21 Feb, 2015

Falgun 9, 1421 Jamadiul Awal 1, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 317

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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AVENUE T

8-9 | SPECIAL

11 | OP-ED

13 | SPORT

ON THE WORDSMITH’S WAGON

SHAWKAT HUSSAIN: WE FOLLOWED THE SONG

EKRAM KABIR: THE RIVER CALLED BANGLA

CLARKE WITHHOLDS AUSSIE TEAM AMID DIRE WEATHER

John Kerry calls for an end to violence Ban Ki-moon says government responsible to protect people n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman US Secretary of State John Kerry offered his renewed support to Bangladesh in protecting people’s fundamental freedoms.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Bangladesh government had the responsibility to protect people in general from violence.

John Kerry urged the Bangladesh government to take action to end the ongoing violence peacefully and condemned the targeting of civilians by political parties.

Ban Ki-moon: All political parties should exercise political rights upholding established democratic norms and principles Kerry made the call in a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the State Department Thursday night, said a senior State Department official.

He also urged the opposition parties to stop such attacks immediately, the diplomat said.

Kerry said there can be no tolerance for tactics that target innocent citizens or inhibit political expression in a democratic Bangladesh.

When contacted, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said the US secretary of state asked him to take immediate steps to stop the violence.

“He also expressed his desire to come to Dhaka as soon as possible,” Mahmood said.

The foreign minister was accompanied by Bangladesh Ambassador to USA M Ziauddin and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque.

Earlier, the newly appointed US Ambassador to Dhaka, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, said everyone had a role to play in stopping the violence and resolving their differences through non-violent and responsible political expression.

Ban Ki-moon for dialogue

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Bangladesh government had the responsibility to protect people in general from violence.

The secretary-general shared his concerns over the ongoing violence in Bangladesh while talking to the foreign minister at the US State Department on the sidelines of the White House Summit to Counter Violent Extremism in Washington Thursday.

Ban said all political parties should exercise their political rights upholding the established democratic norms and principles, said a press release of the foreign ministry.

The minister told the secretary-general that the government remains “committed to ensuring human rights and security of innocent civilians who are being targeted by the terrorist acts being committed by the BNP-Jamaat alliance.”

Mahmood Ali briefed the secretary-general about the various initiatives taken by the government to create a congenial environment for an inclusive and participatory democratic process in the country.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stand in solemn silence at the base of the Central Shaheed Minar after placing wreaths as their homage to the Language Movement martyrs one minute past zero hours today SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

70% of Bangla Academy books now out of print n Munir Momtaj Bangla Academy was established to enrich Bangla literature and the body of knowledge available in Bangla by encouraging research and publication in the language.

The academy started its journey in 1955 and within two years had begun to publish books and magazines in Bangla. By 1971, the academy had published 317 books and journals.

After independence, the academy started a new journey. With 149 books, the Bangla Development Board was merged with the academy, and the total number of books and magazines the enhanced academy published rose to 466.

Since its inception, the academy has gone on to publish some 5,000 books and magazines in support of its mission.

But most titles are not available for purchase because the authorities of the academy do not reprint sold-out first editions.

According to sources at Bangla Academy, about 3,500 books remain unavailable to readers because reprints were not issued.

As of January this year, the academy had published 4,999 books of which 3,656 were not available, sources said.

Bangla Academy published 95 books for Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2015.

But of those 95 titles, 44 were either written or edited by Shamsuzzaman

Khan, the Bangla Academy’s director general.

A mere 16 titles are reprints of earlier publications.

Shamsuzzaman Khan, the Bangla Academy director general, said: “We do not have enough money to reprint these books. The authors can have other publishers reprint their books.”

“Bangla Academy has copyright to the books but has not gone for subsequent editions for financial reasons,” Jalal Uddin Ahmed, head of the reprint department of Bangla Academy, said, adding: “We will try to publish other books next year.”

Academy authorities told the Dhaka Tribune it was not reprinting books because of funding constraints and a “low

Rain a concern as Tigers face hosts Mamata: Trust me n Mazhar Uddin from Brisbane

Bangladesh cricketers warm up during an indoor training session ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup match against Australia at the Gabba cricket stadium in Brisbane yesterday AFP

It was raining cats and dogs when the Bangladesh cricketers were walking through the corridor of the Gabba prior to their training session at the Brisbane indoors yesterday. One thing was surely on the minds of the cricketers – will their second Pool A game against co-hosts Australia take place today?

According to the weather forecast, there is a high chance of rain today with tropical cyclone Marcia already making its way through large parts of Queensland, including Brisbane. Till the filing of this report yesterday evening, it was still raining heavily. If the weather continues to make for grim viewing then both teams will share a point each. In the event of a washout, Bangladesh will no doubt be the happier of the two sides as it has been widely anticipated that a win against the Aussies will be too tough a task for the Tigers.

However, if the very last Australia-Bangladesh encounter Down Under is anything to go by, then the Aussies should brace themselves for a mighty surprise.

In the third and final ODI of a bilateral series in Darwin seven years ago, Australia struggled badly before  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Visiting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday asked Bangladesh to “keep faith” in her over a Teesta water-sharing deal that Bangladesh has long wanted signed and sealed.

Mamata was instrumental in the last-minute foiling of an effort in 2011 by former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh to reach a breakthrough on the Teesta water-sharing issue.

Mamata wants to work as a bridge between her province and Bangladesh The visiting West Bengal executive yesterday said she would discuss the issue with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit.

She said she would work as a bridge between her province and Bangladesh in removing misunderstandings and obstacles to water sharing on the Teesta River.

“We have some problems and you have some problems too. I will hold

discussions with Hasina-di [sister Hasina]... Leave it to us. Do not worry about it,” Mamata said at a discussion titled “Boithaki Bangla Adda” at a city hotel.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor was present at the discussion.

Terming the water-sharing issue a problem for everyone concerned, the chief minister said she had already resolved the Land Boundary Agreement.

In September 2011, Mamata pulled out of a delegation to Dhaka led by former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was expected to make a major announcement on the sharing of the waters of the Teesta.

At the time, Mamata said she would not agree to any pact that hurt the interests of her province, West Bengal.

At yesterday’s function, the chief minister said: “The ties of souls can never be held back,” referring to cultural ties between her province and Bangladesh, adding: “We need to keep an open mind.”

Mamata greeted those present with Bangabandhu’s immortal salute: “Joy Bangla.”

She stressed the importance of cultural exchanges in further strengthening long-standing relations between Bangladesh and West Bengal.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

INSIDE

3 | News

One of the three victims of the February 12 petrol bomb attack on a cargo truck in Narsingdi died yesterday after an eight-day battle with death at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

4 | News

A cultural platform yesterday organised a march in Dhaka, calling on people around the world to respect and protect mother tongues.

5 | News

Children from more that 200 villages in Barisal Division have no access to education as there is not even one primary school that caters to them.

6 | World

Germany and Greece face off at yet another eurozone meeting in search of a last-minute bailout compromise, with Berlin insisting Athens accept continued austerity.

7 | Entertainment

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

3 Bangladeshis feared dead in Abu Dhabi fire

on Teesta n Tribune Report

demand” for the books in the market.

Syed Anwar Husain, a professor at Dhaka University’s History Department, said: “Bangla Academy is given allocations from the government to publish new books.

“But the government does not allocate funds for reprints. Moreover, Bangla Academy publications are priced very low compared to their actual publication costs.”

Nevertheless, many researchers, students, and book enthusiasts said they could not find many Bangla Academy publications which they said they needed for their work and research.

Mohsinul Haque, chief judicial magistrate of Gaibandha, was looking for

On the occasion of Language Martyrs’ Day, Munsur Ali’s ‘Shongram,’ a drama set against the backdrop of the Liberation War, will be screened at Bengal Art Lounge today.

n Tribune Report At least 10 people, three of them believed to be Bangladeshis, died and several others were injured in a fire at a building in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The fire broke out at the two-storey building in Mussafah in the early hours yesterday, reported UNB. When contacted, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said three Bangladesh nationals were suspected dead in the incident.

He, however, said it was not possible to identify the victims as their bodies were charred beyond recognition.

Labourers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Syria, and Iran used to live in the building in Mussafah.

The fire, which originated from the car workshops on the ground floor,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

NOTICE Today, February 21, is International Mother Language Day and a newspaper holiday. However, the Dhaka Tribune will be published tomorrow under special arrangements.

2 Fresh hartal from tomorrow n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Another spell of 72-hour nationwide strike was declared by the BNP-led 20-party alliance starting tomorrow from 6am. The announcement came as the government did not pay heed to their demand for election under a non-partisan government.

Apart from countrywide transport blockade, the alliance will also stage demonstrations in every upazila, district and division on February 23.

It demanded international level investigation, under the supervision of the UN, into all the sabotages, petrol bombing, extra-judicial killings, abduction, and crimes against humanity.

BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed in a press release declared the hartal on behalf of Chairperson Khaleda Zia and asked party leaders and activists to observe the programme peacefully.

On Thursday, the party threatened with tough programmes if the government does not regard their demands of holding talks to resolve the crisis, stop extra-judicial killings, repression on the opposition leaders and activists.

Salahuddin criticised Awami League leaders for misrepresenting the opposition’s movement by comparing it with militancy. l

Rain a concern  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

posting only 198/5 on the board from their 50 overs. Despite Tamim Iqbal’s 69-ball 63, Bangladesh eventually lost the match by 73 runs. If the Tigers’ batsmen had the bit between their teeth, the result could have been totally different. Nonetheless, the bowling performance that day will surely give inspiration to the Bangladesh bowlers.

Another source of inspiration for the Tigers would be the five-wicket win

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tribute paid to Language Martyrs n Tribune Report With the clock striking 12 midnight people from all walks of life began to pour into Shaheed Minar premises all over the country to pay their homage to those who laid down their lives to establish Bangla as a state language on February 21 in 1952.

In the first hour of the day, President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the Language Movement martyrs by placing floral wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital at 12:01am.

After them, Speaker of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Baroness D’ Souza placed a floral wreath at the base of the Shaheed Minar. She was followed by Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, India.

Later, members of the cabinet and then Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Rawshan Ershad paid tributes to the martyrs of the Language Movement along with her party colleagues.

The chiefs of the three forces, diplomats, Language Movement veterans, freedom fighters, various cultural organisations and general people also placed wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar.

The president, prime minister, op-

over the Aussies in Cardiff a decade ago. Australia captain Michael Clarke and Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza are the only survivors from that game. While Clarke is yearning to forget that memory once and for all, Mashrafe will want a repeat of that memorable victory.

Having said that, Mashrafe and Co will have to play more sensible cricket than their opener against Afghanistan last Wednesday to give the Aussies a run for their money. Although the

position leader in separate messages on the eve of the day paid glowing tributes to the martyrs of the language movement.

This year BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia did not go to the Shaheed Minar to pay homage like every year but in a statement issued yesterday she recalled the martyrdom of the Language Movement heroes on the eve of the International Language Day.

Unesco: The day is a moment for all of us to raise the flag for the importance of mother tongue She also wished the success of the programmes undertaken by different social, cultural and political organisations to mark the day.

Khaleda also called upon her party members to be united and wage a tougher movement, drawing inspiration from the Language Movement.

In the statement, she called for safety and security of lives, ensuring people’s freedom of expression and democratic rights.

The day is also observed across the

Tigers thumped the Afghans by 105 runs, the Australia test will be far more intense.

As far as the lineups are concerned, Bangladesh will want to retain the winning combination. However, it was learned that Nasir Hossain may replace Mominul Haque in the only change for the Tigers.

Australia on the other hand will play Clarke in place of middle-order batsman and emergency captain George Bailey. l

70% of Bangla Academy books now out of print

across disciplines, are currently available, Bangla Academy officials said.

The Dhaka Tribune has come to know that the academy has published 50 law textbooks but just 14 were available.

Just 27 of 60 economics textbooks, eight of 27 mass communication and journalism textbooks, 17 of 37 anthropology and 62 of 70 history textbooks were available.

The situation is best summed up by the fact that since 1997, Bangla Academy has not updated its catalogue or bibliography.

Out-of-print great works of literature

The stall of Bangla Academy selling books at a 70% discount at the Ekushey Boi Mela yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

“Kabbe Aampara” by Kazi Nazrul Islam, published by Bangla Academy.

He told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have been searching for this book since 1995.

Two decades later I still have not been able to find it.

“I need the book for my research. I have searched for it in different stores across the country. Even Bangla Academy does not carry it,” he said.

“Salespeople at the academy were not able to give me information about the book,” he added.

He is not alone.

Many researchers and readers said they could not find the books they were looking for because Bangla Academy had not issued reprints for many years, despite apparent market demand.

The sought-after books include rare works of literature, novels, dramas, biographies, and translations of books from other languages.

The Dhaka Tribune found that only one-fourth of the books and magazines published by the academy were in stock.

The Zia Haider translation of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, Kalidas’ Meghdut and the Ahmad Sharif edition of Laily-Majnu by Daulat Uzir Bahram Khan are some of the famous works of literature published by the academy that are not available.

Still, many authors do not want other publishers to handle their work once it has been published by the academy even if the academy’s copyright has expired.

Abbas Uddin Ahmed, author of Biography of Language Martyr Rafiq which was published by Bangla Academy, said his book was sold out and Bangla Academy had not reprinted it despite a continued demand for the book.

“I do not want it reprinted by any

Saturday, February 21, 2015

other publishing house because, having one’s work published by Bangla Academy gives it a special dignity and prestige,” he explained.

Rafiq Azad, the director of the National Book Centre of Bangladesh, said: “Although all books are not important, many have literary value and are in demand and so should be reprinted immediately.

“Bangla Academy should reprint these books for the next generation otherwise they will be in the darkness.”

Meanwhile, the manuscripts of thousands of published titles collect dust and mould in the archives of the academy’s reprint section.

Out-of-date catalogue

According to Bangla Academy’s book fair catalogue 2015, the academy has put 1,343 books and six magazines on sale.

The Science Encyclopedia, Plato’s The Republic, Bangla Bhashar Proyog Opoproyog and many other famous books are listed in the catalogue but are not available.

Sales staff at the academy’s sales centre confirmed the books were not currently available.

One salesperson, who asked not to be named, said: “Every year, we send a list of around 100 books to the reprint section. But they usually print just four or five titles.”

After being unified with the Bangla Development Board, Bangla Academy started publishing college and university-level textbooks of various subjects in Bangla.

Students of Dhaka University, BUET, the medical colleges and the National University, among others, use these textbooks. But most are no longer available.

Only a third of textbooks, on average

Bangla Academy has published more than 1,000 literature titles, including novels, dramas, short stories and poems.

Only 200 books of literature are available.

Famous short stories such as Rani Khaler Shako, Rupar Kowta, Srikanto, Shakuntola, Malabika, Haramony, Hatemtayi and Hiramoner Golpoare are out of print.

Out-of-stock world literature

Although Bangla Academy has published a vast number of translations of famous and seminal works of world literature, most titles are unavailable.

