Bangladesh: Hannan Shah arrested

The police arrested Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member retired Brigadier General ASM Hannan Shah in the capital’s Baridhara area on Monday evening.

Protesting against the arrest, the district unit of BNP called daylong general strikes in Gazipur for Thursday and at Kapashia upazila in Gazipur for today.

The arrest was made after the BNP-led opposition alliance announced a 48-hour blockade across the country beginning today. 

The Detective Branch

team picked up the BNP leader near Japan Embassy at the Natun Bazar area at about 9:00pm, the official sources said.

Witnesses said Hannan Shah was arrested when he was coming out from the Embassy after attending a programme. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (media and public relations) Masudur Rahman confirmed the arrest but was unwilling to disclose the charge for the arrest.

The police sources said that they were given instruction to prevent any short anarchy in the capital and other places.

In mid-October, the police started arresting the leaders and activists of the main opposition BNP and its front organisations, and also its allies in the capital and other places.

On November 9, the police arrested BNP standing committee members Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia, party chairperson’s advisory council member Abdul Awal Mintoo and Khaleda Zia’s special assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas in connection with two cases for violence during the opposition’s agitations at Kamalapur on September 24 and near Motijheel Ideal School and College on November 5.

The police have also arrested top leaders of BNP, Jatiyabadi Juba Dal and Chhatra Dal including Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, and Chhatra Dal general secretary Habibur Rashid Habib.

Most of the leaders are now either in jail or in police custody. (source) 

Bangladesh: BGB deployed in Dhaka, Bogra, Sylhet

The government on Monday deployed the Border Guard Bangladesh troops in Dhaka city and many places across the country in aid of police amidst violent protests against the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming general elections.   

The Border Guard Bangladesh personnel were seen patrolling city streets in Dhaka, Sylhet and Bogra as violence erupted in the evening immediately after the declaration of the schedule for 10th parliamentary election, which was rejected by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. 

‘We have alerted Border Guard Bangladesh across the country. BGB personnel would move where necessary to maintain order,’ state minister for home Shamsul Haque told New Age. 

He said that the lawmen were already asked to keep vigil against any acts of violence as the opposition BNP-led alliance called a 48-hour blockade programme beginning this morning. 

‘If anyone resorts to violence in the name of rail-road-river blockade programme, he would be brought to book,’ the state minister said. 

He said no one would be allowed to terrorise people to halt the national polls. 

The BNP in the evening announced the blockade programme rejecting the election schedule that fixed January 5, 2014 as the polling day. 

The opposition alliance has been demanding restoration of the constitutional provision for a non-party caretaker government to run the polls-time administration. 

Asked about the government’s directives, BGB deputy director general (operation and training) colonel Hafiz Ahsan Farid said, ‘We are deploying our troops as per the requirements from local administrations.’ 

He, however, said that BGB personnel were already deployed in Dhaka and some other places in aid of the police. 

Besides, the police were asked to prevent any sort of anarchy in the capital and elsewhere in the name of any political programmes, senior officials concerned said. (source) 

Bangladesh: HM Ershad demands rescheduling of nomination submission date

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad on Monday termed impractical the date of submission of nomination papers and demanded its rescheduling.

The Election Commission on Monday announced that the 10th parliamentary elections would be held on January 5. The aspirants will get till December 2 to submit their nominations which

would be scrutinised in December 5-6.  

Ershad, in a statement issued immediately after the announcement of the polls schedule, said that there should be two weeks’ time between the date of the announcement of polls schedule and the last of date for submission of nomination papers. But the EC has given only one week and it is not possible for all political parties to complete interviews, selection of candidates and submission of nomination papers by December 2.   

The statement emailed to newspapers by Sunil Shuva Roy, a JP presidium member and press secretary to the JP chief, called upon the EC to reschedule the date for submission of nomination of papers.  

The statement said that the interviews of nomination-seekers of JP would end on November 30. The list would be finalised on December 1 and the candidates would come to know about it on December 2.   

It is impossible for the candidates to submit nomination papers by December 2, he said. (source) 

Bangladesh: Question leak putting mental pressure on children

Alleged leak of questions in the ongoing primary education completion examinations is putting huge mental pressure on minor students, said teachers and guardians.

They said that the alleged leak of questions is also pushing the children into anxiety about their first public examination and they might develop a negative attitude toward education as well as the society.

They also said that some coaching centres and dishonest teachers, officials and guardians were making the children dependent on allegedly leaked questions.

Allegations have it that the question papers of all subjects, Bengali, English, mathematics and Gangladesh and global studies, on which the examinations have been held, have been leaked.

