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PAGE 2 COLUMN 4
Attacks on Hindu communities continue
n
Tribune Report
Attacks on Hindu communities, alleg-edly by BNPJamaat activists,
contin-ued in different parts of the country yesterday. Various human
rights, cul-tural and social organisations voiced protests at the
attacks.In Jhargaon village under Thakur-gaon’s sadar upazila,
BNPJamaat activ-ists torched a temple and vandalized an idol in the
early hours of yesterday, our Thakurgaon correspondent reports. Locals
told the Dhaka Tribune that the attack was carried out at a temple
adja-cent to the house of one Mahindra Nath. Asaduzzaman, offi
cer-in-charge of Ruhiya police station, said the police were working to
arrest the perpetrators. On the other hand, police in My-mensingh
arrested two Jubo Dal activ-ists yesterday for their alleged attempt to
torch a temple at Kanihari in Trishal upazila, our correspondent in the
dis-trict reported.The arrestees were Bhulu Miah, 35 and Sarwar Hossain
Millat, 22.Early on Wednesday, miscreants tried to torch a temple at
Kanihari Tir-ki Tarafderbari in Trishal, but fled the scene when locals
rushed to the spot, said Firoj Talukder, the Trishal police station
OC.Anti-polls activists have been at-tacking Hindu communities since the
January 5 general elections. Human rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, in
a statement issued yester-day, protested against the attacks and called
for immediate relief and rehabil-itation.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 2
Swearing-in of MPs sparks off legal debate
Ashraf says a new government is needed soon to curb violence
n
Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Lawmakers-elect yesterday took par-liamentary oaths, triggering a legal
de- bate about whether such swearing-in, before the tenure of the ninth
parlia-ment finishes, is a violation of the con-stitution.The tenure of
the ninth parliament will end on January 24. Publication of the gazette
on Wednesday put Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury under a constitutional
obli-gation to administer the swearing-in ceremony by Saturday.On
Thursday 284 out of the total 289 newly-elected lawmakers of the 10th
Jatiya Shangsad, took their oaths of of-fice in the parliament building
around 10:15am.Article 123 (3) of the charter says the MPs elected by a
general election “must not” assume offi ce as members of parliament before
the expiry of the preceding parliament.Again article 148 makes it clear
that as soon as lawmakers are sworn in they are considered to have
assumed offi ce.Chief Whip Abdus Shahid said, how-ever, that oath taking
without dissolv-ing the ninth parliament is not a viola-tion of the
constitution.He also said the BNP chairperson would soon be stripped of
the post of the leader of the opposition, after the gazette confirms
Rawshan Ershad as her successor.“We need a fully-fledged new gov-ernment
as soon as possible, to curb the ongoing violence across the coun-try.
The interim government is weak in nature. Conspiracy is on,” said Syed
Ashraful Islam, the Awami League gen-eral secretary, said after taking
his oath and attending a parliamentary party meeting.He said the present
interim govern-ment headed by Sheikh Hasina was not taking any policy
decisions during the transition period.Asked about the two
constitutional provisions, the Awami League gener-al secretary said
Bangladesh, for thefirst time in its history, witnessed the handover of
power to a new govern-ment in line with the new constitution-al provision.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 4
‘This is a matter of legal interpretation whetherthe oath taking
wasviolation of constitution’
Government mulls special tribunal for post-poll violence
n
Mohosinul Karim
and
Rabiul Islam
The government has decided to form a special tribunal to deal with the
post-election violence, especially that inflicted upon religious
minorities in various districts. The home ministry made the deci-sion in
a meeting yesterday, with Home Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed in the chair.
Following the meeting, the home ministry sent a letter to the law
minis-try asking for arrangements to be made for the constitution of a
special tribu-nal, to be named “the special tribunal to check crimes
committed on the mi-norities.”The home ministry also ordered the
authorities concerned, at the divisional and district headquarters, to
urgently send certified copies of the first infor-mation reports (FIR),
charge sheets and other documents relating to the attacks on minorities
– which have included killings, rapes, torture, arson, lootings and land
thefts.These documents will be scrutinised first, and then used to
consider wheth-er some of the cases filed in connection with the attacks
can be transferred to the Speedy Trial Tribunals. The cases filed in
connection with the 2012 attacks on Buddhists and Hin-dus in Ramu under
Cox’s Bazar, may also be shifted to the Speedy Trial Tri- bunals.The
home ministry’s letter, seeking information about cases, was directed
PAGE 2 COLUMN 2
Weekend
|
DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM?
9
News
2
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
Attacks on Hindu communities
PAGE 1 COLUMN 5
Signed by its executive director, Mo-hammad Nur Khan, the organisation’s
statement said the affected people were leaving their houses due to the
lack of security.The organization also demanded the investigation of the
incidents by a judi-cial commission and punishment for the perpetrators.
The Dhaka University Teachers As-sociation (DUTA) also formed a human
chain yesterday, demanding immedi-ate punishment for the miscreants who
have been killing innocent people, at-tacking minorities, and destroying
ed-ucational institutions and government property during the recent
blockades and shutdowns. Speaking at the human chain, DUTA president
Farid Uddin Ahmed said: “We have to protest against evil forc-es from
now on, as they want to make Bangladesh like Afghanistan and
Paki-stan.”Although being held under the ban-ner of the DUTA, teachers
from the BNP-backed white panel did not join the human chain. Meanwhile
at Rajshahi Univer-sity yesterday, 351 pro-BNP and Ja-maat-backed
teachers condemned the attacks on minority communities, and demanded an
impartial and indepen-dent investigation under the supervi-sion of the
United Nations.In Barisal, the city and district units of the Bangladesh
Hindu-Bud-dhist-Christian Oikya Parishad and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan
Parishad, formed a human chain and brought out a procession, demanding
the punish-ment of the perpetrators and calling for security to be
ensured for members of the Hindu community.In Dinajpur and Karmojibi
Nari, an NGO for women, formed a human chain demanding security for the
Hin-du communities and exemplary pun-ishment for the people behind the
re-cent attacks. In Rangamati, Sanatan JuboParishad and Puja Udjapon
Committee, demanded the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment for
the attack-ers.In Sherpur, Bangladesh Garo Stu-dents Association formed
a human chain, demanding punishment forthe people who attacked the Hindu
communities, as well as calling for se-curity to be ensured for all
minority groups. Bangladesh Islami Andolon Chair-man Syed Mohammad
Rezaul Karim also expressed concern and anger over the recent attacks on
the Hindu com-munity members.Criticising the government for not “taking
action against the perpetra-tors,” he said: “The government’s si-lence
is mysterious.”
l
Swearing-in of MPs sparks off legal debate
PAGE 1 COLUMN 2
“This is a matter of legal interpreta-tion as to whether the oath taking
was a violation of constitution; I am not the person to give the
interpretation. I was under constitutional obligation to administer the
swearing-in with-in three days, as the EC published the gazette on
Wednesday,” Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said.She declined to
comment on wheth-er two parliaments were in existence after the 10th
Jatiya Shangsad MPs took their oaths.The EC, which the main opposition
called subservient to the government, is yet to come up with explanation
for publishing the gazette.According to the new provision, the 10th
parliamentary polls took place under the supervision of an interim
government comprising of elected MPs with Sheikh Hasina as its chief.All
elections since 1990, except for the sixth parliamentary polls, have
been held under a non-party caretaker govern-ment – a system which was
incorporated into the constitution in 1996 following the Awami League’s
vigorous campaign against the then BNP government.Before 1990, the four
parliaments after 1973 (first parliament), had either been abolished or
dissolved before com-pleting their five-year terms, as a result of
military coups or mass uprisings.The non-party caretaker government
provision says such a government can take offi ce after the completion of
a five-year term of an elected regime. The caretaker government holds
elections within 90 days of the day it takes offi ce. But the last
non-party caretaker gov-ernment stayed in power for about two years
beyond its constitutional mandate.The parliamentary records show 226
Awami League MPs and 31 from Jatiya Party (JaPa) took oaths on Thursday.
The parties that took oaths on Thurs-day included: Workers’ Party (six),
Ja-tiya Samajtantrik Dal (four out of five), Jatiya Party-JP (one), BNF
(one) and Tariquat Federation (one).Jatiya Party’s HM Ershad, Awami
League’s Saber Hossain Chowdhury, and Nazmul Hassan and Mayeen Uddin
Khan Badal of the JSD did not take oaths.Since morning the newly elected
MPs and their assistants filled the oath room of the Jatiya Shangsad, as
the first oath was supposed to be administered at 10am. The Awami League
first took its oaths. Shirin Sharmin Chadhury then administered oaths to
other MPs.The Awmai League MPs then attend-ed the first meeting of the
parliamenta-ry party, held on the ninth floor of the Jatiya Shangsad. The
MPs unanimously elected Sheikh Hasina as the Leader of the House.
l
Blockade break for today and tomorrow
PAGE 1 COLUMN 5
and Hospital at around 6am, the vic-tim’s brother Abu Bakkar said. Our
Laxmipur correspondent re-ported that army troops gave chase to a group
of Jamaat-Shibir men when they blocked a road in the town during the
morning. The pickets however, van-dalised five auto-rickshaws before the
army could arrive.Later in separate drives, joint forces detained 11
picketers.In Sirajganj around 9pm on Wednes-day, pickets hurled a petrol
bomb at a compartment of the Silk City Express which was heading to
Rajshahi, at Ka-markhand Rail Station. No was hurt in the incident, GRP
Offi cer-in-Charge Ak- bar Hossain said.Buses plied the roads to the
capital from Bogra, Jessore, Khulna, Gopalganj and some other
districts.The joint forces arrested 15 blockad-ers from Feni, 31 from
Comilla and two opposition men from Kishoreganj, for their alleged
involvement in sabotaging trains, and 72 men from Thakurgaon for
involvement in post-polls violence.Transport workers and commuters, who
have been suffering for around one-and-half months because of the
opposition blockades and hartals, were back on the capital’s streets
yesterday.Numbers of public and private vehi-cles was almost as would be
expected on a normal day. At many bus stops, offi ce go-ers and students
were standing in queues.“Bus driving or assisting is not a per-manent
job. We get money for every trip. If buses do not leave the stands, the
money stops coming,” said Abdul Latif, a driver of Bahan Paribahan. His
bus was picking up passengers at the Science Laboratory intersection. In
the last month, he did not make a sin-gle trip, as the bus owner did not
dare to bring out the buses. “The bus owner said he would oper-ate the
bus today. I am so happy that I am back to work,” said another driver of
Meghna Paribahan, an inter-district bus plying the route from Sayedabad
to Dashmina of Patuakhali. At Gabtoli bus terminal many counters were
open. The staff, however, said they will not run the buses on all routes,
and the number of buses would be limited.Pickets burnt a bus used for
carry-ing staffers of Sonali Bank, behind the bank’s head offi ce at
Dilkusha last night. Passengers at Kamalapur Railway Station increased
dramatically yester-day but the train schedule, which has almost
collapsed in the last month, was still to return to normal. Some trains
were six to ten hours late.Chittagong-bound Mohanagar Probhati was
supposed to leave the station at 7:40am, but it had not reached the
station by 4pm. The Di-najpur-bound Ekota Express was sup-posed to leave
the station at 10am, but PA announcers said it would not reach the
station before 3pm. Khairul Bashir, the station manager, said they had
been trying to maintain the schedule, but could not do so be-cause of
the subversive activities tar-geting rail lines and trains. “The
situation will change soon. We need at least a month to do so,” he said.
l
Government mulls special tribunal
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6
to the inspector general of police, the divisional commissioners, police
com-missioners, deputy inspector generals, district magistrates and
superinten-dents of police. Deputy Home Secre-tary Md Mizanur Rahman
signed the letter. A senior ministry offi cial said five incidents,
including of rape and killing, were now being tried under the Speedy
Trial Tribunal system.The home ministry would consider whether the
cases, filed in connection with the attacks, could be brought to the
Speedy Trial Tribunal.The offi cial also said, if the attackers could be
given punishments under the Speedy Trial Tribunal, the incidents could
be prevented.Meanwhile, the home secretary, along with some other
high-ranking offi cials of the ministry, cancelledtheir visit to Jessore
and Dinajpur scheduled for yesterday, wheresome of the recent attacks on
minori-ties took place, because of inclement weather.