Robert Penn’s All the King’s Men translated by Kabir Chowdhury, Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck translated

by Serajul Islam Chowdhury, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe translated by Biplob Das, H G Wells’ The Time Machine translated by Mahbubul Haque and Albert Camus’ The Plague translated by Shahed Suhrawardi, Ahsan Habib and The Dialogues of Plato edited by Sardar Fazlul Karim, Kabbo Sanchoin by Iqbal, The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Thomas More’s Utopia, John Milton’s Areopagitica, Christopher Marlowe’s Dr Faustus and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels are all out of reach of readers because they have not been reprinted.

Sold-out omnibuses and biographies

Bangla Academy has published 300 biographies of various eminent personalities, but just 120 of them are available.

The biography of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was first published in 1974. It is not currently available.

The biographies of Begum Rokeya, Munir Chowdhury, Jibanananda Das, Lalon Shah, Jasim Uddin and others are unavailable to readers due to a lack of reprints.

In a similar vein, the academy has published more than 150 omnibus volumes involving the work of more than 70 writers, but less than half – just 60 – volumes are available.

Notably, the Zahir Raihan omnibus, Syed Waliullah omnibus, Munir Chowdhury omnibus and Ahsan Habib omnibus are out of print. l

14-party to hold mass contact in three districts n Abu Hayat Mahmud

world as the Unesco recognised February 21 as the International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999.

In a statement published on the Unesco website on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of International Mother Language Day, Unesco Director General Irina Bokova said: “The day is a moment for all of us to raise the flag for the importance of mother tongue to all educational efforts, to enhance the quality of learning and to reach the unreached.

“Every girl and boy, every woman and man must have the tools to participate fully in the lives of their societies – this is a basic human right and it is a force for the sustainability of all development.”

People from all walks of life like political leaders, Dhaka University teachers, diplomats and representatives of various organisations and general public gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar at midnight with floral wreaths and sang “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February” in chorus to pay their deepest respects to the heroes of the Language Movement.

The Central Shaheed Minar and its adjacent areas on Dhaka University campus was decorated with a different look with street paintings and hang-

ing Bangla alphabets from branches of trees and pasting on walls.

Tight security was ensured in and around the venue to avert any untoward incident.

The day is a public holiday. The national flag will fly at half-mast at all government, autonomous and private buildings.

On February 21, 1952, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Abdus Salam and a nine-year-old boy named Ohiullah embraced martyrdom in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital when police opened fire on a protest rally that demanded Bangla as one of the state languages of the then Pakistan. Another martyr named Shafiur Rahman died the next day.

The protests began against a conspiracy by the then Pakistan leaders to declare Urdu as the only state language.

Different political, social, cultural and professional organisations have planned various programmes, including seminars and cultural functions, to observe the day in a befitting manner.

National dailies will publish special supplements marking the day and Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television and private radio and television stations will air special programmes on the occasion. l

John Kerry calls for an end

Mamata: Trust me on Teesta

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Ban Ki-moon assured the foreign minister of the UN’s continued engagement in strengthening the democratic and development process in Bangladesh.

He stressed that the UN would continue to have dialogues with the government to understand the evolving political situation.

The UN secretary-general had recently sent two separate letters to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to engage them in a dialogue to resolve their differences and deescalate the ongoing violence.

Bangladesh has been experiencing indefinite blockade and intermittent general strike enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance for the past one and a half months.

Over 100 people have been killed and scores others injured so far in arson attacks, gunfight and train derailment during the alliance’s political programmes. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Before leaving Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in West Bengal, Mamata said: “This is a very emotional moment for me...some journeys are more emotional than others. This is very special.”

Mamata arrived on Thursday night on a three-day visit, which both countries view as a chance to deepen ties

Terming the BNP-Jamaat alliance a platform of killers, the Awami Leagueled ruling alliance once again said it would not hold any dialogue with the BNP before 2019.

Central leaders of the 14-party made the statement before a procession on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital yesterday evening.

“The BNP chairperson along with her major ally Jamaat-e Islami is killing innocent people to create anarchy in the country to go to power,” Health Minister Mohammad Nasim told a rally before the procession.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury at the rally said, apparently aiming at BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia: “Your aim is to go to power through the backdoor and that is why you are killing people.”

Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu said: “Peace will prevail only if Khaleda Zia and her alliance can be driven out of the country.”

Nasim announced mass contact campaigns of the 14-party alliance in Bogra, Rangpur and Gaibandha on March 0810 protesting BNP-Jamaat’s petrol bomb attacks on general people. l

between the two countries.

The West Bengal chief minister will meet President Abdul Hamid, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit.

She is also scheduled to visit the Amar Ekushey Udjapon function at Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs of the Language Movement and to visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. l

3 Bangladeshis feared dead  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

spread through the building bringing down the whole establishment, said the Khaleej Times, one of the leading English Dailies in the UAE. The newspaper quoted the Abu Dhabi police that the building housed seven trade stores and car repair shops from the ground floor up to the second floor where migrant workers were living illegally.

Investigations were going on to identify the exact cause of the fire, said the Daily. The police further said the operations room was alerted at 3:44am local time on Friday and fire and emergency services

were immediately deployed at the site.

The fire was contained and prevented from extending to nearby buildings.

The injured were fast evacuated and given first aid treatment while the bodies of the deceased were taken to a hospital by the forensic medical team.

Police claimed that the landlord was arrested and they were working to arrest all suspected persons in-charge of the building. The General Directorate of Civil Defence earlier warned investors and workshop owners of the danger of illegal housing and said it would not tolerate those that flaunt public safety. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, February 21, 2015

3

12 militants arrested in Chittagong RAB busts militant training centre running under the guise of Arabic language coaching the police to interrogate the accused n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong under the Taskforce for Interrogation Twelve suspected extremists – who the RAB described as “digital militants” were arrested on Thursday from Chittagong’s Hathazari, where they were receiving militant training at a coaching centre.

Aged between 18 and 25, the arrestees all possessed multimedia mobile phones and micro-SD memory cards which contained audio-visual clips from different international and domestic militant outfits.

When a RAB 7 team made the arrests, three alleged trainers were tutoring nine militant apprentices in an establishment that posed as an Arabic literature and language coaching centre.

The RAB termed the men “digital militants,” and claimed that the detainees were set to complete a 45-day audio-visual militancy training before being shifted to a different site for arms training.

Lt Col Mifta Uddin, commanding officer of RAB 7, said the team acted on a tip-off and carried out a two-anda-half-hour raid to initially detain 25 people from Al Madrasatul Abu Bakar, situated on the third floor of SK Safina Bhaban at the upazila’s Alipur Area.

“Later, we found 12 of the detainees were connected to militant activities through digital ways. They were handed over to Hathazari police station and a case was lodged in this regard,” he said.

Lt Col Mifta added that the militants’ internal communications were being run using social media – mainly via Facebook. “However, the law enforcers are trying to find out their links with other militant organisations and their secret activities as their operations seem dangerous for national security,” he said.

The RAB would now recommend

(TFI) Cell in order to seek out the masterminds behind the entire operation, Lt Col Mifta added.

Sources inside the elite force told the Dhaka Tribune that mobile phones, computers, tablet computers and other electronic tools were also seized during the raid. However, details about inter-communication among militants could not be found as the detainees reportedly deleted all internet chats and call records after each individual communication.

The madrasa-like coaching centre was run by Mohammad Fattah – who is currently on the run.

The elite force were conducing drives to arrest Fattah and his other cohorts, the RAB 7 commanding officer told a press conference at the force’s headquarters in the port city yesterday.

RAB 7 Chandgaon Camp Commander Major Jahangir Alam said: “The trainers used to brainwash the students by presenting them video clips of training and operational activities of international militant groups – ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, Hezbollah, Hamas and some others – and domestic militant group like Ansarullah Bangla Team and others.”

The trainees were also taught the ways of Jihad through presentations about examples of discrimination and torture against Muslim communities across the world, Major Jahangir added.

Those arrested during Thursday’s raid are: Abdur Rahman Ibn Asadullah, 23; Osman Gani, 20; Mostakim Billah Mashrur, 21; Nabil Hossain, 19; Sirajul Mostafa Solaiman, 19; Shamim Hossain Ismail, 18; Mahmudul Hasan, 22; Mohammad Yusuf, 23; Shafiqul Islam Shiekh Salauddin, 19; Rafiqul Islam Jubaer, 19; Abdul Kaiyum Sheikh Mansur Islam, 18; and Harunur Rashid, 19. l

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, and her delegation from India pay tribute to the Language Movement martyrs at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital in the early hours today SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Narsingdi arson victim succumbs to burn injuries n Tribune Report

One of the three victims of the February 12 petrol bomb attack on a cargo truck in Narsingdi died yesterday after an eight-day battle with death at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The victim, Zahid Hossain, was undergoing treatment for his 40% burn injuries from the attack at the DMCH’s burn unit. He died around 10:45am, according to DMCH sources.

His body has been sent for a post-mortem, said Dr Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon at the burn unit.

With his death, the death toll due to the petrol bomb attack now stands at 41. Most of the victims in these attacks – since the BNP-led 20-party alliance enforced nationwide blockade on January 6 – were reportedly unaffiliated to any political party.

Sources said miscreants hurled crude firebombs at Zahid’s truck around 8:30pm on February 12 on Tongi-Narsingdi road near Bhatpara area in Narsingdi Sadar upazila, injuring Zahid and his helpers Selim Miah and Jewel Miah.

Locals rushed the victims to Narsingdi District Hospital, but the on-duty doctors there transferred them to the DMCH burn unit. Zahid was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to his critical condition.

Selim an Jewel are also under treatment at the burn unit, Dr Partha said.

Slack day for blockade yesterday

Except for a few scattered incidents around the country, the 46th day of the blockade was relaxed yesterday.

Life in the capital went as usual, with the usual crowd on the roads, trains

and launches.

Meanwhile, unknown miscreants set fire to a bus at Louhajang upazila in Munshiganj early yesterday, during the last hours of the 120-hour hartal by the 20-party alliance.

Eunus Ali, in-charge of Mawa police outpost, said a bus of Apon Paribahan parked at Mawa intersection was set on fire around 4am.

The attackers fled the scene and police could not arrest anyone.

In Habiganj, miscreants tried to firebomb Kalni Express in Bahubal upazila

around 10pm, but failed.

Police detained 31 alleged activists of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday on suspicion of carrying out subversive activities. Of them, 11 were BNP activists arrested in Dhaka, said sources at Dhaka Metropolitan Police. The rest of them were picked up in Chittagong. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Dhaka march calls for protecting mother tongues n Tribune Report A cultural platform yesterday organised a march in Dhaka, calling on people around the world to respect and protect mother tongues.

‘Let spread the message to every nook and cranny of the world that we have to protect languages’ The organiser said all nations across the globe should organise similar marches as a sign of showing respect to all the languages and to take initiatives for protecting the endangered languages.

Under the banner of Bangladesh Sangskritik Karmi Sangha, the participants marched from the TSC on Dhaka University premises to Shaheed Minar.

They were carrying colourful flags of around a hundred countries.

Addressing the march, cultural activist Bhaskar Rasha said: “Our language movement in 1952 showed us how to respect and protect mother tongues.”

Unesco says on its website that an estimated 3,000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century.

It also says with the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity would lose not only a cultural wealth but also important ancestral knowledge embedded, in particular, in indigenous languages.

Artiste Golam Mostafa said the world might know because of the march that we all should respect other languages.

“Let spread the message to every nook and cranny of the world that we have to protect languages,” said actor Khairul Alam Sabuj.

The march is arranged at this time every year, said the organisers.

The participants paid tributes to the language martyrs at Shaheed Minar before ending the march. l

Activists of Association for Preserving 1952 Language Movement Memories gather at the famous ‘Aam Tola’ near Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday with 11-point demands including widespread usage of Bangla language and Bangla calendar RAJIB DHAR

ADOPTING UNFAIR MEANS, NEGLIGENCE IN DUTIES

Government to implement SAPNA project to reduce poverty, empower women

Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

n UNB

3 SSC examinees expelled, 2 exam centres’ secys removed in Ctg WB VP Annette Dixon arrives today n Tribune Report World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Annette Dixon arrives in Dhaka today to build on the longstanding partnership between Bangladesh and the World Bank Group.

This is Dixon’s first visit to Bangladesh since assuming her position on December 15, 2014.

“For the World Bank, Bangladesh is an important partner in the fight against global poverty. This is shown by the fact that Bangladesh is the largest recipient of the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries,” she said in a statement issued in Dhaka yesterday.

“Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and advancing human development, and has the potential to do even more. The World Bank Group is committed to support Bangladesh in overcoming poverty and boosting shared prosperity as quickly as possible to provide opportunities for all its people.”

During the visit, Dixon will meet with senior government officials, including the finance minister, as well as private sector and civil society leaders.

She will discuss how the World Bank could best support efforts to make economic development more inclusive while ensuring good governance and strengthening the country’s own institutions. She will also visit World Bank-financed projects in Bangladesh.

The World Bank is now preparing the Bangladesh Country Partnership Framework that will guide the Bank’s engagement in Bangladesh over the next few years.

Since 1972, the WB has committed more than $19 billion to support growth and development of the country. l

Lords Speaker Baroness D’ Souza in city n UNB Speaker of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Baroness D’ Souza arrived in Dhaka yesterday night on a two-day visit to Bangladesh.

Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury received her at Shahjalal International Airport, said SM Manjur, director (public relations) of the Parliament Secretariat.

The Lord speaker is visiting Bangladesh at the invitation of CPA chairperson and Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury. l

Three examinees under Chittagong Education Board were expelled for adopting unfair means in the Secondary School Certificate (SCC) examination in Chittagong and Rangamati yesterday.

Meanwhile, the board authorities also removed two secretaries of examination centres for their negligence in their duties, and a mobile court sentenced a youth to jail for one year and six months for taking the exam as proxy for his cousin.

Sources in Chittagong Education Board said Md Didarul Alam of AL Khan High School of Mohra and Md Mohammed Baizid of Baitush Sharaf Kamil Madrasha for adopting unfair means in the exam in Chittagong, while the other was expelled in Rangamati.

Police detained two youths named

Sabbir Hossain and Md Omar Faruk for taking the exam as proxy for two of the expelled students.

The court of Chittagong District Administration Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Asiya Khatun sentenced Faruk to jail for taking the exam as proxy for his cousin Baizid at Darul Ulum Dakhil Madrasha examination center in Chittagong city.

The court also fined Faruk Tk 10,000. In default he will have to suffer three more months in jail.

Chittagong Education Board’s Examination Controller Mohammed Mahbub Hasan said Sabbir was detained in the exam hall at Kuaish Burischar High School in Hathazari when he was taking the exam for Didar by tempering the registration card.

Sabbir Hossen, a first year student of Khagrachari Government College, was handed over to the police, he said.

The examination controller told the Dhaka Tribune that they removed Bangladesh Mohila Samiti School and College (BAWA)’s Principal (acting) Anwara Begum and Gomdandi Pilot High School’s Headmaster Md Mainul Abedin Nazim under Boalkhali upazila from the posts of secretary of examination centres for negligence in their duties.

“BAWA’s Acting Principal Anwara Begum was suspended following the allegation of candidates at the centre.

Assistant Headmistress Khadiza Beghum of the school was replaced to the charge of the centre,” said Mahbub.

Earlier, board sources said the principal had distributed the math question papers to the 38 candidates after 13 minutes later at around 9:13am.