The government on Saturday formed a committee to investigate the allegation that the questions were leaked and the committee was asked to submit the report in 15 days.

The acting Viqarunnisa Noon School and College principal, Monju Ara Begum, said that many of the examinees were really upset after hearing that the questions were leaked.

‘These children are facing huge mental pressure…leak of questions is putting a negative impact on the students regarding education and social system,’ she said.

Ideal School and College principal Shahanara Begum said, ‘The primary exam turned into a farce. These students would develop an idea that they do not need to take well preparation as they are getting questions ahead of exams.’

Guardians should be more conscious as they have to play a vital role for stopping leak of question, she added.

Primary Teachers Association president Abul Bashar said that many guardians said that they got questions from Facebook. ‘As the exam being held with single question across the country it is easy to leak the questions,’ he said.

Parvez Ahmed, whose son is taking primary completion exam from Dhaka Residential Model College, said that his child was asking him for a question before exam instead of taking preparation. It took good amount of time to convince him that he need proper preparation not question to have bright result.

Nazma Banu, whose son is taking primary completion exam from Manipur School and College, said that it was really frustrating that questions for public exams were randomly being leaked.

Teachers and guardians said that 70 per cent of allegedly leaked questions for Bengali and English 90 per cent for mathematics and 50 per cent for global studies matched the original question papers.

A numbers of guardians alleged that they found English question on Facebook page Basherkella, which is known to be run by the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed student organisation Chhatra Shibir activists.

The allegedly leaked questions and those were posted on Basherkella were similar, they said.

Directorate of primary education director general Shyamal Kanti Ghosh said, ‘No question paper was leaked, but we found similarity between some questions in the question papers and those in suggestions made by coaching centres.’

A member of the probe committee said that they suspected that questions might be leaked from National Academy for Primary Education or BG Press, responsible for setting and printing the question papers. And some profit oriented coaching centres might be behind the leak.

The police arrested five people in Dinajpur and Sathkhira on November 20 over the allegation of being engaged in the leak of questions. 

This year, 29.50 lakh students are taking primary and ibtedayi education completion examinations, the largest public examination of the country. During the primary completion exam in 2012, guardians brought allegations that question papers had been leaked in different subjects like English and Mathematics.  (source) 

Bangladesh Supreme Court asks govt to maintain status quo on Rajuk’s Purbanchal project work

The Appellate Division on Monday asked Rajdhani Unnayan Kartiripakkha to maintain status quo on the land development or monetary work for Purbachal housing project in Gazipur.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md. Muzammel Hossain passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association seeking withdrawal of its previous order that had stayed a High Court order suspending development of the project.

The Appellate Division also assigned a High Court bench, headed by Justice M Moazzam Husain, to dispose of the writ petition involving Purbachal case in next three months.  

Rajuk’s lawyer Motaher Hossain Sazu told reporters that the developer had filled up 80 percent of the project land estimated about 1,600 acres at Bakurta and Parabartha of Kaliganj in Gazipur but the court’s order on Monday would suspend the rest of the work until disposal of the matter from the High Court. 

On August 1, the High Court following the writ petition in public interest, filed by BELA, Ain O Salish Kendra and five other rights organisations, stayed all kind of earth-filling and construction works under the project. 

The court had issued a rule on Rajuk asking it to explain in four weeks why the layout plan of the Purbachal New Town Project should not be declared illegal, arbitrary and against public interest.

The court had also asked the authorities and Rajuk to explain why they should not be directed to protect and conserve the unique ecology and forest, wetland and cultivable land.

On August 20, the Appellate Division vacation chamber judge, in response to a petition filed by Rajuk, stayed the High Court order and directed Rajuk to file a regular petition in two weeks seeking permission to appeal against the High Court order.     

Failing to file the regular petition by the time, the stay order will automatically be vacated, the Appellate Division said.

Writ petitioners’ lawyer Fida M Kamal submitted that the project, which had no environmental clearance from the environment department, should be declared illegal, arbitrary and against public interest. (source) 

7 Bangladeshis held in US for cheque forgery

The US police have arrested seven Bangladeshis for embezzling $8 million from 15 banks in New York by forging cheques.

They were involved in this crime for the last three and a half years, police said.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab five other members of the cartel.

The seven Bangladeshis have been arrested from New York and Georgia.

Sayeed Al Hassan was arrested from an Emirates Airways flight at John F Kennedy International Airport on November 21. 

He was earlier expelled from the US in connection with another crime.

