Bangladesh: Ferries torched at Mawa as blockade begins

Stray incidents of violence and arson marked the first day of the third spell of the opposition-enforced blockade of road, railway and waterways on Saturday as pickets clashed with the police and torched vehicles and ferries to push for a non-partisan polls-time government.

At the end of its last 131-hour blockade on Thursday, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party joint secretary general Salauddin Ahmed in a video message from an undisclosed location had announced the third spell of 72-hour blockade on behalf of the alliance. The fresh spell of blockade would end at 6:00am Tuesday if it was not extended further.  

Bangladesh Railway authorities have introduced advanced loco pilot system to avoid possible acts of sabotage by running a single locomotive as scout before a train, said Ferdaus Alam, general manager of Bangladesh Railway (West). 

A transport worker suffered severe burns after blockaders set fire to a bus of Bikrampur Paribahan parked on Mawa ferry terminal premises early Saturday. He was sleeping in the bus when it was torched. 

Alamgir, 23, was brought to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital where another transport worker, Hasan, died on Friday after suffering severe burns in a similar incident.

Louhajang police officer-in-charge Abul Kalam said Alamgir was sleeping inside the bus on the Mawa launch terminal parking yard when the blockaders set it on fire.

The blockaders also set fire to two motor launches and vandalised another besides torching another bus in the predawn arson at the terminal.

The blockaders set fire to the decks of MV Rajib-2 and MV Masum but locals quickly put out the flames preventing any major damage, said the OC adding that the blockaders also vandalised another vessel, MV Sajal-1. All three launches were berthed at Mawa ferry terminal, he said.

The blockaders also torched a bus of Gangchil Paribahan parked at the terminal around 3:15am, said the police.

The correspondent in Gazipur said blockaders had torched a motorcycle of a sub-inspector of Joydebpur police around 11:00am after the police had stopped them from damaging vehicles. 

Sub-inspector Aklima Akter of Joydbepur police station said they had heard the news of torching of the personal motorcycle of SI Hafizur Rahamn but none was arrested as yet.

Pickets in Rajshahi torched a rice-laden truck at Ashraf’s crossing on the outskirts of the city around 2:00am, four hours before the beginning of the blockade.

Reports from Chapainawabganj said pickets had vandalised the car of an on-duty magistrate at Khairabad in Gomastapur around 11:00am. Police arrested Gomastapur unit Swechchhasebak Dal president Sazzad Hossain in this connection.

Reports from Sherpur said opposition activists had torched the Gunaritala union unit office of the Awami League  in Madarganj upazila early Saturday. 

In Dhaka activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir clashed with police and chased each other in Islampur area of Old Dhaka.

Kotwali police officer-in-charge Shah Alam said Shibir activists of Jagannath University from a procession blasted crude bombs and vandalised vehicles.  Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas leaving a Shibir activist and a policeman injured.

Police also arrested Shibir activist Shamim, from Lalbagh after he blasted three crude bombs and also recovered two more bombs from his possession, said Lalbagh police chief Nurul Muttakim.

Blockaders also brought out processions at Rampura, Bhasantek and Tejgaon in the morning and vandalised some vehicles there. 

Police held two Shibir activists from Rampura after they blasted bombs and four more from 

Banasri area. Rampura police officer-in-charge Kreepa Shindhu Bala said that the Shibir men were arrested after they hurled a few crude bombs.

In Laxmipur, opposition activists blocked the Laxmipur-Dhaka highway by putting logs and burning tyres at places in the district. They brought out processions in the town in the morning.   No long-route buses left the district bus terminal.   

In Bogra, activists of the BNP-led alliance blocked the Bogra-Rangpour highway in Matidali area.   

In Pabna, opposition activists blocked the Pabna-Dhaka highway, Pabna-Rajshahi highway and Pabna-Kushtia highway by putting logs, electric poles and burning tyres at places. (source)

Bangladesh: Businessmen vent anger against parties

Business leaders on Saturday threatened taking to the streets along with their workers and employees if major political parties failed to reach a consensus in three to four days. 

