suspended for providing wrong information to news media about rail communications.
He was suspended on Friday following an order issued by railways minister Mohammad Mazibul Hoque, said a press release.
The release issued by the ministry’s information officer Mohammad Shariful Alam said that even though railway service was normal all over the country, the chief train controller provided wrong information to media.
Divisional railway manager (Dhaka), Sardar Shahadat Ali, told New Age on Friday that after execution of war crimes convict Abdul Quader Molla Thursday night, trains were delayed for taking security measures. ‘But, we did not suspend service. It was just delayed.’
He said that most of the trains throughout the country still were running behind the schedule due to ongoing political unrest. ‘Some trains are leaving stations about four hours behind the schedule while some others about half an hour.’
An advance locomotive pilot system, in which a locomotive is sent to check the rail tracks, sleepers and other security facilities before an important train departs the station, has slowed down train movement, the official said.
‘A train normally runs with maximum speed of 80km, but at present a train is running with maximum speed of 40km and advance locomotives are running with maximum speed of 25km,’ he added.
Chittagong railway divisional officials said that all trains from Chittagong to other destinations also were delayed for security measures.

Bangladesh: Ban also had talks with president

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Voicing deep concern over widespread violence in Bangladesh, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon also spoke to president Abdul Hamid the day when he called on prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resolve differences over upcoming parliamentary elections through dialogue.
He spoke with the prime minister and  president over phone as a senior UN political official, assistant secretary-general for political affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, wrapped up a five-day visit to Bangladesh with a warning that the current political crisis is exacting a heavy, human, social and economic toll, seriously threatening the hard-earned economic and social progress that Bangladesh has achieved, according to a news release of UN News Centre.

Bangladesh: Cold related diseases spread with onset of winter

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The number of patients with cold related diseases has increased in the last couple of weeks since countrywide winter is stepping in.
The physicians said they were getting patients, specially children and old-aged people, suffering from different cold related diseases at their hospitals as well as at their private chambers.
Common cold-related illnesses such as asthma, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, bronchitis, rotavirus diarrhoea and skin diseases are spreading, physicians said.
Dhaka Shishu Hospital received patients mostly with cold related diseases in last couple of weeks, resident physician Prabir Kumar Sarkar told New Age.
‘About 70 per cent of the patients we received are cold related disease patients,’ he said.
‘But many patients could not come to the hospitals due to country wide blockade. Mainly the severe patients come to the hospital emergency,’ he said.
Prabir Kumar Sarkar said the patients living in the city were mainly visiting the out patient department in the last few weeks.
‘The regular and normal patients do not come with risk during hartals and blockades,’ he said.
Dhaka Shishu Hospital records showed that only 432 patients visited the OPD on Wednesday while the number was 700 to 1,000 in regular time. The number of admitted patient was 487 of whom 98 patients were admitted on Wednesday.
A total of 394 patients visited the OPD and emergency department on Thursday till 12:45pm, the officials said.
‘But it would not reflect the real picture. The real number is very high,’ Prabir Kumar Sarkar said adding that many parents living outside the city phoned them. ‘We asked them to go to the nearby hospital.’
Mostly, children and aged persons are patients of cold-related illnesses, said doctors.
Hospital officials said several children with respiratory illnesses, rotavirus and common cold and cough took treatment at the out patient department at Dhaka Shishu Hospital over the last few days.
People having respiratory problem or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should take antibiotics in consultation with physicians, said Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of disease control under the directorate general of health services.
The old aged people and also the people having respiratory illness were also suffering from the cold, he said
He emphasised on early treatment as he said it could save lives and cure patients quickly.
The DGHS had started campaign asking the parents to bring their children having pneumonia symptoms or breathing problems to the nearby hospitals immediately.
The doctors said unwillingness of breastfeeding of the children, fast breathing, breathing with sounds and chest restriction were the common symptoms of respiratory illness.

Bangladesh: Justice Jahangir’s village home attacked

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Miscreants hurled crude bombs at the village home of Justice Jahangir Hossain, a member of International Crimes Tribunal -1, at Mehedipur under Senbagh upazila in Noakhali early Friday.
None of the house inmates was, however, injured in the bomb attack. Justice Jahangir now lives in Dhaka.
The Senbagh police officer-in-charge, Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, said that unidentified miscreants hurled crude bombs at the house of Justice Jahangir at around 12:45am where his brother Shahadat Hossain lives in.
The attackers also threw brick bats at the house and later fled the place sensing the presence of police, deployed at the house for ensuring security, he said.
The OC said that a case was lodged with the police station, but none was arrested.
Shahadat Hossain said that all of his family members escaped unhurt.
Their house came under attack, only a day after an attack on the house of the tribunal’s presiding judge, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, in Chapainawabganj.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha’s ancestral home at Tilakpur in Kamalganj of Moulvibazar also came under arson attack.
Both Justice Fazle Kabir and Justice Jahangir Hossain are the judges of ICT, set up to try the suspects of war crimes committed during the liberation war in 1971.
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is a judge of the Appellate Division which is hearing appeal petitions related to the war crimes case verdicts delivered by ICTs.

Bangladesh: Navy chief hopes to win arbitration on maritime boundary dispute with India

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The chief of naval staff, vice admiral M Farid Habib, on Friday expressed the hope that Bangladesh would win in the maritime boundary dispute with India at the international court that is expected to deliver its judgement in mid-2014.
‘I believe the judgement will be in our favour as the documents we have submitted to the court are accurate… ’ the navy chief told a group of reporters on the occasion of arrival of the Bangladesh Navy Ship Somudro Joy (F-28) to Chittagong Naval Base.
The maritime boundary dispute is pending with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is based in the Hague, the Netherlands.   
‘A team representing the judges from the Court has recently visited the maritime zone of Bangladesh. They also verified the data that we have provided to them,’ the naval chief said, adding, ‘We have submitted the actual documents regarding our maritime zone. We’ve submitted exactly what we found inside.’
Bangladesh submitted the required papers to lay its claim to territorial waters, Exclusive Economic Zone up to 200 nautical miles and Continental Shelf up to 350 nautical miles from the baseline. Both the countries co-occupy 180 kms of a maritime borderline.
The function was organised following 49-day of journey of Bangladesh’s largest guided missile frigate, which was named after the victory of maritime boundary dispute with neighboring Myanmar.
The Somudra Joy, formerly the United States Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis commissioned in Hawaii in 1972, was transferred to Bangladesh Navy under the excess defense articles programme on May 21.
After an extensive programme for training and new equipment installation in California, the 133-man crew have successfully conducted a six week transit of the Pacific Ocean.
Bangladesh has spent Tk 70 crore for training of crews and bringing the ship to Chittagong, said the officials.
The ship will be expected to provide the navy two decades of service, the officials said.
Admiral Farid announced two more frigates constructed in China would reach Bangladesh in January.
About the frigate, the United State ambassador, Dan W Mozena, said the Bay of Bangal would be more secure, which is good for the Bangladesh, for the region and for the United States.
‘America is the largest market for Bangladeshi exports. Almost entire exports go by sea. And now, because of the ship the sea will be more secure than ever,’ the ambassador said.
Mozena announced that another ship, just like of Somudra Joy, will be inducted in the navy and those could work together to ensure security of Bangladeshi maritime from trafficking in persons, drugs and arms, and terrorist threat.

Bangladesh: Quader Molla buried

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Executed war criminal Abdul Quader Molla was buried in his family graveyard in Sadarpur upazila of Faridpur early Friday amid tight security.
His family said that the 66-year-old Jamaat-e-Islami leader was buried beside the graves of his parents at his ancestral home at Amirabad in Bhashanchar union at about 4:15am.
Quader Molla, convicted of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War,  was hanged in Dhaka Central Jail on Thursday night after the government ordered the prison authorities to execute his death warrant.
The family members of Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, including his widow, daughters and sons, and other relatives who were staying in the capital, could not attend the burial due to security concern.
‘We will visit the grave when time arrives,’ said Quader’s son Hasan Jamil, adding, ‘My father instructed us not to construct any permanent structure on the grave...’
New Age correspondent in Faridpur reported that an ambulance carrying the body escorted by more than 10 vehicles of law enforcers arrived at Amirabad village around 3:15am. Relatives and party fellows were seen wailing.
Mainuddin Molla, younger brother of Quader Molla and Bhashanchar union council chairman, received the body in presence of Sadarpur upazila nirbahi officer Lokman Hossain, executive magistrate Muhammad Mamun Shiblee and additional superintendent of police Bijoy Basak.
His namaz-e-janaza was led by Moulana Abu Taleb, a Jamaat activist and imam of Tepakhola jam-e-mosque, was held in the home yard. The local administration allowed about three hundred Jamaat leaders and his relatives to attend the janaza amid tight security.
A gayebana janaza was held at Amirabad Fazlul Haque Pilot Institute High School ground in the afternoon.
Jamaat-e-Islami and his followers also held gayebana-janaza on Friday across the country, the party sources said.