The six others arrestees are Zaman Mahbub alias Faisal alias Mahbubzzaman, Md Golam Azam alias Sohag alias Fayez Ahmed Khan alias Kamal Pasha, Md Khalil alias Robin alias Awal Hassan, Md Nazrul Islam, AKM Golam Hossain alias Mohammad Uddin alias Sariyi Amebioka Pankha alias James Palam alias Mohammad Sheikh Islam and Dipak Rana alias Noor Hossain.

They were carrying out fraudulence activities taking different pseudonyms, police said.

The six of the seven arrested have pleaded guilty after they were produced before the Federal Court. The court ordered all of them to jail.

They took telephone, gas and power connections by using fake ID cards, driving licenses, social security numbers, according to their case details.

They opened accounts in 15 banks through fake documents using fake names. They also withdrew money by submitting fake cheques.

The US police arrested 14 Bangladeshis on a number of charges including real estate and credit card forgeries several years ago. 

Two of them fled after securing bail. 

The rest of them were sentenced to various terms. (source) 

Bangladesh: Duty on newsprint import cut to 5pc

The National Board of Revenue on Monday reduced customs duty to 5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent on import of newsprint for newspaper industry, officials said. 

They said that the new duty structure came into effect on Monday as the statutory regulatory order was issued on the day.

The SRO will be made public as soon as it returns from government printing press, they added. 

Officials said that the revenue board reduced the customs duty to facilitate the newspaper industry amid an increase of production cost as the government declared 8th wage board award for journalist and press workers. 

Earlier in September, the information ministry and cabinet committee formed to review the recommendations of the 8th Wage Board recommended that the duty on import of newsprint for newspaper industry be reduced, saying that duty reduction would help the sector in implementing the new wage board award. 

In last week of October, finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith approved the NBR’s proposal for reduction of customs duty for newsprint import. 

In the budget for 2013-14 financial year, the government increased duty on newsprint import to 10 per cent from 3 per cent that the industry enjoyed in previous years. 

Currently, newspaper and periodical owners have to pay a total of 30 per cent duties including 10 per cent import duty, 15 per cent value-added tax and 5 per cent advance income tax for imported newsprint for the industry.

After reduction of customs duty, they will have to pay around 25 per cent taxes as other taxes will be as usual. 

The existing 2 per cent customs duty on import of printing plates, an important raw material for newspaper industry, will continue.  (source) 

French ambassador calls on Bangladesh parliament speaker

The French ambassador to Bangladesh, Michel Trinquier, called on Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury at the latter’s office in Dhaka on Monday.

They discussed various matters regarding parliamentary proceedings and expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, an official handout said. (source) 

Bangladesh High Court questions collection of high rate tolls from Mayor Hanif flyover users

The High Court on Sunday asked the government to explain in seven days the legality of collecting toll on high rate from vehicle users of newly constructed Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover in the capital.

The HC also asked the authorities to file an explanation as to why they should not be directed to take action against Orion Infrastructure Limited for collection of toll on creased rate and beyond the agreement on the toll.

The court sought another explanation from the government as to why they should not be directed to stop collection of tolls from the flyover on high rate.

A bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain issued the orders after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers, Satya Ranjan Mandol, M Shaiful Alam and Md Ruhul Quddus Patwary, challenging the legality of collecting the toll on high rate.

The court also asked the Dhaka South City Corporation to submit copy of agreement between the corporation and the Orion Group over the rate of tolls.

The court directed government attorneys to communicate the order to the authorities.

Secretaries to the communications, local government and co-operatives ministries, Dhaka South City Corporation’s secretary and the chief executive officer, Dhaka deputy commissioner and Orion Infrastructure Limited were made as respondents in the petition.

The writ petition was filed following various newspaper reports that Orion Group, the operator of the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover, was arbitrarily charging vehicles almost double the approved rate reasoning that the contract allowed them to revise the tariff every five years.

Because of the higher toll rate many vehicles were avoiding the flyover and crowding the roads below. The purpose of the 10-km flyover was thus losing the point, said the writ petitioners. (source)

Bangladesh: Panic continues in Barisal

Panic still grippes the people at Char Aicha of Charkawa union under Barisal Sadar upazila following attack on religious minorities after the killing of a college student.

At least 16 houses and 2 temples of Hindus were set on fire in the attack on Saturday following the death of college student Parvez Gazi in a clash between some Hindu youths and several others from Charaicha village on Thursday night over a badminton match on the Kalikhola Matri Government Primary School ground.

Most of the locals of the affected areas left their houses fearing harassment after the police arrested 25 people in connection with the incidents. The arrestees were sent to jail.

Barisal Bandar police station officer-in-charge Rezaul Islam said that no case was lodged in connection with the killing or the arson attack.