l
New cabinet
PAGE 1 COLUMN 3
After the meeting president’s Press Secretary Ehsanul Karim Hellal said
the president congratulated Hasina on her being re-elected as the
president of the Awami League parliamentary party.Awami League and
Jatiya Party sources said almost all cabinet mem- bers of the interim
government were likely to be included in the new cabinet.Some new faces
such as Mohammad Nasim, Sheikh Fazrul Karim Selim, An-war Hossain Manju
of Jatiya Party (JP), Mossarraf Hossain, Saber Hossain Chow-dhury,
Asaduzzaman Noor might be in-corporated into the new government.AMA
Muhith, Matia Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, Abdul Latif Siddique,
Khandokar Mosarraf Hossain, Advocate Shahara Khatun, Obaidul Quader,
Mu- jibul Haque, Nurul Islam Nahid, Shah- jahan Khan, Hasan, and Hasanul
Haque Inu may get the same ministries. Sheikh Selim may be given the
health ministry while Mohammad Na-sim the home ministry.If Safiq Ahmed
becomes adviser to the prime minister then Suranjit Sen may get the law
ministry while Mohiud-din Khan Alamgir the planning ministry. If AMA
Muhith is not interested, for-mer Bangladesh Bank governor Farash Uddin
Ahmed is like to become finance minister.Jatiya Party’s Anisul Islam
Mahmud, Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader, Salma Islam and
Mu- jibul Haque Chunnu are reported to be included in the new
government.Earlier in the day, 284 MPs, elected in the 10th
parliamentary poll, took oaths. Yesterday Speaker Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury administered the oaths for the newly elected MPs.Jatiya Party
Chairman HM Ershad did not join the oath-taking ceremony. The new MPs
from his party joined the programme under Rawshan Ershad who is set to
be the leader of the oppo-sition in parliament.BNP Chairperson Khaleda
Zia has lost state protocol soon after the law-makers were sworn in.
l
Rawshan Ershad and members of JaPa take oaths yesterday
PMO
Sheikh Hasina speaks at a meeting of the Awami League parliamentary
party after taking oaths yesterday
PMO
EU, China and Korea condemn violence, call for talks
n
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
European Union has regretted that the people of Bangladesh were not
given an opportunity to express fully their democratic choice in the
10th parlia-mentary election on January 5.“The EU has repeatedly called
on all parties to create favourable conditions for transparent,
inclusive and credible elections. The High Representative, therefore,
regrets the fact that such conditions did not materialise and that the
people of Bangladesh were not giv-en an opportunity to express fully
their democratic choice,” EU High Represen-tative Catherine Ashton said
through a statement.The 10th parliamentary election was held on January
5 and the US, the UK, the United Nations, the Commonwealth, France,
Germany and Canada have ex-pressed discontent over the polls where
candidates were elected unopposed in more than half of the 300 seats and
voter turnout on Sunday was low.The High Representative has tak-en note
of the preliminary results and of reports of low turnout for the 10th
Parliamentary elections held in Bangla-desh on 5 January, said the
statement.Ashton strongly condemns the acts of violence which occurred
in the run-up to and during the elections and par-ticularly attacks on
the most vulnera- ble populations.“The EU urges all parties to refrain
from violence and to engage in gen-uine dialogue to agree on a mutually
acceptable way forward to strengthen democratic accountability and to
hold transparent, inclusive and credible elections, putting the
interests of the people of Bangladesh first.”On December 20, European
Union said that it would not deploy any elec-tion observers.On November
30, it issued the state-ment which stated: “The EU remains concerned
that there is still confronta-tion between the major political groups in
the country on the composition of the government during the electoral
period.” “The EU calls on the leaders of all political parties to agree
on a mutual-ly acceptable formula so as to facilitate the holding of
elections which fully reflect the wishes of the people. It wel-comes the
efforts of those who have been working to achieve this.”Meanwhile, China
yesterday said it hoped that parties in Bangladesh can realise political
stability through talks and negotiation after its parliamentary
election, reported Chinese news agen-cy Xinhua.Chinese Foreign Ministry
Spokes-woman Hua Chunying at a press brief-ing said: “We noted that
Bangladesh’s parliamentary election had been com-pleted on Jan 5. As a
friendly neigh- bour of Bangladesh, China is concerned about the
country’s national situation.”China hopes political forces in
Ban-gladesh can give priority to national long-term and fundamental
interests, and hold talks and consultation in efforts to realize
political and social stability, as well as economic develop-ment, he
said.Meanwhile, South Korean Ambassa-dor to Bangladesh Lee Yun-young
said his country hoped for an inclusive polit-ical process to overcome
the current sit-uation and restore peace and stability.
l
Reporters invited but Khaleda does not meet them
n
Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
Khaleda Zia yesterday cancelled her view-exchange meeting with
journal-ists who went to her upmarket resi-dence in Gulshan. Earlier,
BNP chairperson’s press wing invited journalists to join the
view-exchange meeting through SMS and over phone.Responding to the call
from the press wing of the BNP more than 200 journalists gathered in
front of her res-idence.Around 9pm, Shamsuddin Didar, an offi cial of
chairperson’s press wing, told journalists that the programme was
postponed and Khaleda Zia would not hold the view-exchange meeting.He,
however, declined to explain as to why the meeting had been
cancelled.Meanwhile, the BNP on Thursday alleged that the swearing-in of
new parliament members was in violation of the constitution.The party
also claimed that Speak-er Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury violat-ed the
constitution by conducting the oath-taking ceremony.“Today’s [Thursday]
swearing-in is a clear violation of the constitution. If President Abdul
Hamid invites the parliament leader to form government, it will also
violate the constitution,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary
general of the party, said in a statement.The spokesperson of the party
al-leged that everything was done to cling to the state power.Issuing a
note of warning, Fakhrul also said: “It is to be remembered that those
who violated the constitution today once inserted a provision of
pun-ishment in the constitution through 15th amendment for violating the
con-stitution.”The BNP leader cited article 123 of the constitution to
justify his state-ment saying the article says elected parliament
members cannot take over offi ces until the term of previous gov-ernment
ends – which is January 24.The BNP leader warned that all con-cerned
will have to be “indicted one day” for such offense.Mirza Fakhrul also
slammed the “farcical” January 5 elections: “Time will come and the
people will answer to this farce,” he said at the end of the
statement.After Fakhrul’s statement, adviser to BNP Chairperson Osman
Farruk called off their indefinite blockade for Friday and Saturday. “But
the blockade will continue from Sunday,” he said.“We have called off
blockades for Friday and Saturday considering peo-ple’s sufferings and
will resume again from Sunday across the country de-manding the
cancelation of January 5 farcical polls,” he said through a video
message.Farruk, who usually briefs the me-dia from his residence, came
up with the announcement from a hideout.The party will offer special doa
in mosques across the country and will stage demonstration across the
coun-try on January 11.The opposition combine enforced indefinite
transportation blockade from January 1 simultaneously with two hartal in
two spells.
l
10-year-old boy chokes while playing
n
Kailash Sarkar
A 10-year-old boy was choked to death while playing with a rope inside a
shan-ty in the capital’s Pallabi area yesterday.Deceased Ajoy Das’s
mother Josna Das said Ajoy had been playing with a rope hung from a
wooden structure in-side the shanty and got entangled.She said: “I had
gone to collect wood and no one was at home. My younger son Sanjoy was
also playing outside.”Hearing chaos, Josna came back to her shanty and
found neighbours taking care of her son. Ajoy was admitted to a nearby
hospital in a critical condition. He was shifted to Dhaka Medical
College Hospital where he was declared dead.
l
Police assault cricketer Sohag Gazi
n
Kailash Sarkar
National team cricketer Sohag Gazi was allegedly assaulted by a
policeman in front of his residence at Rupnagar in the city
yesterday.Witnesses said a microbus carrying a patrol team from the
Rupnagar police station got obstructed by the car of the cricketer
parked on Road 7 adjacent to his house around 4pm.The policemen got
angered as the driver of Sohag’s car delayed in freeing the road.As
Sohag got out of his car the police-men led by Assistant Sub-Inspector
Md Wahidul Islam locked in an altercation and at one stage the ASI
slapped Sohag. The law enforcers also attempted to pick the cricketer
and his chauffer.The policemen calmed down when locals revealed Sohag’s
identity.When contacted, Mirpur division Deputy Commissioner Imtiyaz
Ahmmed said there had been a misunderstanding.“The driver of Sohag
Gazi’s car did not move the vehicle even after the po-licemen blew the
horn repeatedly. The patrol team could not move as the car was parked
blocking the road,” he said.The DC said he had not received any
complaint about the incident as of 11pm.
l
ATTACKS ON HINDUS
Jamaat demands UN investigation
n
Tribune Report
Jamaat-e-Islami, which is alleged to have attacked Hindus, has blamed
the government for the attacks. It demanded a UN-supervised inqui-ry
into the incidents of violence. “We are observing...that the gov-ernment
is carrying out attacks on mi-nority in a pre-planned way to create
anarchy,” said Jamaat acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman in a
state-ment yesterday. He said: “We call for an independent commission,
comprised of HR bodies from around the world under UN's di-rect
supervision to reveal the truth.”
l
3
News
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
AL to initiate talks with BNP: Ashraf
n
Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said yesterday the
government would initiate talks with BNP, which had boycotted the 10th
parliamentary polls.He also said the government would provide necessary
protocol and protection to Khaleda Zia despite the fact that she was set
to lose the post of the opposition leader very soon.“The door of
negotiation is always open. It is the government that will take the
initiative of talks (with the BNP),” Syed Ashraf told the Dhaka Tribune
at the parliament building after taking oath as an MP and a meeting of
the Awami League parliamentary party meeting.In an interview with BBC
Bangla service, Khaleda Zia hinted that she was interested in having
talks with Awami League to hold an inclusive election as soon as
possible.The Awami League general secretary and his BNP counterpart
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, under the mediation of the UN
secretary-general’s envoy Oscar Fernandez Taranco, had agreed to
continue the dialogue for an amicable solution to the political
stalemate over the restoration of the non-party caretaker government in
the constitution.Top ranking leaders of BNP and Awami League met at
least three times to hold an inclusive election, but could not reach an
outcome. BNP at first demanded scraping the 10th general elections. HM
Ershad’s Jatiya Party emerged as the largest opposition group as BNP and
its allies boycotted the polls that took place under the interim
government headed by Sheikh Hasina.“After the publication of gazette
confirming Rawshan Ershad as the opposition leader, she will no longer
hold the position,” said Ashraful Islam.“But as the former leader of the
opposition, three-time prime minister and the chief of a party, the
government will provide her with the proper protocol and protection,” he
said.Jatiya Party, which got 33 seats in the January 5 polls, had a
meeting yesterday confirming Rawshan Ershad as the opposition
leader.Parliament secretariat sources said they would publish the
gazette as soon as the authorities instruct.
l
New MPs cannot make law before Jan 25: AG
n
Nazmus Sakib
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said the newly elected lawmakers who
took oaths yesterday could not lay down any laws before January 24, the
last day of ninth parliament, as per the constitu-tion. However, their
oath taking before the expiration of the previous parliament was not a
breach but rather was in ac-cordance with the constitution, he
said.According to article 123(3) of the con-stitution, elected MPs shall
not assume offi ce as they were elected before the ex-piration of the
ninth parliament. Some legal experts said taking the oath meant assuming
offi ce.Article 148 (3) of the constitution says: “Where under this
constitution a person is required to make an oath be-fore he enters upon
an offi ce, he shall be deemed to have entered upon the offi ce immediately
after he makes the oath.”The attorney general said: “There is no
decision to hold sessions before January 24. So the new MPs cannot take
part in enacting laws in this peri-od, which means they are not
assum-ing their offi ces. So the constitution is not being violated in any
way. Thus the notion that there are two parliaments in existence at the
same time is absurd.” Mahbubey Alam spoke to journal-ists at his offi ce,
as the debate raged about whether it was a violation of the constitution
to have two parliaments ac-tive simultaneously. Earlier yesterday 283
MPs, who were elected in the 10th parliamentary polls, took oaths at the
parliament premises under Speaker of the ninth parliament Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury.The attorney general also said the oath taking ceremony was
held yester-day because there was a constitutional obligation that the
MPs must be sworn in within three days of the issuance of the gazette
notification of the national polls results by the Election Commis-sion.