Asking political parties why businessmen would fall victim to their politics of confrontation, they said that miscreants had already burnt Standard Garments factory and owners were still burning in the fire of politics.

‘We have been forced to announce agitation programme as the industry and the economy are on the verge of collapse because of the current political crisis,’ the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association president, Atiqul Islam, said at a human chain in front of the the BGMEA building.

The apparel exporters’ association, the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association and the Bangladesh Textile Mills’ Association organised the programme demanding a resolution to the political crisis, a business-friendly environment and punishment of the people responsible for fire in apparel factories.

Urging two major political parties to end the political crisis immediately, he said that if the situation persisted, factory owners and other businessmen would not able to pay wages to their workers, instalments to banks and make payment for back-to-back letters of credit and insurance premiums.

Atiqul urged political parties to keep industries outside political programmes and said that frequent vandalism and arson attacks had almost broken the supply chain. The apparel industry has been the prime victim of the situation as exporters were failing to maintain their production schedule.

‘The government will need to ensure the security of industries and uninterrupted business-friendly environment. Businessmen will, otherwise, not bear the responsibility for worker wages and the payment of bank loan instalments and taxes of any type,’ he said.

If the garment industry collapses because of the political crisis, the livelihood of more than seven crore people [directly and indirectly involved in the sector] will stand threatened and political parties will need to shoulder the responsibility, he said.

Former BGMEA president Annisul Huq said that the apparel business was headed towards a collapse because of political unrest.

‘We urge chiefs of two major political parties to reach a consensus. If they fail to do so, they will lose support,’ he said.

Former BGMEA president Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez said that it was not acceptable that political parties would do violence to meet their demands and businessmen would fall victim to such violence.

‘If necessary, we will lay siege to offices of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition demanding an end to the politics of conflict,’ he said.

Former BGMEA president Shaiul Islam Mohiuddin requested two main leaders to ensure security of the life of people and a business-friendly environment or to retire from politics. ‘Do not try to ignore the united force of the businesspeople.’

Dhaka University professor Anwar Hossain expressed his solidarity with the programme and said that unity and awareness of people were needed to drive evil forces out of the country.

Former Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president AK Azad, FBCCI vice-president Helal Uddin Ahmed, former BGMEA presidents Anisur Rahman Sinha, Abdus Salam Murshedy and Mustafa Golam Kuddus, BTMA president Jahangir Alamin, BKMEA vice-president Mohammed Hatem, among others, spoke.

BGMEA leaders, however, said that the apparel sector had incurred more than Tk 4,500 crore in losses in the past 35 days as many orders were cancelled and many shipment needed to be sent by air as 

exporters failed to maintain schedule because of the general strike and blockade.

BGMEA vice-president Shahidullah Azim told New Age that they had faced general strike and blockade for 21 days from November to till date and the sector had incurred more than Tk 200 crore in losses each day. (source)

Bangladesh: Constitution to be followed, PM tells Taranco

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday told UN assistant secretary general for political affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco that she would act in accordance with the constitution and follow democratic process in holding the 10th parliamentary elections. 

Gowher Rizvi, foreign affairs adviser to the prime minister, informed reporters after a one-on-one meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Fernandez-Taranco that the UN official had called for deferring the polls schedule but the prime minister told him that the issue of rescheduling of the polls was under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

The hour-long meeting began at 4:50pm and ended at 5:50pm at the prime minister’s official residence Ganabhaban.

Rizvi said Fernandez-Taranco had handed over a message of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to the prime minister. Quoting the message, Rizvi said the UN secretary general had stressed the need for creating a level-playing field for holding the elections. The prime minister told the UN envoy that the polls would be held in accordance with the constitution.

Before the one-to-one meeting with the prime minister, a delegation-level discussion was held between the two sides.

