May 16, 2015

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

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Jyoistha 2, 1421

‘BOISHAKH ASSAULTERS WERE OUTISDERS’ PAGE 5

Rajab 26, 1436

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 34

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PEOPLE START RETURNING TO RAIL TRACKS PAGE 7

www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

GREED DROVE ROZI TO KILL CO-WIFE PAGE 32

tells Southeast Desperate scenes in migrant UN Asian countries not to turn boat rescue off Indonesia away migrants n AFP, Langsa

n AFP

Desperate migrants facing certain death as their overcrowded boat began sinking fought for space on the stricken vessel, throwing some people overboard before they were plucked to safety yesterday by passing Indonesian fishermen.

After nearly two months at sea, and with supplies running low, survivors told how the situation became desperate as they were pushed between Malaysia and Indonesia, with neither willing to accept the migrants, before finally being rescued off Aceh province.

“Fishermen pulled us one by one from the sea ... if there were no fishermen all of us would have died,” Muhammad Amin, a 35-year-old Rohingya who was thrown overboard by Bangladeshis, told AFP from a warehouse in Langsa, Aceh, where exhausted survivors were taken.

Those rescued from the boat made up the majority of 800 Muslim minority Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshis saved and brought to shore in Aceh Friday, just the latest

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Southeast Asian countries not to turn back migrants and refugees fleeing on boats, telling them that rescue at sea was an international obligation.

Malaysia and Indonesia have vowed to bar ships carrying migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, leaving them stranded in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca.

In a statement, Ban voiced alarm that “some countries may be refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and migrants.” He urged governments to “ensure that the obligation of rescue at sea is upheld and the prohibition of refoulement is maintained.”

Ban called on governments to “keep their borders and ports open in order to help the vulnerable people who are in need.”

The United States on Thursday also urged Southeast Asian nations to work together to save hundreds of migrants abandoned by people smugglers in rickety boats adrift in the Andaman Sea. “We are concerned about the situation

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

A group of rescued migrant children, mostly Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh, sit upon their arrival at the new confinement area in the fishing town of Kuala Langsa in Aceh province yesterday AFP

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Harsh choice between land and liberty for enclave residents Al-Masum Molla n Mohammad from Patgram

A vehicle carrying residents of Dahagram and Angorpota enclaves enters through the gate of Tin Bigha Corridor. Enclave residents hope for a better future once the Land Boundary Agreement between Bangladesh and India comes into effect. The photo was taken on May 13 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

PAGE 3 Jubo League leader, 3 others arrested for bank guard murder

PAGE 5 Annisul to dispel negativity about city corporation

A strong man even in his 60s, Rahimuddin works in his crop field everyday. Although happy with his lot in life, he is worried these days. Rahim worries he is going to lose his identity.

With exchanges of territory between India and Bangladesh coming, enclave residents like Rahim are loath to choose between deeply-held ties to the land they have spent a lifetime tilling and the sort of patriotic clarity that one has when one lives in close proximity to a militarised fence.

The elderly resident of Dahagram-Angorpota, an exclave of Bangladesh connected to the mainland by the famous Tin Bigha Corridor in Lalmonirhat, says he and his neighbours are voters in Bangladesh.

“Why should we become part of India?” he scowls. “We have identity cards!”

PAGE 6 Seven Ukhia migrants missing for over a year

The farmer has spent his lifetime in this remote patch of Bangladesh and is simply not willing to give up what he considers his birthright.

He says losing this strip of land being taken over by India would mean giving up everything for the 12,000 people living there.

A sense of apprehension has gripped the residents of Dahagram-Angorpota in the absence of any official statement from the local authorities about their fate.

They ponder what the future holds – with grave misgivings.

Nestled between Bangladesh’s northern district Lalmonirhat and the Teesta River, the enclave falls on a thin strip of Indian land. It is connected with the Bangladesh mainland through a corridor on Indian land that is heavily guarded and subject to many restrictions.

Another farmer of Natunpara at Dahagram says some people have told him that  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 32 Saarc withdraws meteorological centre from Bangladesh

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2 NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Nagorik committee to felicitate 14-party: Salahuddin went into hiding on Khaleda’s instruction Sheikh Hasina for LBA n Abu Hayat Mahmud Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be honoured in a civic reception scheduled on May 29 to celebrate the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) that was ratified by the Indian parliament on May 7.

The primer will be felicitated at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital around 2:30pm by Nagorik Committee.

Joint meetings of the AL-led 14-party alliance and the pro-AL professionals held across last week decided upon the programme.

Fourteen-party alliance spokesperson Mohammad Nasim, also the health minister, said

they have formed a 202-member committee for the award function at a joint meeting on Thursday night at AL’s Dhanmondi office.

“Under the banner of Nagorik Committee, we will award a reception to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the successful resolution of the LBA bill in the Indian Loksabha. The 14-party seeks to express satisfaction over the unanimous ratification of the LBA by Indian Parliament and thank the Indian central government and the West Bengal government,” he said.

Nasim said the 14-party alliance will throw a big reception for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her patience, wisdom, courage and ageless leadership in this regard. l

n Abu Hayat Mahmud Awami League-led 14-party leaders urged the government to bring BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed back from India through legal procedures.

The ruling alliance leaders said Salahuddin went into hiding at the directive of his party chief Khaleda Zia. The BNP planned to create a chaotic situation in the country to reap benefit from troubled water, they said at separate programmes in and outside the capital yesterday.

Awami League Advisory Council Member Suranjit Sengupta, while addressing a pro-

gramme at Diploma Engineers Institution in the capital, said Salahuddin Ahmed told the Indian security force that he just knew somebody had picked him up from his home but after he returns people will know how he had gone to India and what his plans were.

The veteran Awami League leader remarked that Salahuddin’s hiding was the part of Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman’s conspiracy.

In another programme at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute in Gazipur, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon said: “The BNP-Jamaat alliance wanted to create anarchy by bomb and arson attacks but they failed.” l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Harsh choice between land and liberty Dahagram-Angorpota will remain outside the purview of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with India. “I do not know what will actually happen.”

Rahim says his entire community conveyed to the local union chairman their preference for remaining in Bangladesh. “We have said clearly we will not leave Bangladesh in any way.”

Obaidur Rahman, busily harvesting paddy, expresses the same sentiment. “Only the Almighty knows what will happen. I will follow the neighbourhood. But if the Indira-Mujib treaty is enforced, we will not face any problem,” he says.

Not just the elders but the young people of Dahagram-Angorpota are preoccupied with the land boundary agreement and what it might mean for them. A group of young men chatting at their regular hangout at the Bangerbazar Bottola intersection are keen to learn about the treaty from this correspondent.

They are apprehensive. They first want to

be certain that they are indeed speaking to a reporter and a photographer from Dhaka.

Satisfied that they are talking to Bangladeshi journalists, they can hardly contain their anxiety and inquire at length about the possible implementation of the LBA. Unlike many other enclaves of Bangladesh, Dahagram-Angorpota has better roads, the residents are not deprived of education – there are schools – and residents enjoy such amenities as electricity.

Not far from there, Mahtab Uddin, a 70-year-old farmer, says: “The Indira-Mujib treaty was signed in 1974 and the Tin Bigha Corridor was constructed in 1992. We gave up Berubari and got Tin Bigha Corridor. So, we should not face any problem.”

Asked why people are panicking, a resident named Ishak Ali says: “Is it not normal to be frightened? As India will lose 10,000 acres as it is, people are concerned that Bangladesh

might give away Dahagram-Angorpota too to sweeten the deal.”

Ishak also says: “We got Tin Bigha in exchange for Berubari. But we still have not received our full rights. We have got only the street but the Indian authorities have absolute control over the corridor. We want our control over Tin Bigha.”

Mahtabuddin says they want freedom of movement to the motherland. “Twice a week – Sundays and Thursdays – we are allowed to take out 60 cows from our area but cannot bring any from the outside.”

Faridul Islam, a member of the local union council, says 700 Hindus used to live in the area. “But now only 50 remain.”

In contrast to the community’s general apprehension, Union Chairman Habibur Rahman thinks there is nothing to be worried about. “I have heard about the misgivings. I will talk to my people soon.” l

Desperate scenes in migrant boat rescue off Indonesia horror story to emerge from a human-trafficking crisis gripping South-east Asia.

The region is facing mounting calls to address the problem but hopes of finding a coordinated solution look dim with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand vowing to turn back stricken boats and Myanmar threatening to boycott a planned regional summit on the issue.

However, Indonesian authorities’ pledge to turn away vessels did not stop local fishermen from going to the rescue of the latest boatload of forlorn migrants - which included 61 children - to arrive in the country’s waters.

Officials described harrowing scenes on the packed boat, with the vessel half under water by the time it was found off Aceh province late Thursday and children swimming around it.

The migrants were taken to two warehouses near the port in Langsa after being brought ashore early yesterday by six fishing boats, looking exhausted with many wearing just shorts and sarongs, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

The Rohingya were placed in one building and the Bangladeshis in another to prevent a repeat of the clashes that erupted on board the boat.