The EC issued the notification on Wednesday.
l
BNP leaders’ bail and remand pleas rejected once again
n
Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail and remand petitions of six
sen-ior BNP leaders including MK Anwar, Barrister Moudud Ahmed and
Rafiqul Islam Mia and sent them to jail in three cases filed over the
Hefazat-e-Islam vi-olence in the city on May 5 last year.The other
accused in the cases are Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Ab-dul Awal
Mintoo and Shimul Biswas.Moudud, Anwar and Rafiqul are the BNP standing
committee members while Abdul Awal Mintoo is an advis-er to party
Chairperson Khaleda Zia, Shimul Biswas her special assistant, and Mahbub
Uddin Khokan its joint secretary general.Metropolitan Magistrate Mizanur
Rahman passed the order when the investigation offi cers of the cases
pro-duced the BNP leaders before the court seeking a 27-day remand for
each of the accused. The defence lawyers filed separate bail petitions
of the leaders.After hearing, the court rejected the bail pleas. The
court, however, permit-ted the investigation offi cers to grill the
accused at the jail gate within seven working days.Of the three cases,
one was filed with Motijheel police station in con-nection with death of
sub-inspector Md Shahjahan during a clash between law enforcers and
Hefazat men in the capital on May 5 last year.Later, police filed two
other cases, one for vandalism and another for ar-son, with the same
police station.Moudud, Anwar and Rafiqul were detained from in front of
Sonargaon Hotel on November 8 last year while Abdul Awal Mintoo and
Shimul Biswas were detained from outside the Khale-da Zia’s Gulshan
residence a few hours later on the same day.On December 26 evening,
Mahbub Uddin Khokan was detained from in front of Matsya Bhaban in the
capital.In another case filed with Moham-madpur police station on October
26 last year, a Dhaka court also rejected the bail and remand pleas for
BNP lead-er and former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadeque Hossain
Khoka and sent him to jail.Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Kumar Dey passed
the order while the investi-gation offi cer sought a 10-day remand.After
hearing, the court issued an order that the investigation offi cer quiz
him within 10 working days in front of jail gate.Another Dhaka court
sent BNP Vice-Chairman major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed to jail as the bail
and remand hearing against the leader was not held yesterday for lack of
documents of the case filed with Motijheel police station. The chief
metropolitan magistrate court fixed January 21 for hearing on the two
petitions. Earlier on December 29, Hafiz was detained while he came out
of the Ja-tiya Press Club in the capital after an-nouncing an agitation
programme on behalf of the BNP-led 18-party opposi-tion alliance.
l
Yusuf ordered Salam’s killing: Witness
n
Udisa Islam
AKM Yusuf was responsible for kill-ings, looting and arson at
Shoronkhola, a new witness for prosecution has told the International
Crimes Tribunal 2.The witness described a meeting of the peace committee
where war crimes accused AKM Yusuf was pres-ent to deliver a speech and
instigated the collaborators to commit crimes against humanity. He also
claimed Yusuf attended a series of meetings at that time.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Yusuf is fac-ing trial on 13 counts of crimes
against humanity including genocide, mur-der, arson attacks, abduction,
torture in confinement, forced conversion of Hindu people to Islam and
deportation committed at different places in Bager-hat during the
Liberation War of 1971.The 19th prosecution witness, Ab-dul Latif
Hawlader, testified yesterday against Yusuf. He said in his deposition he
was living with his grandmother during the Liberation War. On July 29,
1971 he learned that AKM Yusuf would come to a meeting at Shoronkhola.
He also heard that that day Yusuf took part in a meeting that was held
at Shoronk-hola police station. On the same day, he saw some Razakars
dragging a man named Ab-dus Salam from the riverside. The wit-ness
claimed he and his fellows hid themselves. They saw Yusuf order the
Razakars, who then took the man to the riverside again and then they
heard gunshots. Witness said in his deposition villag-ers found the dead
body of Salam after three days. Following the testimony, junior defence
counsel Sifur Rahman began cross-examining the witness. ICT 2 fixed
January 12 for further proceed-ings. On December 11, prosecution’s 18th
witness gave his deposition against war crimes accused Yusuf. After
that, tribunal heard incomplete cross-ex-aminations of some witnesses,
as the conducting lawyer was dismissed by the tribunal and a new defence
counsel was appointed by Yusuf.
l
Hasina: Face arrest for calling hartal
n
Kamran Reza Chowdhury
and
Emran Hossain Shaikh
Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina yes-terday warned that anyone who would
call hartal or blockade would be arrested.“If anyone calls hartal and
blockade, he/she will be arrested then and there,” Hasina said,
apparently directing the warning at the BNP and its alliance.Quoting the
party chief, Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told the
Dhaka Tribune that the new government would be “more op-pressive” to
contain the BNPJamaat alliance’s destructive activities in the name of
anti-government movement.Speaking at a meeting of the Awa-mi League
parliamentary party after yesterday’s taking-oath ceremony, she asked
the lawmakers of her party to form committees at the grassroots and help
the law enforcers to counter oppo-sition violence.Hasina urged her party
colleagues to pick one of their fellow lawmakers as the leader of the
House for the 10th parliament instead of her, prompting the MPs to
reject her call unanimously.“I have discharged the duties of the leader
of the House twice. I am no more interested in doing it again. Please
se-lect someone from you for the job,” senior Awami League MP Rahmat Ali
quoted Hasina as saying.The MPs said “no” in chorus, mak-ing Hasina
emotional, Rahmat said.Syed Ashraf then proposed Hasina’s name as the
leader of the House and Chief Whip of the ninth parliament Abdus Shahid
seconded the proposal, amid cheers.Sheikh Hasina is set to become the
prime minister for the third time since 1996. BNP Chairperson Khaleda
Zia is the only leader to become prime min-ister thrice.She said the new
government would take offi ce as soon as possible for bring-ing normalcy
in the country.
l
NHRC chief visits victims of Malopara village
n
Our Correspondent,
Jessore
National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman yesterday asked
the government to explain why the people of this country have become
expatriates in their own land. He raised the question while briefing
journalists after a visit to where Hindu residents were violently
attacked by sus-pected Jamaat-Shibir activists on Sun-day night for
voting in the parliamentary elections held that day. Rahman said it was
the duty of the government and the state to provide se-curity to every
citizen of the country. Dulal Biswas, one of the victims of Sunday’s
attack, told Rahman that he did not know the attackers as they wore
masks.“The attackers should be brought to justice whatever their
political identities are,” he said. The NHRC chief also urged the
government to rehabilitate the af-fected villagers.“They should be given
daily neces-sities until the situation returns to nor-mal,” he said.
Border Guard Bangladesh and differ-ent organisations and individuals have
been distributing relief goods among the affected villagers.Meanwhile,
Jessore district adminis-tration yesterday formed a three-mem- ber probe
body, headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner ANM Mainul Islam to
investigate the attack on the residents of Malopara village. The
com-mittee is expected to submit its report in three working
days.According to media reports, armed activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and
its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, torched and looted dozens of
homes belonging to the Hindu community in the village under Jessore’s
Obhoynagar upazila. Local police have detained at least 23 suspects
since the attack.
l
Road accidents kill 2, hurt 1
n
Tribune Report
Road accidents killed two persons and hurt one in separate incidents in
Dhaka and Chittagong yesterday.The deceased were Tariqul Islam, 28, an
assistant manager of Meghna Filling Station, who died in the city’s
Shahbagh area, and Md Juwel, 30, a truck driver, who died in a head-on
collision between two trucks on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at Sitakunda
upazila.The injured person Nabir Uddin, 28, the helper of the truck, was
admitted to the Chittagong Medical College Hos-pital.The Dhaka Tribune’s
correspondent reports, witnesses of the Shahbagh ac-cident described
that a speedy bus hit the filling station employee from his back around
100 yards away from his working place near Ruposi Bangla Ho-tel while
was getting down from anoth-er bus around 7:30am.Our Chittagong
correspondent re-ports, the accident took place yester-day in the
morning.Zillur Rahim, sergeant of Kumira Highway police outpost, said a
Dha-ka-bound rice-laden truck, collid-ed head-on with a limestone-laden
truck coming from opposite direc-tion at Nunachara area of the upazila
around 8am, leaving the driver dead on the spot.
l
A worker sets up CCTV camera in front of the residence of BNP
Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Several social organisations form human chains in front of the National
Press Club yesterday, condemning the communal violence and demanding
exemplary punishment to the responsible people
RAJIB DHAR
The government would provide necessary protocol and protection to
Khaleda Zia despite the fact that she was set to lose the post of the
opposition leader
The detained leaders of BNP are produced before the CMM Court yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
4
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
CityHighLowDhaka
20.110.3
Chittagong
23.913.8
Rajshahi
21.707.0
Rangpur
20.809.4
Khulna
22.610.5
Barisal
22.608.5
Sylhet
23.909.8
Cox’s Bazar
27.914.0
PRAYER TIMES
Fajar5:23amSunrise6:42amJumma12:06amAsr3:53pmMagrib5:29pmEsha6:49pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org
WEATHER
Weather likely to remain dry
n
UNB
Weather may remain dry with tempo-rary partly cloudy sky over the
country until 6pm today.Moderate to thick fog might occur over Rajshahi,
Rangpur, Dhaka, Barisal and Sylhet divisions and light to mod-erate fog
might occur elsewhere over the country during midnight till morn-ing,
Met Offi ce said.Moderate cold wave is sweeping over the regions of
Sitakunda, Sriman-gal, Rajshahi, Pabna, Jessore and Ch-uadanga and mild
cold wave is sweep-ing over Rangpur and Barisal divisions and the
regions of Tangail, Faridpur, Madaripur, Rangamati, Hatiya and Sathkira
and it may continue. Night and day temperature may rise slightly over
the country.The sun sets in the capital at 5:29pm today and rises at
6:44am tomorrow. Country’s highest temperature 27.6 degree Celsius was
recorded at Teknaf and lowest 06.1 degrees at Chuadanga yesterday.
Highest and lowest temper-atures recorded in some major cities yesterday
were:
Jubo League man killed in Chittagong
n
Tarek Mahmud,
Chittagong
A Jubo League activist was slaughtered to death by unidentified people in
Chit-tagong yesterday following a feud over the ownership of a fish
hatchery.Enamul Haque, offi cer-in-charge of Raozan police station, said
the deceased Nasir was killed near his residence at Haldia village of
Raozan upazila around 6pm.Police said they were looking into the incident.
l
Special measures to check violence in re-election
n
Mohammad Zakaria
The Election Commission has decided to take special security measures to
check violent incidents ahead of the re-election scheduled for January
16. The Election Commission considers all the polling centres
vulnerable, said Election Commission Mohammad Abu Hafiz, adding the EC
would deploy suffi cient number of army, Border Guards Bangladesh, RAB,
police, Ansar and Battalion Ansar personnel for maintaining law and
order during the polls. The re-voting will be held at 392 polling
centres in eight constituencies of six districts. The voting at the
polling stations was postponed because of widespread violence, including
arson attacks, at-tacks on election offi cials and snatch-ing of ballot
papers, in the January 5 parliamentary elections. Of the 392 polling
centres, 57 are in Dinajpur 4, two in Kurigram-4, 54 in Gaibandha 1, 80
in Gaibandha 3, 72 in Gaibandha 4, 46 in Bogra 7, 60 in Jes-sore 5 and
21 centres in Lakshmipur 1 constituencies. The commission is also
appointing additional judicial and executive mag-istrates to hold the
polls in a free and fair way. The commission will hold meeting with
returning offi cers, district elec-tion offi cers and chief of law enforcing
agencies on Saturday about the over-all situation of these
constituencies, a senior EC offi cial yesterday told the Dhaka
Tribune.Army would be deployed in six dis-tricts till January 18, the offi
cial said. Voting at 597 polling centres in 36 districts were postponed
on the day of election. . The Election Commission will not hold
re-elections at 205 polling centres where the winner candidates of the
constituencies won with big margins, which is higher than the voters of
the suspended centres.
l
Fake captain, bomb maker held
n
Kailash Sarkar
Rapid Action Battalion arrested a man at the capital’s Khilgaon
yesterday on charges of impersonating an Army cap-tain and cheating
people.Arif Khan, 35, was arrested near Kh-ilgaon Flyover around 9am
with the uniforms of the Bangladesh Army, a toy pistol, a walky-talky
set and Tk17,000 cash, said Major Khademul Bashar of RAB 3.“Arif was
arrested red handed while he had been collecting money as ex-tortion
from Moulana Md Yunus, the Imam and also the Khatib of Tilpapara
Jam-e-Mosque,” said Major Khademul, and added: “Arif is a professional
fraud. He was earlier arrested by Ramna po-lice and after getting out of
imprison-ment he resumed his fraudulence.”Meanwhile, police arrested a
youth with three bottles of petrol in Rampura area yesterday.Alauddin
was held with three bottles of petrol from an under construction
building at Wapda Road around 7pm. Kripa Sindhu Bala, offi cer-in-charge
of Rampura police station, said the youth used to make bombs with petrol.
l
Labour ministry has no database on workers
Government to conduct census on country’s labour situation
n
Asif Showkat Kallol
The government plans to conduct a census to identify and prepare a
da-tabase on the status of factories and workers, especially those
affected by political turmoil, labour ministry sources said. A senior offi
cial said the labour min-istry was unable to take major policy decisions
due to lack of information and data on the country’s labour situ-ation.
“We are facing a lot of diffi culties in making major policy decisions
related to regaining GSP (generalised system of preferences) facilities
for Bangladeshi products in the US market,” the offi cial said, citing an
example.The US suspended GSP facilities for Bangladesh in June last
year.The ministry sources also said for-mal sectors like readymade
garments (RMG) and jute were hit hard by extra and internal shocks
brought on by pro-longed political unrest. But the informal sector was
the worst hit, they added.“We have no authority to lend a hand to the
informal sector, but they are the most vulnerable to political unrest,”
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar told the Dhaka Tribune recently.
