10 jan, 2015

Paush 27, 1421 Rabiul Awal 18, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 276

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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AVENUE T

7 | HERITAGE

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

GET YOUR CHILDREN TO DEVELOP A HEALTHY DIET

PRATAPADITYA, ANOTHER FREEDOM FIGHTER

WRITING OFF DEMOCRACY

AUSTRALIA HAMMER KUWAIT 4-1 IN STUNNING ASIAN CUP START

BNP mulling new strategy for the coming months Disconnecting the capital remains the party’s primary target n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Despite the BNP chief staying in virtual confinement and most of the party’s top leaders behind bars or going into hiding, the BNP remains unwavering in its determination to continue the anti-government movement and drawing up an extensive strategy for the coming months.

The party, along with other members of the 20-party alliance, plans to build momentum over the next week or so and is steadfast on continuing the movement until their demand for a

P3 SHAMSHER REMANDED midterm election is met or an environment is created to hold talks for ending the political stalemate.

Party insiders said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has asked the party leaders and activists to continue the movement and to make preparation for the next three to four months for materialising the demands. But the BNP is also reportedly keeping options open to change its strategies in accordance with the situation at the time.

Sources also said the party’s primary target is to disconnect the capital from the rest of the country and let the movement then strengthen with time.

Amid criticisms surrounding the absence of the BNP leadership on

streets during the blockade, Khaleda Zia – from inside her Gulshan office – has been contacting with senior and even ward-level leaders of the BNP and its associate bodies, urging them to stay strong with the countrywide blockade.

To intensify the movement and mount pressure on the government, the party is also planning to enforce hartals next week to run along with the ongoing blockade, sources said.

Although almost all senior and mid-ranking leaders have already gone into hiding, it has been claimed that they are coordinating the movement from their hideouts.

The BNP believes that if the government does not take an initiative to hold talks immediately, then the ruling Awami League will face pressure from both inside and outside the country.

“The government has already become puzzled seeing the movement and that is why it chose the path of arrests; but it will backfire,” a senior leader told the Dhaka Tribune wishing anonymity.

Already three senior leaders including the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have been arrested. BNP leaders alleged that the Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury was arrested just to thwart the party’s diplomatic contact.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

As almost all inter-district bus services remain suspended because of the 20-party alliance’s countrywide blockade, trains remain the only travel option for many. Hundreds of people queue up on the platform of Rajshahi Rail Station yesterday, knowing very well they face a risk of sabotage on the rail tracks during their journey AZAHAR UDDIN

Blasts in capital, arson attacks outside n Tribune Report Incidents of blasts, arson attacks and vandalism on the highways marked the fourth day of BNP-led 20-party’s indefinite blockade yesterday.

A bomb was hurled at the residence of Law Minister Anisul Haque at Banani around 8pm damaging a car on the premises, Banani OC Bhuiyan Mahbub said.

Miscreants blasted two bombs at

Mirpur 10 area injuring two people including police constable Babul Mia. The incident took place around 6:30pm. OC Salauddin Ahmed suspected that the blockaders hurled the bombs from the foot over-bridge at the intersection.

In Nayapaltan area, two crude bombs were blasted around 7:20pm in front of the Scout building. Police detained one suspect, Duty Officer Shahidullah said.

Another incident of bomb blast was

reported in Notunbazar area of Pragati Sarani in the capital around 7.30pm.

In Laxmipur, Jubo League supporters yesterday vandalised five shops and two motorcycles at Hazir Haat of Kamalnagar upazila following the death of its leader around 11pm on Thursday.

President of Jubo League’s Underchar union unit Md Yusuf, 35, was killed and his two brothers injured in an attack by the blockaders at Char Basu Bazar under Kamalnagar.

OC Kabir Ahmed of Kamalnagar police said blockade supporters attacked the siblings with iron rods at the bazaar when they were starting for home on a motorcycle. Being hit, Yusuf lost control over the motorcycle and hit a tree beside the road.

In Narayanganj, blockaders set fire to a bus and vandalised some six vehicles at Fatullah. Witnesses said 15-20 blockaders intercepted Dhaka-bound  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Smokescreen over US statement, BJP phone call n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Police end Paris hostage stand-off

Conflicting information over six US congressmen’s statement and a rumoured phone conversation between India’s BJP President Amit Shah and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia dominated the country’s political arena yesterday.

On Thursday, some media reported that six US congressmen had issued a statement on Bangladesh’s political situation centring the first anniversary of 10th national election, condemning the confinement of Khaleda and the High Court’s banning of “fugitive” Tarique Rahman’s speeches in media.

However, the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in a statement trashed the media reports. They said it was unacceptable that someone would use a fraudulent press statement from

Two brothers suspected of attacking the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed when police stormed their hideout on Friday while their hostage was freed, a police official said.

The Charlie Hebdo gunmen have been identified as brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi.

A police source said at least four other hostages had been killed at a separate siege at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris.

The supermarket hostage taker, identified as Amedy Coulibaly, was killed yesterday in a stand-off with police.

A fourth attacker, believed to be an accomplice of Coulibaly’s in the earlier shooting of a police officer and whose role in the supermarket hostage-taking

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

n Reuters

French police arrest young people on a scooter as they arrive near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris yesterday REUTERS

Higher road, bridge, ferry tolls from tomorrow n Shohel Mamun The government’s new toll policy for the 61 bridges, three toll roads and 45 ferries operated by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) across the country will come into effect tomorrow.

According to the new toll policy, 51 of 61 bridges’ toll charges will increase from 2.27% to 1,000.25%, so that some bridge toll charges will be 10 times higher than at present.

The rate hikes will, in turn, affect transport fares.

Road Transport and Highway Division officials said the latest toll rates would be applied in several phases in response to the demands of transport owners.

Transport owners said they would protest the implementation of the higher toll charges.

According to the toll policy, bridges less than 200 metres in length are supposed to be exempt from tolls, but the rule cannot be implemented until existing agreements with toll collection contractors expire.

Before the policy was framed, RHD

and local collectors charged arbitrary tolls, many of which were haphazardly set. Bridges of similar length had widely varying toll charges and there are cases where longer bridges might have lower charges than shorter ones.

The government decided on setting a toll policy which was accepted by cabinet on March 24 last year.

The policy was supposed to be implemented on July 1, 2014, but after facing three delays, is scheduled to be implemented on Sunday.

According to the policy, the length,

5 | News

6 | Nation

location, rate of use of the road or bridge and the vehicle type of the user will determine the toll rate charged to consumers.

The 1.6 km long Meghna–Gomoti bridges at Dautkandi on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway will experience an average toll rate rise of 25%, sources with knowledge of the new policy said.

Under the new rates, on the Meghna–Gomoti bridges, trailers will be charged Tk1,250, up from the current rate of Tk1,000.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

success & failures politics priorities economy election winners & losers next generation leader Monday January 12, 2015 @ DhakaTribune

2 | News

3 | Nation

The BNP-led 20-party alliance blockade in Chittagong city, largely uneventful during the daytime, has left residents in the grip of fear after nightfall.

The blockade on the fourth consecutive day was loosely enforced in the city. No major incident has been took place while peoples from all walks of life took to the streets for their own job.

A narrow box culvert is being built on the Ashuganj canal, a major passageway for the residents of Sonarampur in Brahmanbaria, allegedly disrupting the water flow and ultimately killing the canal.

9 | World

Thailand’s parliament began an impeachment hearing against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday that could lead to her being banned from politics for five years and stoke tension in the divided country.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS? ONE YEAR AFTER ELECTION

INSIDE The Bangladesh government should immediately end its use of excessive force, stop arbitrary arrests of members of opposition parties, and lift restrictions on the media, the Washington-based Human Rights Watch has said.

is being investigated, has escaped.

The sole female militant in the double attack in Paris, she has been identified as Hayat Boumeddiene.

The two brothers died when security forces moved in on a print works in the small town of Dammartin-en-Goele, north east of Paris, where the chief suspects in Wednesday’s attack had been holed up with their hostage.

A police source said the hostage-taker at the Jewish supermarket, who is believed to have had links to the same Islamist group as the brothers, had also been killed.

The print works at Dammartin-en-Goele, set in marsh and woodland, had been under siege since the gunmen abandoned a high-speed car chase and took refuge there early on Friday.

15 | Entertainment

Sizzling ramp model Ruma recently broadened her work arena by performing an item song in the film ‘Game,’ released on January 2, and is expected to perform in another item number for forthcoming film ‘U-Turn.’

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, January 10, 2015

HRW: Arbitrary arrests, censorship to inflame tension n Tribune Report Bangladesh government should immediately end its use of excessive force, stop arbitrary arrest of members of opposition parties and lift restrictions on media, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

“The government’s indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary arrests, and censorship will only inflame an already tense situation,” said HRW Director Brad Adams in a statement.

“Authorities have an obligation to protect the public, but need to do it in a way that does not throw human rights and the rule of law out the window.”

The HRW report claimed that hundreds of opposition activists, including from BNP and Jamaat, have been rounded up in recent days. The government crackdown has come in response to opposition protests on the anniversary of controversial national polls.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia has been effectively detained in her office in Dhaka since January 3, the report said.

Although the government claims she is not under arrest, a heavy secu-

rity presence is in place, the gates are locked, and she has been denied exit, reports UNB. On January 6, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamghir, the acting secretary general of the BNP, was arrested in Dhaka, for allegedly organising a protest the previous day that led to the deaths of four people and dozens of injuries.

Two activists were shot dead in clashes between activists from the ruling party and security forces. Another two died the same day at the hands of security forces. Several other BNP leaders have been arrested as well.

The authorities have also targeted media perceived to be sympathetic to the opposition. Abdus Salam, chairman of Ekushey TV (ETV), was arrested and detained on January 7, allegedly for charges of broadcasting pornography.

“The space for speech critical of the government was already under threat before this recent clampdown,” Adams said. “The arrest of the owner and closure of a TV station is not acceptable from a government that claims to be democratic.” l

BNP calls hartal in Sylhet for Sunday n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Mass wedding to take place at the Ijtema grounds today

The BNP has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Sylhet district, including its city, for Sunday in protests against the confinement of the party’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia and the arrests of its acting secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Vice Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

The decision was yesterday taken at a joint meeting of the party’s city and district unit committees yesterday, District BNP Joint Convenor Ali Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune. l

n

Munir Momtaj and Nure Alam Durjoy

A mass wedding ceremony will be held at the Biswa Ijtema ground today afternoon, to be conducted by Maulana Zubair Hasan.

More that 100 couple will be married to day, without dowry, and in the presence of the brides’ and grooms’ families. A special prayer for the newly-weds will follow afterwards.

The first phase of Biswa Ijtema, one

Police end Paris hostage stand-off  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

The gunmen killed 12 people in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which raised questions about surveillance of radicals, far-right politics, religion and censorship in a land struggling to integrate its five-million Muslim citizens, the EU’s largest Muslim community.

Security sources said the Frenchborn brothers of Algerian origin had been under surveillance and had been placed on European and US “no-fly” lists.

Sources said the three men were all members of the same Paris cell that a decade ago sent young French volunteers to Iraq to fight US forces. Cherif Kouachi served 18 months in prison for his role in the group.

The fugitive suspects are both in their early 30s, and were already under police surveillance. One was jailed for 18 months for trying to travel to Iraq a

decade ago to fight as part of an Islamist cell. US and European sources close to the investigation said on Thursday that one of the brothers, Said Kouachi, was in Yemen in 2011 for several months training with AQAP, one of the group’s most active affiliates.

A Yemeni official familiar with the matter said the Yemen government was aware of the possibility of a connection between Said Kouachi and AQAP, and was looking into any possible links.

US government sources said Said Kouachi and his brother Cherif Kouachi were listed in two US security databases, a highly classified database containing information on 1.2 million possible counter-terrorism suspects, called TIDE, and the much smaller “no-fly” list maintained by the Terrorist Screening Centre, an inter-agency unit.

The gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as they carried out the attack on satirical magazine,

A faction of the Gonojagoron Moncho stages a sit-in at the capital’s Shahbagh intersection yesterday demanding quick execution of war criminal Kamaruzzaman

of the biggest congregations of Muslims in the world, started at Tongi on the bank of Turag River yesterday, attended by thousands of Muslim devotees from 32 districts in Bangladesh as well as several countries in the world.

Maulana Gias Uddin, chief maulana of Biswa Ijtema, said Maulana Shawkat Ali, Omar Ali and Abdur Rashid from Bangladesh, Maulana Saad from India, and Maulana Md Ehsan from Pakistan are giving sermons this year, among others.

Sermons at the Ijtema are delivered in

several languages to cater to the attendees coming from different countries.

Several organisations, such as Tongi Hospital and the Gazipur civil surgeon’s office, have set up medical camps for the Ijtema attendees.

Dr Mahbubur Rahman Chowdhury from Tongi Hospital said some patients are already being treated for cough, cold, dysentery and asthma.

Around 10,000 members of police and RAB will be in charge of security during the Ijtema. l

Charlie Hebdo, which has been described by President Francois Hollande and other world leaders as an attack on the fundamentals of democracy.

French people held a national day of mourning on Thursday. The bells of Notre Dame pealed for those killed in the attack on the left-leaning slayer of sacred cows whose cartoonists have been national figures since the Parisian counter-cultural heyday of the 1960s and 1970s.

Amid local media reports of isolated incidents of violence directed at Muslims in France, Hollande and his Socialist government have called on the French not to blame the Islamic faith for the Charlie Hebdo killings.

Hollande has held talks with opposition leaders and, in a rare move, invited Marine Le Pen, leader of the resurgent anti-immigrant National Front, to his Elysee Palace for discussions on Friday.

The younger brother’s jail sentence

for trying to fight in Iraq a decade ago, and more recent tangles with the authorities over suspected involvement in militant plots, raised questions over whether police could have done more to watch them.

Cherif Kouachi was arrested on January 25, 2005 preparing to fly to Syria en route to Iraq. He served 18 months of a three-year sentence.

“He was part of a group of young people who were a little lost, confused, not really fanatics in the proper sense of the word,” lawyer Vincent Ollivier, who represented Cherif in the case, told Liberation daily.

In 2010 he was suspected of being part of a group that tried to break from prison Smain Ali Belkacem, a militant jailed for the 1995 bombings of Paris train and metro stations that killed eight people and wounded 120. The case against Cherif Kouachi was dismissed for lack of evidence. l

Smokescreen over US statement, BJP phone call  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

the US Congress to advance their political goals.

US Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman Eliot Engel, the committee’s ranking member, issued the statement saying: “Certain press reports in Bangladeshi media outlets dated January 7 regarding the political situation in Bangladesh are based upon a fraudulent statement attributed to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and certain Members of Congress, including Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), Steve

Chabot (R-OH), Joseph Crowley (DNY), George Holding (R-NC), and Grace Meng (D-NY).

“Though the Committee and many Members of Congress continue to monitor the political situation in Bangladesh, the Committee did not – and the Members did not – issue any such statement. It is unacceptable that any party would seek to use a fraudulent press statement from the US Congress to advance their political goals.”

On Wednesday, the BNP claimed that BJP chief Amit Shah had called Khaleda over the phone and inquired about her health.

However, an online news portal and

a private television channel later alleged that the claim was wrong since Khaleda’s office had not been able to connect the BJP office. Both the media quoting Indian high officials claimed that they could not talk because of connection problem.

The ruling BJP is yet to say anything officially about the phone call.

Yesterday, BNP Chairperson’s Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan in a press statement claimed that the information on the reported phone conversation had been correct. He said it was unexpected that some media outlets wanted to create controversy by quoting anonymous sources, instead of BJP’s high command. The Dhaka Tribune could

Higher road, bridge, ferry tolls from tomorrow  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

Five-tonne trucks and lorries will be charged Tk500; they are currently charged Tk400. Bus will pay Tk450, up from Tk400, and minibuses Tk185, up from Tk150.

Micro-buses and pick-up vans will be charged Tk90 instead of the previous rate of Tk70. Private cars’ toll rates have increased to Tk65 from the previous rate of Tk50. Auto-rickshaws will have to pay Tk25 and motorcycles Tk15.

But the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has sent a letter to the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry saying the new toll rates will negatively affect their sector which already faces many transport-related problems.

BGMEA Director Abul Kalam told

the Dhaka Tribune: “The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway has caused us much suffering during the last several years due to construction work. If the new toll charges are implemented, transport costs will rise, affecting business.”

According to the toll policy, the new toll rates will also apply to some of the longest bridges, including the 1.4km long Khan Jahan Ali Bridge over the Rupsha River at Khulna, widely known as the Rupsha Bridge, the 1.2km long UK–Bangladesh Friendship Bridge at Bhairab and the second Buriganga Bridge in Dhaka which measures 1.1km.

Bus toll charges on these three bridges are Tk215, Tk185 and Tk150 respectively. The minibus rates are Tk150, Tk100 and TK75 respectively. These rates are Tk25 to Tk50 higher than the

current rates. Freight transport rates will go up between Tk200 and Tk250.

Roads and Highways Department Additional Chief Engineer Bipul Chandra Saha told the Dhaka Tribune: “Goods-carrying transport toll rates are higher than passenger-carrying bus and minibus charges...Some bridges had toll rates that had not been reassessed for many years, and those rates have seen a steep rise,” Bipul said.

“We have set new charges on toll roads such as the Chittagong-Port Road, Hatikomrul-Bangaon Road and the Auch-Kanda Road on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway,” he said.

On December 21 last year, the new toll rates were sent by the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval. On January 3,

not confirm the matter.

On the other hand, the ruling Awami League at a press conference claimed that the BJP chief had not called Khaleda while the US Foreign Ministry too did not issue any press statement.

Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, the joint general secretary, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka had confirmed him that no phone call was made by the BJP president. “The BNP office phoned twice but there was no talk...It is a shame. It is a projection of the BNP’s political bankruptcy.”

Regarding the US congressmen’s press statement, Hanif alleged that the BNP was always expert in falsehood. l

2015 the proposal was accepted by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, sources said.

Road Transport and Highway Division Secretary MAN Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune: “The toll policy will be implemented from January 11, for which a gazette notification has already been published.”

The Truck and Covered-Van Owners’ Association Secretary Rostom Ali told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have protested the policy several times. But the government has decided to implement the toll policy with its raised toll charges anyway, despite out objections.”

“If the toll policy comes into effect, we will have no choice but to hike transport fares and may have to launch a movement to have the new toll charges repealed,” he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Bangladesh’s friend Sunil Dasgupta dies in Berlin n Tribune Report

Sunil Dasgupta, who received special recognition from Bangladesh for his notable role during the Liberation War, has died in Germany’s Berlin on Thursday at the age of 90.

Sunil, born in Barisal district and an expatriate leader of Communist Party of India (CPI), represented the party in Germany.

Communist Party of Bangladesh President Mujahidul Islam Selim and General Secretary Syed Abu Jafar in

a message of condolence said the left-democratic force of Bangladesh has lost a good friend in the international arena at the death of comrade Sunil Dasgupta. They also conveyed deep sympathy to the members of bereaved family and prayed for salvation of the departed soul, reports BSS. Sunil was one of few German nationals who received recognition as foreign national for significant contribution to Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

His wife comrade Barbara Dasgupta also got the same honour. l

Blasts in capital, arson attacks outside  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

“Dighirpar Paribahan” bus from Munshiganj and torched it pouring petrol.

In Barisal, one pickup truck and a three wheeler were torched in Gournadi early yesterday. Police arrested five blockade supporters.

Two separate cases accusing 56 activists and leaders of the BNP and its front organisations were filed naming 26 persons, Sajjad Hossain, OC of Gournadi police, said.

In Gaibandha, three trucks were torched while some seven vehicles vandalised yesterday on Rangpur-Dhaka highway. Seven people were injured in the attacks.

Police fired 120 rubbers bullets to disperse the blockaders. The demonstrators blasted around 20 crude bombs. Police arrested an Islami Chhatra Shibir leader.