Later, the students and the guardians complained it to the board authorities in this regard ending the exam. l

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki yesterday said the government would implement the “Social Assistance Programme for Non-Asseters (SAPNA)” as a project shortly to reduce poverty and empower women.

In June 2010, DORP provided the SAPNA package to 450 mothers, selected by the government authorities Poverty in the country is being reduced gradually as the government has been providing various allowances to the target groups under various safety net programmes, she said, addressing the closing ceremony of a workshop for the 2nd batch of officials related to SAPNA programme at the Department of Women Affairs in the city.

The state minister said SAPNA is really a good programme that would help reduce poverty by providing maternity allowance to marginal women.

SAPNA has been visualised to serve

as a safety net model of six pillars for poverty alleviation through maternity allowance, mothers health, nutrition, family planning, education, cultural freedom, housing and sanitation, livelihood and other income generating inputs, and savings & micro-credit.

The gender-based SAPNA centered in maternity allowance programme of the government is being implemented

by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) with the financial support of Spanish Agency of International Co-operation for Development (AECID).

The model was piloted in three upazilas in the coastal district of Laxmipur.

DORP has started the programme in January 2009 to eradicate poverty from the country. In June 2010, it provided the SAPNA package to 450 mothers, selected by the government authorities.

After successful completion of the first phase, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) provided support for a second phase, which allowed the project to expand to two additional upazilas – Kaliganj of Gazipur district and Chatkhil of Noakhali district.

SAPNA package director Nurul Islam Talukder, founder of DORP AHM Noman and its president Azhar Ali Talukdar were, among others, present at the programme. l

Rizvi placed on yet another remand n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Professor of Economics Haider A Khan delivering his speech on ‘A strategy for Bangladesh in the 21st century’ at the capital’s Brac Centre yesterday. Story on Back Page MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was placed on a fresh twoday remand yesterday in a case filed under the Explosive Substance Act. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rashed Talukdar passed the order when Sub-Inspector Nurul Islam produced him before the court seeking a 10-day remand in the case filed with the capital’s Mohammadpur police station.

Rizvi was taken to the court yesterday after completion of his three-day

remand in another case filed with Jatrabari police station for an arson attack on a passengers’ bus at Katherpool area of Jatrabari.

Earlier, Rizvi was also placed on a total of 16 days remand in four cases filed with Jatrabari and Badda police stations on charges of vandalism, arson and exploding cocktails in the city.

On January 31, law enforces arrested the BNP leader from a house in Baridhara for his alleged involvement with the recent violence and subversive activities. l

Indian Navy chief due tomorrow

BNP demands UN-led probe into extrajudicial killings, HR violation

n UNB

n UNB

Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, Admiral RK Dhowan will arrive in Dhaka on a five-day goodwill visit from tomorrow.

Admiral RK Dhowan’s visit is part of the tradition of regular high level exchanges between the Armed Forces of both the countries and will enhance friendship and bilateral cooperation between the two neighbouring navies.

He is coming at the invitation of the Chief of Naval Staff of Bangladesh Navy, Vice Admiral M Farid Habib, according

to Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

He will be accompanied by his wife Minu Dhowan, President of Indian Navy Wives Welfare Association.

To coincide with the visit of the Naval Chief, Indian Navy ship “INS Ranjit” will pay a goodwill visit to Chittagong Port.

The “INS Ranjit” is the third of the five Rajput-class destroyers, commissioned on November 24, 1983.

During his visit, the Indian Naval Chief will present two Enterprise-class boats to the Bangladesh Naval Academy, Chittagong. l

BNP yesterday demanded a UN-led probe into the all incidents of extrajudicial killing, human rights violation and subversive act, including petrol-bomb attacks in Bangladesh.

In a statement, BNP joint secretary general Salahuddin Ahmed said: “We want an international-level probe to be carried out under the supervision of the United Nations into all subversive acts, petrol-bomb attacks, all crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances,

killings, abductions and illegal use of guns by the law enforcers and ruling party cadres.”

The BNP leader said they are favouring a fair probe so that legal action can be taken against those carrying out petrol bomb attacks as part of a plot to malign the 20-party’s ongoing democratic movement.

He alleged that the prime minister, ministers and ruling party leaders are endlessly resorting to lies to brand their democratic movement as sabotage and militancy.

Salahuddin lamented that the state

minister for foreign affairs abashed the nation by resorting to lies about the meeting with the European Parliamentary delegation. “We strongly condemn and protest it.”

The BNP leader warned that the prime minister will be held responsible as an order giver for every incident of current mass killing, enforced disappearance, abduction, crippling of opposition leaders and activists by the law enforcers.

He called upon the prime minister to quit forthwith and announce to hold a fresh election under a non-party administration. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Pulerghat-Bottola road yet to be paved in 40 yrs n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Despite repetitive promises and initiatives of local parliament members and union parishad chairmen, the 5.75 kilometre-long Pulerghat-Bottola road in Mymensingh’s Goforgaon upazila is yet to be paved.

It has been long 40 years since the road in Tangab union was first constructed. This dirt road is used by thousands of people of the eight villages of 2, 3 and 4 no ward of the union.

Besides, there are six primary schools, two colleges, one vocational institution, one madrasa, an Ayurveda college and six kindergarten schools are situated along the road.

Moreover, the road also serves five

mosques, a upazila health centre, union land office, union parishad office, five bazaars and a dozen of poultry farms.

During the rainy season the road literally turns into a mud bed making it impossible for commuters to use it.

And in the dry seasons, it is full of potholes and dust.

Tangab UP members said the dirt road was first made by the then UP Chairman Mahmudul Hasan Khosru in 1976. Later he took the initiative to pave the road but it was never materialised as he died in 1988.

In 1984, BNP MP Fazlur Rahman Sultan at a rally at Chhapila Govt. Primary School promised to pave the road. In 1987, Jatiya Party MP Enamul

Haq George voiced the same promise.

When Awami League came to power in 1998, the then MP Altaf Hossain Golondaz blamed all the previous lawmakers for not living up to the promises and assured that the road would be paved soon.

In 2009, Awami League MP candidate Captain (retd) Gias Uddin Ahmad, in another rally at the same school, said he would not only pave but also upgrade the road if he was elected. Before the election in 2013 he reiterated the same promise.

Though Gias Uddin Ahmad did not fulfil the promise, during a speech in the parliament in 2013 he said the Pulerghat-Bottola bazar road was already paved. This false statement enraged

5

Saturday, February 21, 2015

the locals.

UP Member Ekhlas Uddin said the MP did not even mend the potholes of the road let alone pave and upgrade it.

Ramija Khatun, a union ward member from reserved seat, said the current MP Fahmi Golondaz made the same promise at an event in 2014.

However, despite assurances from lawmakers of the all the parties, the road has not seen any upgrade.

Badol Mia, a trader of Chhapila village, said the road was a major thoroughfare for transporting good to the nearby upazilas and districts.

Tangab UP Chairman Mofazzel Hossain Shagor said it was vital that the road was paved but it was not possible

for him to do so.

Manoj Kumar Chowdhury, deputy-assistant of Goforgaon Local Government Engineering Department, said despite several requests and proposals to the senior authorities, there was no fund allocation to upgrade the road for some unknown reasons.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Siddarth Shankar said they would again urge the authorities and take initiative to pave the road after discussing it with the local MP. When contacted Mymensingh-10 Goforgaon MP Fahmi Golondaz Babel said: “I would pave the road from the yearly allocation of Tk20 crore reserved for the lawmakers. People will no longer suffer.” l

Gazipur city mayor sent to jail after remand n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Professor MA Mannan, the mayor of Gazipur City Corporation and also an advisor to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, was sent to jail in an arson case.

A Gazipur special court gave the order after he was produced before it yesterday. The court also fixed February 23 for the next hearing. Earlier on February 11, MA Mannan was picked up from his Baridhara DOHS residence after police sued him in an arson case on February 5.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Gazipur granted a two-day remand when he was produced before it on February 12. l

No access to education for over 200 Barisal villages n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Students sit for SSC examinations at a centre in New Paltan School in the capital yesterday. The examination was scheduled to be held on February 15, but the education ministry deferred SSC and its equivalent examinations to yesterday due to hartal enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Works on Dhaka-Chittagong to complete by June

2 held with tiger, deer skins in Pirojpur n Our Correspondent, Barisal

n Our Correspondent, Comilla

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two members of a poachers’ gang with skins of tigers and dears from Ikri bus station area in Bhandaria of Pirojpur yesterday.

The arrestees are Babul Matubbar, 50, a resident of Telikhali and member of a union parishad; and Mamun Sheikh, 26, driver of diesel-run three wheeler, of the same area, Rab said.

Md Jasimuddin, assistant director of Rab-8, told journalists at a press briefing at the RAB-8 Headquarters in Barisal that a team of Rab conducted a drive in the area around 5:15am, and arrested the duo while they were trying flee the spot sensing the presence of the law enforcers.

During primary interrogation, the duo confessed to their involvement in killing different species of rare animals and selling the skins of the animals to smugglers, he said.

Later, the Rab team recovered skins of one royal Bengal tiger and 14 deers from their possessions, he added. l

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:57PM SUN RISES 6:27AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 30 30 29 26 31 31 29 30

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

19 19 17 17 17 17 16 19

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.5ºC Mongla

11.7ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:12am 6:28am 12:12am 4:19pm 5:56pm 7:12pm

Children from more that 200 villages in Barisal Division have no access to education as there is not even one primary school that caters to them.

This situation persists despite plans to establish 277 schools across six district of Barisal division, as part of a countrywide Primary and Mass-education Directorate (PMED) initiative that planned 1,500 primary schools in such villages. The project began in 2011.

Only 75 primary schools have been established under that project since, the 202 remaining villages still have no primary schools in their locality.

Mahbub E Elahi, deputy director, Barisal divisional PMED, acknoeledged that 94 villages in 7 upazilas of Bhola, 66 villages 10 upazilas of Barisal, 36 villages in 8 upazilas of Patuakhali, 32 villages in 4 upazilas of Jhalakathi,

26 villages in 7 upazilas of Pirojpur and 23 villages in 5 upazilas of Barguna districts have no primary school.

On the other hand, he informed that the division has 3,305 government primary schools, and the government has nationalised more 2,546 registered primary schools recently.

Tauhidul Islam, Barisal district primary education officer, also acknowledging the facts said Barisal district now has 1,481 primary school in its 10 upazilas.

Tauhidul Islam, Barisal district primary education officer, also acknowledging the facts; he informs: except Banaripara upazila still 14 villages in Hizla, 13 in Wazirpur, 11 in Mehendiganj, 9 in Babuganj, 8 in Bakerganj, 5 villages in Sadar, 3 in Muladi, 2 in Agoijhara, 1 in Gournadi upazila has no primary school.

But, Barisal district now has 1,481

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said works on the fourline on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway would complete by June and vehicular movement on the road would start in December.

The progress of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project was satisfactory and over 60% works had been done, the minister said this while visiting an overpass on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at Paduar Bazar in Comilla yesterday.

He said: “When the four-line will complete, people will be able to go to Chittagong from Dhaka within four to five hours.”

About the ongoing political violence the minister said there were no examples in the world that a political party was killing innocent people of country to assume power.

The minister said: “The destructive activities which the BNP-Jamaat doing is absolute terrorism, nothing else.”

About the visit of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit in

the country, he said: “I am hope full over the visit. The visit will resolve the pending issues between Bangladesh and India.

In 2006, the BNP-led government initiated the project to make the twolane Dhaka-Chittagong highway into four-lane as increased traffic movement caused huge tailbacks that led to sufferings of people.

The construction work for upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong highway started in 2010.

The project cost was fixed at Tk2,382 crore; but two time extensions in-

creased the cost to Tk3,190 crore.

Change of consultants, intervention of the local ruling party leaders in the land filling works, removal of tombs, mosques, temples and educational institutions were some of the reasons behind the delays.

Director of the project Ibne Alam Hasan, Additional Engineer of Roads and Highway Department Junaid Ahmed Shibib, Engineer KM Atikul Haque, Additional Project Director Abdus Sobur and Police Super (highway, eastern region) among others accompanied the minister. l

primary school in its 10 upazilas, he said.

Both civil servants point at crisis of funds and land for construction, appointment of teachers willing to serve in rural and remote areas created slow pace in the project for netting all villages under primary and mass-education as explanation to why this situation persists.

The students in these villages have to travel kilometers daily to neighbouring villages in order to continue their studies.

More than 200 villages in Barisal division still remained without any school as step for expanding primary education going on slow pace.

Divisional office of the primary and mass-education directorate sources said that government in 2011 took a project to establish 1,500 primary schools in the villages without any schools in their locality. l

Prisoner dies n Our Correspondent, Jessore A prisoner died while being under treatment at Jessore 250-bed hospital yesterday morning.

The decease was identified as Abdur Rahman, 25.

Akhtaruzzaman Mirza, the on duty doctor at the hospital, said the prisoner was admitted at the hospital due to gastric related complications on Thursday night.

Sub-Inspector of Kotwali police station Mohammed Mintu Miah said: “We arrested Abdur Rahman on December 19 after his wife Fatima Begum filed a case under Nari O Shishu Nirjaton act.” l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Greece, Germany face off in last-chance debt talks n AFP, Brussels, Belgium

Germany and Greece face off at yet another eurozone meeting yesterday in search of a last-minute bailout compromise, with Berlin insisting Athens accept continued austerity in return for fresh debt aid.

After days of sharp exchanges, the 19 eurozone finance ministers gather for the third time in little over a week to consider a take-it or leave-it proposal by Athens seeking the extension of an EU loan programme which expires this month.

Europe’s paymaster Germany initially rejected the request out of hand, denting hopes of a deal.

But a lengthy phone call between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel late Thursday appeared to calm the waters.

The conversation was “aimed at finding a mutually beneficial solution for Greece and the eurozone,” a Greek government source said, adding that it took place in a “positive climate.”

And Berlin said yesterday the Greek request offered a “starting point” for further talks.

The Merkel-Tsipras call came after a Greek government source released a document said to outline Berlin’s defiant stance at official-level talks Thursday.

The Greek proposal “is not clear at all... It rather represents a Trojan horse, intending to get bridge financing and in substance putting an end to the current programme,” the German statement said, according to the source.

“On this basis it makes no sense to start drafting a Eurogroup statement yesterday.” it added.

Greece, whose new government is vehemently opposed to austerity measures demanded in the bailout deal, denied it had made any U-turns.

“We have not abandoned our red lines,” government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told Greek television.

Financial markets were calm, reassured to some extent by the Tsipras-Merkel exchange while keeping a close eye on the finance ministers’ meeting due to start at 1400 GMT.

Personality clash

A statue of the ancient Greek goddess Athena stands next to a Greek flag in central Athens yesterday. Germany and Greece face off in yet another eurozone meeting yesterday in search of a last minute bailout compromise, with Berlin insisting Athens accept continued austerity in return for fresh debt aid AFP

Time is pressing to find a solution before the current bailout programme ends, for fear that failure could see Greece run out of money and be forced out of the eurozone within weeks.

Analysts cautiously downplay the likelihood of a “Grexit,” saying the eurozone is much stronger now than at the height of the debt crisis in 2011-12.