“However, workers in the formal sector are not los-ing jobs in large
numbers,” he added.The secretary said the government was satisfied with
the formal sector where workers did not lose jobs. He also claimed that
there was no labour unrest in the RMG industry, thanks to the
announcement of the new mini-mum wage in November.However, apparel
manufacturers and exporters said a total of 11 RMG factories closed down
in the past three months as a result of the blockades and hartals
enforced by the opposition. Production also declined by 15% over the
last couple of months, they added.According to the Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics, about 3.24 crore, or about 60%, out of the country’s 5.41
crore employed labourers work in the formal sector. The rest are engaged
in the in-formal sector. But the labour ministry has no data- base on
the number of workers or their incomes. “We want to start a factory
census this year. If necessary, the labour min-istry will talk to the
Bureau of Statis-tics, and it may be a foreign-funded project or
programme,” Shipar said.
l
HRW calls for an end to stop arbitrary arrests of opposition members
n
UNB
Human Rights Watch, a New York- based rights body, said the Bangladesh
authorities should immediately end ar- bitrary arrests of the opposition
party members.“The ruling party keeps saying it welcomes dialogue with
the opposi-tions, but in the light of ongoing crack-downs, it’s
impossible to take that statement seriously,” said Brad Ad-ams, Asia
director at the Human Rights Watch.“To resolve the current political
deadlock, all parties have to make com-mitments to end political
violence, while the international community needs to ramp up pressure
for a politi-cal settlement that involves a credible election.”Arrests
have continued even after the ruling Awami League and its allies won the
largely uncontested elections held on January 5, 2014, it said in a
re-port released on January 8.“Dozens, and perhaps, hundreds of
opposition leaders and members were taken into custody before the
election, which was boycotted by the main op-position alliance led by
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP),” the report said.“BNP leader and
two-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia was placed under de facto
house arrest, with se-curity force surrounding her residence and
blocking people from entering and leaving. Many opposition leaders and
activists have gone into hiding,” the re-port added.“While in some cases
the govern-ment has acted appropriately to stop violence by some
opposition forces, this spate of arrests is part of a pat-tern of
weakening critics, limiting dis-sent, and consolidating the ruling party
power,” said Brad Adams. According to the report, as many as 150 people
have been killed in political violence in recent months, much of it
carried out by the opposition activists. The Election Commission said
nearly 500 voting centres had to be closed be-cause of the violence,
including arson attack. Awami League activists have also engaged in
attacks on the opposition supporters.Attacks on members of the Hindu
community, allegedly by supporters of the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami,
have been reported in the media. Many Hindus, Bangladesh’s largest
religious minority, traditionally vote for Awami League, the report
added.It mentioned that many senior op-position leaders from the BNP and
thousands of its activists were arrested in the run-up to the election.
Ahead of a December 29 BNP “March for Democracy,” hundreds were
arrest-ed, the report said. Leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami party report
being threatened with arrest.Many of its members were arrested while
others went into hiding, it added.
l
EC to compensate victims
n
Mohammad Zakaria
The Election Commission yesterday decided to give compensation to the offi
cials who were killed and injured during the 10th parliamentary
polls.The commission asked the returning offi cers, regional election offi
cers and district election offi cers to send a list of the victims. The
commission also sent letters to them, EC offi cials said.Election
Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz said the commission would give
compensation to those who were killed and injured during the poll.Tk 5
lakh would be given to the fami-lies those died, Tk 2 lakh for the
criti-cally injured and Tk 1 lakh for the less severely injured.The
commission will give the com-pensation from its own funds. During the
polls, two offi cials were killed and many were injured due to violence.
l
CPB organises a lathi rally at the city’s Shahbagh yesterday condemning
communal violence
NASHIRUL ISLAM
Mysterious Salah Uddin Shoaib gets 7-year jail
n
Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor
of “anti-Jihadist” tabloid The Weekly Blitz, to seven years of rigorous
impris-onment for carrying documents pro-voking interreligious
friction.Metropolitan Session Judge Md Ja-hurul Haque passed the order
in the morning.In the order, the court said: “Al-though he was facing
sedition charges, Shoaib was awarded seven years’ rig-orous imprisonment
under section 505(A) of the penal code for having in-flammatory
materials.” Shoaib was out on bail in the case but facing jail term in
another case. Police arrested him on November 29, 2003 from Hazrat
Shahjalal Interna-tional Airport under section 54 of the criminal
procedure code while he was going to attend a seminar in Tel Aviv, and
filed a case against him on sedition charges on January 24, 2004.
Mohammad Abdul Hanif, the then offi cer-in-charge of the airport police
sta-tion, alleged in the case that Shoaib was involved in “anti-state
activities” such as smuggling information out the country. Allegations
against him also include promoting intercommunity tensions and
publishing provocative articles in the USA Today. The CID submitted a
charge-sheet against him before the court on January 9, 2005. He was
re-manded twice before the trial began.
l
HC stays remand of Khandker Mahbub
n
Nazmus Sakib
The High Court has stayed for seven days a Dhaka court order that landed
Khandker Mahbub Hossain, BNP Chair-person Khaleda Zia’s adviser, on a
two-day police remand. The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice
Mohammad Ullah passed the order yesterday, following a plea from the Bar
Council vice-chairman. On Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate
Amirul Hoque granted po-lice two days remand to question the BNP leader
in connection with a case involving bomb blasts near the Dhaka
Metropolitan Police’s Ramna offi ces on Saturday. Khandker Mahbub was
picked up by police from the National Press Club area on Tuesday
afternoon. The HC bench also sought argu-ments from the police as to why
the remand order should be upheld. The deputy commissioner of Dhaka and
of-ficer in charge of Ramna police station have two weeks to respond.
Gulam Mohammad Chowdhury Alal made the case for Khandker Mahbub, while
Assistant Attorney General Gazi Mamunur Rashid represented the gov-ernment.
l
RAB 3 offi cials detain a fake army captain from the city’s Khilgao yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
5
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
Four Chittagong rail stations yield to gambling dens
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Our Correspondent
from Mirsharai, Chittagong
At least four of six railway stations in Mirsharai upazila under the
district have remained shut for a long time and given way to dens of
gamblers and thieves. The four are Mirsharai Sadar, Nijam-pur,
Mohasthannagar and Dhumghat stations shut off in the wake of the rail
authorities’ negligence, sources said.The very useful pieces of
expensive equipment at the stations have gone out of service because of
the shutdown and lack of maintenance.Taking advantage of the situation,
the young thugs steal pieces of ma-chinery of the rail stations and make
a large sum, ultimately causing the rail authorities to count a big loss
of rail property. Sources said a total of six railway stations used to
be fully functional a decade ago which was crowded with a large number
of passengers.Currently, rail services are available in two stations –
Chinki Ashtana and Borotakia, with only local trains halt-ing
there.During a recent visit to Nijampur, Borotakia, Mirsharai and
Dhumghat stations, it was observed that equip-ment were decaying while
the staff rooms remaining under lock and key.A group of animals were seen
tied up in the passengers’ waiting rooms. Only a handful tea stalls set
up a de-cade ago were still running in Mirsharai Rail Station and
bearing testimony to its golden past. Tea stall owners said different
goods used to be transported to different parts of the country through
this sta-tion via rail service. Especially, Hilsa Fish of Chandpur
district used to be taken to the port city through Mirsharai. They added
that local markets like Mithachara and Mirsharai bazars were set up for
the rail passengers.More than 30 staff members includ-ing porters worked
at Mirsharai. Besides, other rail stations – Kumira, Barbaku, Bhatiyari
and Faujdarhat – in Sitakunda upazila suffered the same fate because of
the authorities’ negligence. Locals said rail authorities were to blame
for the worst situation of railways.Because of the authorities’ lack of
concern, trains arrived late all time, but they never tried to fix the
problem, they said, adding that as a result, pas-sengers began to rely
on bus journey. Besides, these stations have also turned dens for
gamblers and thieves stealing expensive equipment like point motor,
signal posts, signal cables, bridge cables and many such
things.Contacted, signal Engineer Shiba-nanda Chakrabarti of Chittagong
Rail-way Station said: “I will talk to higher offi cials in this regard.”
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4 people found dead
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Tribune Report
Police recovered four dead bodies in Pabna, Satkhira, Bogra and Kurigram
yesterday. One was arrested in connec-tion with one of the
incidents.Police recovered the body of Md Ab-dul Munnaf, 50, a local
trader, from a field in Vuipara village under Bera upa-zila in Pabna on
Wednesday. The victim has been missing from his residence since January
5, said family members.Locals spotted the body in the evening and
informed police. Police rushed to the spot and recovered the body.
Police said the victim was strangled to death. Police sent the body to
Pabna Medical College Hospital morgue yes-terday. A case was filed in
this regard.In Satkhira, an unidentified body was recovered from Duronda
canal in Tala upazila. Locals found the body around 10am and informed
police, said Offi cer-in-Charge Shimul Das of Tala police station. A youth
named al-Amin was hacked to death in Sherpur upazila in Bogra on
Wednesday. Offi -cer-in-Charge Ali Ahmed Hashmi of Sherpur police station
said the body was found near Ronbirbala Bridge. The vic-tim was a former
activist of Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the BNP, he said. In
Kurigram, the body of a missing person was recovered from the septic
tank of medicine trader Abdul Latif on Wednesday. The victim was Omar
Farukh, a representative of Sina Phar-maceutical Company. Police sources
said Farukh went to Latif’s place in Baghmara village under Rumari
upazila to demand Tk 14,000 on behalf of the company he worked for.
Latif refused to give the money and they got into an altercation.
Latif’s son Abdul Kaiyum hit Farukh with a stick and leaving him dead.
Later, police recovered the body and victim’s mo-torcycle in the middle
of the night on Wednesday.
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2ND ANNIVERSARY OF ZUBAIR’S KILLING
Killers roam freely on JU campus
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Mahadi Al Hasnat
Zubair Ahmed, an honours final year stu-dent at the English Department of
Jahan-girnagar University, was stabbed to death on January 9, 2012 by a
section of the JU unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League. Zubair had left
politics sometime before the incident, and was concen-trating on his
studies. He was preparing to attend the BCS examination, hoping to help
his family have a better life. On January 8, 2012, Zubair attended his
last examination of his final year. After finishing the test, Zubair told
one of his friends he was very happy to be a graduate, and that getting
a BCS job was his new target.The next day, some Chhatra League men
stabbed Zubair to death on the campus, over some old political rivalry.
After two years, the killers of Zubair are yet to be punished. Some of
the identified culprits have continued with their academic lives and are
roaming the campus freely. University teachers and students marked the
second death anniversary of this meritorious student with dif-ferent
events: displaying Zubair’s pho-to and a news-cutting exhibition, and
organising a protest and cultural pro-grammes on the campus. Several
hundred students and teach-ers arranged a demo at the Shaheed Mi-nar
premises of the university at 12pm, demanding a quick verdict in Zubair
murder case. The programmes were ar-ranged under the banner:
“Shontrasher Biruddhe Jahangirnagar” [Jahangir-nagar against terrorism].
Different po-litical and cultural organisations of the university
expressed solidarity with the initiative. “Shontrasher Biruddhe
Jahangir-nagar” placed a four-point demand with the authorities. The
demands were: quick punishment of the killers, republishing the pictures
and post-ers of the killers so that new students can identify them,
naming a road after Zubair on the campus and building a fully-fledged
medical centre.JU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Afsar Ahmed said, “The
demands of Shon-trasher Biruddhe Jahangirnagar will be considered by
the authorities, and I hope Zubair’s murderers will be brought to book
very soon.” Many staff members of the university expressed solidarity
with the movement. JU VC Anwar Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “We
discussed the students’ demands at our last syndicate meeting, and we
have decided to publish the probe report into Zubair’s murder.
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AL leader’s murder sparks protests in Khagrachhari
n
Our Correspondent,
Khagrachhari
Murder of Awami League leader Nobo Ranjan Tripura in Khagrachhari has
triggered protests at different spots across the hill district.Leaders of
Bangladesh Tripura Kaly-an Sangsad (BTKS) formed a human chain in the
Shapla Chattar area of the town in the afternoon yesterday.The BTKS
leaders hold United Peo-ples Democratic Front (UPDF), a re-gional
organisation, responsible for killing Nobo Ranjan Tripura and urged the
administration to take action against the killers.They announced to
retaliate if any BTKS leaders were further attacked by the “criminals of
UPDF.”Following the human chain, a meet-ing was held at the same spot
with BTKS Advisor and former Khagrachhari Hill District Council Chairman
Monin-dra Lal Tripura in the chair.Awami League Khagrachhari district
unit brought out a rally around 3pm led by its Joint Secretary SM Shafi
who also the asked administration to arrest the killers of
Tripura.Panchhari upazila Awami League unit also brought out a rally in
Panch-hari Bazar around 4.30pm towards the upazila headquarters led by
its Presi-dent Md Bahar Mia.Senior Vice President of Logung union
parishad unit of Awami Legue Naba Ranjan Tripura, 42, was gunned down by
unidentified miscreants at Karbaripara under Panchhari upazila in
Khagrachhari district on Wednesday. A gang of 10-15 miscreants, equipped
with firearms, attacked him after enter-ing his Karbaripara village home
under Logang union around 9pm, leaving him dead on the spot, Assistant
Superinten-dent of Police of Khagrachhari sadar circle Sarwar Hossain
said quoting lo-cals. “He might have been killed because he was acting
in support of AL candi-date Kujendra Lal Tripura in the gener-al
election,” he added.Joint force including the army went to Bidya Mohon
Karbary area to recov-er his body and sent it to the Khagrach-hari
Adhunik Sadar Hospital around 11am yesterday.UPDF Press Secretary Riko
Chakma denied their involvement with the kill-ing of Nobo
Ranjan.Paromita Bala Tripura, wife of the deceased, filed a case with the
Panch-hari police station accusing 11 uniden-tified criminals. She sought
justice and security for her four children.