“They were killing each other, throwing people overboard,” Sunarya, police chief in Langsa, told AFP. “Because [the boat] was overcapacity, some people had to go and

probably they were defending themselves.”

’Starving at sea’

Khairul Nova, a search and rescue agency official in Langsa, said some migrants began jumping from the listing boat when they saw the local fishermen approaching, desperate to be rescued.

“Their condition is generally bad, some of them have died at sea,” he said, without giving further details. “They were starving at sea, they fought among themselves.” He said that some had sustained injuries to their heads, arms and legs and had been taken to hospital.

The Rohingya survivor, Amin, said he believed dozens of people were still missing after jumping or being thrown overboard.

He described a harrowing two-month voyage, during which the Thai boat captain would shoot dead migrants who asked for food.

The boat captain and crew abandoned the vessel five days ago, leaving in a speedboat, with the captain assuring the migrants they would arrive in Malaysia in two days, Amin said.

But they floated towards Indonesia, where the navy earlier this week refused to let them enter the country, giving them supplies and turning them away. The Malaysian navy then pushed them back towards Indonesia once

they arrived in Malaysian waters, he said.

As they drifted between the two countries, supplies ran low, the boat began to sink under the weight of all the migrants, and fighting broke out, and Amin said he and others were thrown overboard.

“As we were swimming, we saw a fishing boat, and we cried for help,” Amin said, adding that he had been in the water for six hours.

“Thank God we survived, I have a wife and children in Malaysia.”

However, Bangladeshi survivor Muhammad Koyes claimed the Rohingya had taken all the food and water and attacked the Bangladeshis.

“When we asked for food, they beat us. The Bangladeshis were very weak, so we could not fight back,” the 19-year-old said.

Despite Indonesian authorities’ previous pledge to turn back boats, Sunarya said several government agencies were now involved in helping the migrants and the rescue was carried out for “humanitarian reasons.”

Search and rescue officials said it was not immediately clear whether all those rescued in Aceh yesterday had come from the same boat.

The new arrivals brought the total number of migrants sheltering in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island and across the Malacca Strait from Malaysia, to more than 1,300. l

UN tells Southeast Asian countries not to turn away migrants and we urge countries of the region to work together to save lives at sea,” a State Department spokesman, Jeff Rathke, said.

US ambassadors in region were coordinating with UN agencies and with the Asian governments who have refused entry to the desperate migrants to “discuss ways of providing assistance.”

“There are many lives that are in danger, and that’s why we think the priority has to be save lives, and we urge governments to continue to accommodate these people who are on the seas,” Rathke told reporters.

International law bars countries from refoulement, which refers to the expulsion of refugees who have a right to be recognised.

Many of the migrants are Rohingya, who suffer state-sanctioned discrimination and have been targeted by sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

A boat crammed with scores of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority from Myanmar, including many young children, was found drifting in Thai waters Thursday as Malaysia turned away two other vessels carrying hundreds of migrants.

Malaysia and Indonesia have vowed to bar ships bearing migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are flooding into Southeast Asia.

Rathke stressed it was “an urgent regional challenge, that needs to be addressed regionally through a coordinated international effort, in accordance with international conventions and with maritime law.”

Washington “appreciated” that some governments in the region have taken in many refugees, and welcomed plans by Thailand for a regional conference on the issue on May 29.

But Rathke also called on Myanmar to meet an “urgent need to fulfil commitments to improve the living conditions of those affected .. in Rakhine state.”

An estimated 1.3 million Rohingya scratch out an existence in Rakhine, one of Myanmar’s poorest states – tens of thousands are trapped in displacement camps, with conditions outside often worse. l

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NEWS 3

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Jubo League leader, 3 others arrested for bank guard murder n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Chittagong Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested four persons including a Jubo League leader on charge of killing the night guard of Al Arafah Islami Bank’s Muradpur Branch.

A gang of robbers killed the night guard as they attempted to rob the bank on the night of May 07.

The four arrestees are Gias, a Jubo League leader of the city’s Kotwali area and his cohorts Mahbub, Arif and Sagor.

Arif and Gias were arrested from the city’s Bakalia area on May 12 while Sagor and Mahbub from Ostogram area of Kishorgonj district on May 13 night, says a source in the CMP. Another accused Masud, also the follower of Gias, is still on the run.

DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Arafat, also the spokesman of the CMP, not mentioning the specific number of the arrestees, said they had arrested some people and would brief the development at a press conference today.

Besides, CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal, in a phone conversation with the Dhaka Tribune yesterday afternoon, said they had some updates which would be disclosed within one or two days.

Several officials of the CMP, seeking anonymity, said Gias who was the mastermind of the robbery attempt is a follower of a leader of the city unit of Awami League.

The accused backed by the ruling party earned notoriety in Kotwali, Dewanbazar, Bakalia, Bogar Bill and adjoining areas for their criminal acts, they said.

On May 7, the five identified by the CCTV footage of the bank attempted to rob the bank after they killed its night guard Md Ibrahim.

Panchlaish police the next morning recovered the dead body of the night guard before they made an abortive attempt to break open the lock of the bank’s vault.

The bank’s senior officer Ali Newaj lodged a case with Panchlaish Police Station on May 9 accusing three to four unidentified persons and the investigation was handed over to DB

police the same day.

All the arrestees are now under DB police custody while absconding Masud slipped into Comilla after the incident, said a source in the DB police.

Mahbub, Masud and Sagor were directly involved in the murder while Gias chalked out the entire robbery plan and Arif provided them shelter in his residence, said DB sources.

According to the CCTV footage and the information gleaned from the arrestees, Mahbub, Masud and Sagor on May 7 midnight entered into the bank breaking open the window of the bank’s rear portion while Gias took position outside of the bank.

The victim Ibrahim was sleeping in front of the cash section of the bank. Masud at first struck his head with a brick with Masud and Mahbub pinning him down while Sagor slashed his throat.

Later, Sagor took Ibrahim’s mobile phone set and tried to break open the volt of the bank but they failed to do so and went out after a 40-minute failed mission. l

Comilla BCL man killed in factional clash n Our Correspondent, Comilla A Chhatra League leader was killed in a gunfight between two factions of the Awami League in Titas upazila of Comilla yesterday.

Comilla north Chhatra League unit’s former vice-president Md Masum Mia, 26, injured in the clash, was taken to Dhaka where he died at 4am while receiving treatment.

Ten people sustained bullet injuries with a total of 20 injured in the clash that took place from 11pm to 2am in Karikandi of the upazila.

The injured were admitted to different hospitals in Comilla and Dhaka.

Police sources said followers of Sohel Sikdar, upazila AL organising secretary and upazila vice-chairman, ransacked the office of upazila Chhatra League on Wednesday.

Following the incident, the two groups were intimidating each other with weapons.

On Thursday, Sohel Sikdar’s people attacked the former general secretary of district north Chhatra League Sarowar Hossain Babu when he was returning home at night. Babu’s followers started demonstrating on the road after hearing the news and a clash broke out between the two groups.

Upazila Jubo League Convener Munshi Mojibur Rahman said: “Sohel Sikdar’s people shot Masum and then ran a truck over him. He was taken to a hospital where he died.”

Sohel Sikdar, however, said: “A man died after being run over by a truck while they were barricading the road. The allegations against me are not true.”

Titas police station Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Hannan said the two groups had been embroiled in conflicts for a long time. l

Two electrocuted in capital during rain n Tribune Report

Manhole covers in the capital’s Shantinagar area are kept open for quick drainage of water while vehicles wade through in great risk. Yesterday’s heavy downpour inundated the area which has been facing the problem of waterlogging for a long time DHAKA TRIBUNE

Father kills three daughters in Cox’s Bazar n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar In an outrageous act of brutality, a father in Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria upazila yesterday killed his three daughters by slitting their throats over family disputes.

Abdul Gani, who lives in Chowdhury Para of Badarkhali union, killed Ayesha Siddiqa, 11, Hiru Jannat, 9, and

Tafura Jannat, 2, in the house early in the morning. Locals said rickshaw puller Gani had been in an extramarital relationship for long which led to rows with his wife, Fatema Begum.

An arbitration was arranged locally to settle the differences between the couple on Thursday but Gani threatened Fatema with dire consequences after being insulted there, causing her to go to her

father’s house for fear of aggravation.

“But this further enraged Gani, who then killed his daughters late at night and fled,” said the union parishad chairman, Nur-e Hossain Arif.

Officer-in-Charge of Chakaria police station, Pravash Chandra Dhar, said the murders would be probed.

“Police were trying to nab Gani,” he added. l

Two people died of electrocution during yesterday’s heavy downpour in the capital’s Azimpur area in the afternoon.

They were Rifat, 6, a student of Anirban Primary School, and Ruma Begum, 25.

Arman, who brought the two to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said they were standing in front of their house near Rasulbagh School at Azimpur during the rain.

“There was no electricity when they were there but as soon as the power came back, electricity spread through the tin-shed house via a torn wire and they were electrocuted.”

They were taken to the hospital but doctors declared them dead, said Mozammel Haque, in-charge of the hospital’s police outpost.