But the uncertainty weighs heavily at a time when the economy has faltered and governments are desperate

to boost growth.

A top European official said the stand-off had come down to a clash of personalities with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble furious at the negotiating style of his Greek counterpart, the casual and fasttalking Yanis Varoufakis.

“There is a real problem of personalities and I understand that Schaeuble is outraged by comments made by Varoufakis,” the official said.

The issues go beyond personalities, however, and echo a divisive debate in the European Union over whether the austerity policies adopted to cope with the debt crisis have done more harm than good.

For Germany, fiscal discipline and tight spending controls are the only basis for the sustainable growth needed to deliver much-needed jobs.

For France and Italy, led by left wing governments, easing up on austerity is essential to give them the leeway to borrow to boost growth.

Greek concessions

In its request Thursday, Greece offered some major concessions including a return, if not in name, of the hated “troika” mission of creditors that has overseen Athens’s finances through two bailouts.

But stung by Schaeuble’s rejection, Athens said its request was final and

that the EU had “just two choices. To accept or reject the Greek request.”

Tsipras insists he can satisfy both the demands of Greece’s partners and meet a promise to voters to end the detested austerity conditions which he says destroyed the economy.

“The government... is not asking for an extension to the memorandum,” an official source in Athens said, referring to the reform agreement between Greece and the troika – the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund creditors.

Instead, it wants an extension to the loan part of the mammoth 240-billion-euro ($270-bn) rescue in 2010 that came with commitments to push through austerity and deep reforms.

Until now, opponents led by Germany say this distinction is unacceptable and Greece has to accept the austerity commitments of the full programme.

Ireland and Portugal, fresh from their own painful bailouts, have little sympathy for Athens after they had no option but to take their austerity medicine.

“There is a framework within which we are prepared to talk to the Greek government. That framework is the current aid programme,” Portuguese Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque told German business daily Handelsblatt.

“We are not prepared to talk under any other conditions.” l

Kiev accuses Russia of sending more tanks to east Ukraine n Reuters, kiev Kiev accused Russia yesterday of sending more tanks and troops into eastern Ukraine and said they were heading towards the rebel-held town of Novoazovsk on the southern coast, expanding their presence on what could be the next key battlefront.

Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation which, if confirmed, would be almost certain to finally kill off a tattered European-brokered truce that came into force on Sunday. Moscow has always denied such charges in the past.

Novoazovsk lies on the Sea of Azov, 40 km (25 miles) east of the port city of Mariupol. It was captured by rebels last year and could be a launching-pad for more pressure on Mariupol, a gateway to the south and possibly to the Crimea peninsula annexed by Russia a year ago.

“In recent days, despite the Minsk (ceasefire) agreement, military equipment and ammunition have been sighted crossing from Russia into Ukraine,” military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

He said more than 20 Russian

Amartya Sen says government meddling in universities

n Agencies

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has withdrawn his candidature for a second term as Nalanda University chancellor, saying the Narendra Modi government does not want him to continue in the chair. Sen, who has long been a critic of Modi, in a letter to the Governing Board of the University blamed the absence of government’s approval for delay in nod from the Visitor, President Pranab Mukherjee, to his name even though the recommendation was sent to him over a month back.

“Non-action (by government) is a time-wasting way of reversing a board decision, when the government has, in principle, the power to act or not act...

It is hard for me not to conclude that the government wants me to cease being the chancellor of Nalanda University after July, and technically, it has the power to do so.

“This delay, as well as the uncertainty involved, is leading, in effect, to a decisional gap, which is not helpful to Nalanda University’s governance and its academic progress.

“I have, therefore, decided that in the best interest of Nalanda University, I should exclude myself from being considered for continuing as chancellor beyond this July, despite the unanimous recommendation and urging of the governing board for me to continue,” he has written.

It is clear that Mukherjee has been unable to provide his assent to the Board’s unanimous choice in the absence of government’s approval, he said. l

tanks, 10 missile systems and busloads of troops had crossed the border into Ukraine.

Western nations have clung to the hope that they can revive the peace deal brokered by France and Germany in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Feb. 12 even though the rebels ignored it to seize the important railway hub of Debaltseve.

The German, Russian, Ukrainian and French foreign ministers are expected to meet next week to pursue peace moves, Russian media reported.

But hopes were slim even before the latest sighting of Russian reinforcements, also reported by the United States this week.

Renewed fighting between the pro-Russian separatists and government forces in east Ukraine also soured the mood as crowds gathered in Kiev for the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled a Moscow-leaning president but culminated in war.

“The number of attacks show the terrorists do not want to completely silence their guns,” Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoly Stelmach said, listing 49 attacks in the past 24 hours. l

Boys surf using ‘boogie boards’ in a park on the Wynnum foreshore from rain after Tropical Cyclone Marcia made land in Brisbane yesterday. Two powerful cyclones further north pounded Australia on February 20 and left a trail of destruction with houses ripped apart, trees uprooted and power lines torn down, cutting electricity to thousands of people AFP

Modi recreating image n Reuters It’s out with the flashy suit, in with religious tolerance for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking to soften his image after an electoral pounding in New Delhi and grumblings in his party about his top-down leadership style.

Abruptly ending a string of national and regional election victories, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was thrashed in the capital this month, a defeat many blamed on a perception that Modi was tacitly fanning Hindu extremists.

“The Delhi election results ended the party’s honeymoon period with a jolt,” a senior BJP leader in New Delhi said, asking not be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“If we don’t start the damage control and make immediate corrections, defeat in other state elections is imminent.”

In the space of a week, Modi, a Hindu nationalist who rarely attends events organised by religious minorities, delivered a long-awaited speech about inter-faith tolerance to a Christian congregation.

Leaders of the hardline Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad associated with the BJP have cautioned members across India against making comments that “hurt Narendra Modi’s image.”

A saint-like bust of the prime minister was removed from a temple in his home state of Gujarat after he tweeted his disapproval, and a designer suit

he wore to meet US President Barack Obama is being auctioned for charity.

The navy blue outfit, embroidered with gold pinstripes bearing Modi’s name, was mocked by Modi’s opponents, and even the party faithful said it undermined the voter-friendly narrative of Modi’s humble beginnings as the son of a tea seller.

“Modi’s image as a son of a tea vendor was his trump card,” said a senior election campaign adviser to the party. “Voters admired his simplicity, but now he is viewed as a flashy leader.”

The day before the suit went on auction, Modi broke months of silence after a series of attacks on Christian institutions in New Delhi and vowed to protect all religious groups.

“Voters did not expect him to be silent after churches were attacked,” said the BJP leader. “We realise that it was a mistake.”

Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu said the Delhi elections were a setback for the BJP and cause for introspection, but denied Modi had lost touch with voters.

“There is no change in their regard and admiration for Narendra Modi,” Naidu told Headlines Today television this week. “People love him.”

The day after Naidu spoke, senior BJP official Prodyut Bora quit. In his resignation letter to the party’s powerful president, Amit Shah, the rebel complained about the centralisation of power in the prime minister’s office. l

Myanmar army deepens offensive on ethnic rebels near China border

n AFP, Lashio

Myanmar’s army has continued an offensive to flush out rebels from areas around a flashpoint town on the northeastern border with China, state media said yesterday, in 11 days of fighting that have displaced tens of thousands of people.

The conflict, which flared on February 9 when ethnic Kokang rebels killed nearly 50 soldiers during an a series of attacks on Laukkai town, has seen at least 30,000 people flee into China, prompting Beijing to call for an end to the clashes.

A similar number of people are believed to be displaced within Myanmar’s northern Shan State, but clear estimates are hard to glean as local aid groups have limited operations after a Myanmar Red Cross convoy came under fire.

The army has struck back against the rebels with air strikes and ground forces, after apparently being caught flat-footed by the pace and ferocity of the initial rebel assault.

“Army columns were in hot pursuit of Kokang insurgents into retreat,” around the Laukkai area, state mouthpiece the Global New Light of Myanmar reported yesterday.

The report said the bodies of two rebels were recovered by Myanmar soldiers after fighting early Thursday to secure roads leading to Laukkai – which is now an apparent ghost town. Rebels say they have also inflicted casualties on army over recent days. The conflict has renewed doubts over a government attempt to forge a nationwide ceasefire in a country peppered with bitter ethnic insurgencies. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

SHAHIDUL ALAM receives Shilapakala Padak 2014

n Entertainment Desk The founder of Drik and Pathshala, legendary photographer Shahidul Alam has been awarded the prestigious Shilapakala Padak.

He received the award from the hands of the President Md Abdul Hamid on Thursday at Bangladesh Shil-

pakala Academy.

“Regardless of how many awards one might get from wherever in the globe, to be appreciated by one’s own community is always special,” Shahidul said.

“This is especially so in a medium like photography, which has long been ignored. I receive this award on behalf of the entire Bangladeshi photographic fraternity,” he said.

This year seven senior artistes received the Shilpakala Padak.

Shahidul was awarded the Shilpakala Padak for his extra ordinary contributions to the world of photography.

The other recipients were Bazlur Rahman Badol for dance, Lucky Inam for drama, Pandit Amaresh Roy Chowdhury for song, Pandit Madan Gopal Das for music, Syed Abdullah Khalid for fine arts and Ashraful Alam for recitation. l

SHONGRAM to be screened at Bengal Art Lounge n Entertainment Desk On the occasion of Language Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day, Munsur Ali’s “Shongram,” a romantic drama set against the backdrop of the Liberation War, will be screened at Bengal Art Lounge at 5pm today.

Bollywood star Anupam Kher and Bangladeshi artists Amaan Reza and

Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee, among others, star in the film.

Produced, written and directed by British Bangladeshi Munsur Ali, the film is a result of Munsur’s search for his roots and desire to share the story of the Liberation War with a global audience.

“Shongram” premiered at the London Indian Film Festival and has been screened at the Darpan Singapore Film

Festival, LA Indian Film Festival and Keswick Film Festival.

“It is not enough to make films for a Bangladeshi audience only, we need to export Bengali stories to share our experiences and to compete on the world stage,” Munsur Ali said.

Munsur is now planning a new film called “Cinema,” which will be shot in India, Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. l

KAREENA KAPOOR not interested in AIB roast n Entertainment Desk

With the most-talked about topic being the controversial All India Bakchod (AIB) roast of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, celebrities have been sharing their opinions and thoughts on the same.

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan was also asked to comment on the issue at a recent press meet where she launched a new range of ice cream in Delhi. However, the actress preferred to stay clear off the whole controversy. When asked if she had watched the AIB roast of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, she said, “Oh no please, I really have no interest in watching it.”

She further added, “India has better and far more important things to worry about than AIB.” Recently Twinkle Khanna., in a column for Times of India, asks “Shouldn’t we save our strength to protest against things that really matter.” l

IGGY AZALEA quits Twitter, calls ‘Internet ugliest reflection of mankind’

Exhibition

Taste of Light and Darkness Time: 6pm – 9pm Alliance Française de Dhaka Road 3, Dhanmondi Light, Dark, Space

By MD Tokon Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, 60 Avenue Gulshan 1

Film

Nanan Bhashar Nanan Chhobi Time: 6pm – 9pm International Digital Cultural Archive, B Shilpakala Academy

Kite Festival

Ekusher Ghuri Utshab Time: 3pm – 6pm Gulshan Youth Club Ground, Gulshan

WHAT TO WATCH TELEVISION

BAD NEWS BEARS HBO Hits, 4:15pm Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear A grizzled little league coach tries to turn his team of misfits into champs.

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE HBO Defined, 7:55pm Cast: Steve Carell, Luke Vanek, Steve Buscemi A veteran Vegas magician tries to revive his career after his longtime partner quits, he gets fired from his casino act, and an edgy new “street magician” steals his thunder.

THEATRE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR 3D I ZERO DEGREE I ROMEO V/S JULIET I SEVENTH SON 3D I JESSABELLE @ Star Cineplex

Theatre troupe Loko Natyadal stage ‘Mujib Mane Mukti’ at the Suhrawardy Udyan yesterday at 2:15pm. Planned, scripted and directed by Liaquat Ali Lucky, the play depicts the versatile life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his boyhood to the tragic death incident

SEVENTH SON 3D I ROMEO V/S JULIET I EXODUS 3D I INTERSTELLAR I NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB I THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES I THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR 3D I ZERO DEGREE @ Blockbuster Cinemas

WHIPLASH: How to make that perfect first movie! n Mosabber Rahman No movie this year pulverised me as much as this one – I was completely blown away! This is how an independent film should be made. I would say as a retelling of the mentor-protege story it is more effective than “Black Swan” (2010) albeit more raw, more unpredictable, more over the edge.

What a performance by the two leadsMiles Teller (as the loyal student) and JK Simmons (as the brutal teacher) they are unbelievably good. After all the entire movie depends on their performances alone.

Thirty year old writer-director, Damien Chazelle, uses no filmmaking tricks - he just unfolds the story through the characters. This film is not for the weak-hearted. I genuinely felt feverish throughout the film, I felt sick in the stomach. And this is Chazelle’s first major film.

A freshman music student is selected in the jazz band and the teacher decides to test his limits - and boy does he test him. The movie could have been about anything but ‘drums’ is a partic-

ularly good idea, since percussions can express raw emotions like no other instrument. “Whiplash” is a great title as it is both the name of a piece of music entwined with the narrative and it is also a blood dripping - whip-lash!

The idea is hard to grasp since it’s not very black and white. In a nutshell the film shows us the pursuit of art can lead to madness if you cannot understand that the main objective is to love your fellow human beings and

express yourself in the process. Art for the sake of art can be cruel as is often the case with some great artists. Is it really worth it?

The film does not draw any conclusions but keeps it open. There is a very thin line between excellence and madness and often times that line is crossed. But is it worth it?

I hope they give the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to JK Simmons for his magnificent performance. l

KRISTEN BELL joins Universal’s comedy Michelle Darnell

n Entertainment Desk In an effort to avoid online negativity, rapper Iggy Azalea has decided to quit Twitter. She arrived at her decision following unflattering comments she received about paparazzi photos taken of her in a bikini while on vacation in Hawaii.

“Just got back from a great vacation, came online and saw apparently it’s shocking and unheard of to be a woman and have cellulite,” she tweeted late on Wednesday. “I just want to have peace and relaxation time without a [perv] with a long-distance lens hiding out taking pictures,” she continued. “Everyone deserves peace.”

The “Fancy” rapper went on to say that the “hatred and pettiness” she has faced is making her an “angry person” in turn. “I cannot be that.”

Azalea, 24, is no stranger to Twitter beef; she has feuded with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Azealia Banks to fast food delivery chain Papa John’s.

The rapper felt it would be a “disservice” to her fans if she “[became] nasty because of the way I feel I am treated,” and so her management will continue to Tweet and run her accounts from now on “unless any message is signed -IA.” l

7

Saturday, February 21, 2015

n Entertainment Desk

SHABANA AZMI advocates for US censorship system n Entertainment Desk Shabana Azmi has appealed to give up the British system of censorship and adopt the American one, whereby the filmmakers are liberal about their own films and censorship.

She feels “Censor Board’s business is to certify and not censor according to appropriate ages”.

“I think it is very important that we discard the British system.