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Ganajagaran Mancha launches road march today
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Arif Ahmed
Activists of Ganajagaran Mancha will launch road march to Jessore’s
Malop-ara today, protesting recent atrocities on the local Hindus
centring the 10th parliamentary elections.The road march would start at
7:30am from Shahbagh Projonmo Chat-tar in the capital and the Mancha
will stage several street rallies in different districts including
Manikganj, Farid-pur, and Magura, before reaching Jes-sore at 7pm.They
are scheduled to start for Malopara and other vulnerable places in
Jessore tomorrow, and would held a mass rally at Jessore “Chittra-Mor”
around 3pm.Mancha spokesman Imran H Sarkar announced the programme at a
press conference in front of National Muse-um yesterday.Earlier on
January 7, the platform also placed three-point demand — separate laws
to ensure stern actions against communal attackers, bringing the
miscreants of under trial and en-suring adequate compensation for the
victim families.
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Upazila chairman faces graft case
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Our Correspondent,
Kishoreganj
Katiadi upazila chairman Lion Ali Ak- bar was accused in a graft case
filed against him in connection with embez-zlement of money from different
gov-ernment projects.At least nine union parishad chair-men of the
upazila and municipality mayor Tofazzal Hossain Khan Dilip yesterday at
a press conference made the allegation.Akbar was alleged to have
misappro-priated money from different projects including Test Relief
(TR), Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) and Vulnerable Group Development
(VGD).They urged the government to take steps in connection with the
graft. Ear-lier, they filed a case with the Katiadi police station in
this connection.
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Production closed at Jamuna fertiliser factory
n
Our Correspondent,
Jamalpur
The production at Jamuna Fertiliser Fac-tory, the country’s largest urea
produc-ing company, was stopped on Wednes-day because of mechanical
fault. Zahidul Bari, general manager of op-erations of the factory, said
“The me-chanical problem was found on Tues-day midnight in the control
bulb.” He added that the production will resume within two to three
days.The factory has the capacity of pro-ducing 1700 metric tonnes of
fertiliser in a day.
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Plan Bangladesh gets new country director
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Tribune Report
Senait Gebregziabher has been made the country director of Plan
Interna-tional Bangladesh, according to a press statement.The
organisation is a branch of Plan International, a non-profit organisation
working for child rights and develop-ment globally.Gebregziabher has
served in a num- ber of senior positions with Save the Children in
Ethiopia, Uganda, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka she has led the
humanitarian response to the 2005 tsunami and the escalation of conflict
in Sri Lanka in 2006-2009. She has also worked for the World Bank on
gender and land rights issues as a consultant.An Ethiopian national,
Gebregziab-her has had a career in development and humanitarian field
spanning over two decades. She has extensive expe-rience of managing
complex and large-scale programmes in Africa and Asia.Her recent
assignment was with Ox-fam in Somalia as country director.
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Locals collect tomatoes from a burnt truck in Rajshahi city yesterday.
Blockade supporters set fire to the truck in the city’s Dingadoba area on
Wednesday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Students of Jahangirnagar University bring out a procession on the
campus yesterday, demanding arrest and punishment of the killers of Zubair
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Temperature likely to go up from today
n
Abu Bakar Siddique
The average temperature in the coun-try yesterday was similar to that of
the previous day, but it may rise today and continue to do so over the
next three or four days, the met offi ce has said. The highest temperature
yesterday was recorded in Cox’s Bazar at 27.6 de-grees Celsius, while in
the capital it was 10.3 degrees Celsius. The lowest was 6.1 degrees
Celsius recorded in Chuadan-ga, one point up from Wednesday’s lowest in
Ishwardi.The ongoing cold spell with chilly winds and dense fog sweeping
across the country has wrought havoc on the lives of ordinary people,
especially those of limited means in the Northern districts.Outbreaks of
cold-related diseases including pneumonia, asthma and re-spiratory
complications were reported in districts including Kurigram, Dina- jpur,
Pabna, Shariatpur and Jessore.According to sources, the dense fog
disrupted road and water transporta-tion yesterday, causing late
arrivals and departures of vehicles and contributing to commuters’
sufferings. The ferry service on the Ma-wa-Keurakandi and
Paturia-Dawlat-dia routes was suspended for about 12 hours due to the
heavy fog, triggering a long tailback at both ends of the river.Shekhar
Chandra Roy, assistant man-ager of BIWTC, said several ferries could not
leave in time because of the heavy fog. “It was dangerous to run the
ferries. The passengers had to suffer as a result.”Offi cials at the
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation said wa-ter transport and
ferry services were suspended to avoid accidents.
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Advertisement
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
7
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Heritage
Friday, January 10, 2014
When our ship comes in
n
Tim Steel
T
here could surely be a few more appropriate met-aphors to describe the
extraordinarily rich history of coinage in Bangladesh.And it is a very
rich history – an-other appropriate adjective, under the circumstances –
with accumulating evidence, not widely disseminated, that Bangladesh is
amongst the earliest places in the world that such tokens of trade were
used. All of which offers fur-ther evidence that the heritage hunters of
the tourism world are missing some-thing when they ignore Bangladesh.It
also seems an appropriate meta-phor because, amongst other pieces of
accumulating evidence of the history, the diversity of watercraft, of
rivers and sea, are identified by experts as deriving design traditions
from across the ancient world.Over 150 types of rivercraft alone have
been identified, with influenc-es deriving from China, Arabia and
Europe.Bangladesh, a land of rivers, is after all, at its heart, the
delta of three of Asia’s great rivers, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and
the Meghna, all originating in the great Himalayan mountain range. In
these lands, the waters of those great rivers meet the waters of the
Indian Ocean, with mari-time routes across the world.And this is a world
that continues to beat a path to the lands that are the gateway to so
much of Asia, still buying cloths and clothes.We know for certain that
the world has beaten that path for at least two and a half millennia.
Maps created in Asia Minor in about 500 BCE clear-ly mark a river
originating in a long mountain range, before flowing a long course in
front of that range to reach the seas. That river could really only be
the Ganges. And the information to prepare that map, thousands of miles
away, can only have come from traders.Coinage of course is the currency
of trade, and Bangladesh is amongst the few nations with a claim to
earliest development of such tokens betokens, not only trade, but
expertise also in valuable minerals, gold and silver!The ships that such
history, properly disseminated, might well bring today to Bangladesh, as
well as the great container ships collecting readymade garments, are the
Jahaj, the ships of both sea and air that could bring those heritage
hunters.We know from plentiful research into the still growing
international market for tourism that the heritage hunters are amongst
the most valuable.They are valuable because they are often amongst the
best educat-ed around the world, generally the prerequisite of financial
success. They are also usually more environmentally and culturally
sensitive and aware of the places they visit. And what we also know is
that heritage rates up there with cuisine and with shopping as the prime
attraction when booking destinations.Of course Bangladesh has a great
heritage as a place to shop. History is littered with references to such
trade, from perhaps Magesthenes to Daniel Defoe, the literary references
are legion. And the craft-based business-es of Bangladesh today can
still offer many of the treasures long sought here, from fine silks and
muslins, through pearls and silver and gold jew-elry, to wooden crafts
and terracotta.As far as cuisine is concerned, of course the Bangladeshi
restaurant experience, so often miscalled Indian, is already well-known,
but such as the 50 or so deshi pastries, on offer at the countless
teashops across the country, are still one of Bangladesh’s best-kept
secrets, and overdue for revealing to the world. From nimki and rash
puri to samosas and piyajus, the experience is an extraordinary one, and
rash puri is a doughnut to beat the texture and flavour of any in the
world!The potential for those ships of the air to fly in hordes of
sophisticated travel-lers would certainly identify them as the
metaphorical ships, bringing enormous wealth. Bangladesh lags far behind
the international average, as a contribution of tourism to GDP and
employment, not merely of the world in general but especially every one
of its neighbours, and other South Asian nations.Experts calculate that
if Bangladesh could reach at least the international average, which many
South Asian countries well exceed, it could generate about $10bn of
income in foreign ex-change, and in the process create about 4 million
new skilled or semi-skilled jobs. And by far the greatest number of
those jobs, experience shows, do not require urban migration; in fact,
quite the reverse. The jobs in transport ser-vice and information would
be where the many heritage attractions can be visited all over the
country.The recent Standard Char-tered-sponsored publication, “Coins
from Bangladesh,” may be a somewhat academic work with strong,
special-ist, numismatist appeal, but in its academic way it outlines a
history of coinage that can only have developed alongside the
heritage.In its somewhat downscale way, the publication observes:
“Bangladesh has a glorious numismatic heritage.”Whilst it opens with an
illustration of silver coins from Wari Bateshwar, dating from 6th to 3rd
century BCE, there is, in fact, some reason to believe that some such
finds in that extraordi-nary archaeological site on the banks of the old
Brahmaputra could even prove to be earlier.There is in fact considerable
disagreement about the source of the world’s earliest coins, although
Bang-ladesh is certainly in contention.Coins of the 7th century BCE have
certainly been identified in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the Greek
islands, and give or take a few decades Bangla-desh is clearly in
contention there.A tomb of the 11th century BCE Shang Dynasty in China
contains what may be the earliest copper cast coin, but it is far from
clear if, in fact, it is a trade token that might be so classified.But
the rich 2,500 or so years of the history of coinage in Bangladesh tells
its own story of kingdoms and empires, down the centuries that are the
heritage of these lands that are Bangladesh.A small display of some of
these early coins can be seen in the National Museum. If you blink, you
may miss them, and since they mark a tangible beginning of the
extraordinary history of these lands, like the recent, mag-nificent
publication on the subject, the failure to share both the fact and the
significance of these treasures is missing a trick.Of course such tiny
exhibits, easy to miss, cannot compare with the ancient cities still
emerging from the ground. Cities like that, still unconfirmed in its
historic identification, in Wari Bate-shwar, Mahasthangarh, Vikrampur,
Bagerhat, and probably in Egarasindur. Or the ancient temples, the
estimated 400 sites of historic Buddhism, the 100 fine Hindu and Jain
sites, and even Islam from its earliest years.Certainly, the 120 palaces
have already been identified, even if many are already ruinous, and the
visible, tangible remains of Mughal and British empires have more
immediate appeal in their sheer number and scale, but to neglect the
vital importance of such as the history of coinage is to miss a great
opportunity. The opportunity to offer a beacon of attraction to those
invalua- ble heritage hunters, the gifts that they arrive with, carrying
in their wallets, of nearly incalculable economic and social benefit to a
developing nation like Bangladesh.
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Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.
Bangladesh is amongst the few nations with a claim to earliest
development of coins as tokens of trade
Old coin from Arakan, known today as Rakhine, Myanmar. Minted by Shams
al-din Muhammad Ghazi, Sultan of Bengal. Dated AH962 (= 1554/5 AD)
WIKIMEDIA
Coins of the kingdom of Harikela in Eastern Bengal, excavated in
Chittagong district
WIKIMEDIA
A copper coin of Nusrat (Delhi sultanate) from my personal collection
WIKIMEDIA
Silver rupee of the Bengal Presidency, in the name of the Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II, was minted at Banaras in AH 1198
WIKIMEDIA
Launched in the mid-19th century, and originally named ‘Ophia,‘ which
changed to ‘Trade Winds‘ when Captain Pierre Blampied Le Patourel
(18781953) became Master in the late 19th century, this barque held the
coveted Blue Ribbon for the tea trip from Calcutta to London
WIKIMEDIA
9
Friday, January 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE
International
Catholics parade in Philippines
n
AFP,
Manila
Millions of barefoot devotees packed the Philippine capital’s streets
Thursday for one of the world’s biggest Catholic parades, honouring an
ancient statue of Jesus Christ they believe has miracu-lous powers.