Earlier, a delegation of Awami League leaders held a meeting with Fernandez-Taranco at Sonargaon hotel. AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam led the seven-member team at the talks.  

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Syed Ashraf hoped that the initiatives taken by the United Nations for an inclusive and peaceful election would be fruitful like its initiatives before the last general elections. 

‘Following the initiatives of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, the last general elections were held. This time too we hope that his initiative and the discussions with his assistant secretary over the next general elections would be fruitful,’ he said.

Ban Ki-moon visited Dhaka in November 1-2, 2008 and discussed different issues relating to politics, economy and social affairs ahead of the 9th general elections.

Ashraf said no specific issue was discussed in the meeting with Taranco on Saturday afternoon. ‘Primary discussions were held on the election. There would be more talks with him. We hope the discussions would be fruitful as we want democracy to continue [functioning] and they [UN] also want so,’ he said, adding that ‘both sides’ would need ‘some spaces’ for reaching a consensus to ensure an election participated by ‘all political parties’. 

Replying to a question, Ashraf clarified that ‘all political parties’ meant that the election would be held with the participation of the political parties which had already been involved in the current electoral process. 

About the election schedules, he said that the 10th parliamentary elections must be held on January 5 as per the schedules. 

Land minister Amir Hossain Amu, industries minister Tofail Ahmed, the prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi, former commerce minister Faruk Khan, AL joint general secretary Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif and former diplomat Shahed Reza were on the AL delegation at the meeting that started around 1:40pm and ended around 3:30pm. 

Fernandez-Taranco started his Bangladesh mission by holding meetings with foreign minister AH Mahmud Ali and foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque. (source)

Bangladesh: Taranco meets Khaleda

The visiting United Nations assistant secretary general for South and Central Asian affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco called on Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday and discussed different issues, including the next general election.

After the meeting at Khaleda’s residence at Gulshan, BNP vice-chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters that both sides had agreed to hold another round of discussion in a couple of days.

The meeting between the BNP chief and the UN envoy lasted about two hours from 7:00pm.

Shamsher Mobin said that Fernandez-Tarancoand Khaleda Zia also had one-on-one talks during the meeting.

Shamsher said that at the meeting the emissary of the UN secretary general and the Bangladesh opposition leader had discussed over the letter the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, had sent to Khaleda Zia a few days ago.

Asked what issues had been discussed in the meeting and whether the election issue had come up, he said all issues had been discussed but did not specify anything.

He declined reporters’ request to specify one or two issues saying that details would be known after the second round of talks between Khaleda and Fernandez-Taranco.

He also refused to make comments when asked whether there was progress in the talks.

When asked about deferral of the election as proposed by Fernandez-Taranco during his meeting with the prime minister on the day, Shamsher Mobin said they could not say anything about the meeting between the prime minister and the UN envoy and what the prime minister had said to him.

BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan, BNP chairperson’s advisory council members Reaz Rahman and 

Sabih Uddin Ahmed and UN resident representative in Dhaka Neil Walker 

were also present at the meeting. (source)

Bangladesh: Biased TV coverage of parties, leaders identified

Significant levels of political bias in the reporting of news by the state-owned Bangladesh Television have been identified in the ongoing monitoring of the channel by the international NGO Democracy International.

The NGO, whose Democratic Participation and Reform programme is funded by the American and British aid bodies USAID and UKAID, has captured and analysed all news broadcast on BTV and five private channels since the beginning of September and placed the results on a web site-based database that was this week made publicly available.

The interrogation of the database by New Age found that the NGO had judged an overwhelming majority of statements made on BTV news bulletins in the three months between September 1 and November 30 concerning Khaleda Zia, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the caretaker government to be negative or very negative.

In contrast, the vast majority of similar statements made about Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League were considered positive or very positive.

Similar but less significant levels of apparent political bias were found by the NGO in its analysis of the news programmes of five private television channels, with many more negative statements in the news being made about the BNP and Khaleda than those about the AL and Hasina.