In Gazipur, police arrested 12 Jamaat-Shibir activists from Chondona Square area yesterday and recovered four hand bombs and some Jihadi books, Police Superintedent Md Harun Ur Rashid said.

In Sylhet, the district BNP unit called hartal for tomorrow in protest against the arrest of party’s Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

Rail sabotage continues Passengers of two trains in Dhaka-Mymensingh route survived major accident yesterday as some miscreants uprooted bolts of a fish plate of the tracks in Bhanua area near Joydebpur in the afternoon. The spot was one kilometre off the station.

Station Master Shahidul Islam said Bhawal Express and DEMU from Mymensingh finally reached the capital after the authorities repaired the tracks.

Police blamed the blockade supporters for the incidents.

Meanwhile, over the removal of fish plate in Uri Rail Station area in Joypurhat on Thursday, a case was filed yesterday against 50-60 unnamed people with Shantahar Railway police.

Two separate cases were filed against 20-25 unnamed people for torching a potato-laden truck at Himchi Bazar and a coal-laden truck at Shimultoli of Panchbibi. l

BNP mulling new strategy for the coming months  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Rizvi’s rallying cry

Talking to a selected few journalists from his hideout, BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi asked the party leaders and activists to take to the streets for making the blockade a success and strengthening the movement against the government to “force its resignation.”

“The government is acting like an illegal gun-holder in running the country. No illegal government has the right to lead the country this way.

“Gather all your strength and courage to make the road, railway and waterway blockade a success. The government must step down. It is only a matter of time now,” Rizvi claimed.

Asked about the blockade being staged during the Biswa Ijtema, he said: “The Biswa Ijtema has started. The blockade, too, continues. The government has erased the name of the Almighty Allah from the constitution. They are taking good care of the minister who had spoken ill of the holy hajj, Islam and tabligh jamaat. Talks of Islam by a deceitful government amounts to deception.”

Justifying their indefinite blockade

programme, the BNP leader said their programme was for restoring democracy, people’s voting rights and establishing justice.

Rizvi also condemned the arrest of the party’s vice-chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhruy and urged the government to immediately release him.

The Gulshan-gate drama

Meanwhile, the drama surrounding the locking and unlocking of the main gate of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office continued yesterday, as locks were removed from the gate again in the morning.

At around 10am, the gate was seen without a lock; even though it was put under lock and key on Thursday night.

However, the police stationed at the site admitted to neither locking nor unlocking it.

Female members of law enforcement agencies were seen to take their position a little away from the gate.

However, a good number of law enforcers remain at the scene along with water cannons, police vans and trucks kept indiscriminately on both sides of the road. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Night-time attacks leave port city residents on edge n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The BNP-led 20-party alliance blockade in Chittagong city, largely uneventful during the daytime, has left residents in the grip of fear after nightfall.

Residents of the port city said they feared sudden violence after sunset by miscreants.

Home-bound job holders, especially ready-made garment workers and street hawkers, complained of transportation and security problems.

Thursday, the third consecutive day of the blockade, passed peacefully in the city but as darkness fell miscreants torched a bus in the city’s GEC area and blasted crude bombs in the Bahaddarhat area, leaving a rickshaw puller with splinter injuries.

Similar violence was witnessed the day before, with miscreants blasting crude bombs in front of the Chittagong Press Club and Probortok area, causing residents to panic.

The fear of sudden violence has led to a visible decrease of vehicles on the roads in the evening, compounding troubles for commuters.

Majid Mia, a bus driver of city route 10, said he did not want to drive after nightfall during the blockade or hartal because protesters target public vehicles when they want to show off their “political activities.”

Rehana Akhter, a Chittagong Export Processing Zone RMG worker, said her work hours end at 8pm but she could not find transport home during the blockade or hartal. She said she has to walk to her home in the Cement Crossing area, five kilometres away from her workplace.

Long distance and freight vehicles plied the roads and highways accompanied by police escort but some operators were not running their vehicles fearing sabotage.

Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik

Samity Executive President Kafil Uddin said vehicle owners were nervous about operating their vehicles because of sudden attacks by demonstrators after dark.

After sunset, most roadside shops and markets closed down out of fear of vandalism. Shoppers sometimes had to make do without what they needed, said Omar Faruk, a resident of Halishahar area of the city.

Bakery owner Abu Bakar Siddique said although his shop is crowded most evenings, he has had very few customers lately because of the political unrest in the country.

Maisha Musharrat Isha, a class five student of BWA Girls High School and College, said she and her parents used to go to Shishu Park or other recreational parks on Fridays.

But she and her parents have not been able to go out and enjoy themselves for the last couple of weeks because of the chance of violence.

“I cannot go out and I am getting bored,” she said, adding that she only attended classes at school two days out of the first nine days of the year.

Street-side hawker, Abdur Rahim Molla, said sales were down due to the blockade. He said his roadside business was at risk as protesters frequently set fire to roadside stalls.

BNP alliance sources said no leaders or activists of the alliance were seen during daylight hours for fear of arrest in cases lodged in connection with violence on January 5. Jamaat-Shibir men were seen bringing out brisk processions but quickly fled in the presence of law enforcement agencies.

Police and Border Guard Bangladesh personnel have been deployed to key points of the city to fend off sudden unrest, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operation) Banaj Kumar Majumdar said. l

ZUBAIR MURDER CASE

JU teachers, students demand capital punishment for killers

n JU Correspondent

Sundarbaner Jonno Amra, a social organisation, forms a human chain in the capital’s Shahbagh yesterday to demand that plying of water vessels inside the world’s largest mangrove forest be stopped to save the region DHAKA TRIBUNE

AL lambasts blockade during Ijtema n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Awami League leaders yesterday blasted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia as she directed party activists to continue the countrywide blockade during Ijtema.

Ijtema began yesterday, but the BNP remained stubborn about continuing the blockade as part of its anti-government protests.

An Awami League leader also called on the government to ban blockades.

“We have postponed our programmes to make sure that Ijtema is held without a hitch but the BNP chairperson did not call off the blockade, which proves that atheism is her trait,” Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said while addressing an extended meeting of Awami League’s Dhaka city unit at the party’s Bangabandhu Avenue office.

The meeting was held to plan programmes to observe the Homecoming Day of Bangabandhu today.

“Because of the blockade, a host

Shamsher Mobin placed on 5-day remand n

Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court granted a five-day remand to BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury in a case filed with the Shahbagh police station for attempting to murder MP Chhabi Biswas.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Emdadul Hossain granted the remand after police produced him before the court with a 10-day remand plea on Friday afternoon.

The BNP leader was arrested by the Detective Branch of Police from his residence on Thursday night.

BNP leaders and activists clashed with Chhatra League activists near Bakshibazar makeshift court ahead of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s appearance in the court in two corruption cases on December 24. At least 30 people including AL MP Chhabi Biswas were injured in the clash.

Miscreants also torched the lawmaker’s car parked in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Two cases were filed against 150 leaders and activists of the BNP and its youth and student wings in connection with the clash. l

Fire at justice’s house, more than thousand sued n Our Correspondent, Feni A case has been filed accusing more than one thousand people including 31 Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal activists over setting fire at the house of Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque in Feni.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Kamrul Islam of Feni Model Police Station filed the case on Friday afternoon.

Officer-in-charge Mahbub Morshed of Feni model police station confirmed the case filing to the Dhaka Tribune.

SI Azizul Haque has been appointed as the investigating officer of the case.

On Wednesday night, miscreants set fire at the justice’s residence at Mohammadpur village under Dhaliya Union of Feni Sadar Upazila.

Police arrested Nizam Uddin Patwari on Thursday in connection with the incident.

He was sent to jail in the noon as per a court order. l

BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury is brought to court in the case filed over attack on Awami League lawmaker Chhabi Biswas DHAKA TRIBUNE

Government pressuring owners to operate long-route buses n Tribune Report The government is pressing bus owners to operate their vehicles in defiance of the BNP alliance-enforced ongoing nationwide non-stop blockade of the country’s road, rail and waterways.

Those who refuse to operate their long route buses, will have their counters padlocked, State Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and Jatiya Party lawmaker, Moshiur Rahman Ranga, said yesterday at a meeting with bus owners.

At the same meeting State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal assured owners that they would be compensated if miscreants damaged the buses on the roads.

The meeting, held at the Gabtoli office of Aslamul Haque, ruling party lawmaker for Dhaka 14 (Mirpur), aimed to normalise the country’s transportation system despite the blockade.

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan presided over the meeting at which a number of bus company owners and transport workers’ leaders were present.

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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Dhaka Bus-Truck Owners’ Association Secretary Kafil Uddin, who is the managing director of Hanif Paribahan, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We were forced by the government to keep buses running.”

Asaduzzaman told the meeting that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had given assurances that transport owners would be compensated if buses were damaged.

Moshiur Rahman Ranga said: “We would like to remove the sufferings of the public. Buses must continue to operate on the highways.”

Kafil Uddin said: “At the end of 2013 more than 800 buses were burned, but bus owners were not compensated by the government. How can we be sure of compensation now?”

“Highway buses cost between Tk70 lakh and Tk1cr. If the government compensates us for each incident, we will agree to operate buses on the highways,” he said.

“But we are worried because the LGRD minister told us that bus counters would be padlocked if we refuse to operate our long route buses,” the Hanif Paribahan managing director said. l

Jahangirnagar University (JU) teachers and students yesterday staged a demonstration on campus premises demanding quick verdict in Zubair murder case and maximum punishment for the killers.

A human chain was also formed in the morning at the Shaheed Minar premises in the university.

Sources said the teachers and students observed yesterday – January 9 – as anti-terrorism day in the university in memory of Zubair Ahmed who died at United Hospital on this day in 2012 after being stabbed by Chhatra League rivals on January 8.

Zubair was a JU English department student and Bangladesh Chhatra League activist. Over a hundred teachers, students and former students of the university took part in the human chain programme around 11am under the banner “Shontrasher Biruddhe Jahangirnagar.”

Speakers at the programme expressed their grief and frustration as the murderers were yet to be punished, although three years had passed. They stated that as the judgment of Zubair murder case was yet to be finished, its responsibility goes to the university authorities and the state as well.

Former JU unit Chhatra Union president Sowmit Chandra Joydip pointed out that the verdict in Biswajit murder case was completed although the incident took place after Zubair’s muder. He said the verdict was in obscurity because of the university authorities’ silent role.

Jahangirnagar University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) General Secretary Prof Mafruhi Sattar, former JUTA president Prof AA Mamun, former general secretary of Jahangirnagar Theatre Shudeepayon Bhatyacharya and JU unit BCL President Mahmudur Rahman Jony spoke at the programme among others.

The teachers and students at the programme alleged that although the accused killers were absconders according to police, they were often found in the university and the dormitories. The speakers urged the authorities to take actions against the accused so that they would not enter the campus. l

of devotees both in home and abroad could not join Ijtema,” said Maya, also the general secretary of Dhaka city unit.

He said neither the people of the country nor Islam was safe under the BNP chief’s leadership.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has rescheduled Awami League’s today’s rally at Suhrawardy Udyan for January 12. She sacrificed even though preparations have been taken for the rally for a month. But the BNP chairperson has created a situation where people could not join Ijtema for fear of violence,” said the minister.

“Go to hospital if you [Khaleda] are sick because Awami League wants to see you in good health. We will take the responsibility for your treatment, if necessary,” he added.

Speaking in the same programme, Food Minister Quamrul Islam said there would be no dialogue with the BNP with regard to Khaleda’s seven-point demand as it was in conflict with the constitution.

Holding mid-term elections and restoration of caretaker government system

were among the seven-point demand.

“There will be no discussion with the BNP. Its demands are not aimed at restoring caretaker government system but having the graft cases against Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman withdrawn. However, I want to categorically say that the lawsuits will not be withdrawn,” he said.

Meanwhile, addressing a discussion at Institution of Diploma Engineers, Awami League Advisory Committee member Suranjit Sengupta urged the government to ban blockades by introducing new laws.

“I call on the government to declare blockades illegal and undemocratic.

Those who will impose blockades and those who will support such programmes should be punished severely,” he said.

Khaleda imposed the blockade after failing to observe the first anniversary of the tenth general elections on January 5 as the “Democracy Killing Day”.

The Awami League, however, described January 5 as the “Victory Day for Democracy”. l

A new BNP will be formed soon! n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Study: Irregular temperature hurt fishes in southwest region

A person named Kamrul Hasan yesterday announced that a new BNP will be formed soon.

Kamrul, who is a completely unknown face in the country’s politics, yesterday made the announcement at press conference at the Lakeshore Hotel in the capital. Interestingly, only a selected few journalists from a handful of media houses were invited to the conference.

“The BNP led by Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman is illegal. To revive Ziaur Rahman’s BNP, here is an initative to form a new BNP,” he said. He also said their formal announcement will come on January 16; on that day, they will also disclose who are with the “new BNP.” Assuring that there is no government agency behind them, Hasan claimed that most senior leaders of the current BNP will join his New BNP. He also said the government’s target to turning Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2041 was funny.

A circulated was signed by Javed Omar Rabbi, who claimed himself as someone from the “crisis moment of the party.” Around a hundred young men – wearing lungi and sleepers – were present at the programme. l

n Abu Bakar Siddique Fishing communities are facing difficulties in catching as the number of fishes has been declining in the southwestern region because of fluctuations in temperature as a result of climate change, a study said.

The study titled “Impact of Climate Change on Fisheries in Jessore region, Bangladesh” said gonadal maturity of carps and catfishes has reduced by 4050% and milt mobility of these groups has fallen by 30-40% due to high temperature of water.

Findings of the study were unveiled at a session titled “Natural Resource Management at the Crossroads: Facing the Challenges of Climate Changes”, which was held during the annual conference of Gobeshona at Independent University of Bangladesh yesterday.

Gobeshona is a knowledge sharing platform for climate change research on Bangladesh, and it aims to make climate change research on Bangladesh more effective.

“The study found that about 20-30% of the hatchlings are physically weak because of the high temperature,” said Md Shariful Islam, scientific officer of

Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, who conducted the study.

Fluctuations in temperature also significantly affected food intake of spawn. Such conditions reduce food intake of spawn by 25%, resulting in weakness which is followed by death.

According to the 5th assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, Bangladesh is at specific risk from climate change due to exposure to rising sea level, salinity, drought, erratic rainfall and tidal surge.

“Fishermen are trying to adapt to these changing scenarios by starting the breeding of common carps 15 days earlier than the previous years,” said Shariful.

He suggested more research be done to find out other key reasons for the reduction of spawn mortality. The study revealed that the colour of fishes has also been changing gradually.

The study found that bright reddish colour of Labeo rohita became blackish red and bright golden carp turned pale whitish .

The study was conducted for three years consecutively since 2011 in Jessore region as it is geographically identified as having climate-affected areas because of the moderate salinity intrusion. l

Bangabandhu’s Homecoming Day today n Abu Hayat Mahmud Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the historic Homecoming Day of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On this day in 1972, Bangabandhu, the architect of the independence of Bangladesh, returned to a newly liberated Bangladesh after nine and a half months of captivity in prison in Pakistan.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Tejgaon Airport in Dhaka to welcome him back home when the British Airways flight carrying Bangabandhu landed at 1:41pm.

President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages yesterday to mark the day.

The ruling Awami League, its associate bodies, other political parties in the 14-party alliance and different socio-cultural-professional organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes

to observe the day.

Awami League’s programmes is set to start with hoisting the national and party flags at its central office, Bangabandhu Bhaban and offices across the country at 6:30am, and placing wreaths at Bangabandhu’s portrait at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi at 7am.

The party will also hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital on Monday for the occasion.

In a statement issued yesterday, Syed Ashraful Islam, general secretary of the Awami League and Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, urged the party’s leaders, activists and Bangaband-

hu’s admirers to take part in the programmes.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also president of the Awami League, will address Monday’s rally as chief guest, which will also be attended by the central leaders of 14-party alliance.

Originally scheduled to take place today, the rally was moved to Monday as to not disrupt the Biswa Ijtema congregation this weekend. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, January 9, 2015

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Blockade impacts on Chittagong city kitchen markets n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Prices of several kitchen items, including fish, meat and rice have been soaring up in Chittagong city due to the collapse of the supply chain caused by the BNP’s indefinite blockade enforced across the country.

While visiting the city’s major kitchen markets, including Chowmuhony, Kazir Dewri and Riazuddin Bazar yesterday morning, prices of various species of fish were found up compared to the days before the blockade.

Ruhi fish, Katla, Rupchanda fishes were being sold at Tk180 to 160, Tk180 to 150, Tk280 to 650 per kg respectively at Karnaphuli CDA market yesterday.

The prices were up by Tk 20 to Tk 50 from last week.

Fish trader Md Rubel told the Dhaka Tribune that fish-laden trucks had stopped coming into the city from outside due to the blockade, leaving the prices to go up unusually.

The same scenario was found at Kazir Dewri kitchen market in the city.

Md Belal Hossen, a service holder of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), told

Blockade draws lukewarm response n Our Correspondent, Barisal Life was largely normal in Barisal yesterday amid the indefinite blockade imposed by the BNP, except disruptions to long-haul bus services.

Police dispersed a group of BNP and Chhatra Dal activists who organised a march in the morning near Kawnia Textile Mill, said Sakhawat Hossain, Kotwali police station officer-in-charge.

Besides, Jamaat-e-Islami and Chhatra Shibir activists picketed in Kashipur and Rupatoli early in the morning.

Road and water transports plied on internal routes but the number of passengers was considerably low. Disruptions to long-haul road transports added to the woes of passengers.

Aftab Hossain, president of the association of local bus owners and that of city unit of Sramik League, said longhaul vehicles would operate under police protection if there were sufficient passengers. l

the Dhaka Tribune that despite ample supply of fish, the fish traders had raised the prices in the name of blockade.

Local chicken was being sold at Tk320 to 350 per kg while the broiler chicken was being sold at Tk160 to 170 at Karnaphuli market.

“Local chicken was sold at Tk 300 last week while it has gone up by Tk20 this week” Mohammed Khokon, an employee of C & F agency, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Prices of the vegetable items have however come under control due to adequate supply, said kitchen market traders.

At the markets, the bottle-gourd was being sold at Tk20 per kg, radish at Tk15 to 10, bean at Tk25 to 40, eggplant at Tk20 to 25, green cabbage at Tk15 to 20, cauliflower at Tk20, green chili at Tk30, and tomato atTk 30 to 40.

CDA Karnaphuli Market vegetable trader Md Anwar Hossain said most vegetable items come in from Sitakunda, Mirsarai and Hathazari upazilas of Chittagong and so the blockade could not impact on the prices of the items. l

Vehicular movement was normal on Kazi Nazrul Islam avenue in the capital during yesterday's blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance

Relaxed hartal keeps life normal in Rajshahi city

Police assault journos in Rajshahi

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

The blockade on the fourth consecutive day was loosely enforced in Rajshahi city.

No major incident has been took place while peoples from all walks of life took to the streets for their own job.

Peoples were also seen on the streets in large scale and a huge crowd also was noticed at bus terminal and Rajshahi railway station.

The inter-district buses were seen moving on the highway in a large scale while a considerable number of buses and goods laden trucks also left Rajshahi for Dhaka under the security of police and border guard members, confirmed Manjur Rahman Pitar, general secretary of Rajshahi Highway Transport Group.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi police commissioner Muhammad Shamsuddinn

told the Dhaka Tribune that additional police forces had been deployed at the main places in the city to avert any untoward situation.

Shamsuddin also said they had decided to ensure security for the transport services to reduce the sufferings of the peoples on the highway by deploying additional polices and BGB members.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday detained three Shibir activists in connection with the city’s police beating up case.

The arrestees were Ilias Sheikh, 35, son of Abdus Samad Sheikh, Shamsuddin, 35, son of Ismail Hossain and Nizam Uddin, 34, son of Khorshed Bepari.

Police picked up them from Asam Colony area under Boalia police station in the city.