Bangladesh: Schoolboy fighting for life

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): A 10-year boy is fighting for life in hospital bed at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after being shot in a fire exchange between the police and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir at Fakirerpul in the capital on Friday.
Shanto Islam, a Class III student of Agarpara primary school at Rupganj in Narayanganj, came to Dhaka to visit his aunt at Fakirerpul.
Since Shanto came to Dhaka, his father Md Sobhan Mia asked him to assist at the makeshift cigarette and tea shop Sobhan ran in front of Motijheel Ideal School and College.
At about 1:15pm on Friday, Sobhan asked Shanto to go to his aunt’s house and have lunch. Sobhan also gave Shnato a bowl and asked him to bring meal for Sobhan.
As Shanto was heading to his aunt’s house through a Fakirerpul by-lane, Jamaat and Shibir men went on rampage and fought with the police in the area.
Shanto was caught in the exchange of fire and fell on the road sustaining injuries in birdshots.
He was rushed to Dhaka Medical Hospital and he was still unconscious till the report was filed at 8:30pm.
After primary medical tests and CT scan, doctors found that there were numbers of birdshots at his head, back and shoulder.
Sobhan Mia became puzzled with the incident. ‘What a curse and wrath on our family! We even cannot afford daily livelihood, how would we be able to manage the expanses of treatment,’ Sobhan added.
A 10-year schoolboy Alamgir Rahman Sumon was caught in the crossfire and killed during a gunfight between the police and activists of the BNP and Jamaat in Sirajganj sadar on Tuesday, the fourth day of the latest spell of blockade the BNP-led alliance enforced across the country.
Scores of children fell victim to political violence in 2013, with at least 20 dying and many others still fighting for life.
At least 6 out of the 20 have died since November 8, when the BNP-led opposition alliance started enforcing general strikes and blockades of road, railway and waterways.

Bangladesh: Execution of Mollah could trigger more violence: AI

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Amnesty International has said the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader and war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah could trigger more violence with the country’s minority Hindu community bearing the brunt.
Mollah, who was also the Jammat’s assistant secretary general, was hanged at 10.01 pm on Thursday, hours after the country’s highest court dismissed his petition to review his death sentence.
‘The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah should never have happened. The death penalty is a human rights violation and should not be used to punish other alleged human rights violations,’ said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh Researcher, in a press release.
‘The country is on a razor’s edge at the moment with pre-election tensions running high and almost non-stop street protests. Mollah’s execution could trigger more violence with the Hindu community bearing the brunt,’ Faiz said.
‘Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community has been targeted in attacks this year following an earlier ICT (International Crimes Tribunal) verdict, they are at particular risk of violence now the execution has been carried out,’ Faiz said.
‘The authorities must ensure that anyone at risk, especially Hindus, are given the protection they need at this tense time… It is also crucial that all politicians in Bangladesh make it crystal clear to their supporters to refrain from human rights abuses and that attacks on Hindu communities are unacceptable,’ Faiz added.

Bangladesh: Man under CID custody found dead

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The body of an arrestee was recovered from Criminal Investigation Department’s custody in the capital’s Malibagh Friday morning.
The hanging body of Md Aziz, 32, was recovered from the third floor of CID headquarters at Malibagh around 11:00am.
Executive magistrate Mahbub Jamil recovered the body and finished inquest report.
Police and the magistrate primarily suspect that Aziz committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan.
Aziz was arrested under Women and Children Act on Thursday.
Quoting another arrestee Tanvir, Mahbub Jamil said Tanvir and Aziz went to sleep at Thursday night.
On Friday morning, Tanvir found Aziz hanging from a ceiling in the nearby room.
The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College for autopsy.
Aziz was from Ghior of Manikganj.

Bangladesh: Civil society calls for unity to establish real democracy

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Voicing grave concern over the ongoing political crisis, civil society members at a dialogue in the capital Dhaka on Friday stressed the need for an immediate initiative by senior citizens to make the ‘silent majority’ vocal to establish real democracy in the country.
They said the nation would run into a great trouble if the political parties fail to find a fruitful solution to the dispute over the next parliamentary elections.
The Concerned Citizens, a new platform of civil society members, orgainsed the dialogue on current political crisis, titled ‘Nation Demands Peace’ in the CIRDAP auditorium, in the afternoon.
Moderated by former caretaker government adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, the discussion, was addressed, among others, by Abdullah Abu Sayeed, former attorney general Hasan Arif and constitution expert Shahdheen Malik, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Asif Ibrahim and president of International Chamber of Commerce Mahbubur Rahman.
Abdullah Abu Sayeed regretted that the country earned only the name of democracy in 1991 after a long struggle against the military ruler. ‘But, now I think, the situation has turned worse than what was during military regimes. We’re now living in a state ruled by ‘autocratic democracy’,’ he said.
Sayeed said such ‘autocratic democracy’ started ruling the nation of 160 million people since 1991, and both the major parties — Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party — resorted to autocratic measures during their respective regimes.
‘So, we need to launch a united fight against this and forging such a unity is not easy,’ he said.
Asif Ibrahim said the businessmen are the worst affected of the political volatility despite their key role in bolstering the country’s economic growth.
‘The most unfortunate thing is that politics controls the economy here,’ he said.
Mahbubur Rahman expressed his concern over the current political situation and blamed the major political parties for not practicing real democracy in the country.
The platform placed a four-point demand at the dialogue to hold a free and fair election.
The demands are immediate end to all destructive political programmes; postponing the election schedule, ensuring a level-playing field through reconstitution of the poll-time government, and initiating a constitutional reform.

Bangladesh: SPB urges govt to stop unilateral elections

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The Socialist Party of Bangladesh faction on Friday called on the government to refrain from holding ‘unilateral’ elections.
The SPB faction central leader Shubhranshu Chakrabarty at a rally in front of the National Press Club also said that the unilateral general elections would not end the current political crisis of the country.
He urged the government to take steps for holding a participatory election with the participation of all political parties.
Leaders of the party expressed satisfactions over execution of Jamaat leader Quader Molla for crimes against humanity committed during the war of independence in 1971.
They called on the government to execute the verdicts against other condemned convicts of crimes against humanity.
They also urged the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance to refrain from creating anarchy in the name of movements.    
Chaired by Shubhrangshu Chakrabarty, the rally was addressed, among others by its leaders Alamgir Hossain Dulal, Fakhruddin Kabir Atik and Kalya Dutta.
The rally was followed by a procession that paraded different city roads.

Bangladesh: Jamaat appeals against HC verdict on party registration

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The Jamaat-e-Islami has appealed to the Appellate Division challenging the High Court verdict that had declared illegal and unconstitutional the party’s registration with the Election Commission, said party sources on Friday.
Jamaat filed appeal with the section concerned of the Appellate Division on Thursday and sought again a stay on the operation of the High Court verdict delivered on August 1.
On August 5, the Appellate Division vacation chamber judge, AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury, had rejected Jamaat’s provisional appeal petition for staying the High Court verdict.
On Thursday, Jamaat filed regular appeal after getting certified copy of the High Court verdict, the full-text of which was released on September 30, the party’s lawyer Belayet Hossain told New Age.
He hoped that the election commission would make no decision on cancellation of the Jamaat’s registration until disposal of the appeal by the Appellate Division, as the High Court had certified that the case involved a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution.
The three-member special High Court bench of Justice M Moazzam Husain, Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque, by a majority view, declared illegal and unconstitutional the registration of Jamaat as a political party.
The High Court pronounced the verdict after hearing writ petitions filed on January 25, 2009 by Bangladesh Tariqat Federation secretary general Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, and 24 leaders of the federation, Zaker Party and Sammilita Islami Jote.