On the issue of the caretaker government, however, the statements made in the news broadcast by the five private stations were all much more positive than negative.

The five private TV channels chosen by the NGO to monitor —  ATN Bangla, Channel I, Somoy TV, NTV and Ekattor — are those which the organisation found to have the ‘highest audience interest and penetration’ based on its own opinion polls. 

The NGO, which uses internationally recognised systems of media monitoring, employs about six people to monitor the news of these channels and to identify ‘mentions’ of certain key words. 

When the key word is used as part of a ‘statement’ — rather than simply mentioned in passing — the statement is then assessed to be either a ‘very positive,’ a ‘positive,’ a ‘neutral,’ a ‘negative’ or a ‘very negative’ statement towards that person, organisation or issue.

The research found that BTV, the only terrestrial channel which covers 95 per cent of the country, mentioned Hasina twice as many times as Khaleda in its news reports — 241 mentions of the prime minister to 109 mentions of the leader of the opposition in the parliament.

Out of the 67 mentions of the BNP leader which Democracy International defined as a ‘statement,’ the NGO found that not a single one was ‘positive’ —  with 27 being ‘very negative,’ 26 ‘negative’ and 14 being ‘neutral.’

Out of 25 ‘statements’ that BTV made about the AL leader and prime minister, not one was, however, considered to be ‘negative.’ Ten were ‘very positive,’ 12 were ‘positive’ and 3 were ‘neutral.’ None were negative.

The monitoring project found a similar situation in the way BTV dealt with the two main political parties.

Out of the 122 times that a ‘statement’ about the BNP was made in BTV news, 15 were found by the NGO to be ‘very negative,’ 85 were ‘negative’ and 22 were ‘neutral.’

In relation to the 42 ‘statements’ made about the Awami League, 10 were, however, ‘very positive’, 29 were ‘positive,’ with only 2 being ‘negative’. None of the comments were ‘very negative.’ 1 was considered to be ‘neutral’

BTV mentioned the caretaker government 22 times, 10 of which were identified as ‘statements’ out of which 9 were ‘negative’ and 1 was ‘very negative.’

M. Hamid, BTV’s director general, was forwarded the research results and said, ‘Until I have seen the full parameters of the research, I do not think it appropriate to comment.’

Three months of monitoring by Democracy International has also found some apparent bias in the way the five private channels covered the two parties and their leaders.

All the channels were found to broadcast more negative than positive statements about both leaders and their parties but broadcast far more negative statements about Khaleda and the BNP than about Hasina and the Awami League.

According to the Democracy International database, whilst ATN Bangla, broadcast three times as many ‘negative’/ ‘very negative’ than ‘positive’/ ‘very positive’ statements about Hasina (32 to 10), the channel made eight times as many negative than positive comments about Khaleda (52 to 6).

NTV broadcast 55 negative and 16 positive statements about the prime minister but 43 negative and only 3 positive comments about the leader of the opposition in the parliament.

Out of the four private channels, Channel I and Ekattor news coverage had the most disproportionately negative coverage of Khaleda. 

The NGO’s analysis suggests that Channel I broadcast 57 negative comments about the opposition leader to 3 positive (a ratio of 20 to 1), and Ekattor broadcast 45 negative comments to 3 positive (a ratio of 15 to 1).

Whilst both channels also made more negative than positive statements about Hasina, the ratio between the two was much smaller. 

Channel I broadcast 24 negative to 16 positive comments about the prime minister (a ratio of 1.5 to 1) and Ekattor broadcast 39 negative to 15 positive statements (a ratio of 2.5 to 1). Somoy TV broadcast nearly equally balanced comments about Hasina (20 negative to 16 positive) but in relation to Khaleda, it broadcast 48 negative statement to 7 positive.

A similar situation exists in relation to comments about the Awami League and the BNP. 

Whilst the channels broadcast more negative than positive statements about both of the parties, all of them were far more negative towards the BNP.

