One killed in RAB ‘crossfire’ in Bangladesh

A 29-year-old man, reportedly picked by plainclothesmen on Tuesday from Dhaka court premises, was killed in a 'gunfight' with the Rapid Action Battalion at Shyampur in the capital early Thursday.

The deceased, Gopal Chandra Shil, 32, was wanted by the police as he was accused in at least 12 cases, mostly related to murder, the police said.

The latest incident took to 26 the number of such people killed extrajudicially in the incidents of 'crossfire,' 'gunfight' or 'encounter' after January 1. Eleven of them were killed in Dhaka.

Two hundred and fifty-six people have so far fallen victim to extrajudicial killing by law enforcers since January 6, 2009

when the government assumed office with a commitment to end extrajudicial killing.

The family said that the battalion personnel in plainclothes had picked him up on Tuesday and shot him on Thursday.

The victim's father Ram Mondol Shil, 52, alleged that the law enforcers had picked his son from the Dhaka court premises on Tuesday when he was coming out after appearing in the court in a case.

Ram said that his son was arrested eight months ago in a false case. 'The police produced him in the court in a case and the he was sent to jail.'

Gopal was released three months ago and was trying to start a business, Ram said at Mitford Hospital.

The Kadamtali police officer-in-charge, Kazi Ayubur Rahman, said a patrol team of RAB 10 challenged Gopal and his associates when they were holding a meeting near the WASA tank at Shyampur about 1:30am.

The group then fired into the battalion personnel, who fired back, leading to a 'gunfight.'

Gopal died on the spot, the police said. 'Others, however, managed to get away.'

A pistol and a bullet were recovered from the place.

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Five killed, 20 hurt in road accidents

A female student of Jagannath University and four others were killed in separate road accidents in Gopalganj, Lalmonirhat, Jessore and Jenaidah on Wednesday and Thursday.

The New Age correspondent in Gopalganj said a student of Jagannath University was killed and 20 others were injured in a road accident near Gohala Bridge in the district headquarters early Thursday.

The deceased Mishari Akhter Mishu, 21, was daughter of Shafiul Alam of Digharkul at Rampal in Bagerhat.

Gopinathpur police subinspector Shariful Islam said that a bus headed for Dhaka from Pirojpur had skidded off into a roadside ditch as it was overtaking another bus about 11:00pm Wednesday.

Mishari was a second-year student of English at Jagannath University. The police seized both the buses but the drivers managed to get away.

The correspondent in Lalmonirhat said a man was killed in a road accident at Milan Bazar of Hatibandha on the Lalmonirhat–Burimari Road about 10:00pm. The victim was Laizu Islam, 26, of Hatibandha.

The police said that a bus headed for Patgram had knocked down the man when he was crossing the road about 10:00pm. The man died on the spot.

The correspondent in Jhenaidah said an electrician was killed in a road accident at Kaliganj in the district on Thursday afternoon. The victim was Umar Farooque, 42, of Devinagar at Dattapara in Lakshmipur.

The police said that a pick-up van had hit the motorcycle Umar was riding about 1:00pm. Umar died on the spot.

The police failed to seize the vehicle or arrest the driver.

The correspondent in Jessore said that two were killed in a road accident at Palbari in Jessore about 9:30pm on Wednesday.

The accident took place as a truck ran over an auto-rickshaw

The victims were the auto-rickhsaw driver Jani, 24, of Pagladah in the Jessore district headquarters, and Abdus Salam, 50, of Arabpur in the Jessore town.

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9 hurt in clash over UP polls campaign at Hatia

At least nine people were injured in a clash between the supporters of two union parishad polls candidates at Roma market in Hatia upazila early Thursday.

Witnesses said supporters of Awami League-backed candidates Alhaj Alauddin Azad and Abdul Halim Azad attacked each other during election campaigning at the market, leaving nine people injured from both sides at around 1:30am.

Six motorcycles were burnt and four shops of the market vandalised during the clash.

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Int’l rights groups demand Odhikar harassment stopped

International human rights organisations have expressed deep concern over harassment on right organisation Odhikar and its secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and other members and called for immediate stoppage of such harassment.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia), a membership-based regional human rights organisation on Wednesday and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) on Tuesday sent open letters to prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressing their deep concern over the continued harassment on Odhikar and Adilur by national security agencies.