Rifat’s mother Jarina was also hospitalised as she was injured in the incident as well. l

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SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Four robbers held with arms in Ctg n FM Mizanur Rahaman

Members of Rapid Action Battalion 7 (RAB) arrested four robbers with firearms and ammunition from Chittagong city’s Bandar area early yesterday.

The arrestees were Mahmudur Rahman, 23, Atikur Rahman, 23, Mostak Uddin, 24, and Mahbub Alam, 25, said a press statement of the elite force.

A foreign made pistol, a light gun, one round of bullets and two magazines were re-

covered from their possession, said the press release.

Acting on a tip off, a team of RAB-7 conducted a drive at East Colony area under Bandar police station and held the four, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) (Media) Amirul Islam.

He further added that the four were the members of a gang of robbers and they admitted of using the firearms for several robberies in the city and the district during initial interrogation. l

CUTA protests abolishing selection grade in pay scale n CU Correspondent Chittagong University Teachers Association yesterday demanded that the salary structure of senior professors or professors be made equal to senior secretariat range and uphold the selection grade in the proposed 8th pay scale.

The teachers association (CUTA) made the demand in a press statement signed by its General Secretary Professor Khasrul Alam Chowdhury pro-

testing abolishing of the selection grade in the upcoming pay scale.

The statement said the proposed 8th salary structure for the government servants recommends reducing the salary range in professor category compared to the secretariat rank. Besides it also suggests cutting down the 7th pay scale structure for the university teacher which is really regrettable and unacceptable for the teachers, the statement noted. l

BSRM signs tube well installation MoU n Tribune Report The BSRM Group has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Char Livelihood Programmes (CLP) and other NGO partners for installing pure-water tube wells in the char islands in the north of Bangladesh.

These tube wells will ensure pure drinking water supply to some 1,000 households in these areas.

At BSRM’s head office in Chittagong on May 11, Alihussain Akberali, chairman of BSRM Group, signed in the MoU on behalf of his organisation.

Ruhi M Ahmed, head of

CSR, PR and Communication of BSRM Group, Mat Pritchard, team leader of CLP, Rabeya Yasmin, director Partnerships, Policy and Governance of CLP, M Abdus Salam of Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK), Md Alauddin Khan of National Development Programme (NDP), Habibulah Bahar of Manab Mukti Sangstha (MMS), Shyamal Chandra Sarker of Mahideb Jubo Soamj Kallayan Somity, Md Lutfor Rahman Mondal of Akota, Md Nazir Hossain of Gram Bikash Sangstha (GBS), BSRM’s Manging Director Aameir Alihussain and Finance Director Zohair Taherali were present at the ceremony. l

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SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Police: Pohela Boishakh assaulters were outsiders n Mohammad Jamil Khan

The newly elected mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, Annisul Huq, addresses his first meeting with all ward councillors and high officials of DNCC yesterday at the city corporation’s office in the capital’s Gulshan area ABU HAYAT MAHMUD

Annisul to dispel negativity about city corporation n Tribune Report Annisul Huq, the new mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, has said he will try to remove the negative attitude city dwellers have towards city corporation.

During his first meeting with all ward councillors and high officials of the city corporation on Thursday, he said he would implement all the development projects mentioned in his election manifesto.

The meeting was held at Dhaka North City Corporation headquarters in the capital’s Gulshan where the city corporation’s Chief Executive Officer BM Enamul Haque, Secre-

tary Md Abu Syed Sheikh, the newly-elected ward councillors and other top officials were present, said a press release sent to the media yesterday.

Annisul, who became mayor after claiming victory in the April 28 city corporation elections, told the meeting that tasks such as mosquito control, waste management, development of roads, drains, footpaths and street lamps should be handled with diligence.

The mayor, who is also a tremendously successful businessman, sought cooperation of all councillors, public servants and city corporation staff to build a green, clean and livable city. l

Robbers loot Tk10 lakh from offices in Paltan n Tribune Report Robbers looted about Tk10 lakh from four offices in the Baitul View Market at the capital’s Paltan area on Thursday night.

The organisations robbed are Best Fly International on the sixth floor, Priyo Prangan Properties on ninth floor, Benco Finance and Securities on tenth floor, and an insurance company on the thirteenth floor of of the market building.

Sabbir Uddin Ahmed, a partner at Best Fly International, said on Thursday afternoon

they closed the office and went home.

Later, his manager Abdul Awal called him around 10pm that night to inform him of the robbery.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) Golam Morshed of Paltan Police Station said the incident took place between 7pm to 10pm on Thursday night. Later a security guard noticed that the doors of the offices were broken.

The police have inspected the crime scene area and collected evidence, the OC said.

However, no one was arrested in this connection yet. l

At least 12 persons involved in Pohela Boishakh sexual assault on women on Dhaka University campus were identified but “they are not DU students”, said police.

One month into the Pohela Boishakh sexual assault on women on Dhaka University campus, that shocked the collective conscience of the nation, police are yet to arrest the molesters.

“After analysis of the video footage we have identified 12 wrongdoers but none of their identity could be ascertained yet,” said Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Monirul, who is also the chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, the agency investigating the sexual assault case, said: “We will definitely bring the miscreants to book.”

The offenders are not the students of DU; they are all outsiders, he said.

At least 20 women were reported to have been sexually assaulted while returning home after celebrating Pohela Boishakh on the DU campus.

The sexual harassment of women continued there even though police personnel were on duty nearby. Some of the offenders were handed over to police but they were later released.

Initially police denied their negligence

while on duty on the campus.

Just a day earlier, chief of Bangladesh Police AKM Shahidul Haque rather shifted the blame to the crowd gathered there to celebrate the Bangla new year.

Shahidul wondered: “There were thousands of people in the celebration and how could some four to five youths do this? What did all those people do?”

Meanwhile, the police probe committee formed to look into the police role during the incident finally found three policemen responsible for neglecting their duties.

Committee Member Secretary and DB Police Deputy Commissioner Jahangir Hossain Matubbor submitted the report to the Commissioner of the DMP Asaduzzaman Miah on May 7, said a source in the DMP. The officials found DMP Assistant Commissioner Sahedur Rahman, Inspector of Sahabagh police station Saidul Haque Bhuya and Sub-Inspector of the police station Ashraf responsible.

The report says AC Sahedur who was on duty in the Teachers Student Centers area on that day could not fathom out the importance of the incident.

While SI Ashraf and Inspector Saidul released two assaulters without discussing it with their higher authorities even after a mob handed the molesters over to them, the report said. l

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SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Seven Ukhia migrants missing for over a year n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar The recent discovery of bodies in mass graves in a Thailand jungle has come as a shock too big to endure for the families of seven Ukhia men in Cox’s Bazar, who boarded smugglers’ boats to reach Malaysia illegally by sea one and a half years ago.

The seven – Nurul Islam, 23, Yusuf Mia, 35, Kaiser, 22, Md Manik, 25, Abu Taher, 20, Nurul Alam, 21, and Sahabu Alam, 21 – were neighbours and worked in Bangladesh as masons and day labourers.

But they made up their mind to embark on the perilous journey in search of a better life in the Southeast Asian country after being lured by some local human traffickers, including Md Syed, Abdullah Al Mamun, Shamsul Alam and Rustam Ali. The seven were put on a boat that set off from Mohona coast of Ukhia’s Jaliapalang union but they have remained unaccounted for since then. The traffickers kept assuring the families that the migrants would return but none has come back yet. Sakhina Khatun, mother of Nurul Islam, said the traffickers could not even tell her if her son was alive or not.

“In the past, many from this village left to take the sea route to go to Malaysia but they all are still missing like my son.”

Police sources said the number of migrants who have not returned after leaving home for Malaysia would be several thousand. They mostly hail from Ukhia, Teknaf, Sonarpara, Badamtali, Inani, Ramu, Kutubdia, Chakaria and Moheshkhali.

During the journey, the migrants, many of whom sold gold ornaments of their mothers, sisters and wives to pay traffickers, have faced intolerable acts of cruelty that included torture, beating and prolonged starvation.

But still not all of them have been fortunate enough to make it to Malaysia alive. Some died pathetic deaths at sea while some others were detained by police as soon as they reached Malaysian shores and were later incarcerated.

Nuruchhapa Khatun, mother of missing Abu Taher, said traffickers told her that her son was in a Malaysian prison but they could not contact him.

“I have not heard from my son either. I am extremely worried. What I fear is that my son is no longer alive.”

Officer-in-Charge of Ukhia police station, Zahirul Islam Khan, said none of the families of the seven men had lodged any complaint since they set off for Malaysia.

“Police are unaware of the details of their whereabouts but we will try to obtain information.” l

Vulnerable embankment along Monu River puts locals at risk n Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar Residents of Moulvibazar are apprehensive that a vast tract of land might be eroded by Monu River this rainy season, as the district flood protection embankment is vulnerable.

