Agrahayan 27, 1421 Safar 17, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 247
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION
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TMAG
7 | JURIS
11 | OP-ED
14 | SPORT
WHAT MAKES A LEADER
ENSURING SAFE FOOD FOR ALL
CAN AGRICULTURE BE COOL?
AGUERO OUT FOR FOUR TO SIX WEEKS
Sela banks turn pitch black Sinking oil tanker was actually a modified and remodeled sand cargo
The unending woes of uncertainty
n Our Correspondent, Khulna
n Mohammad Jamil Khan
At 11 o’clock on Wednesday morning, water driven by high tide has just started entering a canal near Joymonir Gol, the last human settlement before the Sundarbans start. Unless one knows, there is no reason to believe that what is coming into the canal is water, because it is black and has a thick layer of concentrated oil on top. Even the soil on the banks of the canal have turned black.
Three-year-old Adiba, who has barely learned to speak, stood desolately holding a placard with a picture of her father who has been missing since last year. Her mother Tanzin Akther stood by her, relating to the Dhaka Tribune the story of how her husband Parvez Hossain went missing when he went out with three of his friends – Chanchal, Sohel and Jahir – on December 2, 2013. “We were supposed to attend a party at Sohel’s house that evening and Parvez called me at around 3pm, saying they were heading to Shahbagh to buy some flowers for the party. “That was the last conversation I had with him. When I called him after 4pm, his phone switched off along with the phones of his three friends. I filed a general diary with the Bangshal police station the next day and also contacted RAB officials, but could not get any clue about the whereabouts of my husband and his three friends.” Since then, no trace of Parvez, a leader of BNP’s Bangshal thana unit, has been found. Adiba and Tanzin were only two of the many relatives of missing persons
P3
NO SIGN OF RESCUE
Moving a little further towards the forest, a strange line can be seen on the tree trunks some five to six feet above ground. The line stretches as far as eyes can see. Everything below that line appears pitch black. Looking at the scene with disbelief, local resident Rahmat Ali said: “After the vessel sank in the river, everything here including river, canal and the forest is overwhelmed by oil.” The discoloured vegetation and the soil was still visible because the high tide was yet to take full effect. The trawler carrying the Dhaka Tribune correspondent was cutting
A strange line, some five to six feet above ground, now appears along the banks of the Sela River in the Sundarbans. Everything below that line has been turned pitch black by the oil spilling from the sunken Southern Star 7 DHAKA TRIBUNE through the black water and dead moss of the Sela River and heading towards the place where the oil tanker, carrying over 350,000 litres of oil, sank on early Tuesday morning. A little boy is seen trying to extract oil from the water. Very little green is visible on the
INSIDE B1 | News
6 | Nation
riverbanks. The breathing roots of the mangrove trees on the riverbanks have turned pale and the thickets hidden under a thick black sheet. Some 5km down the Sela River, this correspondent finally sees the vessel sinking heads down, but a part of the
Ferry services was disrupted on the Shimulia-Kawrakandi route in the Padma River for about 13 hours due to dense fog.
8 | World
4 | News
Roads in Chittagong district that connect the port city, three hill districts and tourist destination Cox’s Bazar to the rest of the country act as a perilous death trap, having claimed at least 420 lives during the past 11 months alone.
A Palestinian minister died shortly after being hit by Israeli soldiers during a protest on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank.
5 | News
15 | Entertainment
Aspirant students of Dhaka University demanded arrest and exemplary punishment of police personnel who charged baton on students during a protest rally in the capital’s Shahbagh on Sunday.
Bipasha Basu may have done bold scenes in her previous releases, but she feels her forthcoming movie ‘Alone’ is her boldest film so far.
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Euro Parliament not calling for fresh polls n Tribune Report
Speakers at a discussion on the new law of Value Added Tax and supplementary duty urged the government to simplify the laws and rules, and exempt three essential items – food, education and health – from the tax regime.
rear is visible above water. The owner company has tried to keep the vessel afloat by towing it with two other vessels. Waliullah, supervisor of the damaged vessel, told the Dhaka Tribune:
The European Parliament (EP) urges political parties to find a better solution for next elections, but are not calling for new polls, said Jean Lambert, member of the EP and chairperson of the delegation for relations with South Asia. Lambert, who spoke at a pre-departure press conference yesterday, also urged BNP again to sever ties with Jamaat-e-Islami. “We are not calling for new elections. We need a political solution from the major political parties about how a future election will be conducted,” she said at the press conference held at the office of the European Union Delegation to Bangladesh. European Union (EU) Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon was also present at the conference, according to a report by UNB. Lambert said the EP still has concerns regarding the Jan 5 polls, for which it had not sent in any observers because of its “lack of inclusiveness, transparency and credibility.” Lambert, who was here since Saturday at the invitation of the BGMEA for an apparel summit, said it was the responsibility of the major political parties of the country to ensure that the next election will be inclusive and give the people a “full and fair” choice.
However, she did not seem optimistic about an immediate solution following her meeting with general-secretary level leaders of the ruling party and the BNP. “I think it is fair to say that it still seems to me there is a long way to go,” she said in answer to a question.
N’GANJ SEVEN MURDERS
HC questions sincerity of RAB’s probe n Ahmed Zayeef
Despite this lack of optimism regarding a solution for the political parties, she seemed hopeful about the people of Bangladesh and said they should not give up hope of trying to make it happen and should keep looking for available possibilities. She said the EU had not sent observers for the January 5 polls, where more than majority of the seats went uncontested, because “it was not a fully contested election” and that they could only offer support and solutions that would be fit for Bangladesh, adding that an agreement was “essential” for our democracy.
A High Court judge yesterday raised questions on the “completeness” of the investigation report submitted by Rapid Action Battalion regarding the sensational Narayanganj seven murders. It also questioned the “sincerity” of the elite force in preparing the report. After the day’s hearing, the bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore said they would pass an order in this regard in January. It also ordered Shahjahan Ali Mollah, former additional secretary of the Public Administration Ministry, to continue leading the seven-member government probe body and complete the investigation. The RAB submitted the report to the attorney general’s office on November 23 to be placed before the bench yesterday. At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam read out the opinion part of the report before the court. It said the RAB headquarters had directed its officials concerned to rescue the seven abduction victims alive, but there was no activity of RAB
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‘I think it’s fair to say that it still seems to me there is a long way to go’
Families of missing people express helplessness as they recall their loved ones who gathered yesterday at the National Press Club to attend a discussion titled “Violation of Human Rights: In which condition the country is,” organised by Basic Rights Protection Committee. Rehana Banu also came to yesterday’s programme with a picture of her brother – 31-year-old Selim Reza Mintu – who has also been missing for the past year. A businessman by profession, Mintu was involved with politics of the Chhatra Dal. “Around 1:30am on December 11, 2013, around seven to eight people knocked at the door of our Pallabi house and identified themselves as administrators. They took Mintu away with them. Since then, we could not find any trace of him despite filing GD and complaints with the police and the RAB,” said Rehana. Also present at the programme, PAGE 2 COLUMN 1