After interrogation, RAB handed over the Shibir men to Shahmakhdum police in the afternoon, confirmed of-

n DU Correspondent

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi An indigenous young man was killed by unidentified miscreants at Moyenpur village in Tanore upazila yesterday morning.

Police recovered the body of Bablu Hembrom, 26, son of Moheswar Hembrom, from his house and sent it to Rajshahi Medical College morgue for autopsy. l

WEATHER Relatives of Bablu Hembrom, who was killed by unidentified miscrents in Rajshahi yesterday, are wailing AZAHAR UDDIN

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:28PM SUN RISES 6:44AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 26 26 25 25 26 26 26 25

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

14 15 11 10 10 13 13 16

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

25.0ºC Jessore

08.7ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:23am 6:42am 12:06am 3:53pm 5:29pm 6:49pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

ficer-in-charge of the police station Sayedur Rahman Bhuiyan.

The OC said the Shibir men were shown arrest in the case filed by Sub-Inspector of Shah Makhdhum police station Jahangir Alam over the attack on police.

About 60 to 70 Shibir leaders and activists are made accused in the case.

Earlier, after the incident, police detained about 23 leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir in this connection.

Among the arrestees, eight were produced before a Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Wednesday evening while court granted 2 days remand for each.

On Tuesday, four policemen were injured as activists of Jamaat’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked the law enforcers in Shalbagan area of Rajshahi city with the gun of police after snatching it from the policemen. l

Policemen, including a sub inspector, has been closed after they allegedly beat up journalists in Rajshahi yesterday during the countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20 party alliance.

The incident ensued around 10:30am on the premises of Rajshahi Government College that left a journalist injured. The injured journalist was Sohorab Hossain, staff reporter Jamuna Television in Rajshahi. He took treatment from a private clinic.

Sohorab said in the morning he along with his colleagues rushed to Rajshahi College after being informed that Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists brought out a procession in support of the blockade.

When the JCD activists fled completing the procession, police got an-

gered and scorned the journalists present there as police failed to nab the JCD men, said Sohorab.

“When, we protested, sub inspector of Boalia Model police station SM Jahangir ordered policemen to charge baton on journalists that left Sohorab injured, said Rasel Mahmud, camera person of Jamuna TV. Later, in protest at the incident, journalist called on the Rajshahi police commissioner Muhammad Shamsuddin and filed a written complaint to take action against the responsible policemen.

Police commissioner Shamsuddin ordered Sub-Inspector SM Jahangir and constable Bulbul who were involved in the attack on journalists, to be closed to police line at once.

Boalia police Office-in-Charge Nur Hossain Khandakar also expressed sorrow for the incident. l

Full execution of CHT treaty demanded

Rajshahi indigenous youth killed

DRY WEATHER LIKELY

RAJIB DHAR

Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP) and Hill Women’s Federation (HWF) have urged the government not to set up a medical college and a Technology University in Rangamati before fully implementing the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) peace treaty.

The organisation claimed the government’s motive behind establishing the universities in Rangamati is a conspiracy to grab the lands of the indigenous people in the name of better study opportunities.

They said, according to hill tracts treaty the government must negotiate with the representatives of the indigenous communities before making any

decision regarding Hill-tract districts.

But the government, defying the hill tracts treaty, has planned to set up two universities in Rangamati.

They made the demands at a protest rally held at Raju Memorial Sculpture (TSC adjacent area) of Dhaka University Campus on Friday. Prior to holding the rally, the leaders and activists of the organisations brought out a procession inside the campus premises. They also urged all to participate in a pre-announced blockade in Rangamati today to press for their demand.

The speakers at the rally criticised the government for not taking steps to implement the hill tracts treaty, and not punishing Bengali settlers who at-

tack indigenous people. They urged the government to ensure security of the indigenous people in the hills and take immediate steps to resettle the Bangalee settlers in other areas of the country.

Speaking at the Rally, Jmason Amly, Dhaka city unit president of PCP, alleged that the government had taken initiatives to set up of a medical college and a science and technology university without consultation with CHT Regional Council (CHTRC).

“Land of the Jumma people in the region is being grabbed while the government is showing an attitude of aggression towards the indigenous people in the name of development” he said. l

NATIONAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD HELD

Hundreds ignited minds, dreams blossom n Tribune Report The National Science Olympiad can be a platform to assemble the country’s young scientists and find out the especially gifted youths. It also can help opening up the horizons of the young minds and sharpen their skills, knowledges and insights who can help building a knowledge-based society in the country.

The government should take steps to capitalize the potentials of the youths by ensuring the facilities to instil problem solving skills in them in the class rooms, and to use the skills and knowledge in their real lives.

The words were echoed by the experts, students, teachers and participants in the regional rounds of the National Science Olympiad 2015 in Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur, Barisal and Sylhet yesterday.

Several hundreds students from various schools and colleges took part in the Olympiads at different venues.

In Dhaka, the Olympiad was held at the Notre Dame College with participation of 254 students from 16 schools and colleges in two groups—senior (Class XI and Class XII) and junior (school level), reports our DU correspondent.

Prof ZN Tahmida Begum, supernumerary professor of Botany at Dhaka University, and a fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS), inaugerated the day-long programme.

Mostafiz Shofi, executive editor of the Daily Samakal; Father Hemonto Pius Rozario, principal of Notre Dame College, and Vincent Titas Rozario, moderator of Notre Dame Science Club were also present.

Twenty students, 10 from each group, were selected for the final round of Olympiad, after a two-hour written test on science related topics, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

The final round of the national event is scheduled to be held at Dhaka University on January 23.

From college group, Md Tafhimul Islam, Md Rayhan Rashed, Md Habibur Rahman, Md Kazim Reza Chowdhury, Sheikh Asif Im-

ran, Md Abrar Rahman, Md. Jobair Hossen Jony, Susanto Kumar Saha, Md Atik Shahriar and Md Rakibul Islam will take part in the final round of the Olympiad. Meanwhile, Zahra Ferdous, Tahsin Abid Ahmed, Jawarul Moresalein, Srijon Saha, Tahmid, Md Nafis Tarik, Abir Sarker, Sazid Khan, Tasnim Nishat Islam, Payel Bhowmick got the selection from junior group.

The Dhaka Tribune was the media partner of the event jointly organised by the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and Bangla Daily Shamakal.

In Rajshahi, the divisional science Olympiad was held at Rajshahi University, reports our Rajshahi correspondent.

Some 100 students from about 15 schools and colleges participated in the Olympiad.

The orgaisers said the presence of the students this year was low compared to previous years because of the ongoing indefinite blockade.

Meanwhile, the Olympiad in Faridpur region was held at the Government Rajendra College. More than 150 students from eight educational institutions took part in the

event, reports our Faridpur correspondent.

Prof Mahbubur Rahman, principal of the college; and Dr Shibendra Shekhar Sikdar, dean of engineering faculty of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, were also present.

Six students from school group and nine from college group were awarded with certificates and other gifts.

In Sylhet, the Olympiad was held at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

Some 170 students took part from different schools and colleges in the Olympiad.

Some 18 students—12 from secondary level and six from higher secondary level— were selected from Sylhet region for the national round.

From school level, Naisat Fahmida Protyasa, Niarat Farhana Purbasa, Irtiza Adib, Boktiar Mahbub Murad, Asraful Islam Shanto, Saksar Choudhury, Ahnaf Khan, Farhan Muhib Nitol, Asfia Rahman, Syed Ridwan Ahmed, Shah Md Istiaque Hossain, and Mahfuza Akter got the selection.

Meanwhile, Ranabir Saha, Shamudra Dey,Swomittro Bhattacharjee and Minhazul Islam

Ornab Bishal Das, Swarha Choudhury were selected from college level.

In Barisal, Prof Md Shamsuddin, vice-chancellor of Patuakhali Science and Technology University, inaugurated the event around 9am, reports our Barisal correspondent.

Some 139 students from different schools and 141 students from different colleges of different upazilas of the division participated in the competition.

Fifteen students from school level and 15 from college leve were selected for the national round of the competition.

From school group Oliuzzaman Oli, Rupa Das Polin, Joy Das, Pitam Das and Mehedi Hasan Anik of Srijani Bidya got the selection.

Meanwhile, Abu Saleh, Imran Hossain, Selina Aktar Santa, Solaiman Hossain and Showkat Imam Soikat were selected from college group.

In Comilla, the Olympiad for Comilla region was held at Comilla Victoria Government College, reports our Comilla correspondent.

The College’s Acting Principal Prof M Abdur Rashid inaugurated the event around 9am. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Saturday, January 10, 2015

UNO-approved narrow culvert feared to choke the Ashuganj canal Correspondent, n Our Brahmanbaria A narrow box culvert is being built on the Ashuganj canal, a major passageway for the residents of Sonarampur in Brahmanbaria, allegedly disrupting the water flow and ultimately killing the canal.

Locals claimed that businessman Shafiul Alam Emon is constructing the culvert to benefit his sand business on the other side of the canal. He is doing so by ‘managing’ the administration, they said.

According to the office of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), the canal, running along the Sonarampur bridge, is connected to the Meghna River. It flows through Talshohor and Barail villages before merging with the Titas River.

The proposed culvert on this 35 feet wide canal will be of only eight feet wide reducing the waterway to a mere drain. This will seriously hamper the water flow of the canal.

Chairman of Talshahar Union Parishad Abu Shama said: “Villagers use the canal to transport many goods and construction materials from the Meghna River. If the box culvert is built on this, the canal will lose its navigability and villagers will no longer be able to use it.”

He further alleged that the UNO was involved in this.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Kumar Singh, the UNO of Ashuganj, said Shafiul Alam was constructing the culvert with his own money and with proper approval from the concerned authority.

When asked if anyone could build such culverts just by applying, Sandeep Kumar nodded positively adding that the local engineering department would have to approve the design.

He, however, said he had no idea about design of the culvert and advised to contact the upazila LGED engineer.

A recent visit to the area by this correspondent had found full on construction work of the box culvert at the Sonarampur part of the canal. The base of

Carjackers kill CNG driver, steal vehicle n Our Correspondent, Savar Disguised as passengers, a gang of carjackers yesterday shot and killed the driver of a CNG-run autorickshaw and snatched away his vehicle from Hemayetpur’s Jhauchar area in Savar.

Twenty-five-year-old Iqbal Ali, son of Jhauchar’s Hazrat Ali, struggled for life for 10 hours before succumbing to his injuries at the local Enam Medical College Hospital.

Locals and police sources said three carjackers hired Iqbal’s autorickshaw in Keraniganj’s Kanarchar area in the early morning yesterday. The miscreants tried to force Iqbal off of the vehicle after reaching the Jhauchar area, before finally shooting him in the back and driving the vehicle away.

Locals admitted the critically injured Iqbal to the Enam Medical College and Hospital, where he died at around 4:30pm. Police said Iqbal’s body has been sent to the Dhaka Medical College for an autopsy. A murder case was filed. l

The Jhalakati municipality mayor has asked the government to protect him as he anticipates attempts on his life.

The mayor, Afzal Hossain – also the secretary general of Jhalokati district Awami league – made the plea in a press conference called for yesterday. The press meet took place after the mayor’s henchmen allegedly clashed with the ward councilors.

BNP leaders should not rejoice at the phone conversation between their Chairperson Khaleda Zia and India’s BJP President Amit Shah, said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

The BNP has turned into a party that banks on foreign diplomacy, he said while talking to reporters after visiting Kalna ferry terminal in Kashiani upazila.

Quader said BNP’s agitations involved no participation of people and the party was perpetrating violence and terror in the name of protests.

“The government has decided that there will be transports on roads despite the countrywide blockade imposed by the BNP,” the minister said.

He also called on all to resist the blockade.

Terming Kalna bridge a part of Padma bridge, Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate construction of Kalna bridge in April.

“The bridge will be financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It will also play a crucial role in improving the communication systems in the west,” he added. l

Swechchhasebak Dal calls hartal in Faridpur for today n UNB

The construction work of a narrow box culvert is in full swing on the Ashuganj canal, which is dry at the moment. But locals fear the culvert will disrupt the water flow of the canal ultimately killing it DHAKA TRIBUNE the culvert was being built on the bed of the canal, which has dried up due to the season.

By talking to some of the residents in the area, it was learnt that Shafiul Alam Emon had leased almost a hectare of land on the other side of the canal to build his sand depository. And the box culvert was needed to allow transports back and forth.

Sajib Ahmed, a local, said: “Even though we are observing the destruction of the canal, we are helpless. Emon has the support of the administration.”

Sub-contractor of the culvert, Hanif Mia, said the culvert would be 62 feet long and eight feet wide, which had been approved by the administration.

The upazila LGED engineer Shariful Islam defended himself by saying that

he was recently transferred there and had no knowledge about the project.

He suggested to talk to the assistant engineer.

Assistant Engineer Mosharraf Hossain said: “It is unlawful if the width of the culvert is kept only eight feet.

However, we cannot do anything about it since the responsibility lies with the UNO.”

Gambling, obscene dances under the cover of fairs Correspondent, n Our Gaibandha

Influential locals have been illegally organising gambling sessions and obscene dances in the name of fairs, apparently unbeknown to authorities in Gaibandha.

The so-called fairs began at Jamlapur, Fulpukuria and Shalmara of Gobindaganj upazila in December.

Fulpukuria village’s Mokhlesur Rahman alleged that it was not a fair. Rather, it was a den of gamblers and a place of obscene dances.

He said they had asked police to take steps against these things a few times, but no steps had yet been taken up.

Gobindaganj police station Officer-in-Charge Jahidul Islam Bokhra said: “It has been being organised with the order from the

higher authority and so I cannot do anything about it.”

For three days, gambling sessions and obscene dances have been being organised at Sadar upazila’s Purbochithulia village.

Mollarchar Union Parishad Chairman Saiduzzaman Sarkar said he asked the police to stop this, but the latter were yet to take any step in this regard.

Sadar police station Officer-inCharge Rajiur Rahman said: “I do not know whether any gambling session has been organised in the name of a fair at Purbochithulia village.”

For seven days, gambling sessions and obscene dances have been being held at Palashbari upazila’s Satarpara village.

Organiser Nurul Amin said he had organised it just to give amusement to people who hardly get any way of being amused in the

rural life.

The so-called fair has also been organised at the same upazila’s Taluk Jamira village for around a month.

Palashbari police station Officer-in-Charge Mojibur Rahman said they had not given any permission to organise it.

Superintendent of Police Mofazzal Hossain said: “We have not given any permission to hold any of the fairs now going on in the district.

“However, we are taking steps against any unauthorised fair on allegations from people.”

Additional Deputy Commissioner Abu Bakar Siddiq said: “There is no permission to hold any fair and so seven gambling dens have been knocked down for a week and the rest would face same fate in the district.” l

Raft between mayor and councillors continues n Our correspondent, Jhalokati

‘No reason for BNP to be delighted by BJP chief’s call’ n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

In a written statement, read out during the press conference, the Jhalokati mayor complained that since his victory in the 2011 municipal elections, one of his defeated rivals has been conspiring to remove him from his position with help from an “influential politician.”

He further alleged that the “influential politician” had played a key role in the attempts to “minus” Sheikh Hasina during the 2007 emergency periods. He claims to have actively taken to the streets in

protest at that time.

Afzal requested the prime minister instructs law enforcements to offer him necessary protection.

Three days ago, At least eight people were injured in a clash between two rival groups on Jhalakathi municipality office premises – reports said.

Of the groups, one was led by Mayor of the municipality Afzal Hossain and another by ward councilor Jakir Hossain.

Last Wednesday, one of the councilors, Humayun Kabir filed

a case after the incident accusing the mayor and his accomplices for armed attempts to extort money.

Police rejected a counter case Afzal attempted to file. Afzal later filed the case at the judicial magistrate’s office last Thursday. The case will be heard on February 9.

On Thursday, 25 Jubo league activists met with Afzal; when stopped by police in front of Jhalokati press club, the contingent identified themselves as accomplices of Sadik Abdullah, a central leader of Jubo League. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Man sued for killing wife

A man was sued on charge of killing his wife at Suryaban village under Khetlal upazila, Jaypurhat yesterday. Jahurul Haque, uncle of the deceased, filed the case with Khetlal police station against Abdus Salam, husband of Nilufar Yesmin. According the case, family members found the dead body of Nilufar in the morning.

Family members of the deceased said Abdus Salam had killed Nilufar over family feud. But police could not arrest Salam as he went into hiding since the body was found dead. Although police told the Dhaka Tribune that they could not find any injury mark in her body. Officer-in-Charge

of Khetlal police station Monirul Islam said they were trying to trace Abdus Salam to know the actual reason behind her death.

– Our Correspondent, Jaypurhat

Three held with Phensidy Police arrested three people in possession of Phensidy from Genda bus station area in Savar yesterday. The arrested were identified as Razzakul Haidar, Tota Mia and Laikul Islam. Police said they had been trading illegal drugs in the area for long. A case was filed against them.

– Our Correspondent, Savar

“The UNO permitted me to build a culvert on a temporary basis as per my application,” said Shafiul Alam Emon when contacted.

Asked if a concrete establishment could be built temporarily, he responded that the canal was already dead. “It is used only for draining out the excess water of the highland and the culvert will not hamper this flow,” he claimed. l

Local Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal yesterday called a daylong hartal in the district for today protesting the ‘confinement’ of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to her office.

The shutdown is also meant for protesting the use of pepper spray on Khaleda, banning the publication of BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman’s statements and demanding the release of all BNP leaders, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Convener of the district unit of BNP’s volunteer wing Julkifar Hossain announced the lockdown programme at a press conference in the district town at noon. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Heritage

7

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Pratapaditya, another freedom fighter The peoples of the lands that are now the nation of Bangladesh have a rich and ancient history of resistance to conquerors, foreign rulers and oppressors

F

n Tim Steel rom an evidently successful resistance to the advance of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, through undoubted resistance to invaders such as the South Indians, the Afghans, the Persians and the Europeans, as well as those closer to home, such as the Arakanese, Burmese and Tripurans, and especially the Pakistanis, theirs is a great history of resistance and freedom fighting.

Amongst the better documented, the role of the Baro Bhuiyans in resisting the Mughal invasion of the rich and valuable lands that are now the lands of Bangladesh, in the late 16th century has probably never been properly explored.

Like the subsequent takeover by the British, those who colluded with the invaders were eventual victors, and, as a quotation often attributed to Winston Churchill, suggests, “History is written by the victors who have hanged the heroes,” so we may expect short shrift to be given by the historians, around the world, as well as closer to home, who subsequently, almost universally, came to admire the Mughal dynasty, at least in its first century and a half of rule.

The role of the Baro Bhuiyans in resisting the Mughal invasion of the rich and valuable lands that are now the lands of Bangladesh, in the late 16th century has probably never been properly explored

The great Isa Khan is often referred to as leader of the resistance, and one wonders if the fact that he was, himself, also a Muslim is one reason for the probable misrepresentation. There is no doubting his own courageous role in that resistance, but it was, in fact, the somewhat loose alliance of the Baro Bhuyans, a dozen or so of the great landholders, who each, in their own way, played a part in the lengthy resistance to preserve the independence of Bengal.

It is also, often, misrepresented that this alliance of the great landholders was one of Hindu landholders. Patently, that is also a historical misrepresentation, like so many in the hazy, real history of these lands.

Another of the mysteries of misrepresentation that seem to disguise centuries of cooperation and coexistence between such adherents of great religions in these lands.

But another of the great, “Freedom Fighters” who resisted that takeover by a foreign invading family was unquestionably the contemporary Zaminder of Jessore, Pratapaditya.

It has often been said that, with the death of Isa Khan in 1599, resistance to the Mughal forces ceased.

That is another misrepresentation.

In fact, Pratapaditya only surrendered his 20,000 infantry forces, 500 war boats, and 45 tons of gunpowder, 13 years after Isa Khan’s

Pratapaditya only surrendered his 20,000 infantry forces, 500 war boats, and 45 tons of gunpowder, 13 years after Isa Khan’s demise, having continued his resistance for more than 10 years

demise, having continued his resistance for more than 10 years.