It has been learned that the Chatigaon, Uttar-Chati, Kakirchak, Uzirpur, Kanjirpur, Ekamodhu, Adinabad, Swashmohol, Kalaikuna, Bholanagar, Premnagar and Khas-premnagar villages under Rajnagar upazila, the Chatlapur, Nishchintopur, Sultanpur, Ronchap, Madanagar, Hasimpur, Belertol, Kolirkuna, Rajapur, Ashroygram, Kotarkuna, Jalalpur, Khondakargram, Tajpur, Miarpara, Sondrabaz and Balia villages under Kulaura upazila and the Noarai, Chandpur, and Basudebsri villages under sadar upazila are at risk of flooding, as at least 33 cracks have developed at several points in the dam.

Locals allege they have already informed the Water Development Board (WDB) office several times, but no step has been taken in this regard.

The locals said the monsoon is knocking at their door. Thus, those who live on the river bank fear erosion.

Abdul Basit, a resident of Hazipur union of Kulaura upazila, said the earth of the embankment had already started collapsing at the Ka-

wkapon, Sultanpur, Mondira, Ronchap, and Hakimpur villages.

Over the past years, the WDB worked routinely to repair the embankment, but in the last year, its activites have not been clear for unknown reasons.

Locals allege they have already informed the Water Development Board office several times, but no step has been taken in this regard Bimol Sutradhar of Ekamodhu village under Rajnagar upazila said, a few months back, two WDB officials had inspected the embankment in his area. The officials then told the local residents that after getting funds from the government, reconstruction work would start.

Abdul Latif, chairman of Prithimpasa union under Kulaura upazila, said the embankment might be washed away if the Monu River’s water level rises in the rainy season.

Nazmul Haque Selim, chairman of Kamar-

Traders unload a crate of mangoes to be sold at the big weekly mango market at Baneshwar Bazar of Rajshahi’s Puthia upazila. Markets across the country are seeing early arrivals of mangoes, lychees, jackfruits and other varieties. The photo was snapped yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

2 suspected thieves beaten to death n Tribune Report

Two men were beaten to death on suspicion of theft in Jhenaidah and Gazipur yesterday.

In Jhenaidah, locals in Kushna village tied Amirul Islam, 32, son of Nabij Uddin, to a tree and beat him up after he was suspected of stealing cattle around 4am.

Noab Ali, in-charge of Talshar police camp, said Amirul succumbed to injuries around 10am.

He said the 32-year-old had been accused of theft and mugging.

The body was sent to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Meanwhile, in Gazipur, a mob beat up 35-year-old Abdul Motaleb in Kapasia’s Barun village around 3:30am, killing him on the scene. He was the son of late Hafiz Uddin of Paplachamurchi village.

Ahsan Ullah, officer-in-charge of Kapasia police station, said some local men confronted Motaleb after he was moving around suspiciously in front of

a tea stall.

“He attempted to flee but failed as locals surrounded him and frisked him.

They found a screwdriver and a spud bar hidden under his clothes.

“The mob beat Motaleb to death but it could not be known if he went there with an accomplice,” he said.

The OC said Motaleb had been accused in three theft cases filed with Kapasia police station.

“The body was sent to Gazipur Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy.” l

chak Union Parishad under Rajnagar upazila, said he had contacted the WDB Moulvibazar office.

He hoped the WDB would complete the repair work of the damaged Monu River embankment quickly.

Abdul Awal, a WDB sub-assistant engineer working at Kulaura upazila, said they are aware of the situation facing the embankment.

“After getting a fund allocation, work will be started,” he said.

According to the WDB Moulvibazar office source, a few works have been carried out at some extremely risky points of the Chak-Salon, Chatlapur, Nischintapur, Aminagar, Miarpara and Bholanagar villages. A tender has been called for Chati-Kunagaon, and work would start at Kunagaon within a few days.

Fayzur Rab, executive engineer of the WDB Moulvibazar office, said they had marked 33 points on both banks of the Monu River embankment.

“We have done repair works at some points with an allocated fund. Work will also start soon at other risky points,” he said.

The executive engineer further said Tk5 crore was sought by senior authorities to repair and reconstruct the river embankment.

Tk60 lakh has been allocated so far. l

DT

NEWS 7

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Fire at Sat Tala slum in city’s Mohakhali n Tribune report A man and his son sustained burn injuries as a fire broke out at Sut Tala Slum in the capital’s Mohakhali early yesterday.

Abu Bakar, 55, with around 40% burn injuries and his son Kawsar, 20, with 25% burn injury were taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

Officer-in-Charge of fire service headquarters control room Enayet Hossin said fire had broken out around 5am from electric short circuit. The father and his son received burn injuries while they were in asleep.

On receiving information, six units of firefighters rushed to the area and doused the fire after two-hours’ efforts, he added.

The officials estimated that the loss might be around Tk14 lakh from the fire. Around 30 shanties at the slum were gutted in the fire.

Meanwhile, another fire has broken out at a five-storey building in the capital’s Nayapaltan area. Fire service control room telephone operator Irin Parvin said the fire had originated on the third floor of Kashfia Plaza around 5:30pm. A total of 10 fire fighting units brought the fire under control around 6pm, she said.

However, the reason behind the fire has not yet been determined. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

SATURDAY, MAY 16 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:34PM

SUN RISES 5:15AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

34

27

Chittagong

33

26

Rajshahi

35

27

Rangpur

34

24

Khulna

34

25

Barisal

34

24

Sylhet

30

24

Cox’s Bazar

33

27

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

38.4ºC

23.2ºC

Jessore

Sylhet Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise

3:49am 5:15am

Zohr

11:55am

Asr

4:34pm

Magrib

6:34pm

Esha

8:04pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

People start returning to usual business on rail tracks n Chowdhury Akbar Hossain After the fatal accident at Karwan Bazar rail crossing in the capital last year, Bangladesh Railway (BR) authorities were vigilant against illegal settlement on the sides of the rail tracks.

Frequent eviction drives were carried out from the Kamalapur rail station to the Airport station. And the authorities promised to continue such drives on a regular basis.

However, a recent visit to the rail tracks found that the situation had gone back to square one. Makeshift shops, bazars and houses are dotting the sides of the tracks.

People, who became a bit cautious after the death of four persons last year, were back to their usual business.

At Khilgaon railgate, though mobile hawkers are not seen during the early hours of the day, they crowd the area in late afternoon.

As soon as they see trains approaching, they move away.

After Karwan Bazar crossing, the scene is soon taken over by small shanties where women and children, oblivious to dangers, go about their daily routine of cooking, showering, playing and household chores.

There are nine rail crossings from Kamalapur till Airport station. Due to such illegal establishments trains often have to slow down causing delays and mishaps.

Though the BR authorities should be conducting drives, they said they could not do so due to interference from local political muscles.

According to locals, some people connected to the ruling party collect toll from the hawkers and residents. Law enforcers and local politician also reportedly receive a share of the collected money.

When contacted BR’s Assistant Director (operations) Mohammad Saidur Rahman told

With their parents nowhere to be seen, two kids from the nearby shanties engage in risky play on the railway track as another train whistles by. Despite a fatal accident last year, illegal establishments on the two sides of railway tracks from Kamalapur to Airport station are yet to be evicted permanently. The photo was taken at Karwan Bazar station area yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM the Dhaka Tribune: “All the establishments on the two sides of the railway track is illegal.

We take regular action to evict them but they reappear after the eviction with the help of powerful people.”

Another railway official, on assurance of anonymity, said: “When we go for drives, local influential people obstruct us. So we cannot carry out the drives completely. Hence we have taken an alternative. The trains go slow till the Airport station.”

Mohammad Amzad Hossain, managing director of BR, said: “We regularly monitor the

situation and carry out drives because the safety of our passengers is our utmost priority. It is not true that we give in to powerful people.”

On September 11, 2014 at least four persons, including two women, were killed and five others received serious injuries when a train rammed into a makeshift market on its rail tracks. More than 200 people were near or on the rail track at the time when two trains – Karnaphuli Express heading to Chittagong and Jamuna Express coming from Jamalpur – rushed through the tracks from opposite directions in busy hours. l

Archaeological sites in Khulna lie unrestored for fund crisis, lack of manpower n Our Correspondent, Khulna The archaeological sites in Khulna are not being restored or maintained properly, neither are any new archaeological excavations being carried out because of fund crisis and lack of manpower at the region’s (Khulna and Barisal) Archaeology Department.

The 91 sites of Khulna region – 71 in Khulna and 20 in Barisal – are more or less in similar condition; these historic sites are at risk of being lost without proper maintenance and restoration.

In most of these places there are no proper facilities for the visitors. Lack of security has rendered these sites safe haven for drug addicts and prostitutes. On top of all that, local influentials are grabbing up the lands of these heritage sites.

Archaeology Department Khulna Regional Director Md Amiruzzaman said: “The maintenance and excavation works are carried out amidst a lot of constraints. Several excavations remain incomplete because of the small budget and manpower. However, we have been allocated Tk26 lakh this year for

excavation and upgradation survey of 96 sites in Khulna including in Bagerhat, Norail, and Meherpur. If such funds are allocated in the future, the progress of work can be faster.”

Recently, the homestead of Khanjahan Ali (ra) of Bagerhat was discovered. But excavation work of at the site stopped since March 19 because of budget constraints.