Bangladesh: Hasina, Khaleda urged to work to restore peace

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The chiefs of three parties — Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal — on Friday called upon the prime minister to postpone the election schedule and the opposition leader to pull out violent programmes.
In a joint statement, BDB President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, BKSJL president Kader Siddiqui and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal ASM Abdur Rob, said ‘We express our deep concern over the recent destructive politics in Bangladesh.’
The statement said, ‘We want the prime minister to postpone the election schedule and resign in the interest of people under the current situation in the country. It’s also our call to the opposition leader you please give strong direction to your activists to save innocent people from the loss of their lives and property.’
They also urged the opposition leader to take peaceful action programmes like sit-in, meeting, procession and human chain to add a new dimension to politics.
The three leaders said Hasina and Khaleda will be remembered ever in history if they both take steps for the sake of the country and its people. ‘Or else, the history won’t forgive them and they won’t be saved from ruination either.’

Bangladesh: Ershad detention an arranged drama, says Manna

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Nagarik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna on Friday said that the government has staged an arranged drama in the name of picking up Jatiya Party chairman Hussein Muhammad Ershad by law enforcers.
Addressing a press conference at Shishu Kalyan Parishad auditorium at Segunbagicha, he said that the government had staged the drama to compel Jatiya Party to take part in the coming general elections.
Rapid Action Battalion on Thursday midnight picked up Ershad from his ‘President Park’ residence in Baridhara and got him admitted in Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka.
Manna said Nagarik Oikya will continue its movements for free, fair and credible participatory general elections.
They would also condemn the anarchy of the opposition parties in the name of movement to restore the system of caretaker government, he said.
The organisation announced a programme to end the current political unrest and establish peace by observing one-minute abstention from work at 12 noon on December 29.
Nagarik Oikya urged the democracy loving people to observe the programme in the capital and every divisional cities.
The central leaders of the organisation Abu Bakar Siddique, Shahidullah Kaiser, Iftekher Ahmed Babu and Shafiqur Rahman Hiru attended the press conference.

Bangladesh: Gazipur coil factory burnt

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Raw materials, products and machinery were burnt by a fire that broke out at a coil factory in BSCIC industrial area at Tongi in Gazipur on Friday morning.
Fire Service sources said the fire originated at ‘Maladesh Manufacturing’ around 6:30am and it soon engulfed the entire factory.
On information, six firefighting units from Tongi, Kurmitola and the sadar upazila rushed in and put out the blaze after two and a half hours of frantic efforts.

Bangladesh: Graduation dinner held at NDC

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The Graduation Dinner of National Defence Course and Armed Forces War Course - 13 of the National Defence College was held at Mirpur Cantonment in Dhaka on Thursday.
Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain was present as the chief guest, an ISPR press release said.
International affairs adviser to the prime minister Gowher Rizvi, acting chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral AMMM Aurangzeb Chowdhury, Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari, principal staff officer (PSO) of Armed Forces Division, defence advisers/attaches of different foreign missions in Bangladesh and high officials of defence forces attended the graduation dinner.
Chief justice Muzammel Hossain congratulated all course members of NDC and Armed Forces War Course-13 for successful completion of the course. He also expressed his satisfaction at the high standard of education that is imparted at NDC.
The chief justice emphasized on the need for greater synergy and integrity among all national forces, be it military or civil, for attaining much coveted goal of national development and security.
In this regard, he highlighted the role of NDC in building the national cohesion to address the challenges coming forth.
Commandant of the College Lieutenant General Mollah Fazle Akbar delivered his welcome address. He congratulated the graduating members and expressed thanks to the faculty members and staff officers of the college for their relentless hard work for making the courses a success. He also paid deep tribute and homage to the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all the freedom fighters who laid down their lives during the war of liberation.
This year the National Defence Course comprises of twenty Brigadier Generals from Bangladesh Army, three Commodores from Bangladesh Navy and three Group Captains from Bangladesh Air Force.
A total of 26 overseas course members from 11 friendly countries have also participated in National Defence Course 2013.
They were includes one brigadier general from Malaysia, Tanzania and Jordan, one brigadier and one air commodore from India, one naval captain each from Pakistan and Myanmar, one colonel from Egypt, three brigadier generals from Sri Lanka, five colonels, four captains and three group captains from Nigeria and two colonel from Royal Saudi Arabia and one lieutenant colonel from China.

Bangladesh: Two expats’ houses looted in Sylhet

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): Robbers looted valuables worth Tk 10 lakh breaking into the houses of two expatriates at West Charia village in Bianibazar upazila early Thursday.
Local people said some miscreants riding an ambulance came and stormed the house of expatriate Alauddin and made the house inmates hostage at gunpoint.
They looted 8/9 bhoris of gold ornaments, laptops, mobile phone sets and cash around 3:30am.
Later, they also raided another expatriate Paki Miah’s house at the same village and took away six bhoris of gold ornaments, Tk 30,000 and other valuables adopting the same means.
Officer-in-charge of Bianibazar police station Abul Kalam Azad confirming the incidents said police visited the spot and steps would be taken to arrest the culprits.

Bangladesh: Brahmaputra, Teesta drying up abnormally

Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The adverse impacts of climate change have forced the mighty rivers of Brahmaputra, Teesta and their tributaries to dry up abnormally much ahead of the dry season.
The Brahmaputra has now the lowest water flow in some narrower channels causing emergence of many shoals hampering navigability, irrigation, ecology, environment, bio-diversity and lowering of underground water level in northern Bangladesh.
At the same time, the Teesta has mostly dried up allowing its vast bed to wear a deserted look with only sand and the landless riverside distressed people have cultivated various crops on its beds this time like in the previous years.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said the century-old civilization on the Brahmaputra basin, irrigation, navigation, ecology and bio-diversity have been posed to a formidable threat causing grave concern for all.
According to local sources, the riverside people have been cultivating maize, Boro, ground nut, ‘china’, ‘kawn’, pulses, mustard, ‘gunji till’, wheat, tobacco, watermelon and other crops on vast tracts of sandy bed of these dried-up riverbeds now.
Crop farming began long ago as the rivers dry up abnormally every year during dry seasons in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Bogra, Jamalpur and Sirajganj districts, said Nurul Amin Sarker of Chilmari and Abdul Wahed of Kawnia.
Taramon Bibi, Bir Pratik, said it takes four hours in crossing the 25 km river-route from Chilmari to Rajibpur or Roumari by engine driven boat as the water vessels slowly move through huge zigzag channels due to appearance of hundreds of submerged shoals.
There were incidents of collisions between boats carrying passengers with goods and hundreds of passengers were stranded on the Brahmaputra as their boats were hit by the submerged shoals especially at nights in recent weeks, she added.
Chilmari upazila chairman Shawkat Ali Sarker, Bir Bikram, said movement of engine driven boats on all routes to and from 30 river ghats in Kurigram, Gaibandha and Jamalpur have become risky now due to emergence of shoals in the Brahmaputra.
Executive Engineer of the Water Development Board Rezaul Mostafa Asafuddowla said hundreds of shoals have emerged on the Brahmaputra beds while the water flows become thinner to flow through some narrower channels now.
Associate Director Agriculture of BRAC International (South Asia & Africa) Dr M A Mazid said such adverse situation has changed the overall climate forcing the region prone to more natural calamities and experience extreme cold and heat in recent times.
Droughts, flash floods and massive erosions are occurring almost every year due to unbridled rise of riverbeds from abnormal deposition of silts as a result of climate change impacts, said Consultant of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Bangladesh MG Neogi.
The experts apprehended that if this trend continues unabated, the process of desertification would further be accelerated in the northern region and agriculture might be the worst affected sector.
They also suggested a regional cooperation and planning involving all countries including India and China to cope with the changing situation along the Brahmaputra and Teesta basins like in the other regions of the country.