Chanting “Viva, Viva Senor Nazareno! (Long Live Mister Nazarene),”
frenzied pilgrims climbed over one an-other in the suffocating heat to
touch the Black Nazarene during the ebony-hued wooden statue’s slow
procession.“This has been a family tradition for years, and the Nazarene
has given us many blessings over the years,” house-wife Josephine
Manalastas told AFP after she and her 80-year-old mother were pulled out
by medics from be-neath the surging crowd.They were taken to an
ambulance for treatment after a section of the crowd stampeded over a
steel barrier protecting the statue’s carriage, short-ly before the
parade began at Manila’s largest park in the morning.Medics said the two
were uninjured. But by mid-afternoon police said 879 people had been
treated for various injuries as the life-sized, 406-year-old icon was
borne towards its home in a central Manila church. Church organ-isers
said one person suffered a stroke.Large numbers of police were mus-tered
to help maintain order along the six-kilometre (four-mile) route, but
the procession was crawling so slowly that just over a third of the
distance had been covered as dusk fell.As of midday organisers said
this year’s crowd outnumbered the esti-mated ninem who attended last
year, although the number could not be in-dependently verified.Devotees
climbed on each other’s shoulders to kiss the statue or wipe it with
white towels and handkerchiefs.Others fought over a pair of thick
lengths of rope that the pilgrims used to pull the carriage. In scenes
reminiscent of a rock concert mosh pit, one deter-mined woman surfed the
crowd to reach the icon, only to fall back and sink into the sea of
humanity afterwards.
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N Korea rejects family reunions proposal
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AFP,
Seoul
North Korea Thursday rejected a South Korean proposal for resuming
reunions for families separated by the Korean War, citing planned
South-US military exercis-es as a major barrier. The North’s main body
for inter-Korean affairs said it would like to get the reunions going
again, but questioned the South’s sincerity.“How could separated
families com-fortably meet for a reunion in the face of ceaseless war
practices staged in the South?” the Committee for the Peace-ful
Reunification of Korea (CPRK) was quoted as saying by the North’s offi cial
KCNA news agency.South Korea and the United States conduct a series of
joint military exer-cises of varying magnitude every year.The drills are
routinely condemned by the North as rehearsals for invasion.Earlier
this week South Korean Presi-dent Park Geun-Hye had called for a fam-ily
reunion event to be held around the time of the Lunar New Year on
January 31.In a press conference, Park said the reunion programme would
provide new momentum to improving ties fol-lowing years of high
tensions.A reunion had been scheduled for September last year but
Pyongyang cancelled it at the last minute, blaming “hostility” from
South Korea.“In contrast to our genuine efforts, press experts and even
government offi cials in the South made rude com-ments and displayed bad
behaviour,” the CPRK recalled in its message Thurs-day to the South’s
Unification Ministry.Seoul responded by expressing “re-gret” that
Pyongyang had sought to link a humanitarian issue with the reg-ular
joint military exercises it conducts with the United States.“The North
should show sincerity through its actions, instead of talking about
improving ties only with words,” the Unification Ministry said.Millions
of Koreans were left sepa-rated by the Korean War, which sealed the
peninsula’s division. Most have died without having the chance to
re-unite with family members last seen six decades ago.The reunion
programme began in earnest in 2000 following an historic inter-Korean
summit.
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Offi cials sacked over China mosque stampede
n
Agencies
A county chief and three other offi cials have been dismissed over a
stampede at a mosque in China’s northwest that left 14 people dead.
Those sacked included Xiji county head Ren Lixin, along with the
county’s director of religious affairs, dep-uty police chief, and a
township head, Xinhua News Agency said on Thursday.The mosque’s
administrator has al-ready been detained on suspicion of crim-inal
negligence. The stampede, which also left ten injured happened in the
Ningxia Hui autonomous region on Sun-day, was blamed on poor crowd control.
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Japan chemical plant blast kills five
n
AFP,
Tokyo
An explosion at a Japanese factory that had previously attracted the
attention of safety inspectors killed at least five peo-ple and injured a
dozen more Thursday.The blast happened in the early af-ternoon at the
plant in the central city of Yokkaichi, when maintenance crews were
working on a heat exchanger used in the production of silicon products,
a plant spokesman told AFP. Initial re-ports put the death toll at two,
but they were quickly revised upwards.“Five people are dead. 12 people
have been injured, of whom nine sustained only minor injuries,” said a
spokeswom-an at Mie prefectural police.A separate police spokesman told
AFP the plant, run by Mitsubishi Mate-rials, makes parts for solar
panels and automobiles, using polymers made from silicon, hydrogen and
chlorine. “An ex-plosion occurred but there is no fire. We received an
emergency call at 2:09 pm (0509 GMT)...and at 2:21 pm the incident
appeared to have calmed down,” he said.Television footage showed around
a dozen fire-fighters setting out stretch-ers for victims at the site,
where a pipe appeared to have fallen to the ground and other machinery
parts were scat-tered nearby.“I heard a boom and saw white smoke rising
from the plant,” a 56-year-old worker at a nearby plant was quot-ed by
the Sankei Shimbun as saying. “I don’t remember there ever being such a
serious accident in Yokkaichi before.”A separate police spokeswoman said
detailed inspections to determine the cause of the accident had not yet
be-gun because of the danger of second-ary explosions, although she
added that there was no known risk of a tox-ic chemical leak. Hiroki
Morofuji, an offi cial at the plant, said the blast had involved
maintenance workers at the premises, which are sited in a heavily
industrialised region.Mitsubishi Materials, headquar-tered in the
Japanese capital, makes a range of products including auto parts,
silicon wafers for memory chips used in consumer electronics, and cement
for road and bridge construction.“Some 170 people were working at the
plant,” a Tokyo-based spokesman said. “Operation at the plant has been
suspended. We still don’t know the cause of the explosion.”He confirmed a
report by Dow Jones Newswires that the Yokkaichi factory was ordered by
local offi cials to shut down for several months in 2010 after an on-site
inspection discovered it was generating high-pressure gas without
necessary permits.The company, which reported sales of about $12.2bn in
its latest fiscal year, has more than 22,000 employees and operations
across the globe including in the United States, Brazil, Germany and
India, according to its website.The death toll is the largest in an
industrial accident in Japan since an undersea tunnel collapsed at an
oil refinery in February 2012, trapping five people.
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Malaysia in ‘disturbing assault’ on rights: Amnesty
n
AFP,
Kuala Lumpur
Amnesty International accused Ma-laysia’s government on Thursday of a
“disturbing assault” on freedoms by banning a leading coalition of
human rights groups. Malaysia’s Home Minis-try issued a statement on
Wednesday declaring the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (COMANGO) illegal
because the group and 39 of its 54 components were not registered with
the government.Ministry secretary-general Moha-mad Khalid Shariff accused
COMANGO of pursuing “rights that run contrary to Islam” including gay,
lesbian and trans-gender issues.The coalition angered authorities last
year when it submitted a report to the United Nations condemning the
Muslim-majority nation’s human rights record ahead of a UN rights
review.Amnesty, whose Malaysian arm is under COMANGO, denounced the
move. “Outlawing COMANGO is a deep-ly disturbing action aimed at
silencing important critical voices that have ad-vocated on the world
stage for Malaysia to uphold international human rights law and
standards,” Hazel Galang-Folli, Malaysia researcher at Amnesty
Inter-national, said in a statement.It remains unclear how the
minis-try’s ban will affect COMANGO activi-ties or those of its members.
l
Indian court orders security for family of gang-rape victim
n
AFP,
New Delhi
An Indian court Thursday ordered pro-tection for the family of a
schoolgirl who was gang-raped twice and then burned to death in the
country’s east, the father said. The family sought protection from the
High Court in the eastern city of Kol-kata after vowing to fight for
justice for their 16-year-old daughter, who died on New Year’s Eve after
being set ablaze.The father says his family has been threatened by
members of the gang which raped his daughter on October 26 and then
again the next day.The second rape occurred as she was returning home in
the town of Madhya-gram, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Kolkata,
after reporting the first attack at a police station. The family moved
house but gang members tracked them down, before allegedly setting their
daughter on fire on December 23 at their home. She later died in
hospital.“I am satisfied and confident that we will get justice for our
daughter,” the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told AFP
by phone from Kolk-ata after the court’s order.
l
Malaysia probes priest for sedition in ‘Allah’ row
n
AFP,
Kuala Lumpur
Authorities in Muslim-majority Malay-sia are investigating a Catholic
priest for sedition in an escalating religious row over the use of the
word “Allah,” an offi cial said Thursday.A court in October barred the
Ma-laysian Catholic newspaper Herald from using “Allah” to refer to the
Christian God in its Malay-language edition. The verdict was welcomed by
Muslim conservatives but raised con-cerns among Christians, a minority
in the multi-faith country who say the practice of their religion is
increasingly under threat.On Tuesday police questioned Her-ald editor
Father Lawrence Andrew for sedition after he told news por-tal The
Malaysian Insider last month that churches would continue to use “Allah”
in their Malay-language services.Majid Hamzah, head of the prosecu-tion
division in the Attorney General’s Chambers, Thursday confirmed that
authorities were investigating the edi-tor for sedition.He could not say
whether Andrew would face charges.Andrew’s lawyer Francis Pereira told
AFP his client’s comments were “clearly not in any way seditious.”“I
don’t see any reason why he should be investigated for sedition,”
Pereira said.The dispute over the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims first
erupted in 2007 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s
publishing permit for using the word.Authorities said using “Allah” in
non-Muslim literature could confuse Muslims and entice them to
convert.The church argues “Allah” has been used for over a century in
the Malay lan-guage to refer to “God” outside of Islam.The ban’s initial
removal by a lower court in late 2009 triggered a series of attacks with
Molotov cocktails, rocks and paint on churches and other places of
worship, sparking fears of wider reli-gious conflict.But a higher court
overturned that ruling in October, reinstating the ban.Last week,
Islamic authorities seized more than 300 Malay-language Bibles using the
word “Allah” from the Bible Society of Malaysia and ques-tioned two of
its offi cers.Rights groups and some opposition leaders have condemned the
seizure.
l
14% want Gandhi to be Indian PM
n
AFP,
New Delhi
Only 14% of voters believe Rahul Gand-hi would make the best prime
minister for India, a survey found Thursday, just days after his
endorsement by outgoing Congress premier Manmohan Singh.The survey for
The Times of India found 58% of respondents want Naren-dra Modi, the
candidate of the main na-tionalist opposition party in this year’s
general election, to be the next prime minister while 25% opted for the
an-ti-corruption champion Arvind Kejriwal.The poll makes grim reading
for the ruling Congress party, which had been hoping that the youthful
Gandhi would significantly increase its apparently slim chances of
victory in the election due by May. Gandhi, 43, is expected to be named
at a party meeting on Janu-ary 17 as Congress’s candidate for pre-mier
after the 81-year-old Singh con-firmed last Friday that he would step
down after the polls.
l
Workers clash with police in Vietnam
n
AP
Workers building a massive Samsung factory in Vietnam battled police and
torched motorbikes, in a rare outbreakof labour violence in the tightly
con-trolled country.On Thursday, eleven people were injured in the
incident, which Samsung said occurred after a disagreement be-tween
workers and security guards took place over safety protocols at the
site.Samsung and other tech companies such as Intel and Nokia are
increasingly moving production to Vietnam, where labour costs are
cheaper than in neigh- bouring China.Vietnam’s Communist rulers are
en-couraging them with tax breaks, eager to move away from traditional
exports of clothes, shoes and shrimps to higher value
products.Bystanders took video footage of the riot at the complex under
construction in Thai Nguyen province and quickly posted it on
YouTube.Motorbikes and containers housing security guards were set
alight, send-ing thick smoke over the complex. People threw rocks at
police in riot gear who huddled together.Local offi cial Duong Ngoc Long
said police restored order after three hours. One police offi cer was
among the in- jured, according to a doctor from a nearby military
hospital.“We will do our utmost to prevent any such incidents from
recurring in the future,’’ Samsung said in a statement. It said
construction was unaffected.
l
India tiger kills four peoplein 12 days
A wild tiger is believed to have killed four villagers in northern India
in 12 days, prompting searches for the big cat and protests from
villagers, an offi cial said Thursday. The beast attacked and killed a
40-year-old woman on Wednesday in a vil-lage in the state of Uttar
Pradesh, its fourth victim since it is thought to have strayed from a
tiger reserve, the offi cial said. State forest offi cials and police, aided
by two elephants, have been searching for the tiger in Moradabad
district in the hope of driving it back to the Jim Corbett National
Park, popular with tourists. “We have identified four bodies that were
killed by the tiger as they bore teeth and claw marks,” senior Moradabad
administrative offi cial O.P. Narain Singh told AFP. “We have launched a
thorough search and hope it will go back to its natural habitat.” The
state government has also “began a process to declare the an-imal a
man-eater as soon as possible” which means the protected tiger can be
killed, Singh said. Frightened villagers have been protesting against
the failure to capture the animal since the first death was reported on
December 29. Offi cials suspect it strayed from the Jim Corbett National
Park – home to some 200 tigers – although the bound-ary is about 110
kilometres (68 miles) from Moradabad district. India is home to some
1,700 tigers – half of the world’s rapidly shrinking wild tiger
population – but has been struggling to halt the big cat’s decline in
the face of poachers, international smug-gling networks and loss of
habitat.