According to sources at the department’s regional office, for the 91 sites and seven museums of the region the approved workforce is 55. Of those, seven positions have not been filled. Under the circumstances, 83 day labours have been employed to carry out the various tasks. The Dakhindihi Rabindra Complex in Fultola has no assigned workforce under the organogram. Neither does the Khulna division museum and the soon-to-be-inaugurated Barisal division museum.

Shorthand Typist Bijoy Kumar Ghosh at the Khulna office said: “An organogram with creation of 157 new positions have been proposed with 18 positions for the Khulna division museum, 29 for the Barisal division museum, 18

for Dakhindihi Rabindra Complex and 91 for the 91 archaeological sites.”

Regional Director Amiruzzaman said: “Tk80 lakh were allocated to us in the year 2014-15 for restoration and maintenance of the relics/sites in Khulna. Of that money, Tk70 lakh went into the wages of day labours. The rest Tk10 lakh was used to restore the Bibichini mosque in Barguna, Kodlar field in Bagerhat, and Kuthir Bari in Shilaidaha.” He added that if the day labours were included in the organogram then their wages would have been allocated separately.

It was also learned that there are several land dispute cases for the lands of some archaeological sites including Khanjahan Ali (ra) shrine in Bagerhat, 1.93 acre land of Mirzanagar Hammamkhana in Keshobpur, Kuthirbari in Jhenaidah, and Bibichini mosque in Barguna.

Director Amiruzzaman said the dispute with the 6 acre land of Kuthirbari have been settled; the illegal structures there have been torn down and the land taken possession of. In the Bibichini mosque case, the plaintiff withdrew the case so there is no more dispute, he added. l

DT

8 WORLD

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

KARACHI BUS MASSACRE

The survivor who drove to hospital n BBC The massacre of Ismaili Shia Muslims in the Pakistani city of Karachi was not only shocking because of its scale - but also because survivors who had been left for dead then had to drive themselves to hospital, the BBC reports.

About 60 people were on the Ismaili community bus when it was attacked.

Four gunmen, presumed to be members of one of Pakistan’s many Sunni militant groups, told them to lower their heads and gunned them down in a style reminiscent of the December massacre at Peshawar’s Army Public School.

At least 46 men and women were killed together in cold blood. And no rescue teams or ambulances turned up.

So, after the gunmen had left, one of the survivors came to life, crawled to the driver’s seat, got behind the wheel and drove the macabre contents of the blood-soaked vehicle to the nearest hospital - some 3km (two miles) away.

The attack happened in an area which once formed Karachi’s vast rural backyard.

In recent years property developers have acquired land to build housing schemes which are still scattered thinly and only slowly coming up.

One of them is al-Azhar Garden, a sprawling gated neighbourhood of Ismaili Muslims built by a community organisation and kept connected to the city centre by the community-run bus service.

Wednesday was just another ordinary

morning in al-Azhar Garden. The residents were getting on their bus, preparing to traverse the north-eastern hinterland of Karachi as they normally did to get to their places of work in the centre of the city.

But within minutes the bus had been waylaid by the gunmen.

A police detective at the scene, Tariq Jadoon, was picking up some bits and pieces from the broken road and putting them in a plastic bag.

Most were empty cases of 9mm pistol and sub-machine gun rounds, strewn across potholes in the road, near some brown stains apparently caused by blood mixing with soil.

The detective had also just picked up a blue cap with the markings of a private security agency. “Perhaps the attackers were wearing uniforms of the security agency, that’s why the driver stopped the bus.”

There are no eyewitnesses at the moment to describe the attackers.

The driver and most of the passengers are dead. Those who survived are in a critical condition and have not been speaking to the media.

The police, who did speak to some of the survivors, said there were six attackers riding three motorbikes.

They flagged down the bus just a couple of kilometres from al-Azhar Garden, at a comparatively lonely spot along the University Road link, while heading towards the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway.

A woman passenger who police spoke to said one of the attackers had a clean-shaven

face and was wearing trousers and a shirt, Geo TV reported.

She said they first singled out two children and asked them to leave the bus, then started shooting the passengers.

The whereabouts of the children are unknown at the moment.

One probable witness, the gatekeeper of a house near where the massacre took place, appears to know more than he is willing to share.

“I saw the bus coming in the distance, and heard the firing. It was scary, so I went in and closed the gate,” he told BBC Urdu.

“Then the bus stopped, right over there.

The firing stopped. Then I heard people from the village gathering at the scene. I came out and I saw blood splashed across glass windows, and blood dripping from the doors.”

Qasim Ali, the general secretary of the alAzhar Garden management community, says his relatives told him everybody in the bus was in a bad way. Most people appeared to be dead, but some were moaning. “Then one of our injured residents who knew how to drive the bus got behind the wheel and drove it to Memon Hospital, about 2-3km from the scene of the attack.”

The bus driver himself appears to have been killed and the conductor injured.

According to witnesses quoted by Pakistan’s Express Tribune, the conductor was shot in the head and the gunmen presumed he was dead.

The man who drove the bus full of bodies is being called a hero. l

French treatment of Roma decried n AFP, Geneva A UN rights watchdog group yesterday rapped France over its treatment of the Roma and its failure to tackle growing hate and xenophobic speech.

The report by an independent group of experts said while France had adopted a national action plan to fight racism and anti-Semitism on April 15, there was a lot left to be done.

The Roma, a minority group that comes mainly from Romania and Bulgaria, face considerable discrimination, activists said.

The experts expressed alarm “at the growing stigmatisation of the Roma” and “the increasing hate speech against them, including by elected political representatives.”

In December, a right-leaning French mayor sparked outrage by refusing to allow the burial of a Roma child on the ground that the burial space was reserved for local taxpayers.

He later apologised to the family.

The UN panel denounced “incessant and repeated attacks on their rights to housing” through the forcible clearing of camps without offering them any alternative accommodation.

The evacuations were often accompanied by “excessive police force,” there were attacks on the Roma by private individuals, and Roma children were often deprived of even basic education as local authorities often refused to enrol them in schools.

The Roma were also generally unable to access the health care system, they said, calling on France to take measures to protect the community, especially women, from physical attacks. l

Pearl of Syria’s desert in Islamic State gunsights n AFP, Damascus

The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, under threat from advancing Islamic State group jihadists, has withstood the last two thousand years with its immaculate temples and colonnaded streets.

Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the “pearl of the desert” is a well-preserved oasis 210 kilometres (130 miles) northeast of Damascus.

Palmyra, which means City of Palms, is known in Syria as Tadmor, or City of Dates.

Its name first appeared on a tablet in the 19th century BC as a stopping point for caravans travelling on the Silk Road and between the Gulf and the Mediterranean.

But it was during the Roman Empire – beginning in the first century BC and lasting another four hundred years – that Palmyra rose to prominence.

In the year 129 AD, Roman emperor Hadrian declared Palmyra a “free city” within his empire. During the rest of the century, its famous temples – including the Agora and the temple honouring Bel (Baal) – were built.

As the Roman empire faced internal political instability in the third century, Palmyra took the opportunity to declare its independence.

Palmyrans beat back the Romans in the west and Persian forces in the east in a revolt led by Zenobia, who then became queen.

Before Syria’s crisis began in March 2011, more than 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra every year, admiring its beautiful statues,

Islamic State fighters advanced to the gates of ancient Palmyra on Thursday raising fears the world heritage site could face destruction over 1,000 columns, and formidable necropolis of over 500 tombs, some of which have been recently looted.

Palmyra bears scars of Syria’s ongoing war: clashes between armed rebels and government forces in 2013 left collapsed columns

and statues in their wake.

According to the governor of Homs province, the inner city is home to about 35,000 people, including those displaced by fighting nearby. Another 35,000 live in the city’s suburbs.

AFP

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group counts 100,000 people living in Palmyra and its outskirts.

By yesterday, Islamic State jihadists had advanced to only one kilometre (less than a mile) from Palmyra’s ruins. l

DT

WORLD 9

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Burundi arrests leader of failed coup

n Reuters

Burundian forces arrested the leader of a failed coup yesterday and President Pierre Nkurunziza returned to the capital, his spokesman said, but protesters pledged to go back to the streets, setting the stage for more clashes.

Major General Godefroid Niyombare was captured two days after announcing Nkurunziza had been toppled in the African nation, which is still recovering from an ethnically fuelled civil war that ended just a decade ago.

“He has been arrested. He didn’t surrender,” presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho told Reuters, after earlier announcing that three other generals had also been detained. l

Two students shot dead after march in Chile

n Reuters Iraqi security forces defend their headquarters as Islamic State militants raise their black flag over the provincial government compound in the city of Ramadi in western Iraq yesterday REUTERS

Ramadi offensive bodes ill for Iraq n AFP, Baghbad Islamic State fighters seized the government compound in the city of Ramadi yesterday and edged closer to what would be their biggest victory in Iraq this year, officials said.

The loss of the capital of Anbar province, which Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said would be the next target of government forces after wresting back Tikrit last month, would be a major setback for Baghdad.

IS has threatened to take control of Ramadi for months and the breakthrough came after a wide offensive including several suicide car bombs in Ramadi on Thursday.