Bangladesh: Students gobble down two exams in a day


A number of schools in the capital are holding two examinations in a single day to make up for the time lost due to political turmoil, putting schoolchildren under crumbling pressure. 
A Class IX student of Ideal School and College said he took annual exam for physics and chemistry on Friday.
‘Taking two exams in one day, when the subjects are physics and chemistry, puts too much stress on us,’ he said.
Not only Class IX students but also Class VI and VII students of the school took two exams on the day. 
The school principal, Shahan Ara Begum, said they had no alternative to arranging two exams in a single day to make up for the time lost due to hartal and blockade.
Sarwar Rahman, a guardian, said two exams in a day were obviously putting pressure on the students and it was because of the political conflict.
Usually annual examinations of Class I-IV and VI–IX are held in late November and early December.
This year, the timetable has been hampered due to frequent general strikes and blockades since the last week of October.
Since October 25, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance enforced countrywide general strikes for 10 days in October 27-29, November 4-6 and 10-12 and on November 14.
The opposition alliance enforced blockade in November 26-28, in November 30-December 5 and for the third time in December 7- November 13.
Most city schools remained open on Friday even though it was a weekend. From the morning, guardians were seen taking their kids to schools.
Almost all educational institutions from primary to higher education level in Dhaka and elsewhere remained open on Friday to hold examinations or make up academic activities that could not be held because of the blockades and strikes.
Classes and examinations were held at private universities. Many city colleges were also open on Friday.
Authorities of different schools, including Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Ideal School and College, Mothijhell Model School and College, Mohhamdpur Preparatory Higher Secondary School and others said they took annual exams on the day.
Ideal School and College principal Shahan Ara Begum said if they had to take examinations only on Fridays, it would not be possible for them to complete annual exams this year.
Teachers said most schools were struggling to complete their annual examinations because of political violence.
Schedules for university admission tests were in jeopardy as political turmoil were disrupting the admission process.
This year, Primary Education Completion Examinations, Junior School Certificate examinations of four days were deferred. Several examinations of the SSC and the HSC were also deferred because of the political turmoil. (source)

Bangladesh: 5 injured as Shibir men attack SUST rally


Islami Chhatra Shibir activists on Friday afternoon attacked a rally held by Shahjalal University of Science and Technology teachers and students to protest at the attack on the liberation war memorial ‘Chetana 71’, leaving at least 5 students injured.
The Shibir activists fired several rounds and exploded some 10 crude bombs during the attack on the programme.
They also set a motorcycle and 4 bicycles on fire after chasing away the participants of the rally, the campus sources said.   
Eyewitnesses said some 100 Shibir activists, armed with machetes, iron rods and sticks, swooped on the rally at around 5:10pm during a human chain formed in front of the Chatana 71 on the campus to protest at Thursday’s attack on the sculpture.
More than 5 students were injured in the attack.
SUST assistant proctor Niloy Chandra Sarker told New Age that the authorities met in an emergency meeting following the attack.
He said the meeting was going when the report was filed at 7:30pm on Friday. (source)

Bangladesh: Butterfly fair at JU draws nature enthusiasts


Nature enthusiasts thronged the daylong butterfly fair on the Jahangirnagar University campus on Friday amid festivity and fanfare.
JU acting vice-chancellor pro-VC MA Matin inaugurated the festival as chief guest while pro-VC Afsar Ahmed, treasurer Abul Khaiyer and Manowar Hossain, convener of butterfly fair-2013, were present, among others.
With the theme ‘Urley Akashe Prajapati, Prakriti Pay Natun Gati’ (if butterfly flies, the nature gets new momentum), JU zoology department organised the fair in collaboration with Prakriti O jiban Foundation and in partnership with private television station Channel i.
A total of 125 species of living butterflies were displayed in the fair including two new species — Plains Blue Royal and Dusky Part wing — discovered by Professor Monwar Hossain.
A total of 72 species of butterfly have been discovered at JU so far which is a unique achievement of the university.
The daylong fair included children’s art competition on nature and butterfly, photography competition on butterfly, displaying living butterfly, kite flying, debate competition, prize distribution of the competitions, cultural events and documentary shows on butterfly.
The species displayed in the fair include Plain Tiger, Common Crow, Plum Judy, Dingy Bush brown, Common Duffer, Ape Fly, Pea Blue, Tiny Grass Blue, Oak Blue, Common Sailor, Common Rose, Blue Mormon, Striped Albatross, Mottled Emigrant, Common Grass Yellow, Monkey Puzzle, Blue Pansy and Painted Lady.
In the fair, a book on butterfly was launched on the fair. (source)

Bangladesh: Victory Day programmes chalked out in Rajshahi


Rajshahi district administration has chalked out elaborate programmes to celebrate the forthcoming Victory Day in a befitting manner.
The programmes were finalised at a meeting participated in by government officials, professionals, freedom fighters, heads of educational institutions, political and business leaders, journalists and representatives from different socio-cultural organisations.
The meeting was held at the conference hall of deputy commissioner’s office here on Thursday with deputy commissioner Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury in the chair.
In observance of the day, a victory rally from Smrity Amaln to Gourhanga crossing via Kasiadanga crossing will be held on December 15.
Rajshahi City Corporation has also taken different programmes to celebrate the day.
Mayor Mosaddeque Hossain Bulbul will open the day’s programmes by placing wreaths at Bhuban Mohan Park Shaheed Minar at zero hour, officials told the news agency on Friday.
The programmes includes 31-gun salute, placing of wreaths at the monument and Shaheed Minar of the martyred, hoisting of the national flag atop all public and private buildings, decoration of city streets with national flag and coloured posters, and illumination of roads and roadsides in the evening.
March-past along with physical displays by police, Ansar-VDP, fire service, BNCC, scouts, children and students on the local stadium, victory procession, screening of documentary films on the War of Liberation, friendly football match and sports competitions and cultural functions will also be held to mark day.
Freedom fighters and family members of the martyred will be accorded a reception on the occasion.
Besides, a discussion will be held at Shilpakala Academy auditorium.
Special prayers will be offered at mosques, temples, churches, pagodas and other places of worship. Improved diet will be served in hospitals, jails, orphanages and vagabond centers in the district on the occasion. (source)

Bangladesh: Martyred Intellectuals Day, Victory Day programmes in Khulna


The Khulna district administration, educational institutions and different socio-cultural and political organisations including Awami League have chalked out elaborate programmes to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day and celebrate Victory Day-2013 in a befitting manner.
To mark Martyred Intellectuals Day today, the district administration will place floral wreaths at the Gallamary Memorial in the city at dawn, followed by other organisations and individuals.
Essay, poetry recitation and quiz competitions on libaration war and discussion will held in the conference room of the deputy commissioner.
Khulna University, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, political parties and cultural organisations will also observe the day.
A 31-gun salute will herald the Victory Day on December 16, while the National flag will be hoisted atop all the buildings housing the offices of the government, semi-government, and autonomous bodies.
State minister for labour and employment Begum Monnuzan Sufian, Muktijoddha Sangsad, Khulna City Corporation mayor Moniruzzaman Mony, vice-chancellors of KU and KUET, Khulna divisional and district administration, will place wreaths at the Gallamary Memorial at dawn followed by the socio-cultural and political organisations.
The police, ansar-VDP, fire service, Muktijoddha, students of city’s schools and other voluntary organisations will hold a special parade at the Khulna Stadium Ground at 8:30am where Khulna divisional commissioner Md Abdul Zalil will take salute.
Liberation War-related documentary film will be shown at the cinema halls while still pictures will be on display at the public hall in the city. (source)

Bangladesh: Mandela remembered at Dhaka University


Bangladesh Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation, an international platform against colonialism, on Friday recalled the contributions of South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela to peace.
Speakers at a commemoration meeting at Dhaka University’s Ramesh Chandra Majumder arts auditorium said Mandela had given teachings that repression, fear and threat couldn’t stand in the way of the struggle for establishing democracy especially for equity and justice in society.
They also said that Mandela had inspired the freedom fighters during Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971. The initiative launched by Mandela would always instruct the world how to establish peace, they observed.
Post and telecommunications minister Rashed Khan Menon, writer Selina Hossain, economist MM Akash and singer Fakir Alamgir, among others, addressed the meeting, chaired by Bangla Academy chairman professor emeritus Anisuzzaman.  (source)