In the letters, the international rights organisations said that National Security Intelligence members reportedly resumed their activities of close surveillance on Odhikar and its members, in particular Adilur, also member of OMCT general assembly.

The intelligence men also visited Odhikar office in Dhaka and asked questions to one of the employees about Adilur's family and his daily schedule on March 14, 15 and 17.

On March 15, when Adilur was returning home from the Supreme Court where he appears as an advocate, two persons on a motorcycle followed him to his house at Gulshan, the letters said.

On March 16, an individual introducing himself as National Security Intelligence deputy director Mohammad Tota Miah, went to Odhikar's office and asked the accountant to hand him over all the documents which Odhikar had already submitted to the NGO Affairs Bureau. When the accountant asked the man for his identity card, the man left the office.

Earlier, the law enforcement agencies visited Odhikar office on October 5, 6, 7, 9, 17, 23, November 3, December 25 and 26 in 2010 and identified themselves as police from the Special Branch, the letters stated.

According to the letters, law enforcement agencies inquired about Odhikar's secretary Adilur Rahman Khan, they wanted his curriculum vitae, passport details and his political background. They also summoned Odhikar officials to Munshiganj and City Special Branch at Gulshan.

In the letters, the international rights organisations also expressed their concern over silence of the Bangladeshi administration following the submission of various human rights projects by Odhikar.

Odhikar sent letters to the NGO bureau for approval of projects 'Promotion of Human Rights in Bangladesh through Documentation, Fact-finding and Advocacy' funded by the Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights (KIOS) on July 7, 2010. The project is still pending with the bureau for its approval and clearance, although Odhikar had clarified a number of queries.

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Non-party caretaker system essential in Bangladesh for democracy: TH Khan

M Moneruzzaman

T H Khan, the senior most Supreme Court lawyer argued on Thursday that the 13^th amendment which introduced the system of non-party caretaker government in 1996 had no way destroyed the spirit of the Constitution because it only strengthened democracy.

He was arguing before a seven-judge bench of the Appellate Division, chaired by the chief justice ABM Khairul Haque which was hearing an appeal filed by three Supreme Court lawyers in 2005 against legality of a High Court verdict that had declared the system of non-party caretaker system lawful.

The Supreme Court had earlier appointed Khan, an amicus curiae, a legal term in Latin, meaning 'friend of the court', to assist the court arrive at a decision on whether or not the election time system of unelected non-party caretaker government could destroy the democratic spirit of the Constitution and undermine the independence of the judiciary.

During hearing of an appeal against a High Court verdict that had declared the 13^th amendment valid, TH Khan also argued that the article 141A of the Constitution introduced to the Constitution through the second amendment in 1973 provided for the proclamation of the emergency which threatens democracy by suspending fundamental rights.

Khan refuted the argument of the counsel of the appeal petitioners that the system non-party caretaker government of which a former chief justice becomes the head hampers independence of the judiciary.

He also refuted their argument that the former chief justice became subservient to the government by becoming the head of the non-party caretaker government, saying 'I do not think so as there were no controversies over the integrity and quality of three former chief Justices—Justice Shahbuddin Ahmed, Justice Habibur Rahman and Justice Latifur Rahman—who were appointed the heads of caretaker governments in 1991, 1996 and 2001.

Khan argued that if emergency does not destroy democracy, non-party caretaker government also cannot destroy democracy.

He described emergency as 'tsunami for democracy' because when emergency is proclaimed democracy simply disappears.

Khan said that one has to remember it that there was no provision for emergency in the Constitution of the Republic when it was adopted in 1972.

Khan said Bangladesh does not require democracy of the type of Somalia or Ivory Coast.

He said to ensure undiluted democracy Bangladesh must continue with the system of non-party caretaker government at the time of election.

Khan said that the non-party caretaker system was the imperative of the time and in the interest of democracy. 

At one stage, the chief justice ABM Khairul Haque observed that parliament exists even during and after emergency, but it (parliament) ceases to exist during the tenure of a non-party caretaker government.

He said that during the tenure of election time non-party caretaker government, the people's elected representatives do not run the government as the Constitutions requires.