“Instead we should adopt the American system, whereby the filmmakers themselves yield and decide that they don’t want a single cut but they realise that age appropriate behaviour is important,” she added. l

Kristen Bell will star opposite Melissa McCarthy in Universal’s upcoming comedy “Michelle Darnell.”

McCarthy is toplining the movie, which will shoot in March with Kathy Bates and Peter Dinklage also in the cast. McCarthy’s husband, Ben Falcone, is in the director’s chair.

The script, written by McCarthy and Falcone alongside their Groundlings collaborator Steve Mallory, centers on a titan of industry who is sent to prison after she’s caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America’s latest sweetheart with the help of a former assistant, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget.

Bell will play the former assistant, a mousy single mother who is trying to start a cupcake business.

Bates is already onboard to play McCarthy’s tough, wealthy and eccentric mentor whom McCarthy’s character wants so badly to emulate.

Bell is currently on Showtime’s “House of Lies” and returns to voice Princess Anna in Disney’s Frozen short, “Frozen Fever.” l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

February 21

We followed the song

O

n Shawkat Hussain

We sang the same soulful song, but we sang it in a different way; we sang it as some kind of affirmation of the new nationhood we had achieved

n one of these hartal days last week (it doesn’t matter which day), I walked out of my DU campus compound and on to the main street. I kept walking until I suddenly stopped. It would have been more dramatic if I wrote that I simply froze in my tracks, like a Kurt Vonnegut character that I had recently read about.

I stood on the road for a long time until I realised that I had no reason to move in any direction. I had no direction. I had no reason to go anywhere.

The road on my left led to Nilkhet and onwards to New Market. I had nothing to buy and no reason to go there. The road on my right led to TSC where a cocktail had just exploded. Decades of living in the campus had honed my instincts and I didn’t turn right.

If I walked straight I would be walking towards the mallchattar, but I was in no mood for that. If I turned back, the road would wind towards the Shaheed Minar, but that seemed like the least attractive of all the prospects. In fact, it felt that I had no prospects at all.

Recitation at the Shaheed Minar Shamsur Rahman

A few of us gathered at the pedestal Of the Shaheed Minar on a cold February evening Then others languorously began to emerge As if they were votaries on a pilgrimage The scorching sun gave way to the somber philosopher’s face of the sky No brightness was visible all around but unstoppable cavorting of light sparkles were consistent that evening, as we discovered further camaraderie.

Later as our voices blossomed, our verses of praise seconded the garlanded flowers at the Shaheed Minar pedestal.

But they were no ordinary word games, they were uttered faiths, Free spirited miracles mixed with each breath.

Suddenly then I remembered the face of a poet-friend, which made my eyes glisten as does mirage on water, With fervid hope I make space for him As if he will appear and sit beside me, instead of his Second Coming, I hear cherubs singing all around, I quiver mournfully like frail leaves, The trees of the city the paths, the stairs and the city centre mourn too.

Perhaps, they came to Shaheed Minar, while we recited poems Soundlessly moving, they, our shaheeds, stopped by the austere pedestal, The Shaheed Minar became a field of harvest at once Our shaheeds swayed as if they are ever resplendent harvests, soaring ever higher.

Shamsur Rahman was a poet. This poem was translated by Asif Iqbal.

My occupation was gone; the hartals had taken away my job. I just stood there for a long time and then slowly retraced my steps to go home and watch some cricket on television.

Today, when hundreds of thousands of men and women and children, clad in combinations of black-and-white saris and black-and-white punjabis and black badges, descend on the campus, they will have, at the very least, a clear physical direction.

All roads in Dhaka today will lead to the Shaheed Minar, all eyes throughout the nation will be glued to the TV, and people everywhere will watch endless processions of people scrambling to place a bouquet of flowers or maybe just a petal on the Shaheed Minar. And it is most likely that living right in the heart of the city, both the physical and the spiritual heart, living right in the heart of the nation, I will remain frozen in despair, and will not venture out.

Once, years ago, going to the Shaheed Minar, being part of prabhat ferries, meant something for me, meant something for all us. The lyrics of that song, the soulful, exquisite melody of amar bhaiyer rokte rangano Ekushey February literally brought tears to our eyes.

We had hopes in our hearts and anger in our eyes and strength in our limbs, and we were all united by a singleness of purpose.

Now when I hear this song, as I will hear it all day today, from loud speakers and loud-throated young men and women, I feel a strange disconnect between what the song signified once and the dark reality that engulfs us today.

As a young college student, and then a university student, in the years just preceding the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, every Ekushey February for us was at once a celebration and a protest: It was a celebration of Bangla in our national life; it was a

protest against the establishment, a protest against continuing forms of oppressions that we as Bangalis experienced at the hand of the West Pakistanis. Every time we sang that soulful song, it was with real hope and passion and anger and determination. The song symbolised for us that unutterable desire (at that time) for liberation.

For four to five years after liberation, from 1971 to 1975, the mood I remember was mostly celebratory. We mourned the loss of all the Bangalis who lost their lives in the Liberation War, but we mostly celebrated the nationhood that we had achieved.

We sang the same soulful song, but we sang it in a different way; we sang it as some kind of affirmation of the new nationhood we had achieved at the price of those who gave their lives in 1952 and then again in 1971.

How do young people sing the song now as they march barefoot towards the Minar?

At least for 15 years, from 1975 until the fall of Ershad in 1990, the Shaheed Minar and its symbolic value had been appropriated by the governments of Zia and then Ershad.

And the appropriation continues in one way or another. When heads of governments have the first right to lay flowers, the Shaheed Minar’s symbolic power is immediately altered and diminished. Does it affect the way we sing?

Now, almost 44 years since the liberation of Bangladesh, as the crowds have swelled and the processions have become longer and the ceremonies have become grander and more elaborate, I wonder how things have changed, and what hopes and dreams young people have as they sing the same unforgettable song.

The clear direction towards the Shaheed Minar is easy to follow. Does the nation know where it is headed? l Shawkat Hussain is a professor of English.

A message from the martyrs Pragya Rahman

Cry not for our blood shed as martyrs Try instead to carry your load as soldiers Of battles fought against humanity and bane Our names carved in history with blood and pain Time for you to tell your own story, take the lead We are just dust and ashes we’ve done our deed Lay not any flowers down on my grave Pray instead to be bold, mighty and brave For those who need you to be their saviour For those who only rely on a heartfelt prayer Time for you to tell your own story, take the lead We are just dust and ashes we’ve done our deed Speak not until you know who you are with pride ‘Cause every word you say is precious and is your guide Pragya Rahman is a writer and poet.

1 Special

9

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Last year’s words

What will the number 21 mean to them?

T

he irony of writing about Ekushey in English is not lost on me. The failure of the narrow, perhaps naïve, nationalism to proudly embody Bengali, the great equaliser, following independence, was a futile endeavour.

English, the lingua franca predating then and holding strong into the now, was bound to bring down the fortifications and deliver the nation from the path of isolation. Its saturation would be complete when a generation brought up on a diet of Hollywood was as likely to associate the number 21 with a card game or the legal age for

drinking as with February.

That generation will be superseded by one that has welcomed the tongue of our neighbour into its hearts and minds. Hindi is the second or third language learnt by the vast majority of Indians. The prospect of having a more favourable ratio of our population speaking it than the country it originates from, notwithstanding the reasons behind this, is a desirable one in an Asia, if not a world, that reorients its axis to the Orient.

Twenty-one will come to mean something else. I was born too soon to surrender myself to its allure. My parents, knowing what is best for me and being blessed with the means to provide

abide by the diktats of convention on this sacred, commemorative day stems from my eyes being averted to the red circle that sits proudly amidst the decrepit white pillars, the harbinger of a dawn full of promise.

The red I see is a darker shade that flows from the spectres of years ago, days ago, hours ago.

The silent whispers of its shameful promises are bathed in a deep melancholy that has become our existence, hence I cannot speak of, speak for, Amar Ekushey.

So far have I strayed from the flock that considering the meaning of 21, much less comprehending it, is a distant memory. Shame me, I insist. Persecute me, prosecute me. Do not ask me to pretend or pervert Ekushey, do not demand I take pride.

There are others far better, far worthier, who will give you that on this day of saturnalia. I refuse to partake, for I must not deprive them of their indignation and superiority. I do not speak the right words in the right language, and that is a sin that deserves judgment to be passed in this life. No festivity is complete without a convivial lynching or two.

In propagating the culture of celebrating lives, we have blurred the lines between mourning and celebration. Hubris keeps us from acknowledging our limited capabilities, as we fool ourselves by making comparisons with members of the animal kingdom.

Those limits cause celebration to be confused for joy. If I had to cynically denounce the examples of the human race whom I call my countrymen, I would attribute their desensitisation to something altogether more sinister. On the 63rd anniversary of the Bengali Language Movement we pay our respects to the soldiers and the martyrs of 1952.

Our eulogy does not include the innocents whose lives are worth less to our collective conscience than any member of the animal kingdom to which we compare ourselves favourably, nor does our celebration. The shame is not lost on me. l Ikhtisad Ahmed is a columnist for the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangla is love n Nirupama Subramanian

D

uring one of my first trips to Dhaka, the officer at Foreigners Registration Counter at the airport asked me if I knew Bangla.

“Olpo olpo,” I confessed. “Ami beshi Bangla bujhina,” I clarified, so that he would not test my ability. He seemed quite pleased with my effort and decided to continue the conversation.

There is a famous Bangla song with my name in it, he informed me. Have I heard it?

I hadn’t. He hummed a bar. “Ogo Nirupama ... korio khoma …”

Was it by Manna Dey? He asked a colleague. “No, Kishore Kumar, I think,” his colleague replied. The names were familiar, even if the song wasn’t. I liked Kishore Kumar songs, I said. I would listen to it.

If you know Bangla, you can understand it, my new friend suggested. I would try, I offered. I later searched for the song on the Internet and found it, but still couldn’t get a translation. What I remember is the fact that for a few minutes, we were drawn closer together by a word.

A word that magically appeared in a different language.

As I writer, I know the power and pull of words, but I am only beginning to understand how precious a language can be.

I had never paid any attention to International Mother Language Day. If I did see it in passing as a notification in the newspaper, I did not give much thought to its origins.

I am in a nation that holds the language in its name, that was created in the name of language. Lives have been lost, blood has been spilt for the right to speak a language. It must mean something, something big.

I know four languages. I am extremely comfortable in English, I am fairly fluent in Hindi, I can speak reasonably good Tamil, my mother tongue, and I know some French, now grown rusty with neglect. I am neither proud nor ashamed of the languages I speak.

For the last few years, my husband and I have been trying to get our daughter to speak in our mother tongue Tamil. She understands the language and has a vocabulary of a 100 words but cannot carry on a fluent conversation in Tamil.

She has studied Hindi in school, and now learns Spanish. I myself studied in Delhi and cannot read or write Tamil, being much more conversant with Hindi. I confess that my efforts to get her to speak it more are sporadic and without energy. She doesn’t really need to know Tamil, we decided. She may never live in a village in Tamil Nadu anyway.

After independence, India was divided into states on the basis of language. We have had our language agitation when the southern states protested against the imposition of Hindi as the official language, the Tamilians being the most staunch protestors! English still continued as the language of the administration.

Today, when two educated Indians meet, we first converse in English, then we may sprinkle Hindi words in our conversation.

The use or non-use of a language creates its own stamp. Unlike people in other countries, who use English as the language of the workplace and switch to their native tongue at home, the urban Indian sees English as a marker of social status. Even as differences in caste

are slowly fading, thanks to intermarriage, education, and mobility, class distinctions become more apparent.

There is a distinct urban and rural divide. The quality of English further stamps you as a first generation vernacular medium or a polished English medium type who seems to have emerged from the grand portals of a stately English Castle.

If India has been divided by language, Bangladesh has been united it. What is obvious is the pride in the language. I see it in the Bangla numbers on the license plates of cars, on billboards which do not have the need for translation or explanation. When two Bangladeshis meet, they speak in Bangla. Children speak to each other in the language, confident and accepted. To speak Bangla is as natural as breathing.

Language is about many things: Roots, identity, culture, power. But most of all, it is about love. Ekushey is a day of mourning for the martyrs who died defending the right to speak Bangla. It is also a day to remember the deep love that lives in the heart of the language. l Nirupama Subramanian is a freelance writer.

PHOTOS BY: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN, MOHAMMAD HOSSAIN OPU, RAJIB DHAR

n Ikhtisad Ahmed

me with it, threw me into the knowing embrace of English. It is in that that I write about a language that we are all proud of, yet seem not to know what it represents.

Indeed, wherefore such pride? I wish I possessed the wizardry to conjure an answer, for reason alone is insufficient for procuring it.

There is a less fortunate young boy somewhere in the rural abyss of Bangladesh pondering the question, unbeknownst to him, while memorising verses he reads from right to left without comprehending much, if any, of it.

He is no different to the thousands paying homage to the derelict white pillars with the red sun in the centre. The similarities extend to the obligatory regurgitation of the material consumed, a requirement fulfilled but nothing known. They give the appearance of speaking the right language.

The boy and I may be remiss, but they are not.

Their hitting the right notes, however, produces the same result. The pulpit, the Shaheed Minar, the desk: Structures the boy, the assembly and I use to serve our assumed higher purposes, to give meaning to our lives rather than searching for meaning.

We succeed only in being bricks in a Tower of Babel, constructed on a land that has forsaken us as much as we have forsaken it. The great equaliser no more, the country whose name has lost its essence fails to encompass us as it tries to arrive at a consensus amongst the contradictory definitions of its identity. Golden Bengal is romanticised, its failing heart disregarded.

There will be much written about today, a finite, vitiated output bearing the hallmarks of infinity and profundity that invoke the spirit of Ekushey.

Those who stay silent, or worse, dissent, are shamed. I have tried to avoid such scorn with disingenuous ruminations that add to the plaudits and platitudes, but the ghost of years past haunt me. I confess to scaring easily.

Being human, I am allowed this transgression, and many, many more. Thus, the burden of the ghosts keep me from reaching into myself to bring forth that jubilant spirit. My inability to

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, February 21, 2015

CODE-CRACKER

Uphold the spirit of the language movement

O

n Ekushey, the nation stands as one to commemorate the martyrs of the language movement.

It is both a day of remembrance and an occasion to look forward.

Sixty-three years after “Amar Ekushey,” we still need to do much more to ensure full adult literacy. As a society that prides itself on its linguistic heritage, we must also keep in mind that the importance of helping our culture flourish by interacting more with and expressing itself on the global stage.

We must also remember that language struggles have a universal dimension. Today is the 15th anniversary of Unesco adopting February 21st as International Mother Language Day. Unesco has set the theme for this year as “Inclusion in and through education: Language counts,” which acknowledges the fact that linguistic minorities are still the most marginalised people around the globe.

Although small as a percentage of the total population, Bangladesh’s linguistic minorities are highly diverse, and deserve help in protecting and promoting their culture. Non-Bangali communities in particular face enormous pressures in keeping their heritage alive and vibrant.

Indigenous peoples living in CHT deserve more support in their calls to see more primary education in their native languages.