Bangladesh: Rajshahi people to pay tribute to martyred intellectuals


Various political, socio-cultural and volunteer organisations side by side with educational institutions including Rajshahi University will observe Martyred Intellectuals Day in Rajshahi today to pay tribute to the martyrs and convey deep sympathies to members of the bereaved families.
To observe the day, various programmes have been chalked out which include placing floral wreaths at Shaheed Minar, photo exhibition, public gathering, discussion meeting and candle enlightening on the mass graves throughout the day.
Local units of Bangladesh Awami League and its front organisations will place floral wreaths at Rajshahi College Shaheed Minar to be followed by a brief meeting highlighting significance of the day early in the morning.
Local unit of Workers’ Party of Bangladesh will arrange a candle lighting programme at Bablaban mass-grave together with placing floral wreaths on memorial plaque.
Meanwhile, Rajshahi University has set an elaborate daylong programmes which include placing floral wreaths at Shaheed Minar, discussion meeting, milad mahfil and probhat ferry.
RU vice-chancellor Mijanuddin and pro-VC Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan along with other teachers, officers and students will place wreaths at the Shaheed Minar in the early hours.
RU Shaheed Smrity Sangrahashala will remain open for the visitors marking the day. (source)

Bangladesh: Uncertainty over inspection of RMG factories in time over political unrest


Current political unrest across the country has made uncertain a timely completion of garment factory inspection by the government-sponsored teams with the assistance of International Labour Organisation, officials concerned said.
They said that the government and the ILO targeted to complete the inspection of 200 readymade garment factories by December but it would not be possible as the dreadful political situation hindered the inspection programme.
To ensure fire and building safety in the RMG sector, the government in association with the ILO on November 22 had started formal inspection of the factories which are not on the inspection lists published by EU Accord and North American Alliance.
Earlier, labour secretary Mikail Shipar told New Age that under the National Tripartite Committee the government and ILO would inspect about 2,000 factories across the country.
He had said that 200 factories out of 2,000 will be inspected by December under a pilot project.
The ILO country director Srinivas D Reddy admitted that the inspection is progressing slowly due to political unrest.
‘We are unlikely to complete the inspection of 200 factories by December, at best the number could be 150,’ he told reporters on Thursday.
‘It was an agreement with the ILO that the inspection teams led by the experts of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology would complete the fire, electrical and structural safety inspection of 200 factories by December, but it would not be possible due to political unrest,’ Mehedi Ahsan Ansary, a professor of BUET, told New Age on Friday.
He said that in last one month they inspected about 65 factories which was below their required progress.
Mehedi said that a total of 15 teams were working in the field but most of the days the teams could not reach in the factory area due to frequent blockades and strikes.
‘I think it would not be possible to complete the inspection of 200 factories by December,’ he said.
Ishtiaque Ahmed, an expert of the BUET, said that the inspection was progressing in a slow pace and initial target would not be achieved in stipulated time due to political unrest.
He said that they were working only on Fridays as political parties are enforcing strikes and blockades on other working days and the 15 teams have so far inspected structural integrity of 60 factory buildings and fire safety in 40 factories.
He said though they were working on Fridays, on December 13 they cancelled their inspection programme on security ground as severe violence broke out across the country after execution of the death penalty of war crimes convict Abdul Quader Molla.
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh forged by European Union retailers and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Initiative of North American retailers will separately inspect the factories that manufacture products for their members.
After the Rana Plaza building collapse on April 24 that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, the retailers and apparel brands from the EU and North America separately formed Accord and Alliance.
Accord published a list of around 1,600 factories while Alliance a list of around 620 apparel units for inspection.
At the same time, the government has taken a three-and-a-half-year initiative under the ILO’s programme for ‘improving working conditions in the readymade garment sector’ to ensure fire, electrical and building safety and to ensure fundamental rights of workers in the apparel industry in Bangladesh. (source)

Bangladesh: Canada to help fund effort to boost worker safety in Bangladesh


The Canada federal government has kicked in funding for an international effort to boost worker safety in Bangladesh clothing factories, which manufacture products for many Canadian retailers, reports theglobeandmail.com.
Canada’s $8-million over four years, announced on Thursday, will help the International Labour Organisation offer technical support to Bangladesh’s government to inspect its factories in response to the collapse of Rana Plaza earlier this year, in which 1,131 people, mostly garment workers, died.
The funding is for the Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector programme, which the ILO announced on October 22. The $25-million programme will help Bangladeshi authorities develop safety standards and working conditions for factories, and conduct inspections.
The funding is coming from Canada, the UK and the Netherlands. Ottawa said in a statement on Thursday that improving working conditions in Bangladesh is an ‘imperative,’ although one with ‘complex and serious challenges.’
Who will pay for any needed improvements at many of the factories is unclear.
Canadian retailers continue to be divided on a response to calls for higher safety standards. Loblaw has signed on to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, developed by Bangladeshi and international labour groups, which some watchdogs say is the most stringent effort to improve conditions. The accord includes transparent reporting of inspections and a requirement that retailers help pay to keep factories safe.
Other chains, including the Hudson’s Bay Corporation, Canadian Tire, Walmart Canada and Giant Tiger, have joined the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, put together by an international coalition retailers. Critics say that is the weaker agreement.
One critic says Canada should force its companies to sign the accord rather than funding an inspection regime with no clarity on who will make repairs.
‘The best thing the government could do today is say, ‘If you want to bring in clothes from Bangladesh, sign the [accord],’ Jim Sinclair, president of the BC Federation of Labour, said on Thursday. ‘...It is the most comprehensive thing that’s been done, and Canadian companies, with the exception of one, have refused to sign.’
In a statement, the Canadian government said it favours neither the accord nor the alliance, and stopped short of calling on companies to adopt either. Canada ‘encourages and expects Canadian companies working abroad to respect all applicable laws and international standards,’ the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development department said.
Many factories, however, are not part of the accord or the alliance — and the ILO and the Bangladesh government have signalled that this group will be the focus of initial inspections, said Scott Nova, executive director of the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labour rights monitoring group.
Many of those factories produce ‘for less well-known brands, who may be brands that therefore feel less public pressure, which might mean some of those factories might be particularly high-risk,’ he said. And there is no indication who will finance renovations in
those other factories.
‘Unlike with the accord, it’s entirely unclear who is going to pay for those repairs, renovations and retrofitting, to the extent that the factories cannot afford it – as will be the case in many instances,’ Nova said.
Since the Rana Plaza collapse earlier this year, many inspections have been done, but the results are rarely made public, Nova said. Those are his top two concerns: a lack of public information about which factories need repairs, and figuring out who will pay for the repairs.
He said Canada’s funding commitment is positive, but the government could do more.
‘If the Canadian government will push the Bangladeshis to provide real transparency in this programme, and push Canadian companies to provide the financial resources necessary for the covered factories – that are producing for those Canadian companies – to actually afford to become safe, that would be an approach that would be effective,’ he said.
Canada is an ILO member, and contributed $14.7-million in funding last year to the organisation. Thursday’s announcement is on top of that, and Canada has also been one of the ILO’s top-10 sources of extra donations — another $45.9-million between 2008 and 2012. (source)