In comments made about the leader of the BNP, ATN Bangla broadcast 94 negative and 9 positive statements; NTV broadcast 79 negative and 7 positive; Channel I broadcast 96 negative to 4 positive, Somoy broadcast 88 negative to 6 positive and Ekattor broadcast 67 negative to 3 positive statements.

The survey, however, found that unlike BTV, the five private channels were much more positive than negative in their comments about the caretaker government Out of 60 statements which ATN Bangla made about this form of government, 53 were ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ and only 4 were ‘negative’ or ‘very negative.’ 

Ekattor made 41 ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ comments about the caretaker government and only 6 which were negative.

The database can be found at www.di-bangladesh.com/mediamonitoring.

(source)

Bangladesh: Warrant for execution of Quader’s death sentence likely today

The warrant for the execution of the death sentence of Abdul Quader Molla on war crimes charges is likely to be issued today by the International Crimes Tribunal-2. 

On September 17, the Appellate Division sentenced Jamaat leader Quader to death overturning his life term awarded by the ICT-2 on February 5. 

The death row convict has been shifted from the Kashimpur Jail to the Dhaka Central Jail.  ICT registrar AKM Nasiruddin told New Age that he expects to receive today the copy of the Appellate Division verdict and that it would take him at least two hours to issue the warrant of execution of the sentence. 

Supreme Court registrar AKM Shamsul Islam expressed the hoped the copy of the verdict, signed by all the five judges on Thursday, would reach the tribunal this afternoon.        

‘The moment we receive the warrant, the process of execution of the sentence would begin in accordance with the law,’ Dhaka Central Jail’s senior superintendent Forman Ali told New Age.

Quader’s wife, three daughters and the eldest son met him on Friday, a day after he was shifted from the Kashimur Jail, said Forman.   

Quader can only seek mercy from the president and no review as the ICT Act stipulates, state minister for law Quamrul Islam and acting attorney general MK Rahman told reporters at separate news briefings Thursday. 

Section 20 (3) of the ICT (Tribunals) Act 1973 states ‘The sentence awarded under this Act shall be carried out in accordance with the orders of the Government.’

Defence lawyers, however, differ and said Quader has the constitutional right to seek a review of the apex court’s verdict.

Chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq said  in 30 days after receiving the certified copy of the verdict, ‘We will file a review petition.’

And nothing should be done before the review petition is disposed off, he said.

He said, Article 105 of the Constitution stipulates ‘The Appellate Division shall have power, subject to the provisions of any Act of Parliament and of any rules made by that division to review any judgment pronounced or order made by it’

He also cited the Supreme Court (Appellate Division) Rules, 1988 which in PART IV Rule 1 states, ‘Subject to the law and the practice of the Court, the Court may, either of its own motion or on the application of a party to a proceeding, review its judgment or order in a Civil proceeding on grounds similar to those mentioned in Order XLVII, Rule 1 of the ‘Code of Civil Procedure and in a Criminal proceeding on the round of an error apparent on the face of the record.’ (source)

Bangladesh: I’ll head JP as long as I live: Ershad

The Jatiya Party chairman, HM Ershad, on Saturday lambasted media reports which said that Ersahd had been removed and Rawshan Ershad had been made the party’s acting chairperson.

Ershad just appeared in the waiting room on the ground floor of his Baridhara house at noon and told newsmen that he would remain the Jatiya Party chairman as long as he is alive. 

A section of media had also reported that Ershad would be sent abroad for medical treatment and he went into retirement. 

‘It is totally propaganda, it is baseless. I shall remain the chairman of my party as long as I live,’ an angry Ershad said adding, ‘Some television channels and newspapers carried false news against the Jatiya Party with an ill intention.’ 

Ershad also reiterated his stance for boycotting the 10th parliamentary polls scheduled for January 5, 2014.