Recognition of and support for minority languages is important, not just for the cultural heritage and rights of indigenous and minority communities, but to enrich Bangladeshi culture as a whole. Supporting this is another way to uphold the call for recognition of people’s basic rights made by the Language Movement martyrs.

Keeping minority languages alive is important to enrich Bangladeshi culture and heritage

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

Regular cases pile up as blockade keeps police busy

February 4 types, so that the people of Bangladesh are able to Anjumanara Sobhan live in peace. Joint efforts to control corruption is All corrupt activities must be reported to the ACC. very necessary.

Law enforcement agencies (RAB, police, etc) The various law enforcement departments we should get involved to better control crime of any have should get enough support from the latest type, including torching vehicles. There should technologies that any developed country should be enough secret service agents to track all the possess. Foreign training should be provided to corruption activities. control all types of crime.

There is a greater need to control crime of all

7 killed in Comilla arson February 3

Chisti Iqbal We have lost our marbles as a nation!

Masudul Alam Can we even claim to be civilised?

Golam Ahmed Khan Disgraceful.

Jitu Sheikh Jinat Mahmid When your morning begins with such news, how is it even possible to have a good day?

Another gold haul hints at involvement of Biman staff

Clogged-up courts need institutional reform

S

ignificant reforms are needed to overcome bottlenecks slowing the pace of justice.

At all levels, the legal system suffers from chronic delays.

Poorer litigants in civil actions are especially hard hit as they lack the resources to cope with delays in settling financial disputes.

Filling vacant judicial positions and providing more resources to help judges process cases is vital to help reduce the huge nationwide backlog in dealing with civil and criminal cases.

The Bar Council and government also need to look beyond the shortage of judges and lack of infrastructure. The slow pace of the system itself creates an incentive for litigants and lawyers to keep filing new cases, regardless of merit and possibility of success.

A proper system of protocols is needed to enable lawyers and court officials to encourage more out-of-work settlements in civil cases and to better screen out cases filed which have no merit.

An analysis by Dhaka Tribune of just one out of the nation’s 64 districts, found nearly half this district’s official requirement of 22 full-time judges posts left vacant. Court sources report over 14,000 cases pending in the district, and session judge’s court and a further 12,500 awaiting progress in the chief judicial magistrate court and Nari o Shishu Nirjaton Domon Tribunals.

Some judicial positions in the area have been unfilled for over two years, and it is not hard to find litigants in the district whose cases have been held up for far longer.

The government must both appoint and provide more resources and judges while also encouraging institutional reforms to speed up the legal system.

February 3

Shafin Ahmed Where is it all going?

Mh Rahat Shafin Ahmed: Same question. In the Bangladesh Bank reserve, they don’t have any actual statement of this gold.

Bombs take away their ability to work

A proper system of protocols is needed to speed up the legal system

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

BNP extends hartal till Thursday

February 3 deep purple blue Great, Mr spokesperson! Call for an election under a non-party government and you will find out the truth. Did the people vote for you in the January 5 polls? Perhaps you want a perpetual mandate, like the Jan 5 HT Imam-managed mandate.

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.

Spokesperson They’re making us so popular, we must carry on, I’m having so much fun. The people love us so much they will vote for us forever and ever.

Back to square one?

February 3 Karl Hungus Militancy has been a blight on Pakistan since ages uncounted, I fear introducing military might could possibly catalyse the situation to further lethality.

Evil People Politics The euro zone and Pakistan. Only Mr Milam can make a correlation between these two separate universes.

Students’ human chain in front of Khaleda’s office February 4 DPB The students must also grill Hasina for her failure to provide security and a congenial democratic political atmosphere following the January 5 electoral fraud committed by her.

F138 deep purple blue: People also need to gain some courage and defend themselves when the government is failing so miserably.

Back to basics: Mukti chai February 3

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 12 represents D so fill D every time the figure 12 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.

February 4

Sk Mahamudul Hoque Palash Very sobering, to see those types of photos.

New Age reporter sues police for assault

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Minister (6) 5 Period of time (3) 7 Apple of the eye (5) 8 Keen insight (6) 10 Thickness (3) 12 Acting part (4) 13 Consume (3) 14 Satellite (4) 16 Examine (4) 17 Drinking vessel (3) 18 Assumed attitude (4) 20 Sporting item (3) 23 Wards off (6) 24 Tranquility (5) 25 Sheltered side (3) 26 Reliable (6)

DOWN 1 Scheme (4) 2 Accustoms (6) 3 Kind of wheat (5) 4 Melody (4) 5 Immerse (3) 6 Everyone (3) 9 Water-filled trench around castle (4) 11 Longing (3) 14 Meditate (4) 15 Musical dramas (6) 16 Bath (3) 17 Lid (5) 18 Agreement (4) 19 Catch sight of (4) 21 Copy (3) 22 Golf mound (3)

February 3

Probir Bidhan Good job! The police are outrageous.

Sons beat mother to death over ancestral properties February 2

Hasan Rabi Ah Bangladesh!

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Saira Very well said – amazing piece! rose When will Bangladesh be free of violence? sattar The PM seems to have made her choice though.

She lives a dangerous life, no?

The sorry tale of the house of two princesses February 4

RS Obviously this is related to the existing situation in our country.

Salman Zahir The analogy is spot on ... wonder when this facade of a democracy is going to end and a new era is going to start.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Khaleda sued in Comilla arson cases February 4

PEANUTS

Saiful Islam She is fueled with an insatiable greed for power and ordering her henchmen to kill general people. BNP is no different from ISIS, both of them are burning people alive and making them suffer in the most heinous ways possible.

DMP: Violence to stop in a week February 4

ASB Public awareness is very necessary for law enforcement agencies to convince people to inform the police secretly. There should be telephone numbers, e-mail addresses so that we are able to inform the authorities with secret information on criminal activity.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Saturday, February 21, 2015

The new Bhasha Andolon n Kausar Shahab Klanti amar khoma koro Probhu Pothe jodi pichchie pori kobhu Ei je hia thoro thoro kape aji emontoro Ei bedona khoma koro, khoma koro Probhu.

B

Old words go out of circulation

BIGSTOCK

The river called Bangla

E

n Ekram Kabir very year, a few foreigners who wanted to learn Bangla and managed to do so surface on our local media and start sermonising us on our language. They seem more Bengali than the Bengalis.

It’s like some of those people we have in our country who are more American than the Americans themselves. This section of foreigners who have been learning Bangla for several years, try to argue that using non-Bangla words is a shame for the Bengalis. And on the eve of Ekushey February, our media men interview them and tend to wow at what these foreigners try to say.

To my mind, language is like a river, and that river picks up quite a lot of things during its course. Language flows through time from its earliest sources, picking up new meanings at each confluence.

Culture, the collective experience of those who speak it, is the lay of the land in which speakers speak.

The streams flowing into the great tributaries of living languages are the lived lives of the individuals who actually speak them. They are free to say anything that they want, but can only say what they can. Living language, once spoken, becomes a practice.

Every language has been like that: English is a Franco-Latin language, and is now picking up elements from South Asian, South American, as well as from African dictions. French has picked up a lot – mostly from Africa.

Likewise, Bangla borrowed many Persian words when we traded with Persia, and from Persian settlers in the subcontinent.

DU linguistics Professor Shourav Sikder wrote in a newspaper article on February 21 two years ago: “Bangladesh was under Turkish-Moghul power. For this reason, influence and dominance of Sanskrit words in Bangla was reduced, and the appearance of Arabic and Persian words were noticed.”

there 15 years ago.

Terming it khudey barta has been a nice try for a Bangla term, but it didn’t work for the majority of the people.

What would be the Bangla words for modems, fax machines, cable TV, or the Internet?

If my friend and I experience the same language, what would we do? If both of us know French, the use of French words would creep in automatically into our conversation.

Then again, we borrow them from

As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language

Hasn’t English changed? Hasn’t every other human language changed? If anyone has read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Old English, they would think twice when criticising Bangladeshis who are using English words in Bangla.

And if you just go back another 500 years, Beowulf had totally different English than what we read and speak today.

There are many reasons for languages to change. A language will change when the needs of its speakers change. Every day, we have new technologies, new products, and new experiences that require new words.

Think of text messaging. The word “text” has a new meaning that wasn’t

other languages.

What about the word “sushi”?

And haven’t we created the word “brunch” by combining “breakfast” and “lunch?”

When we speak a foreign language, we don’t add any Bangla words. Similar is the case with these foreigners who have learnt Bangla. They have learnt Bangla in a consciously-foreign atmosphere, and that’s why they don’t use any nonBangla words.

I don’t think using English words is a shameful chapter in our linguistic life. Since the beginning of civilisation, every language has evolved and gone through many changes. Bangla will

also change, and the foreign words that we use in our diction are likely to become a part of Bangla like many South Asian dictions have become a part of English.

This is true for all languages. This, indeed, is not a shame, as language is a mode of expression.

This school of pundits (remember this word?) always tend to think that older forms of language are more elegant, logical, or correct than modern forms.

But is that really true? For example, in Old English, a small winged creature with feathers was known as a “brid.”

Over time, the pronunciation changed to “bird.”

Do we really speak or even write in Tagorian Bangla? Who writes poetry with Madhusudan’s Bangla these days?

In an atmosphere of having three mediums (Bangla, English, and Arabic) in our educational system, we’re bound to pick up non-Bangla words in our daily use, and consequently in our literature. Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users.

Why would this be shameful?

As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language. This change is usually very slow, so we hardly notice it.

Let’s not grumble by saying that “poor Bangla” is being used by our younger generation! Please judge them, if you have to, from the perspective of changing our social and educational needs. l

eautiful as the poem is, its entreaty and supplication is intensified and correctly appreciable only in Bangla. In what other language is there a word for cleanliness that sounds like a sparkly spell, other than porishkar porichchchhonno? No other language can embody the volatility and impatience of hulustul, and osthir.

Bangla sounds like the tinkle of bells, Bangla brings back memories of home.

Bangla reminds me of shimmering mighty rivers. It reminds me of precarious fertile silt that sifts the land and its people. It is the language I hear in my memories from Kamlapur railway station to Mymensingh. It is the language I see etched in the pained facial contours of Zainul Abedin’s famine-struck farmers.

It is the language of some of the best friends I ever made. It speaks of relentless loyalty and togetherness.

It takes me on journeys of marriages, death, drag races, and carefully orchestrated near-deaths on getting the “ditch.” It patronises me into over paying for roses I don’t need at traffic lights.

It leaves me slightly debilitated when I don’t find it in my operative vernacular. It puts Ayub Bacchu’s “Tumi Keno Bojho Na” right up there on the list with Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

It is the language of my home.

Bangla takes me to a time before the rise of the geopolitical cognisanti. In a time before documented history, I see the landscape unfolding to sustain the language. The geography and topography taking form in preparedness for syllable-ridden words yet to be born. For in my mind, Bangla beholds and gives shape to the meandering Matamohori, and the lotapatas of the krishnochuras.

No other phonetic could arbour

Ekram Kabir is Head of Program, ABC Radio 89.2, and a Dhaka Tribune columnist.

and entail such names, were it not for the tendril-like shapes of the shoreos and shoreas. Bangla tells the stories of more than 160 million lives joined in a land. It tells the stories of many who have given their lives for it. It beholds the future of many more whose lives are entwined with it.

Hardly has a language in history made an impact so deep on its politics and nationalism than Bangla. Of Eastern Indo-Aryan decent, it evolved from ancient Sanskrit around 1000 -1200 AD. It won’t be an exaggeration to say Bangladesh is probably the only nation in the world whose liberty was initiated by subjugatory threats to its language.

The Bhasha Andolon, or the Language Movement, started in the late 1940s, to gain recognition for Bangla as an official language. Today, more than 200 million people in the world speak it.

Born some years after the Liberation War, raised outside the country and educated primarily if not solely in English, there is different andolon taking place for a generation of Bengalis like myself. We struggle to instil the significance and nuances of my language and culture in a new world context of fractionated identities.

In Bangladesh, the andolon is of moving into the new times, while the majority of our population remains without basic humanitarian rights. As a nation, we struggle to move while our political unrests cripple us; we fight to stay afloat in repetitious geopolitical water issues; we fight to survive when our rivers leave us high and dry; we put up with blatant displays of shadism and classism against our own; we remain silent when witnessing accepted degradation reserved for our 90% - the domestic worker, the returning construction labourer, the exploited garments employee. Tumi keno bujho na? l Kausar Shahab is a freelance writer. This article has been adapted from an article originally published in a Toronto-based Bengali Magazine.

RAJIB DHAR

Violent politics: Cause and resolution n GM Quader

T

he number one priority for any human being is safety of life and property. People live in a society and even form a state basically from that craving. Formation of government and financing of the same are borne by people with the expectation that they would receive protection.

Serious violence has engulfed Bangladesh at the moment. Common citizens are becoming prey to the same inflicting of loss and damage of life and property. A sense of insecurity has been prevailing. The government so far has failed to carry out the prime responsibility of providing safety.

People are also considering political parties irresponsible, insensitive, and ineffective to the calamity inflicted on them.

The government has been found to put the entire blame of masterminding and co-operating the hostility to the alliance of political parties opposed to government. The government side, including the party and even some government officials, are found terming those political parties as terrorist organisations. The government has been categorically declining any dialog mentioning that.

On the other hand, the said opposition alliance has been denying all allegations. They claim that violence is being created by government agents to discredit the opposition movement.

They are accusing the government of providing the law enforcement agencies free hand (authority to act beyond their legal jurisdiction) with the task of eliminating their political opponents on false charges.

There are plenty of media reports hinting excessive use of force and of harassment, arrest and torture in custody, extra-judicial killings, etc which are being accepted as true by people.

The root of the conflict lies in the 15th amendment of the constitution done by the government during its last tenure. This has overturned the system of national election, which was previously to be conducted under a non-party caretaker administration, now to be held under the incumbent government.

The opposition alliance waged a vigorous movement to undo the said amendment as they apprehended manipulation of election results by the party in power. In spite of a very violent anti-election campaign, the

national election was carried out by the government on January 5, 2014, which was boycotted by most of the opposition parties.

That election was considered flawed both inside the country and also to most other countries.

Candidates were declared elected unopposed in a majority of the constituencies. Even where there were election activities, the voter turnout, as reported by locals and different observers, were negligible.

Allegations of different irregularities, including rigging and declaring results on the basis of a pre-recorded list, were heard from candidates and voters.

The opposition alliance now claims that their concern has been found to be true. They now demand for the restoration of the previous system of non-party caretaker system. Their demand also includes a midterm election.

The government has so far refused to accept the demands, or go for any negotiated settlement. It has been resorting to the use of force to suppress the same. They may go up to eliminating the opposition alliance if need be, as vowed by some party leaders.

Conflict is lingering, disrupting

normalcy, and inflicting damage not only to the lives and properties of individuals, but to businesses as well, with long-term adverse consequences.

by use of force does not fall under civility or within democratic culture.

Concerns are being expressed by many analysts and knowledgeable people

The only rational option left for the government now is to start a dialog between the two major alliances in order to resolve the issues and settle to a negotiated agreement

It is felt. The government should not underestimate the opposition alliance and its apex party in respect of their organisational capacity and public followings. They alternated the present government to hold state power during the last almost 25 years.

They never received less than one-third of the total votes cast in any election during that period.