Bangladesh: Supply disruption pushes up prices of rice, broiler, egg


The prices of rice, broiler and egg increased on the retail market in the capital over the week ending Friday due to supply shortage as political violence disrupted goods transport across the country.
Traders said that the price of rice increased by Tk 2 a kg on both wholesale and retail markets as transportation had almost paralysed and truckers hiked fare excessively due to frequent blockades.
The price of coarse and fine varieties of BR-28 and miniket rice increased by Tk 2 a kg and was selling at Tk 37 a kg, at Tk 43-Tk 45 a kg and Tk 48-Tk 52 a kg respectively on Friday.
Zakir Hossain, a retailer at Karwan Bazar, told New Age that the mill owners and suppliers were not increasing the price of rice but they were not willing to transport the item for fear of vandalism and arson.
Salim Uddin, a wholesaler at Babubazar, said, ‘The wholesale prices of rice increased a bit as the truck fare increased by five times due to political violence.’
He said there was no shortage of rice in the country but the traders and truckers were not willing to transport the item in fear of vandalism and arson.
The price of broiler increased by Tk 10 a kg and it was selling at Tk 125-130 a kg on Friday as the supply of the item decreased on the market in last couple of days, the traders said.
The price of egg increased by Tk 2 a hali (four pieces) and it was selling at Tk 28 a hali on the day.
The prices of onion decreased by Tk 10 a kg as the supply of newly harvested onion increased on the market.
The local onion was selling at Tk 130 a kg while the newly harvested item was retailing at Tk 100 a kg on Friday.
The price of imported onion also decreased by Tk 10 a kg and was selling at Tk 90-Tk 100 a kg on the day.
The traders said that the prices of the item — both local and imported — would come down if a smooth transportation could be ensured.
The supply of vegetables increased on the market and the prices decreased by Tk 5-Tk 10 a kg on Friday.
Bean was retailing at Tk 30-40 a kilogram, cauliflower at Tk 30 a piece, cabbage at Tk 50 a piece, aubergine at Tk 30-Tk 40 a kg, okra at Tk 40 a kg, bitter gourd at Tk 40 a kg, cucumber at Tk 40 a kg, carrot at 50 a kg, tomato Tk 100 a kg and papaya at Tk 15 a kg on the day.
The price of green chilli decreased by Tk 20 a kg and was selling at Tk 80 a kg on Friday.
The price of potato remained unchanged and it was retailing at Tk 20 a kg. Sugar was selling at Tk 48-Tk 50 a kg.
The price of local red lentil remained unchanged and the item was retailing at Tk 115 a kg on the day.
The price of garlic remained unchanged and it was selling at Tk 90 a kg on Friday while the local one was retailing at Tk 80 a kg.
The prices of ginger increased by Tk 20 a kg due to supply shortage.
The imported garlic was selling at Tk 200 a kg while the local item was retailing at Tk 180 a kg on the day. 
The price of bottled soya bean oil (five litres) remained unchanged and it was selling at Tk 570-Tk 585 on the city’s kitchen markets. The unpacked soya bean oil was retailing at Tk 112-115 a kg.
Rohita was selling at Tk 250–Tk 300 a kg on Friday, pangas at Tk 180–Tk 250 a kg and tilapia at Tk 160–Tk 200 a kg, depending on their size and quality.
The prices of beef and mutton remained steady. Beef was selling at Tk 280 a kg and mutton at Tk 450 a kg on Friday. (source)

Bangladesh: DSE forms election commission


Dhaka Stock Exchange board has formed a three-member election commission headed by former justice MA Matin to hold the next elections of the bourse and to formulate the first demutualised board.
As per the Demutualisation Act- 2013, the bourse has to formulate the ‘first demutualised board’ of the bourse within February 2014.
The decision was made in a DSE board meeting held at the Sonargaon Hotel in the city on Thursday.
DSE president Ahasanul Islam presided over the meeting.
The commission will soon hold a meeting to declare the elections schedule of the bourse and to formulate the first demutualised board of the bourse, a senior DSE member told New Age.
Four members of the bourse, who were turned shareholders after the demutualisation, will be elected thought the meeting to sit in the first demutualised board of the bourse.
The DSE on November 21 turnover into demutualised bourse after getting amended memorandum and articles of association certified by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms.
The 13-member first demutualised board of the bourse will include four shareholders, seven independent directors, one strategic investor and chief executive officer or managing director.
Meanwhile, The DSE board on the day also decided to enlist Appollo Ispat Complex Limited after the company’s withdrawal of Tk 220 crore through initial public offering.
Appollo Ispat Complex Limited drew controversy in February after finance minister AMA Muhith had advised the BSEC chairman to suspend the IPO of the AICL over allegations of different irregularities.
The BSEC following the finance minister’s instruction suspended AICL’s IPO scheduled to be held on March 3. The BB report regarding AICL also found several loans classified in the company’s name.
But, the BSEC on 21 withdrew its suspension from the Appollo Ispat’s IPO schedule. (source)

Bangladesh: Five killed as Jamaat men run riot


At least five people were killed and scores injured on Friday as activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir went on the rampage at different places across the country after the execution of their leader Abdul Quader Molla for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.
Two ruling party men were hacked to death in
Satkhira, a vendor in Noakhali, a BNP activist in Pirojpur and a Jamaat activist died in Jessore in violence that flared up after the 66-year old Quader Molla was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail at 10:01pm on Thursday as the first convict in a war crimes case.
Jamaat-Shibir men set fire to more than 100 vehicles, including trucks and covered vans, across the country.  In Bogra alone, over 50 vehicles, mostly trucks, were torched.
In the capital, at least 15 people, including a schoolboy, were injured as Jamaat-Shibir activists rampaged through the streets fighting pitched battles with the police, torching vehicles, attacking shops and hurling crude bombs.
They set at least 12 vehicles on fire in different areas of the city.
Traffic on many routes, including Dhaka-Rajshahi, Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Dinajpur, remained suspended although the blockade enforced by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance in protest at the scheduled January 5 elections ended on Friday morning, according to transport operators.
Train services across the country were also disrupted on the day as attacks on railway establishments continued.
Azizur Rahman Dalal, 55, a local Awami League leader and Jahan Ali alias Joj Miah, a Juba Leauge activist, were stabbed to death allegedly by Jamaat-Shibir men in separate attacks in Kalaroa upazila of Satkhira early Friday, said Kalaroa police officer-in-charge Shah Dara Khan.
The police and witnesses said that suspected Shibir men had forced their way into Aziz’s house after midnight and stabbed him repeatedly, leaving him dead on the spot.
They also vandalised the house of Aziz, president of a ward unit of Awami Legue in Kalaroa municipality.
Hours after the incident, Jahan Ali, Juba League president of a ward unit in Saraskati union, was abducted allegedly by Jamaat-Shibir men from his home in Saraskati village. Minutes later, family members found his body with marks of stab near the house.
Jamaat-Shibir activists also vandalised and torched houses of several Awami League leaders, ruling party offices, vehicles and shops in Ashashuni, Sadar and Kaliganj upazilas, witnesses said.
In Pirojpur, Shukkur Ali, 25, a local activist of BNP, was killed and six people were injured during clashes with Awami League activists at Ghosherhat Bazar in Bhandaria before dawn, said Bhandaria police officer-in-charge Kamruzzaman Talukder.
In Noakhali, street vendor Khorshed Alam, 30, of Sonaimuri upazila, was shot dead and a rickshaw puller was injured as opposition activists clashed with Rapid Action Battalion and ruling party men at Afaniabazar in Begumganj upazila early Friday, said Begumganj police OC Nazim Uddin.
In Jessore, a Jamaat activist, Ashraful, 20, of village Mohiran, was knocked down and killed by a truck when he along with some other Jamaat men was trying to block the road by felling trees in Bolteghata area on Bagharpara-Charabhita road at about 3:00am, said Bagharpara police officer-in-charge GG Biswas. The Jamaat-Shibir men set the truck on fire, he added.
Jamaat-Shibir activists also put blockades on the Jessore-Khulna road and Jessore-Benapole road.
There were incidents of arson attacks and clashes in Dhaka city after the Friday prayers as elsewhere across the country.
New Age Gazipur correspondent reported that at least 10 people, including two policemen and a station master, were injured as miscreants set fire to Joydevpur railway station early Friday.
Control room, computer room and telephone line of the station were completely burnt in the arson attack that forced suspension of train services on six routes from Dhaka and Gazipur for hours.
Zia Uddin Sardar, Joydevpur station master, told New Age that miscreants numbering around 30 had attacked the station around 8:00am and went on the rampage.
Fire engines from Gazipur put out the flames after an hour’s efforts.
Joydevpur police OC Quamruzzaman said that Jamaat-Shibir men had mounted the arson attack. 
Police quickly arrived at the scene and fired rubber bullets to control the situation but could not arrest anyone. Sub-inspector Dulal Akand and constable Anwar Hossain received head injuries in the attack.
At Motijheel AGB colony and Kamalapur areas in Dhaka city, police fired shots after Jamaat-Shibir men torched six vehicles. Schoolboy Shanto and Banglavision cameraperson Ujjal were injured in the violence, said witnesses.
Police arrested seven suspects, including Dhaka College student Mofizur Rahman, said Motijheel police sub-inspector Harun-or-Rashid.
At Kamalapur, Jamaat-Shibir men torched a bus at about the same time.
‘Police fled the scene after crude bombs were hurled at them,’ said witnesses. 
A bus and a covered van were torched at Malibagh Chowdhuripara after juma prayers, said Ramna police officer-in-charge Moshiur Rahman. Shibir men also set ablaze four vehicles at Rampura at about the same time, according to witnesses.
Jamaat-Shibir activists struck terror at various places in Chittagong, including Satkania, Lohagara, Banshkhali and Sitakunda, vandalising and torching scores of vehicles and shops.
Shibir men set ablaze at least 17 shops owned by Awami League men at Sadar Amir Haat and near the sub-registrar’s office and vandalised at least 11 shops on Friday in Boitoli Bazar in Banshkhali upazila, said Banshkhali police OC Quamrul Islam.
Jamaat men blocked the road disrupting traffic in Lohagara upazila early Friday, said Lohagara police OC Mohammad Shajahan.
In Sylhet, Jamaat-Shibir activists hurled crude bombs at a police station and an oil depot, torched a vehicle and tried to block roads by putting logs in the city and on its outskirts on Thursday night after Quader Molla was hanged.
They exploded five crude bombs in front of Jalalabad police station at Kumargaon-Temukhi around 10:30pm Thursday and hurled two bombs at Padma Petroleum’s depot at Dakkhin Surma in the city around 10:00pm, said Sylhet Metropolitan Police additional deputy commissioner Mohammad Ayub.
In Chapainawabganj, activists of Jamaat-Shibir vandalised six branch offices of Prime Bank, Mercantile Bank, Jamuna Bank, Brac Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and Shahjalal Bank at the Barind crossing, witnesses said.
In Jhenidah, Jamaat-Shibir men set fire to six trucks at Baidanga Bazar under sadar upazial on Thursday night, said Jhenaidah police OC Kazi Alauddin Ahmed.
In Rangpur, Jamaat-Shibir activists set fire to Juba Prashikkhan Centre in sadar upazila of the district around midnight, said Rangpur superintendent of police Abdur Razzak. (source)