Born, it is believed, in 1561, to one of the greatest families in what was becoming widely known as Bengal, the lands he inherited were extensive. Although it is unclear just when he inherited, he was, at a young age, perhaps in his mid teens, already acknowledged as, “The Crown Prince of Jessore.” His father, Srihari, had already divided his lands between Patapadiya, and his brother Basanta Ray, the larger portion going to Pratapaditya.

Srihari had been granted the rich Zamindari of Jessore by Daud Khan Kerrani, the last of the independent Sultans of Bengal in about 1572, as a reward for his services as a military officer of the Sultanate, on the childless death of Chand Khan, a close associate of the Portuguese.

The Emperor Akbar, determined to take full control of the valuable international trading centre around the Ganges delta, and the lands of Bengal, which the sixth Emperor, Aurangzeb, a century later, would describe as, “the paradise of nations,” for its wealth and trade, had already, by 1574, appointed his own Subahdar, or governor, of the lands that Daud would not relinquish until 1576. When Daud finally fell to the Mughal onslaught, Srihari declared independence of his Jessore based zamindari, assuming the title, Maharajah.

These were troubled times, and resistance to the Mughals would continue for over another 30 years.

In an age of low life expectancy, boys became men at a young age, and it is certain that Pratapaditya was already manifesting the military skills that continued resistance, as one of the leading freedom fighters, from his teens. Like Isa Khan,

Srihari’s independence was constantly challenged by succeeding Mughal representatives, and much of the conflict was fought on water.

The fleet of war boats - these were river craft, armed, almost certainly with some form of cannon, given the huge supply of gunpowder that Pratapaditya had accumulated by the time of his eventual surrender - although we cannot be certain of size and shape.

In addition to the Mughal enemy, there were also the Portuguese pirates with their base on Sandwip Island, and Arakanese pirates, who so continuously raided the coastal regions of the Jessore Zamindari, that included the once flourishing port of Barisal, and Bhola Island, driving from the coastal lands many of the farmers who supplied both crops for domestic consumption, and export quantities of rice, to fuel the flourishing export trade through the coastal ports like Barisal, representing a considerable proportion of the wealth that financed both zamindari, and the maintenance of the war boats and army.

Whilst Isa Khan is so often credited with leading the resistance to the Mughal advance, it seems that, despite his control of the great trading centre at Sonargaon, his resources are never as clearly listed as those of Pratapaditya. Perhaps his island hopping strategy of resistance was more effective, and, certainly, he died in his bed, never having surrendered.

When the most effective of the Mughal generals, Islam Khan, arrived, in 1608, to make another attempt at bringing Bengal, and especially the wealth that was centred on the lands that are now Bangladesh, under Mughal control, Pratapaditya, on the other hand, stood

aside from allying himself with Isa Khan’s son, Musa Khan, resisting Mughal power. He assumed that, just like the long running conflict between the Mughal forces and Isa Khan himself, the campaign would wear down Islam Khan’s strength, and force him to retreat, leaving Bengal again largely alone.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Musa Khan was easily overcome, and the Mughal strength was turned on Jessore.

Pratapaditya had already managed to assemble a large fleet of war boats, as well as a considerable land force, much of it under dissident Afghan officers from the ruling class of the days of the Sultanate who had been displaced by the administrators of the Mughal regime, mostly of Persian origin, as well as a few Portuguese mercenaries.

The first major confrontation, late in 1611, between the forces, took place around Salka, now in West Bengal. A battle fought on both water and land, between an estimated 800 war boats, and cavalry, elephants and infantry. Pratapaditya’s forces were defeated, but the fight was not conclusive.

He withdrew his forces to a second, prepared position at Kagarghat, close to modern Shatkira.

The Mughal fleet opened this engagement, with an attack on that of Jessore, forcing a retreat to the protection of the guns of the fortress that Pratapaditya had hastily constructed. However, a second, successful, sudden attack by the Mughal fleet opened the way for an attack by elephants upon the fort, which was overwhelmed.

Pratapaditya surrendered the fort, but was treacherously captured on his way to a negotiated peace,

WIKIMEDIA

under truce. Taken in chains to Dhaka, he managed to escape en route to Delhi, but died whilst attempting to return to Jessore.

The vengeance taken on the people of Jessore by the Mughal generals, in a piece written by the historian, Tapan Kumar Ray Choudhuri, reads somewhat like a report on the modern ISIS organisation’s victories in Iraq. They, “wrought such havoc that (they) became an object of terror to the people of the country. Yet, to be sure... were more humane than Murad Nathan who during the Jessore campaign bought as captives four thousand women, young and old, stripped of their clothing.”

In an age of low life expectancy, boys became men at a young age, and it is certain that Pratapaditya was already manifesting the military skills that continued resistance, as one of the leading freedom fighters, from his teens

Some elements of conflict appear to be unchanged, even in the twenty first century. It seems that the resistance of Pratapaditya, as a freedom fighter, and resister of invaders, was sufficient to so antagonise the conquerors as to considerably besmirch the reputation of the Mughals as civilised conquerors and overlords.l The author is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Intelligence source: Paris attack suspect met prominent al Qaeda preacher in Yemen n Reuters, Sanaa One of two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly shooting at a French satirical weekly met leading al Qaeda preacher Anwar al Awlaki during a stay in Yemen in 2011, a senior Yemeni intelligence source told Reuters yesterday.

US-born Awlaki was prominent in spreading al Qaeda’s militant message to European and English-speaking audiences and was an influential leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group’s most active affiliate. He was killed in September 2011 in a drone strike widely attributed to the CIA. US and European sources close to the investigation said on Thursday that one of the suspects in the French attack, Said Kouachi, was in Yemen for several months training with AQAP. The Yemeni source said Kouachi, 34, was among a number of foreigners who entered the country for religious studies.

“We do not have confirmed information that he was trained by al Qaeda but what was confirmed was that he has met with Awlaki in Shabwa,” the source said, noting that he could have been trained in one of the large parts of Yemen not under the control of the authorities back in 2011.

The southern province of Shabwa is a lawless area where al Qaeda militants and the security forces have clashed in recent years. It was under al Qaeda’s control in 2011 when mass protests forced long-ruling president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

AQAP emerged as one of al Qaeda’s most aggressive international affiliates and a direct threat to the United States, when it claimed responsibility for an attempt by a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to down a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25, 2009 with a bomb concealed in his underwear.

It said it was also behind a foiled plot to send two air freight packages

“Tell the media that it is al Qaeda in Yemen!”

Below the radar

Gunmen shoot a wounded police officer, right, on the ground at point-blank range, outside the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in this still image taken from amateur video shot on January 7, and obtained by Reuters. Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades REUTERS containing bombs to the United States in October 2010.

Said and his brother Cherif, 32, are at the center of a huge manhunt in France following the killing of 12 peo-

ple by Islamist gunmen at the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday.

The two suspects are Frenchborn sons of Algerian-born parents.

Danish newspaper says won’t print Prophet cartoons n

Reuters, Copenhagen

Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which angered Muslims by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad 10 years ago, will not republish Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons due to security concerns, the only major Danish newspaper not to do so.

“It shows that violence works,” the newspaper stated in its editorial yesterday.

Denmark’s other major newspapers have all republished cartoons from the French satirical weekly as part of the coverage of the attack which killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday.

Many other European news-

papers also republished Charlie Hebdo cartoons to protest against the killings.

When Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons by various artists in September 2005, most of which depict the Prophet Mohammad, it sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people died. l

Swedish far-right leader reported to police for ‘anti-Islam comment’ n AFP A Swedish member of parliament reported a far-right leader to the police yesterday for alleged incitement to hatred over a comment related to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

In a Facebook comment to an article on the killings at the French satirical weekly’s office Wednesday, the party secretary of the Sweden Democrats Bjoern Soeder wrote “’The religion of peace’ shows its face.”

“He has linked practising Muslims to a terrorist act, it’s extremely offensive,” Veronica Palm, from the ruling Social Democratic party told TV4 news.

“This statement is offensive to a group of people and I want to see if it comes under laws against inciting racial hatred,” said Palm.

Soeder is also a deputy speaker of the Swedish parliament where his anti-immigration party doubled its support to 13% in a September

election – making it Sweden’s third political party.

The Sweden Democrats, with roots in the country’s most radical extreme right, entered parliament in 2010 with the ambition of curbing the Nordic country’s generous policy on immigration and refugees.

Soeder came under fire from Sweden’s Jewish community in December when he told a Swedish daily that Jews could not be considered Swedish unless they abandoned their religious identity. l

Ukraine crisis: Rebels ‘intensify Donetsk and Luhansk attacks’

Egypt sets dates for parliamentary polls

Pro-Russian separatists have intensified their shelling of government positions in eastern Ukraine, military officials say.

Four Ukrainian soldiers and two civilians have reportedly been killed in the latest violence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Officials said the spike in attacks followed the arrival of a Russian aid convoy in the region on Thursday.

The fighting comes ahead of peace talks mooted to take place next week.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in December that he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on 15 January alongside the German and French leaders.

Ukrainian military officials said the soldiers had been killed following a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on army positions in eastern Ukraine. l

n Agencies

n BBC

Egypt will hold a long-awaited parliamentary election in two phases starting on March 22-23, the country’s election commission has said.

The chief of the Supreme Election Committee, Ayman Abbas, said the voting will take place in phases in Egypt’s 27 provinces and among Egyptians living abroad.

The most populous Arab country has been without a parliament since June 2012, when a court dissolved the democratically elected main chamber.

The parliamentary election is the final step in a political roadmap the army announced in July 2013 after its removal of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, following mass protests against his rule. The second phase of the poll will

be held on April 26-27.

Critics say President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as army chief toppled Morsi, has undermined freedoms gained after the uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule under Hosni Mubarak.

In the absence of parliament, Sisi has wielded legislative authority used to introduce economic reforms that have impressed investors, while also curtailing political freedoms.

The People’s Assembly has 567 seats, with 420 elected as individuals and 120 through winner-takes-all lists with quotas for women, Christians and youth. The remaining seats are appointed by the president.

The previous house was controlled by members of the Muslim Brotherhood who came to power in the country’s first democratically held vote following Mubarak’s toppling. l

Both men had been under police surveillance. Cherif was jailed for 18 months for trying to travel to Iraq a decade ago to fight as part of an Islamist cell.

There was no claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack. However, a witness quoted by 20 Minutes daily newspaper said one of the assailants cried out before getting into his car:

UN: Muslims ethnically cleansed in CAR n Agencies Christian militias in Central African Republic have carried out ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population during the country’s ongoing civil war, but there is no proof there was genocidal intent, a United Nations commission of inquiry has said.

“Thousands of people died as a result of the conflict. Human rights violations and abuses were committed by all parties. The Seleka coalition and the anti-balaka are also responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the inquiry said on Thursday.

“Although the commission cannot conclude that there was genocide, ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population by the anti-balaka constitutes a crime against humanity,” the report said.

The final report of the inquiry, which was submitted to the UN Security Council on December 19, said up to 6,000 people had been killed though it “considers that such estimates fail to capture the full magnitude of the killings that occurred.”

The mostly Christian or animist “anti-balaka” militia took up arms in 2013 in response to months of looting and

killing by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who had toppled President Francois Bozize and seized power in March the same year.

The UN Security Council established the commission of inquiry in December 2013.

Preventing violence In September 2014, the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into allegations of murder, rape and the recruiting of child soldiers in the Central African Republic.

Some 5,600 African Union peacekeepers, deployed in December 2013, and about 2,000 French troops have struggled to stem the violence in the impoverished landlocked country of 4.6 million people.

The United Nations took over the African Union peacekeeping mission in September and is mandated by the Security Council to double its size to nearly 12,000 troops and police.

The UN commission of inquiry said the deployment of the African Union peacekeepers, French troops and then the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) had “been primarily responsible for the prevention of an even greater explosion of violence.” l

The Western intelligence sources said that after Said Kouachi returned to France from Yemen, both brothers appeared to have refrained from any activities that might have drawn the attention of French law enforcement or spy agencies.

They also said that in the months leading up to Wednesday’s attack, the men were not treated as priority targets by French counter-terrorism agencies.

US government sources said both Said and Cherif Kouachi were listed in two US security databases - a highly-classified database, containing information on 1.2 million possible counter-terrorism suspects, called TIDE, and the much smaller “no fly” list maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, an interagency unit.

ABC News reported that the brothers had been listed in the databases for “years.”

Dave Joly, a spokesman for the Terrorist Screening Center, said he could neither confirm nor deny whether the Kouachis were listed in counter-terrorism databases.

Some investigators believe Awlaki’s death could have contributed to the brothers’ decision to lie low, but other investigators say that it was too early to reach such a conclusion.

As a web-savvy preacher, Awlaki was seen as an influential international recruiter to the al Qaeda movement.

One of those killed in the Paris attack was Charlie Hebdo’s top editor, Stephane Charbonnier, who drew cartoons under the rubric “Charb.”

Last spring, “Inspire,” an English-language online magazine published by AQAP, featured a “Wanted dead or alive” graphic which included Charbonnier’s name and photograph.

There was no immediate evidence that the graphic actually inspired the Paris attack. l

Militants planning mass attacks against West n AFP, London The head of Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 warned on Thursday that militant Islamists in Syria were planning “mass casualty attacks” in the West and that intelligence services may be powerless to stop them.

“We know... that a group of core al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria is planning mass casualty attacks against the West,” Andrew Parker told journalists in London a day after an Islamist attack in Paris claimed 12 lives.

“Although we and our partners try our utmost, we know that we cannot hope to stop everything,” he added.

Parker said that fighters returning to the West from the civil war in Syria were in danger of bringing with them a “twisted ideology” that could lead them to carry out attacks on famous landmarks at home.

Although Islamic State presented the most obvious threat, fighters aligned with the core of al-Qaeda were also a danger. “We still face more complex and ambitious plots that follow the now sadly well-established approach of al-Qaeda and its imitators – attempts to cause largescale loss of life, often by attacking transport systems or iconic targets,” he said. l

Boko Haram kills dozens in fresh raids in Nigerian town n Reuters, Bauchi Boko Haram militants have killed dozens of people and burned down homes in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga in the past two days, in a second killing spree since seizing control there at the weekend, witnesses said on Thursday.

Two locals said the Islamist insurgents began shooting indiscriminately and burning buildings on Tuesday evening in raids on the civilian population that carried on into Wednesday.

“I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people ... I saw bodies in the street.

Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar told Reuters after fleeing to the state capital Maiduguri.

The insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November. It is seen as

the gravest threat to Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election on Feb. 14.

Soldiers fled Baga over the weekend when the Sunni jihadist group overran a nearby army base.

The district head of Baga, Abba Hassan, said on Thursday that at least 100 people were killed when the group first took over the town on the edge of Lake Chad.

Abubakar Gulama, who escaped without his family to Monguno, 40 km (25 miles) away, said he crossed “many dead bodies on the ground” and that “the whole town was on fire.”

Reuters TV footage showed scores of civilians waiting on sandy streets on the outskirts of Baga to catch buses out of town. Many carried the few possessions they had salvaged, such as bags of clothes and rolled up mattresses.

In the last week, around 2,000 Nige-

rians and 500 Chadians have fled Boko Haram attacks in Chad’s Lake region, Chadian Prime Minister Kalzeubet Pahimi said on Wednesday.

A source at a rights group in Maiduguri said some 10 women who snuck out of Baga a few days after the first attack had reported that their daughters aged 10-20 had been kidnapped.

The militants have been waging an insurgency to establish an Islamic state for more than five years.

The number and scale of attacks rose sharply in 2014 after the government imposed emergency rule on the three worst-hit states in 2013, and the administration of President Jonathan has met growing criticism for failing to quash it.

Jonathan defended his record on tackling Boko Haram at the launch of his election campaign and blamed opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria’s ill-equipped army. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Thai assembly begins impeachment hearing against Yingluck n Reuters, Bangkok

Indonesian Navy divers, left, prepare to depart from the vessel KRI Banda Aceh to conduct operations to lift the tail of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea yesterday. Ping signals from the black box data recorders of crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 were detected yesterday, a senior Indonesian search official told AFP

Indonesia official says ‘pings’ detected in search for AirAsia flight recorders n Reuters, Jakarta Indonesia search and rescue teams hunting for the wreck of an AirAsia passenger jet detected pings in their efforts to find the black box flight recorders yesterday, an official said, 12 days after the plane went missing with 162 people on board.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 vanished from radar screens on Dec. 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors.

Forty-eight bodies, including at least two still strapped to their seats, have been found in waters off Borneo, but strong winds and high waves have hampered efforts to reach larger pieces of suspected wreckage detected by sonar on the sea floor.

Tharoor: Sunanda’s death should be probed professionally

n Agencies

Promising full cooperation in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case, Congress MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor said yesterday the probe should be done “professionally without any political pressure or predetermined outcome.”

Talking to newspersons at the templetown of Guruvayoor in Kerala, Tharoor said he was “taken aback” by the murder FIR as there was no reason to believe there was any foul play or that any person who had access to Sunanda wanted to harm her.

Tharoor said he wrote to Delhi police commissioner about the case because he had a number of “concerns” on how the probe was conducted so far.

The Congress MP said he has been silent on the specifics of the case over the last one year because he respected police procedure.

He also requested the media to show some heart in the coverage of the case and to desist from “misinformation, distortion and outright lies.”

Tharoor said he was in Guruvayoor for the last two weeks for a scheduled Ayurvedic treatment and would now be returning to Delhi.

Sunanda was found dead in a south Delhi hotel’s suite on January 17 last year.

Delhi Police had on Tuesday registered a murder case in connection with Sunanda’s death under section 302 of IPC on the basis of an AIIMS medical report which concluded that her death was unnatural and due to poisoning.

The Special Investigation Team formed by the Delhi police to probe the case has so far questioned six persons including Tharoor’s domestic help Narayan Singh.

Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi said Friday they will be able to provide some “definitive input” in three to four days in the case.

He said the SIT is now going to look into “each and every aspect” and would keep him posted periodically about the progress in the case. l

The Airbus A320-200 carries the cockpit voice and flight data recorders near the tail section. Officials had warned, however, that they could have become separated from the tail.

Santoso Sayogo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee, said it appeared that the flight recorders were no longer in the tail.

“We received an update from the field that the pinger locator already detected pings,” he told Reuters.

“We have our fingers crossed it is the black box. Divers need to confirm.

Unfortunately it seems it’s off from the tail. But the divers need to confirm the position.”

The tail was found on Wednesday, upturned on the sea bed about 30 km (20 miles) from the plane’s last known location at a depth of around 30 meters.

Indonesian search teams loaded lifting balloons on to helicopters yesterday ahead of an operation to raise the tail.

The head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, said he assumed the flight recorders were still in the tail and that reports they had separated had yet to be confirmed.

“The divers are tying the tail with straps and then we will try (to lift it) two ways - floating balloons combined with cranes, so that the tail sector wouldn’t be damaged,” he told reporters. “Because we assume the black box is in the tail sector.”

He said two bodies had been found still attached to their seats, with local television reporting that one of the recovered seats was from the cockpit.

“Looking for victims is still our

main priority besides the black box,” he said.

Relatives of the victims have urged authorities to make finding the remains of their loved ones the priority.

Indonesia AirAsia, 49% owned by the Malaysia-based AirAsia budget group, has come under pressure from the authorities in Jakarta since the crash.

The transport ministry has suspended the carrier’s Surabaya-Singapore license, saying it only had permission to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Flight QZ8501 took off on a Sunday, though the ministry said this had no bearing on the accident.

While the cause of the crash is not known, the national weather bureau has said seasonal tropical storms common in the area were likely to be a factor. l

Thailand’s parliament began an impeachment hearing against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday that could lead to her being banned from politics for five years and stoke tension in the divided country.