Restoration of law and order through the annihilation of the alliance may not be a viable option.

Suppressing the opinion of a considerable section of the population

from both inside and outside the country of a rise of a more determined and hardcore militancy in case the unrest continues, which would not be good for the country.

The only rational option left for the government now, as is being suggested by concerned citizens, international bodies, foreign diplomats, etc is to start a dialog between the two major alliances in order to resolve the issues and settle to a negotiated agreement.

Election-related issues such as the type of government during election, formation of Election Commission,

midterm election, etc could be major issues. In addition, other subjects for reform of political culture and the government, like balancing absolute power of the head of government and party chief, non-use of violence in politics, avoidance of boycott of parliament by opposition, etc could also be discussed.

Considering the wider extent of issues, and for reaching an inclusive, sustainable solution in the form of a national charter, all other important political parties and the civil society beyond the two major alliances could also be invited to the dialog.

There remains a suspicion that political parties, especially the two major ones, would not be able to come to an agreed consensus. In that case, different proposals can be put up to the public for obtaining their opinion through voting, like referendum.

Proposals receiving majority support will have to be accepted by all.

The country we have as ours is named “People’s Republic of Bangladesh,” where ultimately all power belongs to the people as per our constitution. l GM Quader is a politician and former minister.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, February 21, 2015

Sport

UPCOMING MATCHES

TODAY Pakistan v West Indies, 4am Australia v Bangladesh, 9:30am

13 Clarke withholds

TOMORROW Sri Lanka v Afghanistan, 4am South Africa v India, 9:30am

Aussie team amid dire weather

R

B

8 17 20 15 10 26 46 70 17 41 0 2 3 7 1 2 4 10 0 8 1 2 13

Total: (all out; 33.2 overs)

123

Mazhar Uddin from Canberra

Fall of wickets 1-18 (Bell), 2-36 (Ali), 3-57 (Ballance), 4-104 (Morgan), 5-104 (Taylor), 6-108 (Butler), 7-110 (Woakes), 8-116 (Broad), 9-117 (Finn), 10-123 (Root)

Bowling Southee 9-0-33-7, Boult 10-2-32-1, Milne 5.2-1-25-1, Vettori 7-0-19-1, Anderson 2-0-8-0 New Zealand McCullum b Woakes Guptill b Woakes Williamson not out Taylor not out Extras: (lb4, w8)

R

B

77 22 9 5 12

25 22 22 5

Total: (one wicket; 12.2 overs)

125

Tim Southee produced a brilliant spell of swing bowling for career-best figures of 7-33 before Brendon McCullum plundered an 18-ball half-century as New Zealand destroyed England by eight wickets in their World Cup Pool A match on Friday.

Southee’s performance saw England dismissed for 123, with Joe Root top-scoring with 46, before New Zealand captain McCullum’s 77 from 25 balls helped the co-hosts roar to victory in 12.2 overs at

Player

18 20 21

Mark Boucher (SA)

Holland

St Kitts

2007

22

Mark Boucher (SA)

West Indies

Grenada

2007

23

Brian Lara (WI)

Canada

Centurion

2007

Venue

Brendon McCullum (NZ)

England

Wellington

2015

Brendon McCullum (NZ)

Canada

St Lucia

2007

BEST BOWLING IN WORLD CUP

Edition

Bowling

Opposition

Venue

Edition

Glenn McGrath(Aus)

7-15

Namibia

Potchefstroom

Feb 27 2003

Andy Bichel (Aus)

7-20

England

Port Elizabeth

Mar 02 2003

Tim Southee (NZ)

7-33

England

Wellington

Feb 20 2015

Winston Davis (WI)

7-51

Australia

Leeds

Jun 11 1983

Wellington Regional Stadium.

McCullum took 18 runs off pace bowler Stuart Broad’s first over, the second of the innings, and then 20 off seamer Steven Finn, who had immediately replaced Broad. He then belted four successive sixes off Finn’s next over, which went for 29 runs.

New Zealand were 96-0 after six overs with their captain seemingly intent on pushing an already dispirited England further into despair. McCullum was bowled by Chris Woakes after hitting eight fours and seven sixes.l

Those of you that are unfamiliar with the biblical story of David and Goliath should look it up on Wikipedia. Other than its biblical value, our David did meet Goliath on a few occasions but on that memorable day of June 18, 2005, that biblical story became a reality when BanYOUSUF RAHMAN gladesh beat Austra(BABU) lia on the battlefield of Cardiff, Wales. That brilliantly crafted audacious knock of 100 by Mohammed Ashraful not only silenced many, but also made Ian Chappell and Allan Border (TV commentators at that time) swallow Aussie pride.

Bangladesh befittingly overcame a mental hurdle when they overwhelmingly decimated Afghanistan in the opener, much to the joy and relief of its players, management and the fans. The lap of honour after the victory was ample evidence of this feeling.

Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his band of brothers seem to have found a new lease of life and this should encourage them to be competitive in matches to come.

It will not be fair to make a head-to-head comparison between the two teams because if we tried to do so, it would be like comparing apples with oranges. Statistically, the difference between the two is poles apart on all fronts. However, this is an ODI and all it needs for the better team to lose is to have a bad day. We saw it happen several times in many a World Cup event - Ireland beating England, Kenya beating the West Indies, Bangladesh beating South Africa and India and so on.

Let us assume that both teams play their average cricket. Australia would come out as winners because their average quality is better than Bangladesh’s. An ideal scenario would be that Bangladesh comes up with the highest brand of cricket that is possible

In the game of cricket, a captain cannot always express his true emotions. It was certainly the case with Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza during the pre-match press conference in Brisbane yesterday.

While Mashrafe was hoping for a full 50-over-per-side affair, he won’t mind at all if their second Pool A game against Australia today ends in a washout.

Tropical cyclone Marcia has already attracted the attention of all the Bangladesh fans as the prospect of a washout is looming large.

Mashrafe even admitted that he won’t mind sharing points with a strong Australia side but at the same time added that it will not be a right thing for them to think negatively and hope for rain.

“I think it is negative to think of that (washout). We are preparing to play a 50-over match. We don’t want to play a

New Zealand rewrite record books Tim Southee (7-33)

The New Zealand paceman’s return was the key cause of England’s collapse to 123 all out and gave the 26-year-old the third-best World Cup bowling figures of all-time behind the Australian duo of Glenn McGrath (seven for 15) and Andy Bichel (seven for 20).

His haul was also the best by a New Zealander in any ODI surpassing current Black Caps bowling coach Shane Bond’s six for 19 against India at Bulawayo in 2005.

Brendon McCullum (50 off 18 balls)

McCullum broke his own record for the quickest World Cup fifty with a half-cen-

Will David have the slingshot to slay Goliath?

Hawk Eye

Opposition

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum hits a boundary during their Cricket World Cup Pool A match against England at Wellington Stadium in Wellington yesterday REUTERS

Southee, McCullum destroy England n Reuters, Wellington

FASTEST 50 IN WORLD CUP

Balls

Player

Bowling Anderson 5-0-37-0, Broad 2.2-0-27-0, Finn 2-0-49-0, Woakes 3-1-8-2 Fall of wickets 1-105 (McCullum), 2-112 (Guptill) Results: New Zealand won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Tim Southee (NZ)

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee is the fourth bowler (after Glenn McGrath, Andy Bichel and Winston Davis ) to take 7 wickets in a World Cup match, nobody has taken 8

Will the Tigers savour the Gabba experience?

ENGvNZ England Bell b Southee Moeen b Southee Ballance c Williamson b Boult Root c Vettori b Milne Morgan c Milne b Vettori Taylor b Southee Buttler c Ronchi b Southee Woakes b Southee Broad c Vettori b Southee Finn c Taylor b Southee Anderson not out Extras: (lb6, w7)

Did you know?

and force Australia to come up with a below par performance. The obvious question that comes up is, “Can this plan be accomplished?”

What must happen in Brisbane today to turn the fortunes in Bangladesh’s favour?

The batters need to go into the match with one plan, which is to bat through the entire 50 overs, ensuring that they bat out the innings without involving the tail. I again must bring Tamim Iqbal into play since his success is crucial and will make or break the Bangladesh innings. If Bangladesh needs to get to 280 plus, it cannot be just Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan that are going to get us there, not against the bowling strength of Australia. The tone of the innings must be set early and, in my opinion, both of them require a good solid platform to base their innings upon. They are capable of delivering the goods as both are decent strikers of the ball. Considering the Australian batting strength, 280 may not be a winning score but it gives Bangladesh a fighting chance, especially if one can give some value to Bangladesh’s bowling attack, which has a good variety.

I am not bringing up the Australian team’s approach to the match as they are one of the frontrunners to win the Cup. The side is extremely well balanced with several power players in both departments. Bangladesh has beaten several favourites in the past. However, Bangladesh must bowl and field like they have never done before and win nearly all sessions of the match to ensure what may be termed as an improbable victory.

The weather experts are forecasting a storm in the making. Let us hope the Aussie driven storm fails to dent our young batters’ armour. Remember, when David slew Goliath, the only armour he had was his heart and self-belief. Bangladesh and Mashrafe’s men must have the same armour. l Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and first centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

tury in two fewer deliveries than he’d managed during the 2007 edition against minnows Canada in St Lucia.

Steven Finn (none for 49 in two overs)

Finn recorded the most expensive figures, in terms of runs per over, for a bowler sending down at least two overs in all ODI cricket. The brief spell gave Finn an average of 24.5 runs per over conceded compared to 21.3 set by the West Indies paceman Ravi Rampaul in a three-over spell of none for 64 against New Zealand in Queenstown last year.

Victory achieved in 12.2 overs

By wrapping up their win in 12.2 overs,

New Zealand equalled the record for the fewest number of overs to reach a one-day international target against England originally set when Australia made 118 without loss against their arch-rivals in Sydney in 2003.

226 balls remaining when NZwon

This equalled England’s heaviest in terms of balls remaining, with Australia also having 226 balls to spare when they beat England in Sydney in 2003.

123 runs scored by England

This was England’s lowest score in World Cups after electing to bat and their third-lowest overall in WCs. AFP

curtailed game as it gets difficult to set the team combination. We are disappointed with the rain but preparation difficulties are there for both the teams,” Mashrafe told the media yesterday.

“But, they are used to playing in these conditions and missing a few days (of training due to rain) wouldn’t really matter to them. We needed at least some time to bat and bowl in the nets here.

We definitely want to play. It would be some experience playing against the Australian side,” said Mashrafe.

The 31-year old added that it would be a great experience for them to play at the famous Gabba, weather permitting, as Bangladesh never played here before.

“We are not looking for a point.

Definitely, playing against Australia at the Gabba is a different experience altogether. We’ll have to see if the game takes place. If we can play good cricket here, definitely it will help in the future against Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand in our upcoming matches. So, it is disappointing for us in that context. At the same time, if we can get one point, we won’t mind that.” l

No need for panic, says Morgan n Reuters, Wellington The England captain Eoin Morgan insisted there was no reason to panic even after his team suffered a second humiliating loss on Friday.

“Certainly you don’t want to get into a state of panic where we make three or four changes in one day,” he told reporters. “That’s certainly not what I’m about. I’ve always believed in making good decisions and backing the right players at the right time. The players that played today I believe were the best to win today, and given conditions, we’ll change plans accordingly.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Spectacular Wedson propels Sk Jamal DC n Raihan Mahmood Haitian forward Wedson Anselme set the trails blazing with a fine hat-trick as defending champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club stormed into the quarterfinals of the Federation Cup with a 7-0 thrashing over Team BJMC at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Jamal fielded a second-string team as Mamunul Islam, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Jamal Bhuiyan and Emeka Darlington were all rested. However, they had to wait till the 24th minute for their opening goal. Haitian forward Leonel Preux sent a cutback from the right flank to compatriot Wedson, who scored with an angular shot in the far post.

In the 31st minute, Sohel Rana doubled the lead. Once again, Leonel ran down the right flank and dodged past two defenders before sending a square pass to Sohel who just had to tap the ball into the empty net.

Two minutes after resumption, BJMC conceded the third in a careless manner. Wedson floated a freekick

from the edge of the box. With a number of BJMC defenders standing still, Jamal defender Keshto Kumar sent a right footer in the far post net.

Wedson completed his treble with two strikes in the 51st and 57th minutes. Both the strikes were crispy as the tall Haitian showed notable footwork to go past the BJMC defence on both the occasions. Midfielders Monaem Khan Raju and Alamgir Kabir Rana provided the through passes to Wedson.

Leonel, who worked relentlessly in the right flank, finally succeeded in registering his name on the scoresheet with his sixth goal of the season. Generating quick speed in midfield, the ponytailed Haitian sidefooted the ball past a hapless BJMC goalkeeper Ariful Islam in the 71st minute. In stoppage time, winger Rubel Miah completed the rout with the seventh.

In the other match of the day, Group D table-toppers Mohammedan drew 1-1 with Brothers Union. In the 59th minute, Augustine Walson put Brothers ahead but Towhidul Alam Sobuj equalised in the 65th minute. Brothers also progressed to the last-eight. l

Ibra handed two-game ban n AFP, Paris

Clarke withholds Aussie Key man Sammy fit to face Pakistan team amid dire weather n

Paris Saint-Germain’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been handed a twogame ban in domestic competition, the French league (LFP) announced on Thursday. The Swede was punished at a league disciplinary committee meeting following an incident with Romain Hamouma during a 1-0 win at Saint-Etienne last month that saw him booked at the time.

Ibrahimovic will now miss the Ligue 1 trip to Monaco on Sunday. l

DAY’S WATCH ICC Cricket World Cup

BTV, Gazi TV, Maasranga TV Star Sports 2, 4, HD 4 9:15AM Bangladesh v Australia

Star Sports 1, 3

Sheikh Jamal’s Haitian forward Wedson Anselme (L) skips past a Team BJMC footballer during their Federation Cup encounter at BNS yesterday

AFP, Christchurch

n

AFP, Brisbane

Returning skipper Michael Clarke is keeping the makeup of his Australian team under wraps as deteriorating weather threatens Saturday’s World Cup match against Bangladesh in Brisbane.

Clarke, who is back after hamstring surgery, said concerns over the format of the game amid forecasts of flooding rain from Tropical Cyclone Marcia lashing the Queensland coast would prevent him from revealing his hand.

The game could be drastically reduced or even washed out completely given the forecast with Bangladesh in line to at least come out with an unexpected point given the severity of the weather fore-

cast. A minimum of 20 overs per side are needed to constitute a match. Each team will be awarded a point should the match be declared a no result.

“We’ve selected a team but I’m not going to announce it today in case the format of the game changes,” Clarke told reporters Friday.

“So if it becomes a 40-over game, a 20-over game whatever it is that gives the selectors options if they want to change the team, so I don’t think it would be smart of me to announce that right now.”

The match will be Clarke’s first ODI since undergoing hamstring surgery in December, but his highly-anticipated return could be curtailed by the elements.