When Earshad was talking with newsmen at his Baridhara house crowded by party activists, his wife Rawshan was holding a meeting at her Gulshan house with four Jatiya Party leaders who joined the cabinet led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Rawshan, also the health minister, had a two-hour meeting with water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, state minister for women and children affairs Salma Islam and sports minister Mujibul Hoque Chunnu and prime minister’s adviser Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu.

Rawshan, Anisul and Ziauddin did not submit resignation letters to Ershad till filling of this report and they were unwilling to resign as ministers and adviser right now, party insiders said.  

‘I have asked them to submit their resignations to the prime minister’s office for submission to the president,’ said Ershad.

He said, ‘It is final that the Jatiya Party will not contest the polls without participation of all political parties. I am firm and the decision will not be changed.’

On December 3, Ershad had announced that the party would not contest the polls as the `atmosphere for an inclusive election is absent.’ The next day, he had asked the party leaders to resign from the polls-time cabinet and the party’s parliamentary candidates to withdraw nomination papers.

Commerce minister GMQader, also Ershad’s younger, told newsmen on Saturday at the Ershad’s Baridhara house that he had not withdrawn the nomination papers as directed by the party chief. 

He said, `Withdrawal of nomination paper started today and it would continue till January 13. There are some Jatiya Party candidates who have withdrawn nomination papers.’

Jatiya Party leaders in the polls-time cabinet sought the prime minister’s appointment to place their resignation in her hand, party secretary general Ruhul Amin Howlader said. 

`We wanted to meet the prime minister today but did not get appointment, we would seek appointment tomorrow,’ Ruhul said adding, ‘We would submit resignation letters to Sheikh Hasina whenever she gives an appointment.’

On December 5, Ruhul, also civil aviation and tourism minister, GM Quader, Mujibul Haque Chunnu and Salma Islam handed over their resignation to Ershad for submission to the president.

Ershad had decided to submit those to the president but on Saturday he asked his party leaders via short message system to submit their resignations to the prime minister.

On Saturday morning, while going out from his house for Golf Club, Ershad told newsmen, ‘I will not change my decision to boycott polls even if the government sends me to jail.’ (source)

Bangladesh: Dhaka-Kolkata bus off during blockade

As yet another 72-hour opposition blockade starts Saturday, the Dhaka-Kolkata bus service has been cancelled for reasons of safety.

Since 1999, two bus services ‘Souhardyo’ and ‘Shyamoli’ have operated between Dhaka and Kolkata, carrying thousands of passengers who cannot afford expensive air travel.

The government transport corporations in Bangladesh and West Bengal have permitted a consortium of private transport operators to run the services.

Last Tuesday, blockade campaigner’s hurled stones at a Dhaka-Kolkata bus near Jessore, damaging the vehicle and injuring a passenger.

‘So now we are not going to run the bus during the current blockade that starts on Saturday, said Abani Kumar Ghosh, one of the managers of the consortium that runs the Dhaka-Kolkata buses. (source)

Bangladesh national elections: 42 appeal against cancellation of candidatures

Forty-two aspirants have so far appealed to the Election Commission against the cancellation of their nominations by the returning officers till Saturday.

During the two-day scrutiny that began on Thursday, the returning officers cancelled nominations of 260 candidates keeping 847 valid for the polls scheduled for January 5, according to the commission’s draft list of valid candidates. 

Of 847 valid candidates, seven candidates, mostly from Jatiya Party, have applied to the returning officer to withdraw their candidature.

The candidates will be able to appeal against the decision of returning officers until Monday while the commission will hear the appeals in December 10-12, additional secretary of the commission Sirajul Islam told newsmen on Saturday.

After the scrutiny, at least 33 ruling Awami League candidates, six of them are ministers, are likely to be elected unopposed in the 10th parliamentary elections as they have emerged single candidates for the constituencies.

Commission officials said that the number of candidates to be elected unopposed might increase after the withdrawal of candidature on December 13.