Khan pointed out that a non-party caretaker government runs the administration for holding free and fair elections acceptable to all only after the dissolution of parliament at the end of the tenure of an elected government.

The chief justice recalled that immediately after the assassination of US president John F Kennedy on November 22, 1963, vice president Lyndon B Jonson took oath of office on board US Air Force One so that there was no vacuum in the office of the presidency.

He said that the Constitution does not allow any gap between democratic governance.

He said, 'There has to be continuity of democracy. There can be no gap here.'

The court adjourned the hearing until March 28 when Rafique-ul Haque would be requested to make his submission as amicus curiae.

A three-judge special bench of the High Court Division, comprising Justice Md Joynul Abedin, Justice Md Awlad Ali and Justice Mirza Hussain Haider, in their judgement delivered on August 4, 2004 had declared the 13^th amendment to the Constitution brought by parliament in March 1996 as lawful.

Three Supreme Court lawyers had filed the writ petition in January 2000 challenging the legality of the amendment to the Constitution that had introduced the system of non-party caretaker government for holding parliamentary elections.

In 2005, they filed the appeal against the judgement of the High Court Division.

Of the three petitioners, only Abdul Mannan Khan continues in the legal profession,  Ruhul Quddus has been appointed an additional judge of the High Court Division and M Saleem Ullah is dead.

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10-year-old girl raped in Dhaka city

A man of 22 allegedly raped a 10-year-old schoolgirl at Karail slum in the city's Gulshan area on Wednesday night.

The victim, daughter of a rickshaw-puller, is a student of Class IV of a local school.

The victim's family said Rana intercepted the girl at about 9:30pm when she was returning home from the house of her relatives in the area.

He dragged the girl into a nearby toilet and raped her, her father said.

Her parents came to know about the rape when she returned home with her dress drenched with blood.

She was immediately taken to a local hospital and later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

After getting treatment at Ward-17, she was admitted to the One-Stop Crisis Centre of the DMCH, the hospital sources said.

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Hearing in pleas for Matiur Rahman Nizami interrogation, Alim arrest March 27

The international crimes tribunal on Thursday posted for March 27 the hearing in two petitions seeking warrant for arrest of former Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Abdul Alim and interrogation of the detained Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami on war crimes charges.

The tribunal, widely known as the war crimes tribunal formed on March 25, 2010 for the trial of war crimes committed during the war for independence in 1971, also set April 19 for hearing another petition for interrogation of the detained BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on similar charges.

The tribunal registrar, Md Shahinur Islam, at a briefing in his office said that the prosecution had filed the three petitions on Wednesday and the tribunal set the dates for the hearing after the petitions had been placed before it on Thursday morning.

He further said that the tribunal posted for April 19 the hearing in the petition for interrogation of Salauddin as it had earlier set the same date for producing the BNP standing committee member before it in ICT case 4/2010.

The registrar said that a copy of the petition for interrogation of Nizami was served on his lawyers so that they could defend him during the hearing on March 27.

The registrar, however, said that Salauddin was yet to engage any lawyer.

The tribunal of Justice Nizamul Huq, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and judge AKM Zahir Ahmed on January 17 ordered Salauddin, already in custody, to be detained till April 19 in the case on war crimes charges.

The tribunal had also ordered the investigation agency concerned to complete the probe into ICT case 4/2010 as early as possible.

Earlier on August 2, 2010, the tribunal asked the prison authorities to keep Jamaat amir Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, already in custody, in prison on war crimes charges until further orders.

The order for the detention of the Jamaat quartet came in ICT case 1/2010, recorded with the tribunal on July 21, 2010.

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Bangladesh Parliament Speaker rules Ziaur Rahman cannot be called murderer

The speaker, Abdul Hamid, on Wednesday ruled that Ziaur Rahman could not be called  a 'cold blooded murderer' as the house became heated over the court verdict on trial of Colonel Abu Taher.

The speaker quoting newspaper reports said the court had said, 'The so-called trial and execution of Colonel Abu Taher was a cold blooded assassination which was masterminded by none other than Ziaur Rahman.'

'The court did not call Ziaur Rahman the murderer. So the word murderer will be expunged,' said the speaker amid shouts with the treasury bench members insisting that murdering someone and masterminding the murder were the same. In response, the speaker said, 'No, it is not the same.'