Yingluck, Thailand’s first woman prime minister, was removed from office for abuse of power in May and days later her government was ousted in a military coup that ended months of street protests against her by her rivals.

Yingluck remains popular among the rural poor who elected her in a 2011 landslide, as does her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and the impeachment hearing could test a fragile calm under military rule.

In her opening statement to the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly, Yingluck said the proceedings were futile as she no longer held any political post.

“I was removed from my position as prime minister. I have no position left to be removed from,” Yingluck told the assembly.

About 20 of Yingluck’s supporters gathered outside parliament despite government warnings to stay away.

Some held red roses and tried to raise pictures of Yingluck until police told them to put them away.

Thailand is under martial law and public gatherings are banned.

The case concerns Yingluck’s role

in a rice subsidy program which critics denounced as a wasteful handout to the Shinawatras’ supporters and which incurred billions of dollars in losses.

A day after she was ordered to step down in May, the National Anti-Corruption Commission indicted her for dereliction of duty in relation to the rice scheme.

The impeachment is the latest chapter in a divisive 10-year struggle for power between the Shinawatras and the royalist-military establishment which Thaksin, a populist former telecommunications tycoon, as a threat.

A guilty verdict would see Yingluck banned from politics.

Her supporters say the case is aimed at barring her from an election the military has promised to hold early next year and ending the influence of the Shinawatra family.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile to avoid a 2008 graft conviction but remains hugely influential.

The National Legislative Assembly has said a decision could come by the end of the month.

Under the subsidy scheme, Yingluck’s government bought rice from farmers at prices much higher than on the open market leading to huge stockpiles.

Yingluck defended the scheme in her opening statement.

“Please look at the benefits of the scheme and not just the financial cost,” she said.

The hearing resumes on Jan 16. l

Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, right, speaks at the first hearing of impeachment proceedings by the military-stacked National Legislative Assembly (NLA) at the parliament in Bangkok yesterday AFP

J-K: No govt in sight, Centre recommends governor’s rule

North Korea rejects call from South’s parliament for talks

n Tribune Desk

North Korea rejected yesterday a South Korean call for the resumption of stalled talks, a setback for efforts to reduce tension on the peninsula after the North Korean leader made a surprise New Year call for a summit.

South Korea’s parliament called last month for a resumption of negotiations on various issues including North Korea’s human rights, and families still separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Centre yesterday recommended governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, a day after Omar Abdullah stepped down as caretaker chief minister.

Hindustan times had first reported the development after Omar met governor NN Vohra and expressed desire to be relieved of his duties.

The state comes under governor’s rule amid the fortnight-long standoff over government formation following the fractured mandate thrown up in the assembly election.

Talks of a tie-up between the two parties hang in the balance because of their deep ideological differences “Talks between the BJP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have not yielded any result. Omar is unwilling to carry on. The Union home ministry is making preparations for governor’s rule in the state. Governor NN Vohra is understood to have sent his report to the Centre on the political deadlock in the state,” a home ministry official had said on Thursday.

Omar had tweeted that the state needed a permanent administrator to care for 10,000 people displaced in the border areas by Pakistani shelling and scores of families awaiting rehabilitation after last year’s devastating floods.

“Just to confirm I did meet Gov Vohra sahib last night & ask him to relieve me as caretaker CM. I had agreed

to stay temporarily,” Omar tweeted about his meeting with the governor in Delhi after returning from London where he spent time with his parents.

His father, Farooq Abdullah, underwent a kidney transplant there.

“I believe the interests of the state will only be served by a full time administrator & not a caretaker with no mandate to govern,” he tweeted.

He said the state didn’t have a government since October after the model code of conduct set in for the assembly polls. Omar was continuing as caretaker chief minister after his resignation on December 24, 2014.

The state plunged into a crisis after the poll threw up a hung verdict — neither the PDP, which emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats, nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 25 could get the magic figure of 44 to stake claim to form a government in the 87-member House.

Talks of a tie-up between the two parties hang in the balance because of their deep ideological differences.

A PDP leader said the party would seek a fresh mandate if required, while the BJP is wary of a backlash in next month’s Delhi poll if it accepts a compromise formula to form government in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar’s National Conference has 15 MLAs. The Congress managed just a dozen. A government had to be formed before January 19, when the term of the current assembly expires, failing which governor’s rule was inevitable to avert a constitutional breakdown.

The state had seen a similar situation 12 years ago when Farooq Abdullah had asked the governor to relieve him of the charge as caretaker CM because the PDP and the Congress were taking too much time to stitch an alliance and form a government.

Omar’s party held the PDP responsible for the crisis this time around too, saying it was ignoring the people’s mandate. l

n Reuters, Seoul

But an official at South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the North had rejected the proposal, without giving a reason.

South Korea has also proposed inter-Korean talks be held this month, but North Korea has not yet responded to that specific offer.

The rejection of the South Korean parliament’s call comes during a period of heightened tension between North Korea and the Unit-

ed States, which is South Korea’s main ally.

North Korea on Thursday warned the United States of a “war disaster” if it did not withdraw sanctions imposed

by Washington following a crippling hacking attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

North Korea has denied it had any involvement in the hacking.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s address he was open to a summit with the South. l

All you need to know about the new Sri-Lanka president

I will not contest for a second time – Sirisena

n Tribune Desk Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (63) was the health minister for the Rajapaksa government and senior member of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party until he broke ranks on November 21 to become the presidential candidate for a common opposition.

He has pledged to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days and return the country to a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy where the police, the judiciary, and the civil service will be independent institutions.

Sirisena has vowed to abolish the controversial 18th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution – which gives sweeping powers to the President in addition to removing the two-term limit on presidency He had said before the polls that he would not withdraw troops from the island’s Tamil-majority north, as national security would be of top priority to him.

His principal supporters include former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and former prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe will be appoint-

ed Prime Minister if he is elected.

Senior Buddhist monks and political parties representing the Tamils and Muslims, including allies of Rajapaksa, shifted support to Sirisena ahead of the election.

He was first elected to the Parliament in 1989. He has held several ministries under Kumaratunga. He was Minister of Agriculture in the first Rajapakas government elected in 2005.

He was reelected in 2010 and appointed minister of health.

He has pledged to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days and return the country to a Westminsterstyle parliamentary democracy He escaped assassination attempt on October 9, 2008 when a convoy he was part of was attacked by a LTTE suicide bomber in Colombo. l

n Tribune Desk

Sri Lanka president Maithripala Sirisena says he will not contest for another term.

Addressing the nation soon after being sworn in as the sixth president of Sri Lanka, Maithripla Sirisena vouched he has no intention to run for a presidential election for the second time at the end of his first term.

While thanking people of the country for electing him, Sirisena reiterated his commitment to bring social, economic and political reforms to the country as pledged by his 100-day programme.

Stressing the need of having free media in the country, he also promised to bring in an ethical culture to state media.

Sirisena extended special thanks to Election Commissioner and his staff for holding a free and fair election, UNP for assisting the process of selecting him as the common candidate, JHU and JVP for the special role they played in the election process and former president Chandrika Kumaratunga for her role.

He also praised and thanked former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for steps taken to ensure smooth transfer of powers. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, January 10, 2015

CODE-CRACKER

There can be no excuse

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here can be no acceptable response to the massacre in Paris on January 7, that took the lives of 12 people at the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, other than complete and unqualified condemnation.

All else pales into insignificance beside the fact that 12 men have had their lives brutally extinguished in what can only be described as a barbaric and indefensible act of terror. All people of conscience should be shocked at the carnage and have nothing but the deepest revulsion for such an atrocity.

Let us not for a moment countenance any kind of justification for the deed or see the perpetrators as anything other than cold-blooded killers, the enemy of us all.

We must all stand together to aver, that whatever our differences, murder is never a solution and can never be justified.

It need scarcely be added that in the opinion of this newspaper the terrorists disgrace the name of the religion in whose name they claim to act and that they acted in no one’s name but their own.

The fact that one of those slain in the attack was himself of the Muslim faith only underscores how little the terrorists care for their co-religionists, in whose name they claim to act.

The Paris killings have provided us all with a salutary lesson as to what is at stake in the battle against intolerance and murderous totalitarian ideologies.

Now is not the time to contemplate the nature of the cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo or to weigh what is acceptable free speech and what is beyond the pale.

Those are arguments for another day.

Today, the only appropriate response is to mourn the loss of innocent life, and to resolve to never surrender to the forces of the murderous ideology that took them.

The Paris killings are a salutary lesson as to what is at stake in the battle against intolerance

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Jihad found dead in the 600-ft pipe December 28

Dr Ahsan Habib Government failures in managing emergencies: 1. Rana Plaza 2. Rescue of Pinak launch 3. Response to oil spill in Sundarbans 4. Rescue of Jihad Reason: These are not priorities to the government, whose priority is looting money and staying in power.

Why is it that they are never prepared for emergencies, or why did they have to beg doorto-door for a camera during Jihad’s rescue? They only spend money to buy discarded ships and planes so that the involved parties can make their bank balance grow.

M Bhuiyan We were watching the live TV broadcast from the Middle East, with a glimpse of BUET engineers in the rescue operation for their expertise in seeking

Reports: Air Asia flight missing

Privatisation the way to put Biman in profit

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parliamentary committee has recently called for Biman Bangladesh Airlines to drastically trim its staffing levels within the next three months.

The Public Accounts Committee strongly criticised the state owned airline, which has accumulated over Tk1,220cr in headline losses during the last four years, for continuing to be managed very inefficiently.

It highlights repeated instances of over-staffing and the employment of unqualified personnel, and has recommended disciplinary action for officers who were responsible for such recruitment.

Unfortunately, the public can have little confidence that such action will be undertaken. In 2007, the then caretaker government recommended that Biman reduce its manpower from 6,837 to 3,400 employees through a selfretirement scheme, but the recommendation was not followed up.

Instead, Biman has continued to be propped up by the taxpayer and plans to pursue privatisation which were heralded by turning it into a public limited company, have been put put on hold.

We do not see any justification for the government continuing to keep supporting Biman with endless subsidies, when there is so much evidence that its management is incapable of reining in heavy losses. Putting Biman in the private sector is the only practical way to achieve the types of changes the airline needs to sustain profitability.

Government funds should focus on training more flight engineers and pilots within the country and improving safety and infrastructure. Ensuring first rate airport hubs, out of which wellmanaged airlines can operate, is a better way to spend taxpayer money than endlessly funding Biman’s losses.

Continued state management is incapable of reining in heavy losses

December 28 Fahim Ahmed Are you joking? That’s too weird!

Kamrul Hassan Again!

SA Keeping my fingers crossed that their fate is far, far better than the passengers of #MH370.

Mashrur Mobin Deja vu?

Anon Mashrur Mobin: At this rate, I’m wondering what the heck is really going on down there in the South Pacific, and what “forces” are really at play here.

Liberation War monument lies half-done for 18 years

December 28 SA “The ministry said they provide funds for new projects only, not the half-done or old ones.”

A ludicrous statement by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. Clearly they have no idea what they are supposed to be doing. Worse, they don’t care.

Police arrest Jubo Dal president Alal

December 28 Sumon Gazi Pushpo Yes, but why? What reason do they have for arresting him?

A moderate message

December 28

Karl Hungus As long as we can spread the light of education (the good kind, that is) to the people, militancy, extremism and other such blights can never touch us.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 14 represents W so fill W every time the figure 14 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

an innovative solution, but they all failed. Finally, the boy was rescued by the makeshift technology of local youths with some tech experience in welding work for grills, etc. What then is the use of pumping the nation’s hard cash into BUET? How can a premise under construction stay open to the public like this? What is Dhaka City Corporation doing, and what are they even checking? When a premise is abandoned, is any certificate just taken from the fire department or municipality department to deem the place as safe for public use? Who is the owner of these premises?

The father and mother must launch an action against the owner of the premises under the Defective Premises Act, and claim some compensation.

SE May his soul rest in peace.

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

Study: Sundarbans food chain broken by oil spill

December 28 Seira If you don’t care about the forest, which is evident at this point, you could at least try to save it for the sake of the people whose lives depend on it. Don’t forget this forest took the brunt of Sidr. Utterly shameless, our leaders.

HT Imam: AL never resorts to violence despite being repeatedly attacked

December 28 AH Imam, you were a university friend of my late uncle.

I am ashamed of you. Look at the events around you before you open your mouth. I pity your current decay of morality.

But who will watch the ACC? December 28

Zero-Agenda “The ACC should be run following the rules and regulations of the ACC Act, without any fear and favour.”

The fact that a watchdog group can engage in the very act it is supposed to be alert about is simply unjustifiable.

Evil People Politics A very sad revelation.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Early freshness (3) 3 Wise counselor (6) 8 Summit (4) 9 Female sheep (3) 10 Sea nymphs (6) 11 Annul (6) 14 Comforts (5) 17 Sing softly (5) 20 Lubricating (6) 24 Essay on a theme (6) 26 Corn spike (3) 27 Symbol (4) 28 Raised platforms (6) 29 Prosecute (3)

DOWN 1 Sullen (4) 2 Insect (4) 3 Table-shaped hill (4) 4 Banishment (5) 5 Swarms (5) 6 Possess (3) 7 Reposes (5) 12 Make a mistake (3) 13 Self (3) 15 Boring tool (3) 16 Vast age (3) 17 Quotes (5) 18 Musical drama (5) 19 Unmusical sound (5) 21 Egyptian goddess (4) 22 Taverns (4) 23 Adhesive (4) 25 Headwear (3)

Liberation War monument lies half-done for 18 years December 28

ST “The ministry said they provide funds for new projects only, not the half-done or old ones.” A ludicrous statement by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. It seems the ministry has no idea what their purpose is. Worse, they don’t care.

Tackle poverty first December 28

rose Elimination of poverty is really needed here and then perhaps child marriage can be done away with.

As if losing a son wasn’t enough December 28

PEANUTS

SR Must we always be led to disappointment, and in cases like this shame, by our government bodies?

On what basis did the police think that the poor boy’s parents were lying about his fall, when the rescue team itself claimed they were talking to the boy in the initial hours of the rescue operation? Why were they even taken to the police station when they were going through so much grief?

Couldn’t the police go to them instead?

What happened to “serving the people”?

Kamal needs to go to the family and apologise in person.

What a slap in the face of all these people – the minister, the police, all those who said it was a “rumour” – when a bunch of rookies, instead of the “trained” firefighters, got Jihad’s body out. You people should be ashamed of yourselves, but sadly you’re not, because you have no honour.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Sharpening the contradictions Why al-Qaeda attacked satirists in Paris deriving from wordplay involving n Juan Cole scrambling of letters). Ironically, there

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BIGSTOCK

Writing off democracy

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n Esam Sohail rior to going into banking and a subsequent MBA, my higher education was concentrated in politics, economics, and international relations. In working at different positions in one of the world’s largest banks, one truism that was honed into me was the importance of a client’s past record.

No matter how sophisticated the information tools, how sincere the promises of future performance, or even the innate gifts of a sixth sense, the only substantive proof we had of a customer’s credibility was that of his or her record with regards to financial prudence.

While such emphasis on prior performance was not, and should not be, the exclusive criteria to judge someone’s future successes or failures, only the most naïve bankers dismiss the verifiable past of a client.

The same can be said of journalists and civil society types in regards to politicians.

There are two periods in Bangladesh’s history where the truth had often been distorted to the point of mockery. One was the war of independence about which an entire generation was regaled with a sanitised version where there were mysterious occupation forces and a speech of March 7.

The current dispensation is to be thanked for correcting that collective amnesia, so that now we talk about Pakistani occupation forces and the historic March 7 speech by Sheikh

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Mujibur Rahman, whose pre-eminent role in the leadership of the war of independence is beyond question now.

Unfortunately, the second period of historic distortion is something that this government – along with its cronies in journalism, academia, and civil society – has fostered to the hilt going back to first days of the restoration of democracy in 1991.

The same constitutional mockery mandated that all civil servants become members of that one party, removed the independence of the higher judiciary (an independence that has not yet been fully restored), and shut down all newspapers in the country except the four owned by the ruling party or the ruling family.

Prior to this heist against the consti-

Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. The proof of that nugget of wisdom is all around us

Only when put in a rhetorical corner do these sycophants admit that there were some mistakes in the 1974-1975 era of the first Awami League government, but then they quickly backtrack to say those were merely honest mistakes of administration which have since been corrected.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The historical facts are for all to see, despite the suppression being carried out: Bangladesh’s first multi-party republican democracy was killed in 1975 by the AL through the infamous 4th amendment and a one-party state policed by the Bangladeshi version of the Gestapo – the Rakkhibahini – was created.

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tution, the valiant freedom fighter Siraj Sikder was killed in what was likely the first instance of an orchestrated extra-judicial killing in independent Bangladesh; his killing was actually boasted by the then prime minister in parliament.

Only two MPs of the day, true to their allegiance to the free republic that each had helped create in throes of the freedom struggle, resigned their seats in parliament rather than become part of a personality-cult driven dictatorship.

Most of the other lawmakers and AL leaders gladly kept their positions and congratulated each other on entering an era where there would be no oppo-

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sition anymore.

It is not that the same party is in office today. And it shows. The brutal crackdown on political dissent using uniformed security forces and wellarmed party cadres, the suppression of newspapers and independent television stations, the physical assault on the few institutions like the Press Club, Dhaka University, and the Supreme Court still outside the growing ambit of the ruling party’s machinery … the list is long but surprising only to those who choose to forget history.

It is said that those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.

The proof of that nugget of wisdom is all around us, notwithstanding the hollow shell of a constitution which is largely in practical abeyance or the animated powerpoint presentations of pampered youth at self-indulgent seminars in the conference rooms of the Radisson or the Westin.

Bangladesh’s once vibrant civil society hoped against hope that those very politicians who gave Bangladesh the infamous 4th amendment had now become liberal democrats, and hence were to be supported out of some faint sense of progress.

For that promise of change, there was no collateral placed to balance the horrible record of previous performance. Unlike in banks, the price for that poor decision has not been just a loan that had to be written off; rather, it is democracy itself that has been written off. l Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

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he horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists, and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarising the French and European public.

The problem for a terrorist group like al-Qaeda is that its recruitment pool is Muslims, but most Muslims are not interested in terrorism. Most Muslims are not even interested in politics, much less political Islam. France is a country of 66 million, of which about 5 million is of Muslim heritage.

But in polling, only a third, less than 2 million, say that they are interested in religion. French Muslims may be the most secular Muslim-heritage population in the world (ex-Soviet ethnic Muslims often also have low rates of belief and observance).

Many Muslim immigrants in the post-war period to France came as labourers, and were not literate people, and their grandchildren are rather distant from Middle Eastern fundamentalism, pursuing urban cosmopolitan culture such as rap and rai. In Paris, where Muslims tend to be better educated and more religious, the vast majority reject violence and say they are loyal to France.

Al-Qaeda wants to mentally colonise French Muslims, but faces a wall of disinterest. But if it can get non-Muslim French to be beastly to ethnic Muslims on the grounds that they are Muslims, it can start creating a common political identity around grievance against discrimination.

This tactic is similar to the one used

by Stalinists in the early 20th century. Decades ago, I read an account by the philosopher Karl Popper of how he flirted with Marxism for about six months in 1919 when he was auditing classes at the University of Vienna.

He left the group in disgust when he discovered that they were attempting to use false flag operations to provoke militant confrontations.

In one of them, police killed eight socialist youth at Hörlgasse on June 15, 1919. For the unscrupulous among Bolsheviks – who would later be Stalinists – the fact that most students and workers don’t want to overthrow the business class is inconvenient, and so it seemed desirable to some of them to “sharpen the contradictions” between labour and capital.

The operatives who carried out this attack exhibit signs of professional training. They spoke unaccented French, and so certainly know that they are playing into the hands of Marine LePen and the Islamophobic French Right wing. They may have been French, but they appear to have been battle hardened.