Bangladesh: Martyred Intellectuals Day today


The nation observes Martyred Intellectuals Day today amid demand of quick execution of Al-Badr bosses Md Ashrafuzzaman Khan alias Nayeb Ali and Chowdhury Mueenuddin, now hiding abroad, for abducting and killing intellectuals at the fag end of the country’s liberation war in 1971.
On November 3, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 sentenced the duo to death for the selective abductions and killings.
The tribunal found that Ashraf was the ‘chief executor’ and Mueen was the ‘operation-in-charge’ of Al-Badr, a killing squad and ‘brainchild’ of Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pakistan marauding military during the liberation war.
Mueen is now living in London and Ashraf in the United States.
They were tried in their absence on 11 counts of crimes against humanity for abducting and killing 18 intellectuals, including nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three physicians.
Sensing imminent defeat as the war was drawing to a close, the marauding forces of Pakistan and their local collaborators took the plan to eliminate the intelligentsia of this heroic land, in a bid to cripple the newly emerging independent Bangladesh.
The first prime minister of Bangladesh, Tajuddin Ahmed, declared December 14 Martyred Intellectuals’ Day as the largest number of abduction and subsequent murder of the intellectuals took place on December 14, 1971, two days before the surrender of the Pakistani marauding forces.
The national flag will be flown at half-mast atop government buildings and educational institutions.
Law enforcement agencies have tightened security in and around the two memorials at Rayerbazar and Mirpur in Dhaka.
Mourners in their thousands would, like every year, visit memorials at Rayerbazar and Mirpur in the city and place their homage commemorating the martyred intellectuals.
Many social and cultural organisations would walk down to the memorials on the daybreak carrying banners to press the demand for speeding up the 1971 war crimes trials.
Different organisations would form human chains and hold discussions on the martyred intellectuals at places in the city.
Documentaries would also be screened by different institutions and organisations to commemorate the brightest sons this land had ever produced.
In separate messages, president Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia recalled the contributions of the martyred intellectuals and paid homage to them.
Hasina is scheduled to place wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals
Memorial at Mirpur in the morning.
Khaleda Zia, along with other Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders, would also lay wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial.
Ruling Awami League, opposition BNP and other political parties took up elaborate programmes to observe the day.
Liberation war affairs ministry will hold a discussion in the capital today.
Educational and cultural organisations, Liberation War Museum, Dhaka University, Jagannath University, Bangla Academy and other organisations and institutions will hold programmes, including discussions and painting competitions marking the day.
This year, the day has special significance as Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla was executed on Thursday night at Dhaka Central Jail for crimes against humanity committed during the war of independence.
This was the first case of execution of any war crimes convict among the seven. Besides, former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam has been sentenced for 90 years and former BNP minister Abdul Alim was jailed for life. (source)

Bangladesh: 101, including 9 ministers, likely to be elected unopposed


At least 101 candidates of the ruling Awami League and its allies, including nine ministers, are likely to be elected unopposed in the 10th parliamentary elections as they emerged single candidates for the constituencies after the last date of the withdrawal of candidatures on Friday.
The 10th parliamentary elections are scheduled for January 5.
Election Commission officials said that the the number of candidates to be elected unopposed could increase as they could not put into the final form the list of final candidates after withdrawal till at 9:00pm on Friday.
After the scrutiny and the hearing of the appeals, the number of valid candidates stood at 880.
The nine ministers to be elected unopposed are Syed Abul Maal Abdul Muhith for the Sylhet 1 constituency, Syed Ashraful Islam for the Kishoreganj 1 constituency, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain for the Faridpur 3 constituency, Tofail Ahmed for the Bhola 1 constituency, Amir Hossain Amu for the Jhalakathi 2 constituency, Obaidul Quader for the Noakhali 5 constituency, Shajahan Khan for the Madaripur 2 constituency, Abdul Latif Siddiqui for Tangail 4 constituency and Hasan Mahmud for the Chittagong 7 constituency.
The deputy leader of the house, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, for the Faridpur 2 constituency, the chief whip, Md Abdus Shahid, for the Moulvibazar 4 constituency, the state minister for law, Kamrul Islam, for the Dhaka 2 constituency, immediate-past ministers Md Abdur Razzak for the Tangail 1 constituency, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir for the Chandpur 1 constituency, Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju for the Narsingdi 5 constituency and Dipu Moni for the Chandpur 3 constituency remained single candidates.
The other Awami League candidates who emerged single contestants after the withdrawal included Md Dabirul Islam for the Thakurgaon 2 constituency, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury for the Dinajpur 2 constituency, Nuruzamman Ahmed for the Lalmonirhat 2 constituency, Abul Kalam
Md Ahsanul Haque Chowdhury for the Rangpur 2 constituency, Tipu Munshi for the Rangpur 4 constituency, HN Ashiqur Rahman for the Rangpur 5 constituency, Md Fazle Rabbi Mia for the Gaibandha 5 constituency, Abdul Mannan for the Bogra 1 constituency, Md Habibur Rahman for the Bogra 5 constituency, Mohammad Golam Rabbani for the Chapainawabganj 1 constituency, Md Abdul Odud for the Chapainawabganj 3 constituency, Md Israfil Alam for the Naogaon 6 constituency, Omar Faruk Chowdhury for the Rajshahi 1 constituency, Fazle Hossain Badsha for the Rajshahi 2 constituency, Enamul Haque for the Rajshahi 4 constituency, Abul Kalam for the Natore 1 constituency, Shafiqul Islam Shimul for the Natore 2 constituency, Md Abdul Quddus for the Natore 4 constituency, Mohammad Nasim for the Sirajganj 1 constituency, Md Habib-e-Millat for the Sirajganj 2 constituency, Md Ishaq Hossain Talukder for the Sirajganj 3 constituency, Tanvir Imam for the Sirajganj 4 constituency, Hasibur Rahman Swapan for the Sirajganj 6 constituency, Sheikh Afil Uddin for the Jessore 1 constituency, Sheikh Helal Uddin for the Bagerhat 1 constituency, Mir Shawkat Ali Badsha for the Bagerhat 2 constituency, Talukder Abdul Khaleque for the Bagerhat 3 constituency, Abdullah Al Islam Jacob for the Bhola 4 constituency, Abul Hasnat Abdullah for the Barisal 1 constituency, Abdul Hafiz Mallik for the Barisal 6 constituency, AKMA Awal (Saidur Rahman) for the Pirojpur 1 constituency, Amanur Rahman Khan Rana for the Tangail 3 constituency, Md Ekabbar Hossain for the Tangail 7 constituency, Showkat Momen Shahjahan for the Tangail 8 constituency, Mirza Azam for the Jamalpur 3 constituency, Pramod Mankin for the Mymensingh 1 constituency, Sharif Ahmed for the Mymensingh 2 constituency, Anwarul Abedin Khan Tuhin for the Mymensingh 9 constituency, Md Sohrab Uddin for the Kishoreganj 2 constituency, Rezwan Ahammed Toufique for the Kishoreganj 4 constituency, Md Afzal Hossain for the Kishoreganj 5 constituency, Nazmul Hasan for the Kishoreganj 6 constituency, Mamtaz Begum for the Manikganj 2 constituency, Zahid Malek for the Manikganj 3 constituency, Mrinal Kanti Das for the Munshiganj 3 constituency, Nasrul Hamid Bipu for the Dhaka 3 constituency, Md Enamur Rahman for the Dhaka 19 constituency, MA Malek for the Dhaka 20 constituency, AKM Mozammel Haque for the Gazipur 1 constituency, Md Zahid Ahsan Rasel for the Gazipur 2 constituency, Md Rahmat Ali for the Gazipur 3 constituency, Meher Afroz for the Gazipur 5 constituency, Nurul Mazid Mahmud Humayun for the Narsingdi 4 constituency, Nazrul Islam Babu for the Narayanganj 2 constituency, Shamim Osman for the Narayanganj 4 constituency, Kazi Keramat Ali for the Rajbari 1 constituency, Md Zillul Hakim for the Rajbari 2 constituency, Abdur Rahman for the Faridpur 1 constituency, Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury for the Madaripur 1 constituency, AFM Bahauddin Nasim for the Madaripur 3 constituency, BM Mozammel Haque for the Shariatpur 1 constituency, Showkat Ali for the Shariatpur 2 constituency, Nahim Razzak for the Shariatpur 3 constituency, Syed Mohsin Ali for the Moulvibazar 3 constituency, Md Ali Ashraf for the Comilla 7 constituency, AHM Mostafa Kamal for the Comilla 10 constituency, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya for the Chandpur 2 constituency, Md Shamsul Haque Bhuiyan for the Chandpur 4 constituency, Rafiqul Islam for the Chandpur 5 constituency, Nizam Uddin Hazari for the Feni 2 constituency, Morshed Alam for the Noakhali 2 constituency, AKM Shahjahan Kamal for the Lakshmipur 3 constituency, Ashequllah Raifque for the Cox’s Bazar 2 and Saimum Sarwar Kamal for the Cox’s Bazar 3 constituency.
They are all from the Awami League.
Ershad-led Jatiya Party’s Shariful Islam Jinnah for the Bogra 2 constituency, Md Tajul Islam Chowdhury for the Kurigram 2 constituency, AKM Maidul Islam Chowdhury for the Kurigram 3 constituency and Salahuddin Ahmed Mukti for the Mymensingh 5 constituency remained single candidates.
The Jatiya Party-JP’s Anwar Hossain Manju for the Pirojpur 2 constituency and Nurul Islam Talukder for the Bogra 3 constituency were likely to be elected unopposed.
One thousand, one hundred and seven from 20 political parties, mostly belonging to the Awami League-led ruling alliance, submitted nomination papers for the 10th parliamentary elections with most of the political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies, boycotting the polls. (source)