The house witnessed a heated exchange between the treasury bench and the opposition over the High Court ruling on the trial of Colonel Taher.

The opposition lawmakers said the court had given the ruling 'out of vengeance' while the treasury bench members said the court ruling brought the 'evil politics of killing and coup' to an end.

BNP lawmaker AM Mahbubuddin Khokan said the judge who had handed down the verdict was once the general secretary of Chhatra League and had spoken along with Inu from the same platform.

'I insist that this judge is not a citizen of this county. He is a foreign national. That's why the BNP had not confirmed his appointment. He handed down the verdict out of vengeance,' he said.

Khokan said the government had politicised the judiciary and appointed people having third class degree as judges in the highest court. 'If the judges had been neutral and independent, verdicts to writ petitions on Khaleda Zia's house, and on the removal of Yunus would have been different,' he said.

The BNP lawmaker said the government was crippling the authority of the Anti- Corruption Commission.

Awami League lawmaker Iqbalur Rahim described the court's ruling as historic. 'This verdict has ended the politics of killing, coup and usurping power in violation of the constitution.'

The court said Zia had murdered Taher in cold blood, he said.

His comments drew angry protests from the BNP lawmakers who began to shout and sought the speaker's intervention.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal lawmaker Moinuddin Khan Badal said the opposition's reaction were a reflection of their fear of truth.

'Mr speaker, when Hasanul Huq Inu was speaking they threatened to slaughter him. We did not react. But we would not kiss you when you attempt to slaughter us. Let us face each other in the field,' Badal said.

BNP lawmaker Abul Khair Bhuiyan said Sheikh Mujib himself had removed Taher from the army for his attempts to destabilise the military. 'After the killing of Sheikh Mujib, Taher had formed a party within in the military and conspired against the military. He faced court martial and was executed as per its verdict.'

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JSD demands posthumous trial of Ziaur Rahman

The Jatiya Samajtantrick Dal faction led by Hasanul Haq Inu on Wednesday demanded posthumous trial of the late president, Ziaur Rahman, for his alleged involvement in the killing Colonel Abu Taher.

Hasanul Haq Inu, A lawmaker and ally of Awami League, at a briefing at his party's central office said that the trial could be held by amending the existing law and that he would place a bill in parliament to amend the law.

The JSD leader said Abu Taher was hanged after trial in camera under martial law regulations in 1976 on charge of 'plotting against the state.'

The High Court on Tuesday declared the trial illegal and said that the mastermind of the killing was none other than Zia.

JSD general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia demanded investigation of all the killings committed in the army and publication of a white paper on the killings.

He called on the government to declare March 22 as Fair Trial Day to mark the day on which the High Court delivered the verdict on Taher's killing.

The party also demanded naming a government establishment and a road of Dhaka city after Abu Taher and giving compensation to the affected in the trial.

It called for appointing an investigation committee in line with the court verdict.

Lutfa Taher, widow of Abu Taher, and the accused the case – Robiul Islam Dewan, Sajjad Rafique and Zikrul Ahmed were present at the briefing.

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Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Abdul Hamid asks lawmakers to speak decently

Speaker Abdul Hamid on Wednesday reiterated his appeal to the lawmakers of both the Treasury Bench and the opposition to speak in a decent manner in the house to maintain a congenial atmosphere as well as to uphold the parliament's image to the nation.

The speaker, in a ruling, also urged the ruling party

lawmakers not to term Ziaur Rahman a killer while talking about the court verdict on Taher murder case and the opposition lawmakers not to use abusive remarks about the court.

Earlier, while speaking on the thanksgiving motion to the address of the president, Zillur Rahman, ruling party lawmaker Iqbalur Rahim termed Zia a cold-blooded murderer, which created an acute resentment among the opposition lawmakers and prompted the speaker to issue the ruling.

Opposition lawmaker Mahbub Uddin Khakon, while speaking on the court verdict on Taher murder case, also made aggressive remarks about the court and the judges concerned.

The speaker, referring to reports run by two news dailies on the court verdict, said the reports did not termed Zia a murderer but said he was the mastermind.