Lion found hanging in cage at Indonesia ‘death zoo’
A young African lion has died after getting its head caught in cables in
its cage at an Indonesian zoo notorious for hundreds of animal deaths in
recent years, it was an-nounced Thursday. The 18-month-old lion named
Michael was found early Tuesday at the zoo in Surabaya, in the east of
the main island of Java, said zoo spokesman Agus Supangkat. “The lion
was found hanging from the roof of his cage. He was very young and got
his head stuck in cables that keepers use to open and close the cage,”
Supangkat told AFP. Supangkat insisted that the death was an accident
and not due to negligence. Police were investigating its death, he
added. The incident came just two days after a wildebeest was found
dead in its cage at the zoo, which has been dubbed the “death zoo”
because so many animals have died there prematurely in recent years due
to neglect. Among them have been endangered orangutans, a tiger whose
food was laced with formaldehyde and a giraffe found dead with a beach
ball-sized lump of plastic in its stomach, after eating food wrappers
thrown into its pen over the years. The wildebeest died on Sunday
evening of intestinal complications. Supangkat insisted the wildebeest
had been properly fed and said it became sick after days of intense rain
and humidity. The management of the zoo – Indonesia’s big-gest – has
been taken over by the Surabaya city administration, but the deaths have
not stopped and animal welfare groups continue to call for its closure.
Chinese man detained after dead tiger found in SUV
Police in China have detained a man over the death of a rare Siberian
tiger discovered in the back of an SUV, a report said Thursday. Pictures
showing officers pulling the black-streaked tiger, wrapped in a plastic
bag, out of a white vehicle went viral on China’s Internet after they
were posted online. Police in the eastern city of Wenzhou are holding a
suspect identified as a former chef in connection with the tiger’s
death, the local Youth Times newspaper said. The tiger was seized by
police after they spotted the bag and found its shape suspicious, the
report said. Trade in Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, is
outlawed under the Conven-tion on International Trade in Endan-gered
Species. Hundreds of the animals, known scientifically as Panthera
tigris altaica, once roamed the lush pine and oak forests of
north-eastern China. As recently as the 1970s China and Russia each had
about 150 Siberian tigers, but now only around 20 are estimated still to
survive in the wild in China. Conser-vationists cite increased logging
as well as poaching of the species for use in traditional Chinese
medicine as among reasons for the dramatic fall in their numbers. The
body of the seized tiger is being stored in a local zoo, the report
said, adding that experts judged it to be a male between five and six
years old but had not yet determined the cause of its death.
BIG CAT NEWS
Workers gather near an explosion site at a plant of the Japanese
chemical company Mitsubishi Materials
AFP
Millions of devotees pack the streets of the Philippine capital Manila
AFP
‘I heard a boom and saw white smoke rising from the plant’A court barred
the Malaysian Catholic newspaper Herald from using ‘Allah’ to refer to
the Christian God
PMO
Time to talk about solutions
n
Minhaz Uddin Khan
The second season of the Bangladesh Cricket League from January 12 will
see few changes in the by-laws from the inaugural edition last year. In
order to make the tournament more com-petitive the Bangladesh Cricket
Board tournament committee sat with the four franchises of the
tournament and brought the changes.The major changes were made in the
points and bonus system and it was learnt that the amendments will be
unique in Bangladesh’s first-class circuit though it is a common practice
among the first-class leagues of most of the leading cricket playing
nations. The first innings of the game will be pivotal for both sides
regardless of the fact they are batting or bowling as good performance
will avail them bo-nus points. A side will get 16 points for a win
compared to the six in the first season. A draw will fetch both the team
eight points each. First innings lead will pro-vide one bonus point
while there are also batting points available. One bo-nus point is
entitled for the side scoring 200 to 249 runs in 110 overs, two points
for 250 to 299 runs, three points for 300 to 349 runs, four points for
250 to 299 runs and a score of 400 plus runs will give five bonus points.
Meanwhile, three to five wickets within 110 overs will give the bowling
side one point, two points for six to eight wickets and three points for
nine or 10 wickets. In case of an abandoned match three points will be
given to each of the teams. Unlike the first season there will be no
pink ball used in the tourna-ment nor the final game of the tourna-ment
will be played under lights. The first three rounds of the single league
will be four-day affairs while the title deciding match between the top
two teams will be played over five days. “We have prepared the by-laws
af-ter discussing with the franchises and soon it will be handed over to
them. The amendments are made to gear up the competition between the
teams. Hope the tournament will be inter-esting,” said BCB game
development chairman Khaled Mahmud to the me-dia yesterday. A lot of
controversy was created in the last BCL as apparently there were two
different printed version of the by-laws handed out to the teams.
How-ever, the tournament committee is tak-ing extra measures this time
and BCB will hold a meeting all the four teams at BKSP tomorrow to
explain the by-laws and the code of conduct.
l
Sonali Bank secure semi slot
n
Raihan Mahmood
Sonali Bank started their UCB Club Cup Hockey with a 4-1 win over Dhaka
Wan-derers, while Azad Sporting and Ajax played out a 1-1 draw at the
Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.Sonali’s win saw them
secure a last four berth from Group B, as Wander-ers - who earlier lost
1-8 to Abahani Ltd in their first match - were eliminated. Enamul Kabir
Turjo scored two goals for Sonali Bank -in the 5thand 19th minutes -
while Masum and Manik added the other two in the 29th and 55th minutes
respectively. The conso-lation for Wanderers was netted by Ta-her Ali in
the 44th minute. Sonali Bank will play against Abahani in their last
match, which will determine the group championship. In the other game,
Rajib Das put Azad ahead in the 24th minute but Nu-runnabi Rupom
restored the parity in the 51st minute. Ajax will face Usha – who
earlier defeated Azad 13-1 - in the last group match and the second team
from this group will be decided on goal difference.
l
BFF to sell Brazil World Cup tickets
n
Raihan Mahmood
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) will sell Fifa World Cup match
tickets. The federation informed yes-terday that they will sell 10
tickets of each match of the mega event sched-uled to kick-off from June
12 in Brazil.Interested persons were requested to contact BFF with the
copy of passport that has at least six months expiry date, a copy of
national identity card, the match or matches the person wants to see and
the respective category before February 2. BFF also categorically stated
that it will not take any responsibility re-garding the attainment of
visa of Brazil and its decision regarding any dispute of the selling
process would be final. However, the 10 tickets of each semi-final and the
final will only be avail-able for the buys selected by the
BFF.Prospective buyers are requested to con-tact at the BFF House at
Motijheel and send an e-mail to info@bff.com.bd.
l
Parmoslemi knocks refereeing, Sise satisfied with result
n
Shishir Hoque
Abahani Limited’s Iranian coach Ali Akbar Parmoslemi blamed lack of
preparation and poor refereeing for the draw against Soccer Club Feni
yesterday. Abahani, who defeated the same opponents twice in last
season’s league, were held to a draw and Parmoslemi claimed Feni’s style
was “negative”. “When a team plays for a draw, it is diffi cult to open
their defence, that is what happened today. We also didn’t play well and
we made some individual mistakes today. The referee was not fair today
as well.“We have few problems with positional play. When we built
attacks from the flanks, we couldn’t go further due to their dangerous
play,” he said.Feni’s Gambian coach Omar K Sise said his strategies
worked out and credited his players for the draw. “My tactics worked
out. I know against a team like Abahani or Shiekh Jamal, we are
underdogs. I’m happy to get one point from this game.“It was not luck. I
give the credit to my players, especially the goalkeeper for our
performance today. We put them under pressure that’s why they missed
their chances,” he said.
l
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Feni Soccer
00
Abahani
23”
Morrison volleyed the ball over the bar from the middle of the box after
an Awudu Ibrahim cross from the right flank.
25”
Morrison missed yet another chance, firing Shariful’s cross wide of the goal.
33”
Shariful’s cross from the right flank found Towhidul in the box but the
midfielder’s diving header hit the side net.
34”
Gambian midfielder Mamodou Lamin Faye’s shot from the middle of the box
was blocked by Yoko Samnick.
58”
Receiving a through pass from Yoko Samnick, Awudu broke into the penalty
area and tried his luck at the far post but his shot went just wide.
69”
Sport
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
14
FIXTURES
Montpellier v Monaco
SATURDAY
Ajaccio v PSG Lyon v Sochaux Bordeaux v Toulouse Valenciennes v
Bastia Guingamp v Saint-Etienne Rennes v Nice
SUNDAY
Nantes v Lorient Evian v Marseille Lille v Reims
RESULT
ManCity
60
West Ham
Negredo 12, 26, 49, Toure 40, Dzeko 60, 89
City hammer hapless Hammers
n
Reuters,
London
Alvaro Negredo grabbed a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed West Ham
United 6-0 in their League Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday in
another body blow for the beleaguered London club.City effectively sealed
their place in the final at Wembley with another one-sided demonstration
of their attacking potency, Edin Dzeko with two and Yaya Toure joining
Negredo on the scoresheet.It was the second time in four days that West
Ham have conceded more than five goals after they were knocked out of the
FA Cup 5-0 by second tier Nottingham Forest on Sunday.While City can now
relax ahead of the return leg on Jan. 21, the result ratcheted up the
pressure on West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, whose side are 19th in the
Premier League.Providing City safely negotiate the second leg, they will
face Sunderland or Manchester United in the final on March 2. The omens
were stacked in City’s favour with the match pitching the Premier
League’s highest scorers against a defence which had conceded 13 goals
in four games since Christmas.It was eight years since West Ham had last
won at City and few predicted that their injury-ravaged squad could get
a positive result.Bookmakers were offering better odds on City winning
5-0 than any West Ham victory and even Allardyce pre-empted the clash by
saying a draw would be a great result. It did not take long for the gulf
in class to emerge.West Ham’s defensive fragility was exposed after 12
minutes as Negredo was allowed to run unchecked be-tween central
defenders to latch on to a long ball forward from Toure, which the
striker dispatched into the bottom corner on the volley.The Spaniard
doubled the lead after 25 minutes, starting the move with a tidy flick to
strike partner Dzeko before run-ning on to the Bosnian’s return pass and
finishing off with a perfect first touch and precise finish into the top
corner.The tie was effectively made safe on 39 minutes when Toure picked
up pos-session in his own half, changed gears and strode 40 metres into
opposition territory. West Ham’s defenders backed off into their own box,
allowing the hulking Ivorian time to pick his spot and drill home a low
finish.The interval was a brief respite for the visitors who fell further
behind three minutes after the break when Negredo completed his
hat-trick with a fizzing side-foot effort with the game having settled
into training-ground tempo.
l
Defoe to leave Spurs for Toronto
n
Reuters,
London
Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain De-foe is poised to sign for Major
League Soccer side Toronto FC, British and Ca-nadian media reported on
Wednesday.The MLS club posted messages on their website and Twitter
warning fans to expect “a bloody big deal” on Monday.British newspaper
the Guardian and Canada’s Toronto Star said the 31-year-old Defoe would
be loaned back to Tot-tenham until March 1 before the start of the MLS
season on March 15.Defoe, whose former Tottenham team mate Ryan Nelsen
is head coach at Toronto, has made few Premier League starts this
season, despite the north London club’s goal-scoring problems.
l
Smalling sorry for ‘terrorist’ costume
n
AFP,
London
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling apologised yesterday after a
picture emerged of him wearing a suicide bomber costume at a fancy dress
party.The front page of Thursday’s edition of British tabloid The Sun
showed the 24-year-old England international clad in Arab dress,
including a head scarf, and with a circuit board and wires strapped to
his body.Smalling claimed that the out-fit was an “attempted comedy play”
on a drink known as a ‘Jagerbomb’, which is a mix of the liqueur
Jagermeister and the energy drink Red Bull.
l
Ibra hat-trick fires PSG rout
n
Reuters,
Paris
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat- trick as Paris St Germain strolled into
the French Cup last 32 with a 5-2 demolition of Ligue 2 side Stade Brest
on Wednesday.The game, postponed on Sunday because of bad weather in
Brittany, quickly turned PSG’s way as the visitors opened a 2-0 lead in
the first 15 minutes thanks to Sweden striker Ibrahimovic and Italy
midfieler Thiago Motta.After Benoit Lesommier had re-duced the arrears,
Ibrahimovic, who was replaced shortly after the hour by Brazil forward
Lucas, added two more before the break, including a delicate chip past
goalkeeper Joan Hartock.Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi added a fifth
early in the second half before Jonathan Ayite eased Brest’s pain with
a late consolation.