The jihadists seized the government complex at around 1100 GMT and raised the black flag, a police officer said, giving them nearly full control over Anbar’s capital.

IS “now occupies the government centre

in Ramadi and has also raised its flag over the police HQ for Anbar,” the police major told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The group itself issued a statement saying its fighters broke into the government complex, and blew up the adjacent buildings of Anbar’s governorate and the police headquarters.

A senior tribal leader in charge of the coordination of local fighters with regular government forces also confirmed the government complex had fallen.

“The only [government] forces still fighting are confined to a few pockets in Ramadi but they have no command post anymore,” Sheikh Hekmat Suleiman told AFP by phone.

Provincial council member Adhal Obeid al-Fahdawi had described the situation as “critical” moments earlier and said civilians were fleeing the city centre, the second time in a month they have done so following an-

other IS offensive in April.

“Families are trying to flee on foot, leaving their cars and homes behind, but most areas around Ramadi are under IS control,” said Sheikh Jabbar Adjadj al-Assafi, a tribal leader.

The IS said earlier that it had carried out several attacks on army positions east of Ramadi, including one by a British suicide bomber it named as Abu Musa al-Britani.

Iraqi security sources and IS said the town of Jubbah, 180 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, had also been seized by jihadists.

A tribal leader said the town, which is near the large airbase of al-Asad where several hundred US advisers are stationed, had been left insufficiently protected.

Both sides also reported several attacks east of Fallujah, only a few miles from the borders of Baghdad governorate, since Thursday but their outcome remained unclear. l

High hopes for peace in divided Cyprus n AFP, Nicosia

Rival Cypriot leaders yesterday resumed UN-brokered peace talks stalled since October, in what is seen as the best chance in years to reunify the island four decades after its division.

There is optimism that the two leaders both have the pro-settlement credentials to enter an intensified process that produces results.

Yesterday’s first round of talks between President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, the newly elected Mustafa Akinci, was officiated by UN special envoy Espen Barth Eide.

“I have high hopes for our prospects and the future,” Anastasiades told reporters before the meeting.

The two leaders agreed to twice-monthly talks in order to “cultivate a climate of opti-

mism,” Eide said afterwards.

The next round of negotiations was set for May 28.

The aim of the initial session, held at a UN compound at the now defunct Nicosia airport in the buffer zone that splits the island, was to agree on the structure and frequency of meetings.

The UN-monitored ceasefire line has divided Cyprus since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, in a statement released in New York, welcomed the resumption of full-fledged negotiations.

The talks were suspended in October last year, when Greek Cypriots pulled out in protest at Turkish exploration for oil and gas off the island’s coast.

Akinci, a longtime champion of reunification, was elected president of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on April 26, defeating nationalist incumbent Dervis Eroglu.

His election has renewed hopes for a settlement, according to Anastasiades.

The conservative Greek Cypriot leader also has peace credentials, having supported a 2004 UN settlement blueprint that 75 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected in a referendum.

There has since been little progress achieved, with the thorny issues of territorial adjustments, security, property rights and power-sharing the main stumbling blocks.

Any UN-brokered accord will again have to be put to the Cypriot people for a vote.

The Turkish Cypriots declared a breakaway state in 1983, recognised only

by Turkey. l

Two students were shot dead in the port town of Valparaiso in Chile on Thursday afternoon following a protest march earlier in the day.

The two local university students, aged 18 and 25, were apparently killed by an irate householder as they sprayed graffiti on the wall of his building, media reported.

The incident provoked anger among student activists, who stage regular demonstrations that sometimes lead to clashes with the police, demanding better quality and cheaper education in Chile’s deeply unequal society. l

Central Europeans oppose EU refugee plans

n AFP, Warsaw

Poland yesterday became the latest European Union member to oppose the bloc’s plan for binding quotas on asylum seekers for its 28 member states.

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said while Warsaw opposed the fixed quota proposed by Brussels, it is open to taking in refugees and migrants on a voluntary basis.

“We’re not saying that we won’t welcome migrants, we’re saying that we want to make a credible offer and so like other European colleagues, I’m in favour voluntary decisions on this issue,” Kopacz said.

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia Lithuania and Slovakia also oppose the fixed quotas proposed by the EU. l

BB King, King of the Blues, dies at 89

n AFP, Washington

BB King, with his ever-present guitar Lucille, rose from sharecropper poverty in deep Mississippi to become the face of the American blues worldwide and an inspiration for generations of rock guitarists everywhere.

King died Thursday at age 89 in Las Vegas, which was the blues legend’s primary residence amid years of incessant travel, his daughter said. King kept up a grueling touring schedule even in his 80s. l

DT

10 ADVERTISEMENT

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

DT

EDITORIAL 11

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

INSIDE

Remembering the Bangladeshi dream PAGE 12

Yemen: Seeds of conflict, ground of transition

PAGE 14-15

REUTERS

Arts & Letters

The one who became many Be heard

Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@ dhakatribune.com

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PAGE 16-17

Governments must co-operate to save people from traffickers

I PAGE 18-19

t is right that Indonesia has allowed 794 people to come ashore on Aceh after being rescued from people smugglers.

The International Organisation for Migration believes over 8,000 people from Bangladesh and Myanmar are currently stranded at sea after being led or abandoned by people smugglers.

It is neither acceptable nor tenable for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to keep turning away migrant boats. The scale of human suffering at the hands of callous smugglers is a major international humanitarian crisis which demands urgent action.

At least 10 people died in the Andaman sea this week after the crew of the fishing boat they were being smuggled in abandoned them and disabled the engine, leaving some 350 others stranded off Thailand.

These unfortunate people did not become illegal migrants out of their own free will. We know that many Bangladeshis are frequently conned and kidnapped by traffickers and forcibly put on boats in order to extort ransom from their families.

Most of the migrants presently at sea are believed to be from Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. It is the deprivation of their rights as citizens and perseuction which pushes them into the hands of smugglers.

We should ask our government to request the Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian governments to allow boats carrying migrants to land so illegal Bangladeshi migrants can be safely repatriated.

Rohighya boat people, being stateless, should be supported with the assistance of international humanitarian agencies and more pressure put on Myanmar to end the fear which drives them away.

Only by ensuring more such international co-operation and exploring ways to reduce the desperation of people seeking a better life, will it possible to end the suffering caused by human traffickers.

Only international cooperation can end the humanitarian crisis

DT

12 OPINION

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Remembering the Bangladeshi dream n Sharmeen Shehabuddin

I

n 1968, my father, who had joined the prestigious Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1966, was posted to New Delhi as third secretary at the Pakistan High Commission. Entering the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1966 was a significant achievement for a young Bengali from Muhammadpur, a small village in Chittagong, with no connections to elite circles.

In 1967, he had married Khaleda Khan (or Bulbul) and embarked on a magnificent partnership of political discussions, love of Uttam-Suchitra movies, and tireless sightseeing.

My sister Elora was born in Islamabad, and my sister Farah in New Delhi. Life was good.

In March 1971, however, when my parents heard of the mass murders of Bengali civilians by the Pakistani army during Operation Searchlight and the ensuing crackdown, their blood curdled.

On April 6, 1971, horrified that the government they worked for and represented was killing the past, present, and future architects of Bangladesh, my father and his colleague Amjadul Huq defected from the Pakistan Foreign Service and pledged allegiance to Bangladesh. News of their defection inspired other Bengali diplomats and youths to join the Liberation War, raised the international profile of the struggle for freedom, and bolstered the confidence of freedom fighters.

What will always amaze me is that my parents (and Mr Huq) defected into nothingness -- the Mujibnagar government would not be formed until April 17. By acting on their visceral reaction to the horrors underway in their homeland, my parents ignited the wrath of the Pakistani government, lost their livelihood, and assumed a state of statelessness.

Fortunately for my parents, the Bangladesh they dreamed of became a reality on December 16, 1971, and as the very first diplomat to pledge allegiance to his beloved country, my father proudly transitioned into the Foreign Service of Bangladesh. From New Delhi, they were transferred to Paris.

Trouble, however, never quite stopped following my parents. In April 1975, they were sent to Lebanon where they were greeted within days with civil war. After stints in Dhaka and London (where my third sister Sarah was born), they were sent to Warsaw, and I appeared on the scene (and ensured that their personal lives would be far more turbulent henceforth!).

The war I remember is the (first) Gulf War. In 1987, my father was posted to Kuwait as ambassador. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and ruined plans I had made to eat shawarma at the beach that same evening.

As in New Delhi 20 years earlier, my parents once again jeopardised our family’s security to help others.

When Saddam Hussein announced he would kill anyone sheltering Westerners, my parents decided to give shelter to a French woman and her two teenage children.

When the Iraqi government set August 24 as the deadline for diplomats to leave Kuwait, we watched the day come and go, taking our diplomatic immunity with it, and leaving us under the threat of reprisal from the Iraqi government for defying its order to leave.

COURTESY While diplomats from other countries scrambled to leave Kuwait long before the deadline, my parents quietly explained to us that they could not leave until all the Bangladeshis who wanted to leave had been evacuated. There were about 95,000 Bangadeshi workers in Kuwait at the time. I shudder to think what went through the minds of the other officers at the embassy and their families as they felt compelled to stay behind with our family.