'You need not to be excited. You should speak in a decent way. The nation is listening to your speeches through television and radio and reading about them in newspapers. So, you should pay attention to preserving your honour, Abdul Hamid told the lawmakers.

He expunged the unparliamentary words from the day's business.

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Two-slab power tariff hike not a violation of BERC Act

Manjurul Ahsan

REVISION of power tariff twice or in two slabs within a year does not constitute a violation of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act, 2003, says the chairman of the commission, Yusuf Hossain.

The commission on February 8 announced an increase in bulk rate of electricity, to take effect in two phases, whereas the BERC Act specifically says the commission will fix price of a particular item once a year.

'I do not think that it was a violation of the law,' Yusuf said in an interview with New Age on Tuesday. 'In February, the commission increased bulk rate of power once for this year. But to reduce the effect on the economy of a massive price hike of power by 18 per cent at a time the commission divided it into two parts.'

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Textbook Renter Chegg Moves Beyond Books

Online book renter Chegg has given students at more than 6,400 college campuses an alternative to purchasing expensive text books. Now it also wants to help them study and schedule courses.

The company announced on Thursday that it is launching a new website that integrates two social learning services it recently acquired.

In August, Chegg acquired CourseRank, a service that lets students rate courses and view other students' ratings. It also shows students which of their friends are enrolled in specific classes. CourseRank's service will be available on the Chegg website at 600 participating schools starting Thursday, but the company says that it hopes to have 1,000 schools on board by the end of the year.

Cramster, which the company acquired in December, is an online study community. Members help one another answer homework questions and have access to textbook solutions, notes and other study materials.

Both of these services seem like a perfect fit for promoting textbook rentals. When users select a course using CourseRank, for instance, they can rent books for the course on the same page. Likewise, students looking for homework help might benefit from supplemental reading suggestions (though Chegg has yet to add this feature).

By integrating CourseRank and Cramster within Chegg's main website, it's also more likely that students will log on throughout the semester instead of only for textbook rentals at the beginning of courses.

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Work begun on first Windows Nokia phones: Elop

Work has begun on the first Nokia Oyj smartphones based on Microsoft Corp software following the partnership announced by the companies last month, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop told Reuters.

Elop was recruited last year to rescue Nokia from increasing irrelevance at the high end of the market and is under huge pressure to produce results from the partnership.

Elop, who left a Microsoft executive post to join Nokia last September, also said he could see no good reason for the speculation that Microsoft might try to buy Nokia.

"I'm not aware of a strategic interest that Microsoft would have in the rest of the business," Elop said.

"To the extent that a partnership has been formed around what they're really interested in, then what would an acquisition bring other than a good year of anti-trust investigation, huge turmoil, delays?"

Nokia shares extended gains to trade as much as 2.9 percent higher. By 1459 GMT, they were up 2.2 percent at 5.86 euros, against a European technology index up 0.7 percent, having been up 1.2 percent before the Reuters interview was published.

Nokia shares have fallen almost 30 percent since the agreement with Microsoft was announced and remain not far from their more than 10-year low of 5.415 euros set earlier this week.

ON SALE

Almost half of Nokia's handset revenue comes from more basic mobile phones, which are popular in emerging markets. The company has struggled to establish its brand in the United States, especially since Apple Inc launched its iPhone.

Nokia also considered partnering with Google Inc, but decided it would be too difficult to differentiate its smartphones from a multitude of other Android devices made by the likes of Samsung and HTC.

Nokia's chairman has said Windows-based Nokia phones will be on sale from 2012, though Elop has said he feels under pressure and would prefer to deliver one by the end of this year.

"We're right now, today, having people work on the first Windows Phone devices from Nokia. That work is already under way. If this was an acquisition scenario, that wouldn't be possible," Elop said.

The agreement between Nokia and Microsoft still has to be finalized, something that Elop has said he expects to happen in the next couple of months.

Elop said he had no current plans to change Nokia's top management, after only one senior executive was dropped in his line-up announced last month. He dismissed as nonsense a German magazine report that a wider cull was likely.

"Now what happens is accountability. If someone's not succeeding, they need to be helped or they need to be moved along. In my context, that will absolutely be the case," he said.

"So there's a team in place. It's now a new team of my new leadership, newly minted in terms of their new roles. Now they have to perform."

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