Clarke said Australia would not take Bangladesh lightly if they got on the field on Saturday.l

Gerrard takes swipe at Balotelli over penalty row n AFP, Liverpool

4:00 AM Pakistan v West Indies

Star Sports HD 2, HD4 4:00AM (Sunday) Sri Lanka v Afghanistan

Star Sports 2 7:30 PM Hockey India League 2015 Semi Final 2 1:00 AM Spanish La Liga Atletico Madrid v Almeria

Star Sports 3 5:00 PM Hockey India League Semi Final 1

Star Sports 4 8:50 PM English Premier League Swansea City v Manchester United 11: 20 PM Manchester City v Newcastle United

Star Sports HD 2 8:50 PM English Premier League Crystal Palace v Arsenal

Star Sports HD 4 8:50 PM English Premier League Chelsea v Burnley

Ten Action A League 2:30 PM Adelaide United v Sydney Wanderers 10:00 PM French Ligue 1 PSG v Toulouse FC 1:00 AM Stade Rennais v Bordeaux

Ten HD 1:00 AM Rio Open Semi Final

Neo Prime 8:30 PM Bundesliga Paderborn v Bayern Munchen 11:30 PM FC Koln v Hannover 96

West Indies linchpin Darren Sammy has been cleared to play in their pivotal World Cup match against Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday after being hampered by a back strain in their first up loss to Ireland.

“We should have a full complement to choose from,” captain Jason Holder declared on the eve of the match between two sides fighting to get points on the board in Pool B after suffering first-up losses.

The West Indies suffered a surprise four-wicket loss to Ireland in their opening World Cup encounter while Pakistan were outclassed by more formidable opposition in India.

Despite being beaten by one of the

Australian captain Michael Clarke (L) speaks with coach Darren Lehmann during an indoor training session yesterday ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup Pool A match against Bangladesh today AFP

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard accused Mario Balotelli of being disrespectful after the controversial Italian striker snatched penalty-taking duties away from Jordan Henderson during Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League win over Besiktas.

Gerrard was angry that Balotelli overruled Henderson when the stand-in Reds skipper tried to take an 85th-minute penalty in the last 32, first leg at Anfield.

With the game goalless, Jordon Ibe won the spot-kick and England international Henderson appeared set to fulfil his role as the assigned penalty taker in the absence of the injured Gerrard.l

minor teams, Holder said his team remained upbeat in their belief they will be one of the four teams from Pool B to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The pool also includes South Africa as well as Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates.

“We can’t let our defeats get us down. Obviously we lost a game against Ireland. It was a tough loss, but if we get ourselves down it’s hard to pick ourselves up so we are trying to keep the mood going,” Holder said.

“What is clear for us is if we execute our plans and we carry out what we want to do we know we can be very successful so it’s just about consistency.”

A fit Sammy is essential for the West Indies, who are already down on bowling strength with the absence of Sunil Narine.

Against Ireland, former captain Sammy contributed 89 with the bat and figured in a key 154-run partner-

A Romelu Lukaku hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Everton at Young Boys and a thrilling 3-3 draw between Celtic and Inter Milan ushered in the return of the Europa League as the first knockout stage delivered a glut of goals on Thursday.

Lukaku looked like the dynamic target man Everton fans have been hoping to see all season and could have scored five in a rampant display in the first leg of their last-32 clash in Switzerland.

His perfect treble of right-footed, left-footed and headed goals were among the highlights of a superb endto-end encounter, that was perhaps only pipped for sheer entertainment by the game at Celtic Park where five of the six goals came in a dramatic opening 45 minutes.

Inter let slip a two-goal lead and then a 3-2 advantage as Celtic levelled in the third minute of stoppage time in a duel between two former European champions.

Napoli were among the other firstleg winners, beating Trabzonspor 4-0 away, and were considerably happier

than Serie A rivals AS Roma whose status among the favourites looked questionable after a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Feyenoord.

While Gervinho opened the scoring for Roma with a deft flick from close range, Colin Kazim Richards netted a simple chance to level the scores with a potentially precious away goal.

Liverpool, one of the eight teams to have dropped into the Europa League

from the Champions League, needed a late penalty from Mario Balotelli to take a 1-0 first-leg advantage against Turkish side Besiktas.

But typically with Balotelli, the finale was not without controversy as the Italian striker wrestled the ball off designated penalty taker and captain for the night Jordan Henderson, before firing home.

It was Lukaku, who proved the star

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring a goal against BSC Young Boys during their Europa League round of 32 first leg in Bern on Thursday REUTERS

ship with centurion Lendl Simmons when the West Indies posted 304 batting first. But his troublesome back saw him pulled from the attack after conceding an expensive 25 runs in three overs as Ireland overhauled the target with 25 balls to spare.

“We’ve got him to the stage where we think he’s going to be a lot better off than what he was in the first game against Ireland,” Holder said.

Sammy was not the only West Indies bowler to be caned by Ireland with Jerome Taylor going for 71 in nine overs, although compensating with three wickets, while Kemar Roach took none for 52 and Holder none for 44.

“We didn’t bowl particularly well in the last game and that was a big concern for us so we have tried to correct things in terms of our preparation and go into the game with full confidence,” Holder said. l

Bony vows to make impact on City’s title bid n AFP, London Wilfried Bony believes he can be Manchester City’s secret weapon in the Premier League title race as he prepares to make his debut against Newcastle on Saturday.

Bony joined Manuel Pellegrini’s side from Swansea in a £28 million move

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Lukaku nets Everton treble while Celtic, Inter draw n Reuters, London

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of the night, however, becoming only the fourth Everton player to score a European hat-trick.

Young Boys grabbed an early opener with a superb curled effort from Guillaume Hoarau whose delight was swiftly crushed as Everton netted four times before Hoarau horribly fluffed a penalty in the second half.

Not even the sending-off of Everton defender John Stones, which brought about that penalty, could upset the visitors’ rhythm as Martinez’s side continued to prove a much more fearsome prospect in Europe than in the Premier League.

Celtic famously became the first British team to be crowned European champions when they beat Inter in 1967 but the Scottish champions looked to be heading to a fifth straight defeat against Italian opposition when Xherdan Shaqiri and Rodrigo Palacio put Inter 2-0 up after 13 minutes.

Two goals in two minutes from Stuart Armstrong and an own goal from Hugo Campagnaro levelled before Palacio’s second put Inter back in front with a fifth goal before halftime.l

during the January transfer window, but has yet to make his bow in a City shirt after spending the last few weeks helping Ivory Coast win the African Cup. The 26-year-old is in contention to finally give City fans a first glimpse of their new signing when Newcastle visit Eastlands in a fixture crucial to their hopes of retaining the English title.

Second-placed City could be 10 points behind leaders Chelsea by the time they kick-off at 1730 GMT as Jose Mourinho’s team will have finished their match against struggling Burnley earlier in the day. But Bony is confident he can give a timely lift to a City attack that has sometimes struggled when Sergio Aguero has been injured or offform this season.l

Barcelona target perfect 12 ahead of City trip n AFP, Madrid Barcelona can move to the top of La Liga for the first time since early November when they look to stretch their winning run to 12 games against Malaga on Saturday.

The Catalans have struck 42 goals in that hot streak to close to within a point of Real Madrid and to the brink of reaching the Copa del Rey final.

However, Luis Enrique’s men will be intent on not only taking top spot for at least 24 hours before Madrid travel to Elche on Sunday, but also ensuring they suffer no injury setbacks ahead of their return to Champions League action away to Manchester City on Tuesday.l

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Economists: Young leaders can break political culture n Tribune Report The country needs to develop fresh leadership from the new generation to break the traditional political culture, in a bid to achieve sustainable development and reduce inequality between the rich and the poor, economists said yesterday.

They also put emphasis on a flawless organisation that could raise a strong voice against corruption, injustice, suppression, oppression, and other anomalies in the society.

The economists were speaking at a public lecture by Prof Haider A Khan on “Egalitarian Development: A strategy for Bangladesh in the 21st century,” arranged by Brac University at the capital’s Brac Inn. Haider, who is widely recognised for his expertise in social accounting matrix-based economic modelling, is a professor of economics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

“New leadership with knowledge and efficiency might be borne one day for establishing peoples’ rights.

“A flawless organisation and civil society’s role are also important to wage movement for the welfare of the people,” said Prof Haider – whose areas of research include poverty and inequality, environment, foreign aid, trade and investment, as well as economy-wide modelling.

“Unless we can find credible means to change the political culture within which we function, and affect the attitudes, values and indulgences of our political elite, the viability of democracy will be doubtful,” the professor added.

With this in mind, he posed some questions for the development of and democracy in Bangladesh.

“How to offer security of life, liberty, personal property of citizens and property of corporate bodies in the civil society and the state? How to ensure justice is done and that the situation does not deteriorate into cycles of political retribution and revenge?

“How to establish and preserve the integrity of the electoral process?

How to make the parliamentary process effective? How to ensure optimal social investment for infrastructure, visit our website @

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industrial and overall human development? How to make the bureaucracy, the armed forces, and police accountable?”

Prof Haider also laid importance on empowering people and making local government more effective in delivering services, controlling corruption and greed systematically by strengthening an independent judiciary and enforcement, and reducing poverty through overall human and sustainable development so that the poor can participate meaningfully in the overall development process.

He said there is much talk of good governance by the World Bank and various other organisations. “Undoubtedly, good governance is necessary. But the challenge for a poor country like Bangladesh is to focus on concrete aspects of good political and economic governance.”

Although much remains to be done, the orientation of those politically aware among the new generation in Bangladesh towards social justice, improving infrastructure, protecting energy and other natural resources, and reducing foreign dependence are definitely steps in the right direction, said Haider.

Building up a core of younger leaders and expanding the existing bands of patriotic and dedicated cadres for nation building will isolate the anti-people elements in our society and help build the Sonar Bangla that millions of patriotic Bangalis fought for during our liberation struggle, the teacher from Denver said.

The professor also pointed out: “The difference between Bangladesh and East Asia in distributional policies is the poor performance of Bangladesh in providing egalitarian access to human capital. This has proved to be an obstacle to the improvement of the productivity of the poor.”

Eminent economist Prof MM Akash said the country’s power structure needs to be broken down for inclusive and sustainable growth.

Vice-Chancellor of Brac University Syed Saad Andaleeb – who conducted the programme – recommended fixing some areas, including governance, corruption, infrastructure, and freedom of speech. l

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Saturday, February 21, 2015

Weekend crowd makes publishers happy n Nure Alam Durjoy The first day of the weekend saw a massive crowd of visitors all day at Amar Ekushey AMAR EKUSHEY Boi Mela 2015, BOOK FAIR 2015 spiking the book sales and putting a smile on the publishers’ faces.

Almost everyone leaving the fair ground yesterday was seen carrying a book or a few. Attendants at the book stalls were seen happily busy, catering to their customers.

The crowd was especially heavy in the evening – curious readers were seen swarming around most of the stalls and pavilions, waiting for their turn to browse and purchase books.

However, many stall attendants told the Dhaka Tribune that sales went well throughout the day.

Attendants at Agamee Prakashani, Anya Prakash, and Somoy Prakash could hardly spare a moment to talk to journalists in the evening as they struggled to maintain order and attend to each of their customers.

The scenario was similar at the

stalls and pavilions of many other publication houses spread out at the Bangla Academy and at the southeast corner of the Suhrawardy Udyan.

Child readers were seen equally enthusiastic to get their hands on newly-published books, crowding the Children’s Corner near the famous Bottola.

Two of the visitors, Reza and Kakoli, students at Jahangirnagar University, said they had bought 11 books.

Yesterday, 264 new books were published, putting the total number of newly-published books at 2,650.

Today, the fair will remain open from 8am to 9pm on the occasion of the Shahid Dibosh and International Mother Language Day.

BC, Iliad is considered to be oldest written work of Western literature in existence.

The epic’s Bangla version, translated by Masrur Arefin, has been published by Pathak Samabesh and is priced at Tk1,800 for paperback copies and Tk900 for hardback copies. l

BARI scientist invents safeguard against petrol bomb attacks n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Iliad tops the list of sales

The Bangla translation of the ancient Greek epic poem “Iliad” is one of the most popular publications at the Boi Mela this year.

The creation by Homer, widely considered to be the greatest poet of all time, the Iliad tells the story of the battles between a king and a warrior during the Trojan War – the siege of the ancient city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states.

Dated around the eighth century

The Ekushey Boi Mela sees double the usual Friday crowd yesterday

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

A young scientist says he has come up with a technique that will save people from arson attacks on vehicles, a crime that rose considerably during the ongoing countrywide blockade effective from January 6.

Faruk Bin Hossain Yamin, a scientist at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) who earlier invented the Tk1 technology to detect the presence of formalin in foods, claims the method is capable of preventing the fire originating from a petrol bomb from spreading inside the vehicle.

“The system will cost only Tk400500 to be implemented in a large bus,” he said while addressing a press briefing at BARI premises on Thursday.

Yamin’s formula includes taping up three inches of the edges on both sides of the vehicle windows to prevent the glasses from being smashed into pieces when bombs are hurled. This will prevent 70% of the damage that bombs will make.

The next step is to apply a special mixture on curtains used in the vehicle windows. The mixture will be prepared by putting adhesive, chalk powder, and water on a thin-layered cloth used for varnishing wood.

Curtains made this way will have high absorption capacity, and will thus be able to quickly absorb the petrol or octane of the bomb. These will also stop the fire from originating from the bomb and will prevent the oil from spilling inside the vehicle.

Chalk powder, if it comes in contact with fire, produces carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide temporarily, which reduces inflammability of the fire and also stops it quickly.

BARI Director General Dr Md Rafiqul Islam Mondal hailed Yamin as a scientist who can devise a solution to a problem, no matter if it was related to agriculture or not. l

Oscars nominees see online piracy surge n BBC American Sniper would win best picture and Birdman’s Alejandro Inarritu best director if the Oscars were determined by online piracy rates, a study says.

It suggests being nominated in one of the four major categories has a particularly profound effect on illegal downloads of indie and art house films.

The authors suggest that producers of such movies become more flexible about how and when their titles are released. But one industry expert said that was easier said than done.

Still Alice

Many of the nominated films are publicising their nominations.

The report was carried out by Irdeto, a Netherlands-based company that sells piracy controls to the pay-TV sector.

It used “crawler” software to monitor downloads via Bittorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing services around the world and says its figures represent the minimum number of illegal downloads.

As part of the study, the company compared the amount of piracy in the week before nominations with the week after.

Selma, Wild, American Sniper, Still Alice and Birdman saw some of the biggest swings in popularity, and each accounted for more than 100,000 down-

loads.

By contrast, two other films that had been tipped for the awards but failed to secure nominations in the major categories did not experience similar demand: Mr Turner has been downloaded 9,086 times since January 15, and Inherent Vice has been downloaded 53,008 times, according to the study.

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Irdeto suggests the Oscar nominations and resulting media coverage drove many users to search for the films on illegal sites, and it noted the DVDs used to let Academy Awards voters watch and judge the movies sometimes became the source of the pirated files.

The company acknowledged that not every download represented a lost sale.

‘Caught in a bind’

However, an adviser to the Independent Film and Television Alliance said its members had less latitude to act than the major studios, which control their own films’ releases.

Bertrand Moullier said smaller movies often relied on funding from local distributors who bought the release rights before filming started.

These distributors might be unwilling to suddenly change their plans, he said, because of concerns the films would then clash with others coming out locally at the same time. l

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