This horrific murder was not a pious protest against the defamation of a religious icon. It was an attempt to provoke European society into pogroms against French Muslims, at which point al-Qaeda recruitment would suddenly exhibit some successes instead of faltering in the face of lively Beur youth culture (French Arabs playfully call themselves by this anagram term

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are reports that one of the two policemen they killed was a Muslim.

Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, then led

by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, deployed this sort of polarisation strategy successfully in Iraq, constantly attacking Shiites and their holy symbols, and provoking the ethnic cleansing of a million Sunnis from Baghdad. The polarisation proceeded, with the help of various incarnations of Daesh (Arabic for ISIL or ISIS, which descends from al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia).

And in the end, the brutal and genocidal strategy worked, such that Daesh was able to encompass all of Sunni Arab Iraq, which had suffered so many Shiite reprisals that they sought the umbrella of the very group that had deliberately and systematically provoked the Shiites.

“Sharpening the contradictions” is the strategy of sociopaths and totalitarians, aimed at unmooring people from their ordinary insouciance and preying on them, mobilising their energies and wealth for the perverted purposes of a self-styled great leader.

The only effective response to this manipulative strategy (as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani tried to tell the Iraqi Shiites a decade ago) is to resist the impulse to blame an entire group for the actions of a few, and to refuse to carry out identity-politics reprisals.

For those who require unrelated people to take responsibility for those who claim to be their co-religionists (not a demand ever made of Christians), the al-Azhar Seminary, seat of Sunni Muslim learning and fatwas, condemned the attack, as did the Arab League that comprises 22 Muslim-majority states.

We have a model for response to terrorist provocation and attempts at sharpening the contradictions. It is Norway after Anders Behring Breivik committed mass murder of Norwegian leftists for being soft on Islam. The Norwegian government launched no war on terror. They tried Breivik in court as a common criminal. They remained committed to their admirable modern Norwegian values.

Most of France will also remain committed to French values of the Rights of Man, which they invented.

But an insular and hateful minority will take advantage of this deliberately polarising atrocity to push their own agenda. Europe’s future depends on whether the Marine LePens are allowed to become mainstream.

Extremism thrives on other people’s extremism, and is inexorably defeated by tolerance.

Let me conclude by offering my profound condolences to the families, friends and fans of our murdered colleagues at Charlie Hebdo, including Stephane Charbonnier, Bernard Maris, and cartoonists Georges Wolinski Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, and Berbard Verlhac (Tignous) – and all the others. As Charbonnier, known as Charb, said” “I prefer to die standing than to live on my knees.” l Juan Cole is an American academic and commentator. This article was previously posted on juancole.com.

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An open letter to politicians E

steemed politicians (both elected and non-elected): Hope all’s well with most of you. I’ve always wanted to request for a lot of things in Bangladeshi politics, but couldn’t, as I’ve been a bit shy thinking whether I’d matter to you.

First, please allow me to thank all of you for having the stamina to come into politics and work from that arena.

Politics needs a huge amount of mental and physical strength, which we commoners usually don’t have. You excel in that sphere.

You have all the potential for becoming our true leaders, and the country would benefit from your work.

There are, however, a few topics we want you to think about. They might help you as well as our country as a whole.

We’d love to see you possess the ability of envisioning on behalf of us.

You’re the people who should let us know how our tomorrow will look like.

We, the people, would love to hear

from you about our future: Where will we be in five years’ time, how would Bangladesh fare in global trade and investment 20 years from now.

It’s very important for us that you create a tomorrow for us where we can feel physically safe, emotionally sound, and professionally confident.

We want you to lead us to a bigger picture of tomorrow, with a long-term plan about our country.

We want our tomorrow to be different from today. It’s highly likely that we may perish if we don’t have the vision for tomorrow. So, let’s ask the question: What will our tomorrow look like?

We also want you to enlist us in your minds, so that you can know what we want from you, the leaders.

It’s about engaging you in our thought processes so that you can easily involve us in your thinking. It’s always better to get feedback from the masses who you are, as you say, working for.

It would be great if you could find a way to run personal surveys as far as the people’s desire is concerned. We

would love to watch you caring about our feedback regarding the state of affairs.

You are our representatives in both local and international arenas. You embody us to the world, for which the global population assesses us as a nation. Therefore, the message you give to the world is important.

We’d love to watch our leaders speak with international leaders perfectly after doing some homework.

We feel there’s a need for creating a positive and encouraging image of your people to them. We will feel proud and confident when we see the international community admiring you, praising you.

We would like to request you to empower us in such a way that we have some authority and power. It will be to your credit if you can equip us with knowledge, new skills and ideas.

It’s vital that we become skilled decision-makers in whatever we’re doing.

There’s certainly a need for creating a training-up culture.

This cannot be a one-time phe-

nomenon; equipping us for a better tomorrow has to be consistent. We also want to excel in the international arena. There are new challenges, new forms of competitiveness with new technologies coming our way. How ready are we to embrace those?

Our hearts say that our leaders will continuously evaluate us. Side by side with assessing themselves, we want our leaders to evaluate us. We want to ask the questions: Are we progressing?

Are the countrymen changing for a better future? Evaluation is an honest and constructive feedback to the people.

Whenever you see us going the wrong way, it’s you who should be leading us back to the right path. If you see us breaking the law, you need to make us understand the repurcussions of violating the law. You should stop us when you see us derailing from the tracks.

We want you to become our motivators for the immense possibilities that might help us excel in our professional and family lives. The encourage-

ment to do better for the country and contribute in the development of our nation has to come from you.

If I’m a doctor, you have to encourage me to become the best doctor in the world. Continuous encouragement from you would help us reach for the stars. You are the ones who can do it, if you have the passion and desire to

lift us up with a big dream.

I think I’ve asked you to do a lot of things in just one day. But I can assure you, if you have all these qualities, we are ready to remain your loyal followers for the rest of our lives. l Ekram Kabir is Head of Program, ABC Radio 89.2, and a Dhaka Tribune columnist.

BIGSTOCK

n Ekram Kabir

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, January 10, 2015

13 Yaya Toure wins

fourth straight African award

14 Smith trumps

Bradman to fuel run chase

14 Messi, Neymar

ease Barca towards quarters

Sport

Did you know?

Chris Rogers is the ninth Australian batsman to reach 50 in six consecutive Test innings

Streak content with pace quartet n Mazhar Uddin Since his inclusion as the new pace-bowling coach of Bangladesh in May last year, the Tigers’ fast-bowling department appeared to be improving in leaps and bounds. Former Zimbabwe captain and paceman Heath Streak has now got the biggest assignment ahead of him – the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

The Tigers are scheduled to fly to Brisbane, Australia on January 24 for a two-week training camp before leaving for Sydney on February 7 with the global showpiece event getting underway a week later.

And according to Streak, the training camp in Brisbane will be very important for the Tigers heading into the 11th edition of the 50-over World Cup. “If we wanted to do well we have to adapt to the conditions of Australia and I think the two-week camp will be very important for us. But, we have to ensure that the players can utilise what they have learnt in the right times,” opined Streak.

Skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza will be spearheading the pace-bowling attack and will be supported by the likes of Al Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain and young paceman Taskin Ahmed.

Ozil, Ramsey set for Arsenal return n Reuters, London Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielders Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are back in training and in contention for Sunday’s game against Stoke City after lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Germany international Ozil has been out since early October with a knee ligament injury, while Ramsey has not featured since the start of December, leaving Wenger short on goals and creativity in midfield.

“Aaron Ramsey, Ozil and Mathieu Flamini are back in training. (Danny) Welbeck is not available, (Olivier) Giroud is back from suspension,” Wenger told reporters.

“Ozil will train with the squad today, he’s been sick, he will be available. Will I start him? I don’t know.”

Another player whose place in the starting lineup is perhaps not guaranteed is goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who was fined by the club after being caught smoking in the changing room following their defeat to Southampton on Jan. 1.

The Pole has apologised, Wenger said, but it seems his manager will still leave him sweating on his place in the side.l

The 40-year old pace-bowling coach said he is satisfied with the seaming talents at his disposal and informed that the quartet have different sets of varities.

“The pace-bowling department has got the variety where we have both pace and swing among the four bowlers. Such as Taskin who has got the pace while Al Amin is able to swing the ball. I think there should be no worries in the fast-bowling department for us,” he stated.

The former Zimbabwean all-rounder also asserted that the Tigers have the ability to reach the second round of the global event. “We must have to beat Afghanistan and Scotland first and if we can snatch a win against a big team I think we are capable of reaching the second round,” he said.

Apart from Afghanistan and Scotland, Bangladesh will also take on cohosts Australia and New Zealand, 1996 World Cup champions Sri Lanka and serial under-achievers England.

Meanwhile, Rubel, who was sent behind bars last Thursday following a case filed against him by a film actress under the Women and Children Repression Act, will make way for standby paceman Shafiul Islam if things are not resolved quickly. l

Australia’s Mathew Leckie (L) congratulates Mile Jedinak (C) and Tim Cahill (R) after a goal during their Asian Cup match against Kuwait in Melbourne yesterday

AFP

Sri Lanka sixth team in Bangabandhu Gold Cup

Australia hammer Kuwait 4-1 in stunning Asian Cup start

n Shishir Hoque

n Reuters, Melbourne

The long wait for the sixth and final participant of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Tournament 2015 is finally over as the Bangladesh Football Federation confirmed yesterday that Sri Lanka will take part in the event.

After five teams – hosts Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain and Singapore - were confirmed as the participants of the much-talked about tournament last month, the BFF has sent invitations to several countries for the sixth slot but was unable to finalise anything until yesterday. During this time, the names of many countries were being discussed.

It was believed that the name of the last team would be finalised before, during or after the ExtraOrdinary Congress of the Asian Football Confederation, which is being held in Australia. BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag are part of the Bangladesh contingent in the Congress and yesterday, Shohag confirmed Sri Lanka’s participation.

“The participating countries of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup International Football Torunament 2015 are Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangladesh.

The other details of the tournament will be declared through an official press conference on the 12th or 13th

Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Singapore were confirmed as the participants of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup of January, 2015, at the BFF House,” informed the BFF yesterday evening through a press release.

However, the fixtures of the long-awaited international tournament has not been finalised yet.

The previous starting date was set at January 16 but it was learnt that the event is likely to be postponed by at least a week or more. l

Australia shook off a nervous start and an early goal before trampling over Kuwait 4-1 to kick off their home Asian Cup in emphatic style in Melbourne on Friday.

Young midfielder Massimo Luongo shone for the home side, setting up a goal for Socceroos talisman Tim Cahill in the 33rd minute before heading in one of his own two minutes before the break in front of 30,000 spectators at the Rectangular Stadium.

The double strike put Australia 2-1 up at halftime after Kuwait defender Hussain Fadhel had stunned the hosts with a goal in the eighth minute of the Group A encounter.

The second half was far more routine for the hosts as captain Mile Jedinak netted a 62nd penalty before James Troisi iced the match with an injury-time strike that sent the home fans into raptures.

The relief was palpable as thrilled Socceroos players embraced at the final whistle, having come into the match with a solitary win from their 11 previous matches under coach Ange

Postecoglou.

Though they dominated possession and terrorised Kuwait goal-keeper Hameed Youssef for much of the second half, Australia’s shaky defence will leave Postecoglou with much to ponder.

After an opening ceremony featuring hip hop music and indigenous dance, a nervous Australia conceded the first goal with some sloppy set-piece defending.

ASIAN CUP RESULT

Australia

Tim Cahill 33, Massimo Luongo 44, Mile Jedinak 62-P, James Troisi 90+2

4-1

Kuwait

Hussain Fadhel 8

The 30-year-old Fadhel latched onto a neat deflection from team mate Fahed Al Ebrahim after a low corner had whizzed into the heart of the penalty area.

Australia spent much of the half regaining their composure before Cahill, so long Australia’s saviour, cancelled out the early goal in the 33rd minute after a brilliant jinking run by Luongo,

who eluded three opponents near the right corner before crossing low into the path of his team mate.

Luongo then leaped in front of Cahill to head in a cross from defender Ivan Franjic to give Australia a deserved halftime lead.

Australia pushed relentlessly after the break, with Matthew Leckie cannoning a left-foot shot off the crossbar after Cahill had a low shot parried away by the keeper.

The pressure told and forward Robbie Kruse was brought down when charging into the area, allowing captain Jedinak to coolly slot home the spot kick.

Australia keeper Mathew Ryan was forced to stretch to get a hand on a searing shot from Fahed El Ebrahim that also hit the crossbar.

Substitute Nathan Burns was next to hammer the woodwork before Leckie set up the stunning finish, cutting the Kuwait defence to ribbons in the area before Troisi hammered the final goal home.

South Korea and Oman are the other teams in Group A, with the pair meeting in Canberra on Saturday. l

Poldi hits out at Wenger

Accenture GPIT, Magnito win big in Corporate Football n AFP, London Lukas Podolski slammed Arsenal coach n Tribune Desk Arsene Wenger for lacking “respect” in Magnito Digital, Comfit Composite Knit Ltd, Accenture GPIT and Dhaka Tribune won their respective matches on the opening day of the Mir Corporate Football Fiesta, powered by International Turkish Hope School, yesterday.

Comfit upset the hosts ITHS 3-0 with Raju scoring a brace for the winners while GPIT cruised to a 6-0 win against HSBC. Mashfiq and Mahbub scored two goals each.

Magnito Digital claimed a victory against Spell-Bound in spectacular fashion. The end result of the game was 7-0. Faiyaz and Ariq scored hatricks while Mishak netted the other.

Meanwhile, double strikes from Miru secured an easy 2-0 win for Dhaka Tribune against Mir Group. l

RESULTS

Accenture GPIT (white) and HSBC in action during the Mir Corporate Football Fiesta at the International Turkish Hope School premises yesterday COURTESY

Comfit Knit Ltd

3-0

ITHS

Accenture GPIT

6-0

HSBC

Magnito

7-0

Spell-Bound

Dhaka Tribune

2-0

Mir Group

an acrimonious parting shot after his move to Inter Milan this week.

“He said nothing to me. He did not call me or say goodbye. I don’t need flowers or a kiss from him. But it’s about respect, about saying goodbye.

For me respect is important,” the German World Cup player told The Sun newspaper.

Podolski, who made just 82 appearances in two years at Arsenal, was officially unveiled by Inter Milan on Thursday days after completing a loan deal until the end of the season.

His comments indicated that he wants a permanent move from Arsenal, though Wenger strongly denied he had snubbed the player.

“I did everything for the club I possibly could have. I don’t believe I did anything wrong. I did not get drunk in a club,” added Podolski.

The 29-year-old striker praised the club and their supporters. “I wish all of Arsenal and their amazing fans the very best for this season and I see myself as a Gunner.”

But he singled out Wenger for attack

after a frustrating season in which he has had few chances to play.

Silence is “his way,” said Podolski.

“I don’t want communication every day as I am a professional. You do it on the training ground. But when you move somewhere, you get a message,” he said.

“Maybe he had other problems with me but I don’t know.”

“He told me he did not want me to go just before the transfer window, but never said anything else after that.”

Podolski said he had no complaint about being a substitute. “Absolutely not. When you have three games in a week and you don’t play, you have to think about it, though.

“Maybe I made mistakes, I don’t know. I trained well and wanted to play.”

The German also said he had been happy at Arsenal. l

NOTICE

The draw of the Walton Dhaka Tribune Fifa World Cup 2014 Quiz will be held at the Dhaka Tribune office on January 11, Sunday at 3pm.

Participants are requested to be present on the occasion.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Yaya Toure wins fourth straight African Player of Year award n AFP, Lagos

QUICK BYTES

Bond to quit as NZ bowling coach after WC New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond will step down after the World Cup, the country’s cricket board said on Friday.

Former test bowler Bond would not be renewing his contract against the wishes of the board, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said, without elaborating on why the 39-year-old was withdrawing his services.

“Make no bones about this... we’re very disappointed to be losing Shane,” NZC head of cricket Lindsay Crocker said in a statement. “He’s given great value to the Black Caps programme and we were hopeful of having the benefit of his input over the next few seasons. “However, we respect his decision and his reasons for making that decision, and wish him well in his endeavours post-world cup.” New Zealand co-host the World Cup with Australia in February and March.

–Reuters

Bayern’s Shaqiri loaned to Inter: club Inter have snared their second biggest name of the winter transfer market after agreeing terms with Bayern Munich for forward Xherdan Shaqiri, the club said in a brief statement on Thursday. Inter completed the loan signing of Lukas Podolski from Arsenal last week and the Serie A giants are now set to welcome Shaqiri to the San Siro on a similar deal after club officials flew to Munich to conclude talks with Bayern. A statement by Inter Channel, the official television network of Inter, said: “Total agreement between Inter and Bayern for the transfer of Shaqiri. Only the signature is missing.” Media reports earlier said Shaqiri did not train with the rest of Bayern’s squad on Thursday, a sign that he could be preparing to depart for Milan where he is expected in the coming days, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport. It said Shaqiri, who has not played regularly at Bayern in the face of competition from Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, would sign a six-month loan deal that has cost Inter €2 million ($2.3m) but could join Inter permanently on a four-year deal worth another €14 million ($16.5) at the end of the season.

–AFP

United sign former Barca keeper Valdes Manchester United signed former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes on an 18-month contract on Thursday. Valdes left Barcelona, where he had spent his entire career, at the end of last season and has been training with United since October as he recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered last March.

The deal, which includes an option to extend Valdes’ stay at Old Trafford for an extra year, reunites the 32-year-old with Louis van Gaal, United’s Dutch manager, who gave the Spaniard his debut during his second spell as coach of Barcelona.

“It is a real honour to sign for Manchester United,” Valdes told United’s official website. “I would like to thank Louis van Gaal and the club for allowing me to do my rehabilitation and to train with the team.

“From my short time here I can already see this is a very special club. “I worked with Louis van Gaal during my time at FC Barcelona and to have the opportunity to work with him here at Manchester United is a dream come true.” Valdes won six league titles - three Champions Leagues and two Copa del Rey crowns - during his time at Barcelona.

–AFP

Yaya Toure, of the Ivory Coast and Manchester City, makes a speech after receiving the African Player of the Year award, for a record fourth straight time, during the Confederation of African Football award ceremony in Lagos on Thursday REUTERS

Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfield star Yaya Toure on Thursday became the first player to win four successive African Footballer of the Year awards.

The 31-year-old beat off the challenge of Gabon and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who plays for Lille in France.

Toure equalled Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o as a four-time winner, but he is the first to claim four awards in a row.

Toure, who first won the prestigious African award in 2011, led Manchester City to the English Premier League title last season as well as helping his country to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Coaches and technical directors of the 54 member countries of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took part in the vote.

Ndombe Mubele, who scored six goals as AS Vita of DR Congo reached the final of the Champions League, was picked as Africa’s best player based in Africa.

Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala beat compatriot Desire Oparanozie and Cameroon goalkeeper Annette Ngom Ndom to be crowned Africa’s best female star of 2014.l

Prince Ali’s Fifa bid doomed: Asia chiefs n AFP, Melbourne Asia’s top sports leaders on Friday refused to back Prince Ali bin Al Hussein’s election challenge to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and insisted it was doomed to failure.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa told AFP there would be no about-turn on the regional body’s previous commitment to back Blatter.

He said all 46 AFC member associations were behind the controversial 78-year-old’s re-election, despite Jordanian royal Prince Ali’s status as an AFC vice president.

“We made it clear where Asia is heading in the next FIFA election and

the 46 countries have committed to Joseph Sepp Blatter to take a fifth term -- so nothing has changed,” Shaikh Salman said after an AFC extraordinary congress in Melbourne, before the start of the Asian Cup. “We never change our commitment.”

Shaikh Salman added that he had been stunned to hear of Prince Ali’s decision, announced this earlier week, to stand against Blatter in the May 29 FIFA election.