Bangladesh: AL, BNP place proposals for inclusive polls as talks on


The ruling Awami League and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in their third round of meeting on Friday placed their respective proposals for holding the 10th parliamentary election in a free, fair and credible manner.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir led a four-member delegation at the talks at an office of UNDP at Gulshan 2 while AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam led a four-member team. The meeting started at about 4:00pm and continued for about two hours. Neil Walker, the UN resident representative in Dhaka, was present in the meeting.
After the talks, Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters that they had held detailed discussions with the opposition to reach a consensus for holding a participatory and fair election.
‘In the meeting they [BNP leaders] have placed some proposals. We have also raised our proposals. A decision will come after we discuss the proposals in our respective party forums,’ he said.  
Syed Ashraf skipped the question whether the meeting was fruitful and left the venue.
Mirza Fakhrul told reporters that it was the third round of talks between the two political parties since last Tuesday in a bid to hold a free, fair and inclusive election acceptable to all.
He said that the BNP side had made some ‘specific proposals’ for holding an inclusive election. He said the AL side had also placed some proposals and the BNP would discuss the ruling party’s proposals in the party’s policymaking forum.
He did not mention any of the proposals made by either side despite being pressed by reporters.
Meeting sources said the proposals placed by the BNP included postponement of the election schedule without delay, release of the leaders and activists of the opposition, particularly senior leaders, withdrawal of cases and a halt to arrest and repression by law enforcers, withdrawal of restrictions on peaceful rallies and processions and lifting of the police siege of the BNP central office. 
The AL proposals included stopping the killing of people by enforcing strikes and blockades and offering the BNP vital ministries in the current polls-time cabinet.
The next such meeting would be held on Saturday, the sources said.
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moyeen Khan and Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury were on the BNP delegation while Amir Hossain Amu, Tafail Ahmed and Gowhar Rizvi were on the AL team. (source)

Bangladesh: No govt list of intellectuals killed in 1971 war


The nation is yet to know for certain how many intellectuals were killed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators even 43 years after the country’s independence as the government is yet to prepare a comprehensive list of martyred intellectuals.
The liberation war affairs ministry has documents listing only 24 martyred intellectuals while others government and private documents have put the figure ranging from 232 to 1,111.
Independence war researchers estimated that even 1,111 figure was not correct as it should be 10 times this figure..
Members on the Buddhijibi Nidhan Tathyanusandhan Committee, set up in 1972, compiled a list that named 20,000 of the finest minds of the nation who were killed.
Researchers and historians say that documentation is one of the first things needed to preserve a well-documented history. In the absence of proper history, the new generation will never come to know, how the country was liberated in 1971.
They blamed the government for not having a list of martyred intellectuals and added that there was still time to prepare a well-documented list.
Liberation war affairs ministry officials said that they would take step to have a list before Martyred Intellectuals Day in 2014.
Sensing defeat at the fag end of the war for the country’s independence, the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams abducted members of the Bengali intelligentsia blindfolded, with hands tied, from their houses to camps or other places. They never returned.
The main spots of execution in the capital Dhaka were the marshy land at Rayerbazar near Mohammadpur and Mirpur and across the country where a huge number of bodies were found scattered in ditches, the plains and inside heaps of bricks.
Shaheed Buddhijibi Koshagrantha, a biographical encyclopaedia of martyred intellectuals published by the Bangla Academy and reprinted in 1994, put the number of intellectuals executed then at 232 but said that list was neither complete nor comprehensive.
The encyclopaedia defined martyrs as people who had been either killed by the Pakistani army or their collaborators or had gone missing between March 25, 1971 and January 31, 1972.
It also defined intellectuals as writers, scientists, artistes, singers, teachers, researchers, journalists, lawyers, physicians, engineers, architects, sculptors, government and non-government staff, people involved with film and theatre, and social and cultural workers.
‘Bangladesh,’ a documentary publication of the government in 1972, said that the Pakistani occupation forces and the local killing squads unleashed by them had killed 1,022 —  21 university teachers, 59 college teachers, 270 secondary schoolteachers, 637 primary teachers and 41 lawyers.
Banglapedia, or the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, estimated that 1,111 intellectuals were killed — 991 educationalists , 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42 lawyers, 16 others (litterateurs, artistes and engineers).
A high liberation war affairs ministry official said that they had only a list of 24 intellectuals who were killed in 1971.
‘There are no list either complete or comprehensive containing names of martyred intellectuals. Listing is one of the first things for a well documented history’ said Muntassir Mamoon a historian and liberation war researcher.
‘No government is genial to have proper research and documentation of liberation war. The ministry should take responsibility of to have a comprehensive list of martyred intellectuals’ he said.
There should be an extensive survey to get the exact figure, he added.
Liberation War Museum trustee Sarwar Ali said that the nation should have a list of martyred intellectuals immediately after the independence war.
The liberation war affairs secretary, KH Masud Siddiqui, said that they had a list but it is not ‘concrete and comprehensive.’
‘The information ministry used to carry out the responsibility for documentation of the independence war before the liberation war affairs ministry was set up in 2001. We did not get any kind of list from the information ministry,’ he said. ‘We will take necessary steps to have a concrete and comprehensive list.’
The ministry’s senior assistant secretary Babul Mia said that the list would be prepared before December 14, 2014. (source)