l
Leading trio back to business as Ligue 1 resumes
n
AFP,
Paris
Ligue 1 action resumes today as Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Lille
pursue their quest to become 2014 French champions following the winter
break.Monaco get things started on Fri-day when they travel to
struggling 2012 champions Montpellier looking to erase their three point
deficit to PSG, who are in action on Saturday in Cor-sica at rock bottom
Ajaccio.Lille have somehow managed to stay in touch with their
financially stronger rivals, after former Montpellier title-winning coach
Rene Girard fashioned a first half of the season that saw them lose just
three times in 19 outings.The northern outfit, who last won the French
title in 2011 under current Roma boss Rudi Garcia, come into the weekend
four points off top spot as they await eighth-placed Reims in the final
match on Sunday evening.
l
Messi back with a bang
n
AFP,
Madrid
Lionel Messi scored twice on his first ap-pearance in 59 days as
Barcelona cruised towards the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey with a
4-0 win over Getafe in the first leg of their last 16 tie.The four-time
World Player of the Year replaced Andres Iniesta after 63 minutes with
Barcelona leading 2-0 thanks to a Cesc Fabregas double.Messi then put
the tie to bed a min-ute from time when he slotted home a loose ball
inside the area.And he added his 16th goal of the season with a stunning
run and finish to round off the scoring in stoppage time.“I had a lot of
time out and I felt very good in the training sessions that I had, but
playing in a competitive game in completely different,” Messi told Barca
TV.“More than just the goals, I feel very good physically and I have
been able to play without any pain so I am obvi-ously very
happy.”Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino also had Saturday’s upcoming top
of the table clash away to Atletico Madrid in mind as he made had made
six changes to the side that started last weekend’s 4-0 win over
Elche.However, with Messi and Neymar, ruled out by a stomach bug, again
not in the starting line-up, Martino main-tained the front three of
Alexis San-chez, Pedro Rodriguez and Fabregas.And despite such a
stunning return, Messi said he isn’t convinced he will start at the
Vicente Calderon on Satur-day.“I will speak with Tata and he is the one
that will decide, but right now I don’t know,” he said.“No one is
irreplaceable. I watched the games at home and they were very
impressive. Whoever plays in this squad they always respond to the
chal-lenge.”Martino’s selection proved inspired as Pedro’s lobbed cross
was expertly headed into the far corner by Fabregas after just eight
minutes.However, Getafe then managed to stifle Barca from creating too
many clear-cut chances before the break and indeed the hosts were
grateful to a great save from Jose Manuel Pinto to turn away Juan
Rodriguez’s header to go in ahead at half-time.Barca did finally have the
breath-ing space they craved when Juan Val-era upended Pedro inside the
area and Fabregas blasted the resulting penalty into the top corner.That
set the scene for Messi’s ar-rival and he didn’t disappoint as he calmly
slotted home a loose ball inside the area with his trusted left-foot
after Martin Montoya had burst into the Ge-tafe box.The best was still
to come, though, as Messi embarked on a trademark run through the Getafe
defence before slamming high past Jordi Codina to leave next week’s
second leg in Madrid a formality.
l
Alex in homophobia row
n
AFP,
Paris
Paris Saint-Germain’s former Chelsea defender Alex has provoked
accusa-tions of homophobia by claiming: “God created Adam and Eve, not
Adam and Yves”.The Brazilian international, a born-again Christian,
reveals his faith-based disapproval of homosexuality in a documentary on
evangelical believers in football by French pay TV company Canal+.The
programme was due to be broadcast on Wednesday evening, just hours
after Thomas Hitzlsperger be-came the first German international, and one
of only a handful of top foot- ballers worldwide, to come out as gay.The
coincidence exacerbated the backlash against Alex on social media.“Here
we have the reason why play-ers find it so diffi cult to come out,” wrote
@gillypea1978 in one of many tweets on a similar theme.The Canal+
programme also fea-tures former PSG defender Marcos Ceara, now an
evangelical preacher, who declares: “I’m not really for ho-mosexuality.
For me that is a little out with God’s plan.”Alex then delivers his quip
about Adam and Eve, according to excerpts from the programme published
by French daily Le Parisien.Paris Foot Gay, an organisation which
campaigns against homophobia in French football and has a partner-ship
agreement with PSG, played down the significance of Alex’s comments.
l
Pain-free Messi ready for the challenge in 2014
n
AFP,
Madrid
Lionel Messi said he is looking forward to another big year in 2014
after scor-ing twice in his comeback from injury as Barcelona swept
aside Getafe 4-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last 16 tie on
Wednesday.The four-time World Player of the Year made his first
appearance since early November as a substitute just af-ter the hour
mark with Barca leading 2-0 thanks to a Cesc Fabregas double.And it
didn’t take long for the Ar-gentine to make his mark as he slotted home
from close range before register-ing his 16th goal of the season with a
trademark solo run and finish in stop-page time.“I had a lot of time out
and I felt very good in the training sessions that I had, but playing
in a competitive game in completely different,” he told Barca TV.“More
than the goals, I feel very good physically and I have been able to play
without any pain so I am obvi-ously very happy.”After undergoing the
first period of his recovery process in Barcelona, Mes-si travelled to
Argentina to continue his recuperation in December.There will be high
expectations placed upon the 26-year-old over the next seven months as
he spearheads Barca’s campaign to win trophies on three fronts before
leading his country at the World Cup in Brazil.But after a significant
period on the sidelines, he insisted he is just happy to be back
playing again.“I am very happy. I was able to spend a lot of time in my
country with my family and friends and to get away from everything.“But
now I am back I am excited and desperate to have a great year.“I want to
keep achieving things, to contribute to our play, help my team-mates and
hopefully we can achieve our objectives.“They will be five very tough
months, but we will fight to win everything, as we always do at this
club, and then I can think about the national team.”Next up for
Barcelona is a crucial top of the table clash with Atletico Madrid at
the Vicente Calderon on Saturday.
l
Yaya Toure poised for CAF award hat-trick
n
AFP,
Abuja
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure will be the favourite to win a
third straight Confederation of African Foot- ball (CAF) Footballer of
the Year Award on Thursday.The Ivory Coast international, who picked up
the BBC African Footballer of the Year title in December for the first
time, has won the previous two editions of the award, in 2011 and
2012.Compatriot Didier Drogba, of Gala-tasaray, and Nigeria midfielder
John Obi Mikel are the other two players in the reckoning for the award,
which will be announced in Nigeria’s financial capital, Lagos.Toure, 31
in May, may not have won a major trophy for club and country last year
but his class has shone through at both domestic level and for the
El-ephants of Ivory Coast.His closest rival will be Mikel, 26, who
helped Nigeria win the 2013 Af-rica Cup of Nations in South Africa and
also featured in Chelsea’s UEFA Europa League win.Former Arsenal striker
Nwankwo Kanu was the last Nigerian star to win the prestigious award in
1999.Ex-Stamford Bridge favourite Drog- ba, 35, was runner-up in 2012
but won the CAF award in 2006 and 2009.
l
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi celebrates his goal during the Spanish
Copa del Rey football match against Getafe at the Camp Nou stadium in
Barcelona on Wednesday
AFP
RESULTS
Real Betis
10
Athletic Bilbao
Ruben Castro 42
Alcorcon
10
Espanyol
Pacheco 71
Barcelona
40
Getafe
Fabregas 8, 63P, Messi 89, 90+3
RacingSantander
11
Almeria
Concha 65 Corona 27
Manchester City's Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo (R) scores his second
goal during the English League Cup semi-final first leg football match
against West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday
AFP
Sport
DHAKA TRIBUNEFriday, January 10, 2014
15
Wins in 14/U Asian Championships
Md Reday Hasan of Bangladesh beat Gansukh Erdnetod of Mongolia 60, 60,
in the consolation round of the ITF 14/U Asian Championships at the
Asian Tennis Center, Bangkok yesterday. Two other Bangladeshi players
also secured easy wins over their Laos opponents. Naimul Islam Amiyo
defeated Polo Phengprom 60, 61 and Zubin Omar beat Kenta Chanthavonk
by the same margin. In the girls section, Bangladeshi Afrana Islam Prity
beat Batuyanga Batbaatar of Mongolai 60, 61 in the second round while
Popy Akther lost to Anne Mathema of Nepal 26, 26.
–RM
Fiorentina into Italian Cup quarter-finals
Fiorentina joined Juventus in the Italian Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday
with a 20 home win over Chievo. Spain’s Joaquin opened the scoring in
the 29th minute with Croatia’s Ante Rebic heading in the second on the
brink of half-time. Fiorentina will tackle either Catania or Sienna for
a place in the semi-finals. Juventus had made the last eight in December
with a 30 win over second division Avellino.
–AFP
Brazil airlines want 1,500 more flights for World Cup
Brazilian airlines, including heavy-weights TAM and Gol, have asked the
country’s aviation authorities to allow some 1,500 additional flights to
meet demand during the World Cup, offi cials said on Wednesday. A
statement from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) said the
airlines’ requests were being considered and “will be approved based on
the capacity of each airport” in terms of runways and parking space.
ANAC said it would publish its final decision on January 15. Brazil hopes
to welcome 600,000 foreign visitors during the World Cup, which is also
ex-pected to draw three million Brazilians.
–AFP
Portugal announce Cameroon friendly
Portugal will play Cameroon in a friendly in Lille, France on March 5,
the country’s football federation (FPF) said Wednes-day. With both sides
qualified for the World Cup in Brazil in June and July, the match will
form part of their build-up to the global showpiece. Cristiano
Ron-aldo’s Portugal have been paired with Germany, Ghana and United
States in Group G while Samuel Eto’o’s Camer-oon will play hosts Brazil,
Mexico and Croatia in Group A. The two sides met in a friendly ahead of
the last World Cup in South Africa, when Portugal triumphed 31 on June
1, 2010.
–AFP
QUICK BYTES
Adelaide Strikers 90/9 in 20 over
Micheal Klinger 42, Kane Richardson 21, Shakib al Hasan 2James Faulkner
9/3, Lasith Malinga 8/2
Melbourne Stars 91/2 in 7.3 over
Luke Wright 49, Glenn Maxwell 25*Shakib al Hasan 10/0
Melboure Stars won by eight wickets
BRIEF SCORE
Sony Six
NBA 201314
7:00AM
New York v Miami
9:90AM
Denver v Oklahoma City
12:00PM
Pakistan v Sri Lanka 2nd Test, Day 3
Star Sports 1
2:40PM
Big Bash T20Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers
Ten Sports
Hero Hockey World League Final
2:30PM
Australia v Belgium
4:30PM
Netherlands v Argentina
6:30PM
Germany v New Zealand
8:30PM
England v India
01:45AM
Sky Bet C’ship 2013/14Leicester City v Derby County
Ten Golf
5:00PM
Volvo Golf ChampionsDurban, SA, Day 2
Ten Action
1:30AM
French Ligue 1 2013/14Montpellier v AS Monaco
Ten HD
2:30PM
Apia International Sydney, Final
10:00PM
Ram Slam T20 ChallengeKnights v Dolphins
Star Sports 4
2:00AM
La LIgaGranada v Real Valladolid
DAY’S WATCH
Dominant Serena guns for 18th major title
RESULTS
Women’s singles (Semi-finals)
Pironkova bt Kvitova 64, 63Kerber bt Keys 64, 62
Men’s singles (Quarter-finals)
Del Potro bt Stepanek 64, 36, 63Tursunov bt Istomin 76 (7/5), 62
Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene celebrates after scoring a century
(100 runs) during the second day of their second Test against Pakistan
at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai yesterday
AFP
Pakistan 1st innings 165
Khurram Manzoor 73; N. Pradeep 362, R. Herath 326
Sri Lanka Ist innings
(overnight 571)D. Karunaratne lbw b Junaid 32K. Silva lbw b Hafeez 95K.
Sangakkara lbw b Ali 26D. Chandimal c Ali b Junaid 12M. Jayawardene not
out 106A. Mathews not out 42Extras: (b1, lb2, nb1, w1) 5
Total:
(for four wkts; 106 overs)
318Fall of wickets
140 (Karunaratne), 275 (Sangakkara), 388 (Chandimal), 4227 (Silva).
Bowling
Junaid 265752, Ali 2651091, Ajmal 279450, Bhatti 212750
(1nb, 1w), Hafeez 61111
SCORECARD, DAY 2
World Number 1 Serena Williams (L) and sister Venus (R) of the US play
cricket on the rooftop of a city hotel during a media event for the
upcoming Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne yesterday
AFP
PM’s XI
Brett Lee (capt), Jackson Bird, Ben Cutting, Peter Handscomb, Brad
Hodge, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, James Muirhead, Luke Pomersbach,
Clive Rose, Michael Spaseski. 12th man - Shane Devoy.
SQUAD
Tennis player Sabine Lisicki of Germany holds a python during a
publicity event for the upcoming Australian Open tennis at Melbourne
Park yesterday. The Australian Open tennis tournament begins on January 13
REUTERS
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