“I was surprised to see it in the press,” he said. “If there is a candidate from Asia, Asia has to push for it. It’s not the way around that somebody can nominate themselves without consulting the Asian confederation. At the end

of the day, you will need the backing of the confederation.”

Prince Ali, 39, a FIFA vice president and head of the West Asian Football Federation, was one of several officials who called for the publication of ethics investigator Michael Garcia’s report into allegations of corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

His appearance in Melbourne triggered a sudden media crush, although he declined to give any comment.

Blatter has become a deeply controversial figure following a series of scandals including over the bidding process for 2018 and 2022, won by Russia and Qatar respectively.

Prince Ali, who has vowed to repair

FIFA’s tarnished reputation, is a close ally of Blatter rival and UEFA president Michel Platini, meaning he can count on a significant number of the European body’s 54 votes.

Speaking to Swiss daily Le Matin, Blatter responded to the challenge by saying: “I can only rejoice in this candidacy. We’re a democracy, and this can only be good for the debate.”

He added: “Don’t they say that victory without peril is a triumph without glory?”

Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) boss Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah warned that Prince Ali risked upsetting the unity of member nations across the region.

He predicted Prince Ali would

struggle to win “10 to 15 percent of the votes” and suggested he reconsider entering the race.

“I hope Prince Ali or any other candidate will think a thousand times before making his calculation,” the powerful Kuwaiti said in Melbourne.

“He has the right to continue, but we wish to show our solidarity in the football family -- and solidarity is needed more than ever in this organisation during (a time of) the Garcia file and stories of corruption.”

Sheikh Ahmad added: “I hope he will recalculate to think what would be a realistic analysis (of the situation) and take the right resolution.”

However, Japan’s football chief took a more circumspect view.l

Halep in Shenzhen final, Fed-Ex shows no signs of slowing down n Kvitova out in upset Reuters, Brisbane

n AFP, Beijing Top seed Simona Halep sailed into the WTA Shenzhen Open final on Friday and will face Timea Bacsinszky after the Swiss world number 47 upset double Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.

Romanian Halep, ranked third in the world and last year’s French Open runner-up, disposed of unseeded home player Zheng Saisai in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

But the scoreline belied the fact that the world number 97 put up enough resistance to draw the match out to an hour and 26 minutes.

Czech Kvitova, the world number four and second seed at the $500,000 tournament, was favourite to go through in the other semi-final.

But she was broken in the third game and although the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion saved five set points, Bacsinszky finally clinched the first set.

In the second set Kvitova had three break points in a long fourth game, but the 25-year-old Swiss, who had not reached a WTA final since 2010, held on and showed no nerves on match point, seizing her first opportunity to seal victory.l

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 5:30PM Chennai Open 2015 English Premier League 8:50 PM Chelsea v Newcastle United Spanish La Liga 2:55 AM Eibar v Getafe

Star Sports 4 T20 Big Bash League 2:10PM Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades English Premier League 6:35 PM Sunderland v Liverpool 8:50 PM Everton v Manchester City 11:20 PM Crystal Palace v Tottenham

Star Sports HD 1 Spanish La Liga 8:55 PM Real Madrid v Espanyol Italian Serei A 1:40 AM Torino v Milan

Ten Action French Ligue 1 10:00 PM Bastia v Paris Saint-Germain

13

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Serbian Ana Ivanovic signs autographs following her women’s singles semifinal win against Varvara Lepchenko of the US at the Brisbane International in Brisbane yesterday REUTERS

Roger Federer sent a reminder to the young guns of men's tennis that he is nowhere near close to riding quietly into the sunset when he romped to victory in just 39 minutes at the Brisbane International on Friday.

The 33-year-old Swiss maestro produced a masterclass of shot-making as he thrashed Australian wildcard James Duckworth 6-0 6-1 to charge into the semi-finals of the Australian Open warm-up event.

Federer's amazing performance came just 24 hours after he struggled to see off John Millman, raising doubts about his form ahead of the first grand slam of the year.

It was also stark evidence that he remains a major force in men's tennis with an utterly dominant victory on the same day Japanese sensation Kei Nishikori led a trio of rising stars into the last four.

Nishikori, still on a high after reaching the final of last year's U.S. Open, continued his impressive build-up to Melbourne when he demolished Bernard Tomic 6-0 6-4.

He was joined in the last four by Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, another two up-and-comers tipped to challenge the old order at this year's majors.

Raonic rode his booming serve to a 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(2) win over Australia's Sam Groth to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Nishikori.l

Gritty Ivanovic advances to Brisbane final n Reuters, Brisbane

Djokovic laid low by aces high Karlovic

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic battled her way into the final of the Brisbane International on Friday, beating American Varvara Lepchenko 7-6(2) 6-4.

Ivanovic, who came from a set down to win her previous match, once again had to dig deep before seeing off Lepchenko after nearly two hours on the Pat Rafter Arena.

Lepchenko twice served for the opening set but Ivanovic broke back both times then won the tiebreaker.

In the second set, Ivanovic charged to a 5-1 lead before she got the wobbles, allowing Lepchenko to reel off the next three games before she finally sealed the win on her seventh match point.

"Definitely, (my) heart was raising a little bit, especially that it was really becoming a battle," Ivanovic said.

"Even though I was 5-1 up, still felt like a battle all the way through."

Ivanovic's opponent in Saturday's final will be either Russia's Maria Sharapova or Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Ivanovic will be chasing her 16th WTA career title and her fifth in 12 months after she began her latest resurgence up the world rankings.l

World number one Novak Djokovic’s hopes of preparing for another Grand Slam bid with the 49th title of his career were shattered by giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic at a windswept Qatar Open on Thursday.

The six-foot 11-inch, 35-year-old Karlovic, the tallest and oldest player on the main tour, won 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 to make the semi-finals.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic often appeared affected by the conditions, especially with his

n AFP, Doha

ground strokes, but that did not prevent Karlovic hammering down another 21 aces, making 67 for the tournament so far.

That took him to within 12 of Andy Roddick’s 9,074 aces, the second highest ever.

Djokovic was sufficiently exasperated to fling down his racquet in the second set and to sling it along the floor in the third, eventually settling for a smile and congratulations to Karlovic.

“I can’t say if it was surprising or not, but he served very well,” Djokovic said.

“But you could expect that. I was coming into the match knowing that I will have very, very few chances. I was hoping that these conditions and the wind would kind of give me some secondserve opportunities, but it didn’t look this way.”

The most crucial moments came at 3-3 in the final set when Djokovic saved one break point with a serve, volley and smash combination, but then slipped to break point down again by mistiming an inside-out forehand drive into the net.

Djokovic nevertheless feels he still has a decent chance of winning the Australian Open for the fourth time in five years. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Positive India will play for win at Sydney: Ashwin

AUSvIND, DAY 4 Australia 1st innings 572 for 7 (S. Smith 117, D. Warner 101; M. Shami 5-112) India 1st innings (Overnight 342 for 5) V. Kohli c Rogers b Harris W. Saha c Smith b Hazlewood R. Ashwin c Haddin b Starc B. Kumar c Watson b Lyon M. Shami not out U. Yadav c Haddin b Harris Extras (b4, lb7, w1, nb5)

R

B

147 35 50 30 16 4 17

230 96 111 75 26 9

Total (all out, 162 overs)

475

n Reuters, Sydney

Fall of wickets 1-0 (Vijay), 2-97 (Sharma), 3-238 (Rahul), 4-292 (Rahane), 5-292 (Raina), 6-352 (Kohli), 7-383 (Saha), 8-448 (Kumar), 9-456 (Ashwin), 10-475 (Yadav) Bowling Starc 32-7-106-3, Harris 31-7-96-2 (3nb), Hazlewood 29-8-64-1 (1w), Lyon 46-11123-2 (1nb), Watson 20-4-58-2 (1nb), Smith 4-0-17-0

R

B

Australia 2nd innings C. Rogers c Raina b Kumar D. Warner c Vijay b Ashwin S. Watson b Ashwin S. Smith lbw b Shami S. Marsh c Vijay b Ashwin J. Burns c Yadav b Ashwin B. Haddin not out R. Harris not out Extras (b2, lb2, nb2)

56 77 4 5 16 17 71 70 1 4 66 39 31 30 0 6

Total (6 wickets; 40 overs)

251

Fall of wickets 1-6 (Warner), 2-46 (Watson), 3-126 (Rogers), 4-139 (Marsh), 5-165 (Smith), 6-251 (Burns) Bowling Kumar 8-0-46-1, Ashwin 19-2-105-4, Shami 6-0-33-1 (1nb), Yadav 3-0-45-0 (1nb), Raina 4-0-18-0

Australia captain Steven Smith hits a shot during the fourth day’s play of their fourth and final Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday

REUTERS

Smith trumps Bradman to fuel run chase n AFP, Sydney Steve Smith eclipsed a Don Bradman record by powering a furious Australian run chase to set a massive target for India in the final Sydney Test on Friday.

The Australian skipper with the Midas touch went helter-skelter after the runs in a bid for a declaration to pursue the home side’s third victory in the fourmatch series on Saturday’s final day.

Smith, backed by four centuries, passed Bradman’s 1947/48 record of 715 for most Australian runs in a series against India with a frenetic 71 off 70 balls.

The skipper, who was given out leg before wicket to Mohammed Shami,

finished the series with 769 runs at an average of 128.16.

Some late fireworks from Joe Burns with 66 off 39 balls with six fours and two sixes propelled Australia to 251 for six off 40 overs and a lead of 348 with Brad Haddin not out for 31. A declaration was likely overnight.

The highest successful run-chase record in the fourth innings of a Sydney Test is currently Australia’s 288 for two against South Africa nine years ago.

Chris Rogers raised his sixth straight 50 of the series with a glorious cover drive for four but he was out shortly after, hitting straight to Suresh Raina for 56 off 77 balls.

The Australians finally dislodged India for 475 after 162 overs to lead by 97 runs on the first innings shortly before tea.

Virat Kohli was rewarded for some bold captaincy by getting first innings centurion David Warner for just four in the second over of the innings bowled by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin got an edge off Warner to Murali Vijay, the sixth time the spinner has claimed Warner’s wicket in Tests.

Shane Watson, who narrowly avoided being run out shortly before tea in a mix-up, was bowled by Ashwin for 16 to complete an underwhelming series of just 238 runs at an average of 29.75, while Shaun Marsh lasted four balls for one.

Yet another dropped catch stalled Australia’s efforts to mop up the Indian first innings when Burns made a hash of a chance off Bhuvneshwar Kumar on nought.

His blooper was the 16th missed opportunity, which has cost the Australians 657 runs in the series.

Kumar was eventually given out by umpire’s referral caught at slip by Watson off Nathan Lyon for 30 after putting on 65 with Ashwin.

Paceman Mitchell Starc was rewarded for a terrific over when he coaxed an edge off Ashwin, who was on 50, to Haddin for his third wicket of the innings.

Messi, Neymar ease ‘crisis’ Barca towards Cup quarters

Bale’s form raising concern at Real n Reuters, Barcelona

n AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti remains loyal to off-form Gareth Bale despite criticism during the team's poor start to 2015 but needs the Welshman to return to his swashbuckling best.

Bale has sometimes been accused of being too greedy by Spanish media and

Barcelona eased their crisis ridden week with a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of Elche to all but seal their place in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. Despite the speculation surrounding his future in recent days, Lionel Messi

KING’S CUP RESULTS

Granada

Bangoura 90+3

Barcelona

1-2

Sevilla

Deulofeu 32, Gameiro 53

5-0

Elche

Neymar 34, 59, Suarez 39, Messi 45-P, Alba 56

Barcelona’s Neymar scores a goal against Elche’s goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton during their Spanish King’s Cup match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Thursday REUTERS

captained the side on his return to the starting line-up and scored from the penalty spot after goals from Neymar and Luis Suarez had already put the hosts in command.

Jordi Alba added a fourth after the break before Neymar rounded off the scoring in style with a powerful drive from 20 yards out.

Barring a meltdown in the return leg on January 15, Barca will face the winners of the tie between Atletico Madrid

Chelsea aim to recover after festive flop n AFP, London Loic Remy insists Chelsea remain on course to make a clean sweep of all the major prizes despite their spluttering form over the festive period.

Jose Mourinho’s side allowed second placed Manchester City to draw level on points with them at the top of the Premier League after a draw at Southampton and a 5-3 defeat at Spurs A 3-0 victory over Watford last weekend secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round, but it took second-half substitutes Diego Costa and Willian to ignite a flat performance.

With critics suggesting Chelsea are beginning to lose momentum in their bid to win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, French striker Remy hit back ahead of the Blues’ home fixture against mana-

gerless Newcastle on Saturday.

James Milner has challenged City to seize the initiative in the title race when they face struggling Everton.

EPL FIXTURES Burnley Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Leicester Sunderland Swansea West Brom

v v v v v v v v

QPR Newcastle Tottenham Man City Aston Villa Liverpool West Ham Hull

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are behind Chelsea only on alphabetical order after a run of 13 games unbeaten in all competitions.

And England midfielder Milner sees

no reason why momentum cannot be maintained, starting at Goodison Park.

On Sunday, Manchester United host Southampton in a vital fixture in the fight to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.

United are currently third, one point ahead of fourth placed Southampton and two ahead of fifth placed Tottenham, who travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

That London derby at Selhurst Park will mark new Palace manager Alan Pardew’s first home game since his surprise move from Newcastle.

Palace currently sit third from bottom and Pardew will be expected to repeat Tony Pulis’s success of last season when the former manager secured Palace’s top-flight status in the second half of the season.

Pardew has already overseen last

Haddin took his fourth catch and last of the innings to dismiss Umesh Yadav for four to end the Indian resistance nearing tea.

The tourists lost the wickets of Kohli and Saha in the morning session.

Kohli’s hopes of building an even bigger innings evaporated in the fifth over of the day when he fell to Ryan Harris.

He clipped low to Rogers at mid-wicket and threw back his head in anguish before slowly departing with 147 off 230 balls including 20 fours.

It was the new India skipper’s fourth century of the series, equalling Australian counterpart Smith’s achievement.l

Encouraged by the perfect batting conditions and armed with a positive mindset, India will chase their first win of the series once Australia set them a target on the final day of the fourth Test, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said on Friday.

Australia, 2-0 up in the series, have already taken an overall 348-run lead in the final match with four wickets intact and will declare early enough on Saturday to give their bowlers enough time to claim 10 Indian second innings wickets.

Rather than batting out the day for a draw, Ashwin suggested the visitors will try to chase down the target on a benign track at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"We are here to play positive cricket and win games of cricket. If presented with the chance to try and go for a victory, we will try to go for it as sensibly as possible," the 28-year-old off-spinner told reporters.

"We are here to win games of cricket, there's no two ways about it.

"It all depends on how positively you can bat and the techniques you apply. Definitely it's going to be a very positive game tomorrow, we will try and be positive about it."

Number eight batsman Ashwin himself capitalised on the ideal batting conditions to hit his fourth Test fifty and was confident India can still sign off the series with a win.

"It's still pretty decently poised, although they definitely have an ace up.

We'll have to see how it goes.

"There's not a lot of devils in the wicket, but we definitely found it a little too hard to score, it's a new ball wicket."

Underlining how good the track was for batting, Ashwin (50) added 65 runs for the eighth wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (30), who was adjudged caught in a controversial decision.

"This was one of the slowest innings in my Test career. I wanted to bat as deep as possible and put it into as many holes as possible and make sure that if any team won, it was India," Ashwin, who has two Test centuries, said of his 111-ball knock.

"But fortunately or unfortunately, the game is very well poised now, you don't know which way it's going to go."l

weekend’s FA Cup victory over nonleague Dover but he knows his main business begins against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Elsewhere, Liverpool visit Sunderland with the fall-out continuing after Steven Gerrard’s announcement that he will leave Anfield at the end of the season.

Gerrard’s claims that he would have stayed had he been offered a new deal last year sparked fresh talk of a rift with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who had already told the Reds captain he would start fewer games if he remained at the club in the twilight of his illustrious career.

But Rodgers attempted to quash the speculation as he said: “There is no doubt Steven is still a top class player and him moving on leaves a void on and off the pitch.” l

and Real Madrid in the last eight.

Messi and Neymar were among eight changes made by under fire coach Luis Enrique from the side that lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Sunday.

The two South American stars looked keen to make a point to their boss from the off and Neymar was unlucky to see a penalty appeal turned away 10 minutes in when he was bumped to the ground by Damien Suarez.

Dani Alves was then inches away from a spectacular opener as he returned a punch from Elche ‘keeper Przemysław Tyton back towards goal from 30 yards out, but the ball flew just wide.

Neymar also came close when he lifted a wonderful pass by Messi over the onrushing Tyton only to see the ball fly also just beyond the far post.

However, Barca finally made the breakthrough 11 minutes before halftime when an enticing low cross by Suarez was smashed home at the far post

by Neymar.

The Uruguayan found the net himself moments later with a brilliant individual effort. l

LA LIGA FIXTURES Real Madrid Malaga Celta Vigo Eibar

v v v v

Espanyol Villarreal Valencia Getafe

those accusations returned after last weekend's La Liga defeat by Valencia and Wednesday's King's Cup, last 16 first leg loss to Atletico Madrid.

Ancelotti's side were able to relax over Christmas having won the Club World Cup to extend their Spanish record winning streak to 22 matches but their lacklustre displays since have alarmed fans of the club and scapegoats are being sought.

They were out-fought against Valencia before losing against Atletico. l

Rooney voted England player of the year n AFP, London England captain Wayne Rooney has been voted his national team’s player of the year for 2014 after topping a supporters poll.

Although he failed to inspire England to success at the World Cup, it was still a memorable 12 months for the Manchester United striker.

The 29-year-old scored eight goals in 13 appearances and was named England skipper following Steven Gerrard’s retirement from international football.

Rooney also moved to within three goals of Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record. Rooney took 27 per cent of the votes from an online poll of supporters club members, more than

second-placed Danny Welbeck (11 per cent) and third-placed Raheem Sterling (seven per cent) combined.

“I’m both very happy and proud to be named the England fans’ player of the year,” Rooney told the Football Association’s website after winning the award for the third time.l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Saturday, January 10, 2015

RUMA strides into the world of big screen

15

Watchmen HBO Defined, 7:10pm Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak Sizzling ramp model Ruma recently broadened her work arena by performing an item song in the film “Game,” released on January 2, and is expected to perform in another item number for forthcoming film “U-Turn.”

Largely known for her modelling, Ruma expressed enthusiasm for acting in film if the story, character and direction appeal to her.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Ruma said: “If the character in a film suits me and the script, the director and the production seem sound to me then I will act in it.”

Though she does not have a preference for a specific role on the big screen, she said: “After reading the script, if I felt comfortable portraying the role, I would.”

When asked what interested her in appearing in an item song, she said: “Basically, the director’s frequent requests and persuasion made me think of performing an item song for the first time in ‘Game.’ The response and remarks about the work convinced me to do it again.”

Ruma is looking forward to wrapping up her next shoot for the item song in “U-Turn” on January 24.

Recently she completed shooting the TV drama “Ghun Poka O Shesrater Golpo,” in which she acted alongside Mosharraf Karim.

The drama is yet to be aired.

She made her debut on the small screen with a 52-episode serial, “Colour,” and later acted in a few TV plays including “Protibimbo” and “Jenechi Tumi Jano.”

Ruma stepped into the world of glamour in 2002 with inspiration and help from her elder sister Reshma who is a model too.

For the last 12 years Ruma has appeared in numerous modelling ventures at home and abroad. l

Aschorjo Shundor ei Bechey Thaka to be staged tomorrow n Entertainment Desk “Aschorjo Shundor ei Bechey Thaka” a play by Tareque Masud Sangskritik Kendra will be staged tomorrow at 6:30pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Adaptation of Luise Brayent’s play The Game, the play has been translated

by Rubaiyat Ahmed who is also directing the play.