Finally, in mid-September, we travelled to Baghdad with other embassy staff. My father and Osmany uncle, then the Bangladesh Ambassador to Iraq, had to stay behind in Baghdad while their families traveled to Dhaka via Amman. I was overjoyed when my father finally arrived in Dhaka a few weeks later. I had been worried that I would never see my father again and found it difficult to breathe. Now, once again, I’m finding it difficult to breathe.

On April 15, 2015, my father passed away quite suddenly. After a lifetime of miraculously surviving life-threatening situations in conflict zones, his heart stopped at a hospital in Dhaka and doctors were unable to revive him.

I don’t know how or why his heart suddenly stopped, but I miss the man who loved his country and family unconditionally, stubbornly insisted on seeing the best in us, and chose to dream of what we could become and support us rather than focusing on shortcomings and imperfections.

Abbu’s sense of justice and fairness transcended his professional life into how he treated his daughters, particularly me, the youngest one -- the only one to ever get into trouble at school or come home with anything lower than an A-. My father was obsessed with his daughters’ education, and my three older sisters turned out to be nerds par excellence, so my father must have been at a loss as to how to handle me, but

bless him for trying. He loved me despite my refusal to conform to social norms and do well in school. Against the backdrop of my three multiple-graduate-degree-endowed, Harvard-Princeton-Sorbonne-Oxford-Mount Holyoke-educated older sisters, I’ve always been grateful to my parents for not disowning me even though I have yet to apply to graduate school.

As I was the only child of his to constantly get into trouble at school for the most idiotic reasons imaginable, my father had more than enough reason to wash his hands of me. Case in point: I once accidentally set off a stink bomb in the middle of my 12th grade biology class because I couldn’t stop myself from poking and prodding the package out of curiosity. I will leave it to you to imagine the conversation that ensued between my parents and the principal.

When we moved to Paris in 1991, I was seven and didn’t know French. People who do not know French annoy French people and people who are annoyed with me annoyed my father. When a teacher complained that in spite of having lived in France for three whole months I was not yet fluent in French, my father rolled up his sleeves and decided to teach me French over spring break.

The Abbu Method consisted of making me read random French articles and poems with a bilingual dictionary. It worked. I went from struggling with pronunciation to fluency in two weeks. After the break, my teachers couldn’t stop gushing about how excellent my French had become.

The first time I got straight As was in third grade. This was a huge deal for the family. Abbu was so happy that he bought me a video game I had wanted. Jealous and infuriated, my sister Sarah, whose straight As everyone took for granted, immediately demanded a puzzle. No one cared.

In high school, I tried to minimise my interactions with Abbu because I was terrified he’d ask me how school was going or why my hair was yellow.

When he retired in 2001, after serving as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Washington DC for five years, we moved to Dhaka and he began working on his memoirs, which UPL published in 2006 as There and Back Again: A Diplomat’s Tale.

This book has taught me a lot -- about history, politics, and courage. Time after time, my father demonstrated a deep commitment to fairness in both his personal and professional life and stood up for the rights and security of others from the early days of his career at great risk to himself and his loved ones.

On April 17, my family travelled to Muhammadpur to lay my father to rest. He had always referred to himself as a graamer chhele, a village boy, and had said he wanted to be buried in his village, next to his parents.

Our parents have always taught us to be grateful for the incredible opportunities our family has enjoyed. My father had, after all, lived the Bangladeshi dream. He was a graamer chhele who had dreamt of an independent country over which the Bangladeshi flag could fly freely, travelled around the world as the representative of the country he loved, served as ambassador to Poland, Kuwait, France, and the United States, had an incredible and inspiring life partner, and given his daughters the courage and freedom to pursue their dreams. He was able to see promise and potential beyond stink bombs and petrol bombs.

May his story inspire others to live the Bangladeshi dream, to be passionate and selfless advocates for education, their children, their compatriots, and their country. l

Sharmeen Shehabuddin is an entrepreneur.

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When Nepal shakes, so does the world n Shahabuddin Rajon

N

epal is known to the world -- among other things -- for its beatific sights, which include the Himalayas. Despite boasting a breathtaking landscape bestowed upon it by nature, the nation has been cursed. Why else would Nepal repeatedly be affected by these quakes?

Frightening assumptions and imaginations of an earthquake quietly go to sleep as time passes after the first devastating quake.

But the scars are still there in the lives of the thousands of people, as they struggle within a system of insecurity in which poverty plays a great part. The consequences of the earthquake will live on for an indefinite period of time. It is especially true in poorer societies overwhelmed with misgovernance with a facade of fairness. At present, the Nepalese people’s sufferings know no bounds.

The April 25 earthquake destroyed houses in villages in almost every district, and people are still digging up the rubble of their homes, trying to retrieve their belongings, and living in makeshift tents and running around, desperate for relief material. They don’t even have time to take care of crops.

In times of crisis like this, rebuilding houses and managing food are more important than anything else. If we compare a quake-devastated Haiti or a mudslide-flattened Afghan locality with what Nepal has gone through, there’s no difference. At times like these, even major metropolises in the world are not safe, as was exposed in the aftermath of Katrina.

Now let’s take a look at what happened to Nepal’s farming in the outskirts of the cities.

Currently, farming in Nepal has virtually come to a halt, as most of the villagers are busy trying to manage food and water. No one is seen working on terraced cornfields.

Everyone is busy building temporary shelters or waiting for helicopters to drop relief aid.

If anyone notices the behaviour of Nepal’s people, they can easily guess how scared they are. I was watching the BBC when they telecast Nepal’s parliament session during the second quake. Everyone from the MP to the speaker started to run, with fear etched across their faces.

Scores of people were killed in the follow-up earthquake and brought fresh terror to an already traumatised Nepal, as buildings already damaged in a monster quake a few weeks ago came tumbling down. Weeks after the country’s deadliest quake in more than 80 years, terrified residents once against fled onto the streets as houses crumbled to dust and landslides jammed up the roads, hampering the relief effort already in short supply.

Authorities in Nepal have said that at least 48 people were killed with more than 1,100 injured, while 17 people also died across the border in northern India. The 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck at 12:35pm, some 76km east of Kathmandu. The 7.8-magnitude beforehand had killed 8,000 already.

The Nepalese government has acknowledged that it was overwhelmed by the scale of the April 25 disaster which destroyed over 300,000 homes and left many more too dan-

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This earthquake has destroyed all hand mills, water mills, and electric mills. It has made it difficult to find food grains. This has made Nepal dependent on food being dropped from helicopters

gerous to live in. “At an hour of a natural disaster like this, we have to face it with courage and patience,” said Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala after an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday.

This earthquake has destroyed all hand mills, water mills, and electric mills. It has made it difficult to find food grains. This

has made Nepal dependent on food being dropped from helicopters. They’ll have nothing to eat once that stops. Situation in certain remote areas is even more dire, with people still trapped under debris. Three people were rescued in Sindupalchok on Monday, nine days after the quake.

But what of medical care in Nepal? Hospi-

tals are strained from the influx of patients.

Big hospitals like the 750-bed Nepal Medical College in Kathmandu are turning away patients, since it doesn’t have enough tents to treat patients outside its cracked building.

The hospital is running out of stock in terms of essential medicine and surgical material.

Beds and blankets are required.

Last but not least, more than 2.2 million Nepalis work overseas, most of whom are men, according to the Nepali Times. Their remittances totaled $4bn last year, accounting for more than 20% of Nepal’s GDP. Their wives, however, remain in Nepal. These women are effectively single and have to manage everything by themselves.

Bouncing back from the shock and the huge economic loss Nepal has suffered will be a great challenge for its people. And all I can offer are good wishes for the nation. l Shahabuddin Rajon is Assistant Deputy Secretary, BKMEA.

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14 LONG FORM

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Yemen: Seeds of conflict, ground of transition n Prince El Hassan bin Talal

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he conflicts in Yemen belong to a complex history, with familial as well as political dimensions.

The deep Yemeni context must be grasped if a humane solution is to be found.

During the many crises that have engulfed the Arab region from the occupation of Iraq in 2003 to the latest upheaval in Yemen, a consistent theme of my analysis has been to emphasise the limitations of that much-touted panacea “a political solution.� The proposition has gathered increasing force over the years: In those lands of the Arab Spring where such a "solution" has been implemented or attempted (Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen), a range of destructive effects -extremism, separatist conflicts, the collapse of state institutions -- has accelerated or been further incubated.

The result is that "a political solution" to the regional divisions in Arab societies has become either an empty slogan, carelessly invoked as the all-purpose answer, or equally a form of wishful thinking. For this reason, it is vital to stress the importance of the humane solution; one that restores dignity, legitimacy, and justice, and one that can offer a chance of reconstruction according to a clear methodology.