According to the commission’s draft list of valid candidates, a total of 102 constituencies have only two valid candidates.

The commission officials said that if Jatiya Party withdrew its candidates from the elections, the number of constituencies where there would have only one candidate would stand 110.

There has been no valid candidate for the Lakshmipur 3 constituency as the commission cancelled the nomination of both the candidates, including the one from the ruling Awami League.

A total of 1,107 candidates from 20 political parties, mostly belonging to the Awami League-led ruling alliance, submitted nominations for the 10th parliamentary elections with most of the political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance, boycotting the polls.

The validly nominated candidates can withdraw their nomination by December 13. (source)

Bangladesh: PM urges Khaleda to call off blockade programme

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday urged the opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, to call off the ongoing blockade programme amid the three-day national mourning to pay respect to Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and a towering figure of 20th century politics.

The premier made the call in a statement, PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told the news agency.

Bangladesh is observing a three-day national mourning beginning on Saturday to pay homage to Mandela.

The national flag will be kept at half-mast at all offices of the government, semi-government and autonomous bodies during the period.

The BNP-led 18-party opposition enforced the fresh 72-hour countrywide blockade from 6:00am on Saturday demanding cancellation of the schedule of 10th parliamentary election, restoration of caretaker government system and release of the party leaders.

Mandela, the Nobel Peace laureate, who was elected South Africa’s first black president after spending nearly three decades as a political prisoner, died at his Johannesburg home on Thursday night after a long battle against lung infection. (source)

Bangladesh: US for dialogue, credible election in B’desh

The United States has again underlined the urgent need for major political parties in Bangladesh to engage immediately in constructive dialogue to hold credible elections that reflect the will of Bangladeshi people.

‘So we believe the need is now even more urgent for the major political parties to engage immediately in constructive dialogue to find a way forward to hold elections that are free, fair, and credible, and that reflect the will of the Bangladeshi people, Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson told a regular state department press briefing on Friday. 

Responding to a question about terror warning to Bangladesh, Harf said violence of any nature – which I know we’ve seen in Bangladesh – by any of the participants in the political process is not part of the democratic process.

‘It’s not acceptable, must stop immediately. And the U.S. believes that, obviously, in a democracy, all parties have a right to express their opinions freely and peacefully,’ she said.

She called on the major parties to engage in constructive dialogue to try to find an agreed-upon way forward to hold free, fair and credible elections. (source)

Bangladesh: Hearing on maritime boundary case begins tomorrow

The hearing on the case related to the Bay of Bengal maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India will begin at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Netherlands on Monday.

A Bangladesh delegation is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Hague today to join the eight-day hearing at the five-member tribunal.  Foreign minister AH Mahmud Ali, former foreign minister and agent of the case Dipu Moni and foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque are likely to be in the delegation.

The Netherlands-based PCA is expected to deliver its judgment by the first half of the next year, foreign ministry sources said.

The Arbitral Tribunal members are Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum (president), Judge Thomas A Mensah, Dr Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao, Prof Ivan Shearer, Judge Jean-Pierre Cot, according to PCA documents.

Bangladesh is represented by Dipu Moni (agent), deputy agent of Bangladesh and secretary of the foreign ministry’s maritime affairs unit rear admiral (retd) M Khurshed Alam.

On the other hand, India is represented by agent and joint secretary and the legal adviser of the Ministry of External Affairs Dr Neeru Chadha and co-agent joint secretary (BSM), Ministry of External Affairs, Harsh Vardhan Shringla and deputy agent director (BSM), Ministry of External Affairs, Puneet Agrawal.

On October 8, 2009, Bangladesh instituted arbitral proceedings concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India pursuant to article 

287 and Annex VII, Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Permanent Court of Arbitration acts as registry in this arbitration.

Bangladesh won a landmark verdict against Myanmar on March 14, 2012 at the ITLOS and through the verdict, Bangladesh sustained its claim to the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic and territorial rights in the Bay of Bengal. (source)