Students formed a human chain in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall demanding arrest of the culprits and killers of college student Parvez Gazi, They also cautioned the police not to harass any innocent people.

Local union parishad chairman Manirul Islam Chhobi said that the overall situation was still tensed although political leaders including lawmaker Mojibor Rahman Sarwar visited the spot and consoled affected family members on Sunday.

Sadar upazila chairman Azizul Huq Akkas, also the upazila BNP president, said that they were trying to convince the minority people to return home.

Barisal Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (south) ATM Mujahidul Islam said that they assured the locals of safety. 

The police opened a makeshift police camp in the area.

The deputy commissioner in Barisal, Shohidul Islam, said that the administration already started relief operation with distributing cash, food grains and construction materials. (source)

Bangladesh: Nizami’s defence granted 2 days for placing closing arguments

The International Crimes Tribunal–1 on Sunday allowed two days – Sunday and Monday – for closing arguments by the defence of detained Jamaat chief and war crimes accused Matiur Rahman Nizami.

The tribunal allowed the time disposing of a defence plea seeking review the tribunal’s November 13 order that closed the defence summing up of the case and put the verdict on CAV (curia advisary vult, a Latin legal term meaning court awaits verdict).

The tribunal disposed of the defence petition upholding its November 13 order keeping the judgement on CAV.

On November 13, the tribunal closed the defence case as no senior defence lawyers appeared before the tribunal for the fourth consecutive day. 

On the following day on November 14, Nizami filed an application seeking review of the November 13 order.

Moving the petition, Nizami’s chief defence counsel Abdur Razzak submitted that they were not able to turn up before the tribunal on the four days due to 84-hour countrywide nonstop hartal from November 10 to November 13. 

He referred to the adjournments in the appeal hearings of the condemned Jamaat leaders – Delwar Hossain Sayedee and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court due to hartal and submitted that they could not appear before the tribunal for justified reasons.

‘Your lordships can and perhaps in this trial should review the order. You have asked us to submit arguments in written but it cannot be a substitute for the oral one,’ he submitted.

Terming the November 13 order as an unusual one, the chief defence counsel submitted that the tribunal had accommodated the defence on many occasions earlier.

Prosecutor Mir Iqbal Hossain, on the other hand, vehemently opposed the petition and submitted that the tribunal’s November 13 order was justified and logical and that the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 did not permit to review the order.

After hearing both the sides, the tribunal asked the defence to start placing arguments once again and a senior defence lawyer Mizanul Islam began placing his arguments defending Nizami at around 12.30 pm.

His arguments resumes today. (source)

Bangladesh: Election Commission to meet president Nov 19

The Election Commission is scheduled for Tuesday to call on the president, Abdul Hamid, to talk about the issues related to the 10th general election.

The president’s office, Bangabhaban, made the schedule following a letter sent by the commission on November 14 seeking an appointment with the president, a commission official said.

Election commissioner Shah Nawaz told New Age that Bangabhaban fixed the date for the meeting. 

‘We are yet to come to know the exact time of the meeting,’ he said, adding that the commission was yet to get any letter from Bangabhaban.

He, however, said that the meeting would be held on any day this week.

‘We will apprise the president of our preparations and will seek his cooperation to fulfil our requirements,’ Shah Nawaz said.

Replying to a query, the election commissioner said, ‘We will sit soon to decide when the schedule for the 10th national election to be announced.’

Asked whether the commission would request the president to take initiatives to ensure the participation of all political parties in the polls, Shah Nawaz said that the commission’s functions were defined by the constitution and it would not engage in any activities going beyond the constitutional provisions. 

According to the constitution, the 10th national elections need to be held by January 24, 2014.

Election commissioners and officials hinted that the commission might announce the election schedule either at the end of this month or in the first week of December the polling day might be fixed in the second week of January 2014. (source)

Bangladesh: Dhaka court defer Adil-Elan hearing

A Dhaka court has deferred hearing to frame charges against human rights group Odhikar’s secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and director Nasiruddin Elan.

They are booked in a case of allegedly spreading distorted information about police’s May 5 anti-Hifazat drive.

Dhaka’s Cyber Crimes Tribunal Judge KM Shamsul Alam has set November 24 as the new date for the hearing that was scheduled for Sunday.

But since Elan could not be produced before the court the judge deferred the hearing.

Adil was, however, was present in the court.

The two have been accused of distorting facts, presenting false evidence against the drive by the security forces, doctoring photos with the help of Photoshop, and passing off someone alive as dead.

A report by rights group Odhikar claimed 61 people had been killed in the drive by police and security forces at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar, where Hifazat-e Islam supporters were on an indefinite sit-in on May 5. (source)