The plot of the story revolves around two young people, a poet and a dancer, who are apparently defeated in the game of life. The play showcases that

the death and life are vying with a toss of the dice for the lives of the young male poet and female dancer. When the two young people decide that their life, devoid of love, is not worth living for, life helps them realise that what they had called love was really just desire. After the girl dances to two of the youth’s poems, they each decide that they have now found real love. A debate about the meaning of life and its value ensues, but ultimately it’s realised that the toss of dice will determine the young people’s fate: life ultimately wins both tosses. l

Iresh Zaker, Maria Nur and Arnob Antu will be today’s guest in ‘Amar Ami’ at 9:50pm on Banglavision.

Anchored by Rumana Malik Munmun, they will talk about their experiences of working for TVCs and future ventures

In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation.

King Arthur Star Movies Action, 11:30pm Cast: Keira Knightley, Clive Owen

A demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Olympus Has Fallen Movies Now, 11:45 Cast: Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart

Disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack.

HBO announces return date for Game of Thrones Sitarist Alif Laila mesmerises the audience with her performance, accompanied by Anubrata Chatterjee on the tabla, at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Thursday

Exhibition

Solo Art Exhibition

By Proshanta Karmakar Buddha Time: 10am – 10pm Café Mango Gallery, House 3/A, Rd- 72, Gulshan 2 Ordinary life: Extra Ordinary vision

By Jamal Ahmed Time: 10am – 8pm

Athena Gallery of Fine Arts, AJ Heights, Cha 72/1/D, Progoti Shorani Alluvial Return

By Kalidas Karmaker Time: 11am – 7pm Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Nakshi Kantha: Zainul Abedin Time: 12pm – 8pm

Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts Road No 16 Dhanmondi Date Down Memory Lane

By Biren Shome, Shilpangan Time: 12pm – 8pm Shilpangan Gallery House 7, Rd- 13 (New) Dhanmondi

n Entertainment Desk Winter is coming – yet again. The eagerly-awaited fifth series of “Game of Thrones” will return in the US on HBO on 12 April, the broadcaster has revealed. The day after its premiere in the US, Sky Atlantic will air the fantasy drama television series in the UK. There has been no shortage of teaser trailers since the final episode of the fourth series, which managed to cram in more action than some TV shows manage in an entire run.

HBO is also extending the series’ reach since they will also release a limited IMAX launch this January, ac-

FARHAN AKHTAR: BAFTA nominations: Lesser known facts Grand Budapest Hotel leads with 11

n Entertainment Desk Farhan Akhtar, director, actor and singer turns 40 on January 9. Farhan who stepped into the shoes of the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh in the film “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag,” is possibly the only all-rounder in Bollywood at present. The singer, who has lent his voice to several hit numbers, has directed blockbusters like “Don” and “Don 2,” produced films like “Talaash” and “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,” arrived as Mr Cool in the Indian film industry with his films portraying the youth. Know some very interesting facts related to the life of the Bollywood’s all rounder.

1. He was kicked out of law college due to lack of attendance.

2. Zoya also revealed that Farhan was so good at lying and acting that she thought he will become an actor. And he did not just try his luck in Bollywood, but has also carved his own niche in several aspects of cinema. Also, Farhan Akhtar wrote “Dil Chahta Hai” only when his mother warned him to throw him out of the house if he did not figure out his career.

3. Farhan’s better half Adhuna Bhabani is seven years older to him and was brought up in UK. The two dated for three years before getting hitched in 2000.

The two are blessed with two daughters – Shakya and Akir.

4. Farhan is not just a big name in Bollywood but made his Hollywood debut long ago by penning down the lyrics of the hit Gurinder Chaddha film “Bride and Prejudice.” He created the soundtrack for the film along with sister Zoya Akhtar on the recommendation of his father Javed Akhtar. Consequently, Farhan and Zoya also assisted their father with the English lyrics of a song in “Lagaan.”

5. Farhan is afraid of cockroaches. He learned to drive a car at the age of 22. He did not know how to ride a bike until he signed “Karthik Calling Karthik” for which he had to learn driving. The talented soul has now tried his hands at scuba-diving, gliding etc. l

n Entertainment Desk Wes Anderson’s whimsical and madcap “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” so far largely overlooked this awards season, has garnered the largest number of nominations at this year’s BAFTA, with 11. Anderson is nominated as best director; the film is also up for best film, best original screenplay and best actor for Ralph Fiennes.

As with the Golden Globe nominations, Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch vie for the best actor award with competing portrayals of scientific geniuses: Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” and Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game.”

In the best actress category, Rosamund Pike gave “Gone Girl” one of only two nominations, suggesting its own awards campaign might falter.

Felicity Jones, Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore and Amy Adams

were also nominated.

Perhaps trying to swerve this strong British actor field, Steve Carrell was instead put forward for the supporting actor category for his Oscar-tipped performance in “Foxcatcher.” He is nominated along with his costar Mark Ruffalo.

“Nightcrawler” did surprisingly well at the nomination stage, with four, including one for Rene Russo’s supporting role; outdoing them with five was “Whiplash,” with nods not just for JK Simmons as best supporting actor, but also in the directing, original screenplay, editing and sound categories.

Awards favourites “Birdman,” “The Theory of Everything” and “The Imitation Game” all scored highly, but “Mr Turner,” Mike Leigh’s biopic of the British artist, would have expected to do much better on home turf. Of its four nominations, none are in major categories, not even for Leigh’s direction or Timothy Spall’s Cannes-winning lead performance. l FILMS BY NUMBER OF NOMINATIONS

A scene from ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

11 10 10 9 5 5 4 4 4 3

: : : : : : : : : :

The Grand Budapest Hotel Birdman The Theory of Everything The Imitation Game Boyhood Whiplash Interstellar Mr Turner Nightcrawler Pride

WITHERSPOON to join Alexander Payne in Downsizing n Entertainment Desk

Reese Witherspoon is to reunite with director Alexander Payne for the first time since her Golden Globe-nominated turn in Payne’s 1999 film “Election.”

The actor, who is currently in US cinemas playing Cheryl Strayed in an adaptation of the best-selling memoir “Wild,” has joined the cast of “Downsizing,” alongside Matt Damon.

“Downsizing” is described as a social satire in which a man “realises he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself”.

Payne is writing the script with regular collaborator Jim Taylor (who had a hand in the screenplays for previous Payne projects “Sideways,” “About Schmidt” and “Election,” as well as “Jurassic Park III”); the pair are also producing, with another Payne regular, Jim Burke.

Witherspoon had been attached to the previous incarnation of the film, opposite Paul Giamatti and Sacha Baron Cohen. Damon’s casting in November 2014 revived the project, but it means production will have to wait until he has finished shooting the fifth Bourne film. l

cording to Entertainment Weekly. The IMAX launch will begin on Jan. 23 and will feature episodes from Season 4 and an exclusive trailer for Season 5.

IMAX announced that this is the first time a TV series will be launched in this format.

The saga, set in the world of Westeros, was recently named as the most illegally downloaded show of the past 12 months for its fourth season.

“Game Of Thrones,” whose stars have included Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Natalie Dormer and Kit Harington, will also be the subject of an exhibition to be staged at the O2 Arena in London next month. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Biswa Ijtema begins amid blockade Police say at least 5,000 devotees from nearly 50 countries had arrived on the Ijtema ground Momtaj and Nure Alam n Munir Durjoy with our Gazipur, Savar and Jessore Correspondents Braving all the odds on the roads during the BNP-led indefinite blockade, thousands of devotees from home and abroad thronged the bank of Turag River in Tongi yesterday as the first phase of the Biswa Ijtema commenced.

Meanwhile, in a tragic road accident, four devotees from Jessore were killed while coming to the Ijtema yesterday morning. The private car carrying them collided head on with a truck at Joypura area in Savar.

Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, began right after the Fazr prayer with the devotees chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’.

Moulana Mohammad Ehsan from Pakistan delivered Khutbah (religious sermon) in Urdu followed by a Bangla interpretation by Bangladeshi Moulana Mohammad Abdul Matin.

Later Moulana Ahmad Lat from India gave a speech about the norms and values of being a Muslim.

During a visit to the Ijtema ground yesterday morning, a large number of people was still seen to be arriving at the venue while many others were searching for their place to stay.

Abdul Jalil, a devotee from Dinajpur, said: “It was really a lot of trouble to come here from Dinajpur. We found no transport initially due to the blockade.

Then we had to break our journey and take up different means of transport.”

“However, now I’m very happy to be here at the holy ground,” he said.

Mohammad Wahab from Chandpur district was standing on the ground’s south side. “When we were on our way to Tongi in a reserved bus, we were really scared thinking of possible violence.

I never felt like this. But by the grace of the almighty, we made it here safely,” he said adding that it was very difficult to catch a bus on these days of violence.

Thoudsans of devotees perform Jumuah prayer in Tongi during the first phase of Biswa Ijtema yesterday Mujibur Rahman, another devotee from Rajshahi, embarked on a journey by train. He said there was no space in the train even to stand. It was full of devotees and other passengers.

“We could not hire a bus or pickup van because of the blockade,” he added.

One of the main aspects of the Ijtema is the Friday Jumma prayer, for which thousands of devotees took position on the Uttara-Tongi highway.

Some of them sat on top of nearby buildings while some were on the footover bridges.

This caused a huge traffic congestion on the highway from Uttara to Station Road of Tongi.

Along with the devotees, some government officials including Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, State Minister for Home Asadujjaman Khan Kamal, Chief Justice Mojammel Haque, and local lawmaker Jahid Hasan Russel were also present.

Bangladeshi Moulana Umor Ali delivered sermon after Jumma prayer followed by Moulana Mohammad Rashid after Asr prayer and Indian Moulana Saa’d after Maghrib prayer, said Gias Uddin, an organizer of the Ijtema.

He further said around 20 Sura members from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan would deliver sermons at the Ijtema.

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Meanwhile, a mobile court conducted a drive to the nearby shops and restaurants against unhygienic foods.

16 cases were filed and nearly Tk45 thousand fined in this connection, said Shariful Islam, an executive magistrate of Gazipur.

Police Super of Gazipur Harun-or-Rashid said at least 5,000 devotees from around 50 countries had already gathered at the Ijtema.

“5-layered security systems, along with a huge number of law enforcers, have been put in place to ensure security of the congregation,” he added.

The second and last phase of Biswa Ijtema will begin on January 16 and will

end on January 18 through Akheri Munajat.

Road mishap kills four devotees in Savar Four devotees were killed in a tragic road accident on Dhaka-Aricha Highway while coming to the Biswa Ijtema in a private car yesterday morning.

The deceased were identified as businessman Haji Nazim Uddin, 35, Haji Mohammad Rois Uddin, 32, Haji Nasir Uddin, 40 and Rezwan, 27. They all hailed from Hushtola area of Bokchar in Jessore town.

Two more persons, Abdur Rahim, 35 and Murad Hossain, 32, of the same area were also injured in the incident.

According to our Savar correspondent, the private car carrying the five devotees and the driver, collided head on with a truck while overtaking a passenger bus at Joypura area.

One passenger of the car died on the spot while two others were declared dead after been taken to a local hospital.

The driver of the car, Rezwan, died while being treated at the hospital. The injured persons were taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for better treatment.

Confirming the incident, Officer-inCharge (OC) of Dhamrai police station Firoz Talukdar said 15 passengers of the bus were also injured.

“We recovered the bodies and sent them to DMCH. We also seized the vehicles involved in the accident and filed a case in this regard,” said the OC. Nazma Khatun, wife of deceased Haji Najim Uddin, said her husband, along with four of his business partners, set out for the Ijtema early Friday.

“He was planning to attend the Jumma prayer. But around 9am, we heard about his death in a road accident.”

Brother of Najim Uddin told our Jessore correspondent that he received the bodies and had already taken them to Jessore. l

Negative impacts of climate change on Bangladesh are causing rises in numbers of both internal migration in search of livelihood and internal displacement caused by natural disaster-prompted homestead loss, a study has found.

The study – titled “Adaptation to Climate Change: Migration, the Missing Link” - also found that the increasing trend of salinity intrusion, drought and riverbank erosion were playing major roles in increasing internal migration and displacement of people from their birthplaces.

River erosion was the main reason for migration of entire families, while in case of livelihood migration from Chapainawabganj and Satkhira districts – mostly adult men were migrating in search of work Presenting the study yesterday at the ongoing Gobeshona Conference at the Independent University of Bangladesh campus, Tasneem Siddiqui, chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), said the government should formulate comprehensive policies to cope with migration-related problems for reducing peoples’ vulnerability regarding climate change.

The government has addressed the migration issues in its different policies including Bangladesh National Adaptation Programme on Action (NAPA) and Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP). These documents highlight the importance of short-term labour migration for economic development and stress on increasing the potential of this strand of migration, said Tasneem, who conducted the study.

Recommendations were also made

in the study, urging the government to open market-oriented human resource development centres and to establish migration processing service providers’ office close to areas affected by climate change.

It also suggested the government to focus on urban issues including planning for urban growth, connectivity between places, addressing protection gaps and mitigating social tensions.

The study was presented on day two of the four-day long Gobeshona Conference, organised by Gobeshona – a knowledge network for research on climate change in Bangladesh.

Addressing the event, Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), said migration was obvious because of climate change, but we need to take adaptive measures to create opportunity for the people being displaced.

The study findings showed that in case of displacement, river erosion was the main reason for migration of entire families, while in case of livelihood migration from Chapainawabganj and Satkhira districts – mostly adult men were migrating in search of work.

The study was conducted among 1,500 migrant and non-migrant households in climate-affected areas including Chapainawabganj, Satkhira and Munshiganj.

According to the fifth assessment report of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh is identified as being at specific risk from climate change due to its exposure to sea-level rise and extreme events like salinity intrusion, drought, erratic rainfall and tidal surge which will hamper the country’s food as well as livelihood security.

According to the Global Climate Models 2010 and the World Bank Studies 2011, around 16 to 26 million people would migrate from places of origin due to floods, storm surges, river bank erosion and sea level rise from 2011 to 2050 in Bangladesh.

Of them, two to five million people will migrate due to riverbank erosion, three to six million will migrate due to inland flooding, five to seven million will migrate due to coastal storm surges and six to eight million will migrate due to sea level rise. l

At least five people were killed in three road accidents in the capital within six hours yesterday, while another died in hospital after getting injured in a road mishap on late Thursday night.

Yesterday’s accidents occurred in Gulshan, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and Uttara, while Thursday’s accident took place at Hazaribagh.

The Gulshan accident took place around 6am in front of Tripti restaurant at Shahjadpur area.

Yadul, 16, who was injured in the accident, said a bus driver lost control of his bus and crashed into two rickshaws and then hit a bicycle passing by.

The crash killed a rickshaw puller named Md Liton instantly, while another rickshaw puller Md Billal Hossain, 30, and the bicycle rider, Taher Uddin, 65, was severely injured.

Billal, Taher and Yadul were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the former two died later.

The bus driver fled the scene, but police seized the bus, of Suprobhat Paribahan, and is investigating the incident, said Rafiqul Islam, OC at Gulshan police station.

At Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, vegetable trader Md Milon Hossain, 25, was hit by a covered van while crossing the road in front of Gonobhaban around 12:30am, said Nayan Miah, sub-inspector at Sher-e-Bangla police station.

Passers-by found him dead, and police later recovered the body.

In Uttara, police recovered the body of an unidentified man from Sector 4 around 5:45am, said Saiful Islam, sub-inspector at Uttara (East) police station. The victim was hit by an unknown vehicle.

Meanwhile, a man named Zakir Hossain, 25, hit by an auto-rickshaw at Hazaribagh around 11:30pm on Thursday, died around 11:30am yesterday at the DMCH. His family members told police that he had left home join Biswa Ijtema at Tongi. l

Lankan strongman voted out n Reuters

‘Climate change causing more internal migration and displacement’ n Abu Bakar Siddique

Road accidents kill 6 in Dhaka within 12 hours n Tribune Report

Girls fly kites at Shimulia terminal in Louhajang thana of Munshiganj during a kite festival organised by Bangladesh Kite Federation. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Orbital slot procurement deal Jan 15 n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The telecom regulator is set to sign the final deal on January 15 for procuring an orbital slot from Russian satellite company Intersputnik to launch the country’s first satellite – Bangabandhu 1.

Senior officials of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said they started getting ready for a swift launch of the satellite after getting the government’s nod for the orbital slot lease.

The BTRC is also preparing to offload the final tender within a month for sending the main communication and broadcasting satellite into space.

“Representatives from Intersputnik are going to arrive in Dhaka to ink a deal with the BTRC this week and everything is close to final for signing the deal on January 15,” ATM Monirul Alam, commissioner (spectrum management) of BTRC, told the Dhaka Tribune.

On December 31 last year, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the proposal for orbital slot lease following the direct procurement method (DPM) to launch

the communication and broadcasting satellite on 119.1 East longitude, with the cost fixed at $28m (around Tk218.96 crore).

Although the government had six alternative offers – some even cheaper – for launching its first satellite, it stood firm on its decision to launch the satellite on a faster arrangement.

According to the contract draft with Intersputnik, the BTRC will pay 20% of the cost ($5.6m) to the Russia-based international space communication services organisation within 90 days after the deal is sealed.

The BTRC also needs to pay 30% of the cost ($8.4m) within the next 15 months, 25% ($7m) within 18 months after that, and the rest within the next eight months.

Earlier, the BTRC also signed a non-disclosure agreement with Intersputnik on March 29, 2012, and then a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding in February 10, 2013, which expired on December 31, 2014.

BTRC sources said the slot would be bought for a period of 15 years, which can be extended twice, for the same amount of time and with no ad-

ditional payment. Monirul Alam, also the convener of the evaluation committee of launching satellite, said the project office was also preparing the tender documents and offloading the final tender would take hardly three to four weeks.

“Getting inspiration from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are doing faster and faster with the process and hope we can launch the satellite within the deadline,” Monirul said.

The proposed duration of the Bangabandhu Satellite Launching Project stretches between July 2014 to June 2017.

“Although we are already six months behind our schedule, we are very optimistic about finishing the project within the given time – by June 2017,” Monirul added.

The government plans to launch the satellite in the middle of 2017, almost two and a half years later than its initial plan of sending it into space at the end of 2014.

Currently, India and Pakistan are the only countries in the subcontinent with satellites, and Sri Lanka is working on launching one of its own. l

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his bid for a third term yesterday, ending a decade of rule that critics say had become increasingly authoritarian and marred by nepotism and corruption.

Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, a one-time ally of Rajapaksa who defected in November and derailed what the president thought would be an easy win, took 51.3% of the votes polled in Thursday’s election.

Rajapaksa got 47.6%, according to the Election Department.

Celebratory firecrackers were set off in the capital, Colombo, after Rajapaksa conceded his defeat to Sirisena, who has vowed to root out corruption and bring constitutional reforms to weaken the power of the presidency.

“We expect a life without fear,” said Fathima Farhana, a 27-year-old Muslim woman in Colombo. “I voted for him because he said he would create equal opportunities for all,” she said of Sirisena.

Like Rajapaksa, Sirisena is from the majority Sinhala Buddhist community, but he has reached out to ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims and has the support of several small parties.

His allies say he will rebalance the country’s foreign policy, which tilted heavily towards China in recent years as Rajapaksa fell out with the West over human rights and allegations of war crimes committed at the end of a drawn-out conflict with Tamil separatists in 2009. l

Radical imam Abu Hamza sentenced to life in prison n Reuters Radical imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was sentenced on Friday to life in prison, eight months after he was convicted of federal terrorism charges in New York.

The one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza was found guilty of providing a satellite phone and advice to Yemeni militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998.

He was also convicted of sending two followers to Oregon to establish a militant training camp, and dispatching an associate to Afghanistan to aid al Qaeda and the Taliban against the United States.

Abu Hamza, 56, gained notoriety in London for his incendiary speeches at the Finsbury Park Mosque and his use of a hook in place of his missing right hand. l

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