A fresh commitment is required to develop a new Arab intellectual project that supersedes the current categorical divisions which have placed our nation between dichotomies of: Religion and state, doctrine and emirate, Sunni and Shi'ite, Rafida and Salafism, or ISIS and al-Qaeda. This is a call for Yemen and its people, and it is out of responsibility that I write these lines; to ensure that silence does not cast its apathetic shadow over the events in Yemen, the tragedy of state collapse, the displacement of thousands, the killing of innocent civilians, and the destruction of property and heritage.

When speaking of Yemen and the military intervention, heed must be taken of the military trail that leads from past wars to its tragic reality today. For the promises of revolutions and revolutionaries were repeatedly undermined throughout different periods of the modern history of Yemen.

The history

Today, the population in Yemen exceeds 24 million. Its constituents are varied, with loyalty to the centuries-old community known as Al-Zaidiyyah existing alongside that of the Shafi'ite Sunnah. In Yemen, the tribal structure strongly dominates society and appears whenever power calls. Houthis, who are associated with the Zaydi doctrine but do not represent its essence converging with the Sunnah, believe in the possibility of reclaiming the Imamate state; the latter disappeared following the revolt of 1970, during which the Hamiduddin family sought refuge in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At that time, the hope was that Yemen would emerge from the revolution as a modern nation-state, but instead, and along

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with its army, it regressed once more to tribal authority.

While rural and highland regions remained outside of Ottoman control, an era of wars began with Yemeni resistance to Ottoman presence in and control over particular cities throughout two periods: The Yemen Eyalah (province) period between 1539 and 1634, and the Yemen Wilayah (administrative district) period between 1872 and 1911.

Throughout its presence in Yemen, the Ottoman empire's control remained restricted to Zabid, Mokha, and Aden. The northern highlands (where Sa'ada is located today) were unstable, hotbeds of tribal and Zaydi rebellion and dissent against the Ottomans.

After a long period of marginalisation and poverty, Sa'ada became the fertile soil from which an independent sentiment and identity was grown. In between these two aforementioned periods, Britain had begun exercising influence in Yemen by occupying Perim island, located at the entrance to the Red Sea, in 1799. Britain went on to occupy Aden, with its key location by the Red Sea, in 1839, though only after facing fierce opposition by its inhabitants.

The Ottomans had attempted to annex Sana'a for the first time in 1849, but were met with grave losses which amounted to 1,500 troop deaths. The failed effort eventually forced them into surrendering to Imam Yahya in 1911. At the time, he was ruler of the northern highlands, an area that was the source of repeated attacks by tribal leaders against the Ottomans. The result was the Treaty of Daan, which granted Imam Yahya self-rule over the

Zaydi-controlled northern highlands, leaving the control of the central Shafi'ite region to the Turks, while Aden remained within the grip of the British Empire. A consequence of this period was increasing Yemeni sympathy towards the movement existing in Sa'ada and the northern highlands.

The Ottoman state had asked for the assistance of my grandfather, Al Hussein bin Ali, to establish security and obedience in Asir against Mohammed bin Ali Al Idrisi's revolt in 1910. The intervention then was to force the tribes into complying with the Ottoman state. Similarly, the northern Yemeni frontier continued to assert that it was the meeting-point of struggle with the north, and continued to clash with the Saudi neighbour on several occasions -- this led Saudi Arabia into intervening recurrently to maintain the security and stability of its borders.

The struggle for power in Yemen in those decades has left its mark. The current situation in Yemen appears to be drawn by the fragmentation produced in that momentous era; Aden and the South, the North and the Imamate, the central region with Sana'a and its Shafi'ite neighbours. It is a fate decided by history and one that continues to shape the reality in Yemen to this very day.

The second major war and military invasion witnessed by Yemen began when Gamal Abdel Nasser, in support of Yemen's then president, Abdullah Al Sallal, provided air cover in 1962. Nasser declared that "the revolution of Yemen is our revolution," and sent an Egyptian force of as many as 70,000 troops -- equivalent to a third of the Egyp-

tian army -- into Yemen. At that time, Egypt regarded the support of Jordan and Saudi Arabia for the Yemeni regime as a form of alliance between Arab reactionaries and the Imamate in Yemen (the latter, also called Mutawakkilite kingdom, had been established in 1918, and was to end in 1970 with the declaration of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, or PDRY). Despite all that, the war -- called "the September revolution" -- failed to deliver Yemen to the shores of a modern nation-state. Instead, it delivered the revolutionary state to a worse reality dominated by partisan interests, identity clashes, and sectarian conflicts.

The internal struggle

The third period of armed contest in Yemen came with the Sa'ada conflict, covering six civil wars involving the revolutionary state (PDRY) and the unity state. The latter had been enshrined in the 1994 agreement, signed in Amman by joint Jordanian and Saudi efforts. Both these states stood consistently in support of the unification of Yemen.

However, the unification project failed to materialise its goals against the backdrop of underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, the absence of justice, and tribal influence -- all of them persisting as the state's biggest dilemmas and the reasons behind its ongoing tensions.

The Sa’ada wars were incited between the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh on the one side and the Ansar Allah movement (known as "the Houthis") on the other. The start was in July 2004, when the Yemeni authorities

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arrested Hussein Al Houthi on the charge of establishing an armed organisation within the country. The fighting was restricted to the province of Sa'ada at first, but it later spread to Al Jawf, Hajjah, and Amran. All three areas are part of today's Asifat al Hazm (Operation Decisive Storm), which covers the whole of Yemen and is turning the country into an epicentre of conflict, inflicting tens of casualties and hundreds of wounded on a daily basis.

tions. Yet, the hopes of returning to dialogue and the uprooting of conflict were dashed.

The United Nations envoy Jamal Benomar -- who announced his decision to resign on April 16 -- tried very hard to reconcile those who had never agreed to the division of roles within the state as much as they had agreed on the display of power to one another and to their external allies. Thus, Yemen's shortlived spring was lost, culminating in today's tragic situation of intensified sectarianism.

The country is in dire need of a decisive resolution that ends the conflict -- but even more of solutions that establish humanitarian, political, and environmental security

It seems, however, that the wars against the Houthis are not limiting their power, but rather widening their support base. This was particularly seen in their previous wars against their former enemy (now turned ally), Yemen's ex-president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A feature of those previous wars was the aerial bombardment of Sa'ada and its neighbouring provinces, accompanied by military expansion and tribal participation; these were part of an attempt, led by Sheikh Abdullah Al Ahmar and Ali Muhsin Al Ahmar alongside other religious movements, to control and destroy the movement which originated from the House of the Hashemites, and which has historical ties with the Hashemite family in Hijaz. The wars waged against the Houthis have targeted the members of Badreddin al-Houthi's family, yielding the life of his son Al Hussein amongst other family members.

Since the Sa'ada wars of July 2004, however, what was asked of the Yemeni state and army was no more than the maintenance of security and stability, countering the spread of terrorism (which has taken the lives of hundreds in Yemen), and ensuring the security of the Red Sea (which too was continuously undermined). Instead, the army which collapsed so suddenly in the face of Houthi opposition, continued to be undermined by its weak foundations and its poor awareness of state affairs, as well as by foreign intervention.

The modern context

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative on March 3, 2011, part of the wave of Arab Spring developments, sought to address the concerns of the young revolutionaries and ensure a peaceful transfer of power within the country. This led to the presidential elections of February 2012 and the instatement of Abd Rabbuh Hadi Mansour as acting president.

After this process, most expected that the new leadership would shape the future of Yemen and its transitional phase. Instead, conflict and struggle continued to mark the transitional phase. Further efforts produced the Peace and National Partnership Agreement signed on September 21, 2014 in order to resolve the conflict between the Houthis, the authorities, and the different political fac-

The bombing operations targeting Badr and Al Hashoush mosques in Sana'a on March 21 took the lives of 142 people, amongst them the Houthi religious authority, the Imam of Badr Mosque, Al Murtada Zaid Al Mahtouri, one of the most respected Zaydi scholars in Yemen. The explosions, which additionally wounded 351 people, were claimed by ISIS and marked the beginning of internationalising the conflict, with the sudden foreign intervention by a Saudi Arabia-led regional coalition seeking to regain the balance of powers in the region.

menting the solution must refer to all the agreements and initiatives dating back to the document of Pledge and Accord signed in Amman in January 1994. The review of all the past efforts must culminate in holding a permanent regional meeting that aims to rehabilitate the forces of society, invest in capacity-building, and allocate funds in order to drain the pits of terrorism and to fill the vacuum of despair.

In other words, the solution must adopt the approach of preventive treatment rather than curative treatment. Do the Houthis want the reinstatement of their current ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh? Or are they in search of an ancient right? Or is their concern more with an absent political equation and development?

Or the deep fragmentation of Yemenis after the failure of the GCC initiative to rid Yemen, following a short spring, of its backwardness and the emergence of terrorism on its shores?

This also raises the question of whether -- now that Ali Abdullah Saleh has become an ally to the Houthis after years of battling against them -- current president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and his team are capable of bearing the new responsibility.

A consultative path

To repeat, my point of entry into the current situation in Yemen stems from the strong his-

torical ties between my family and ancestors Al Hussein bin Ali, Abdullah bin Al Hussein, and the noblemen of Yemen and the scholars and leaders of the various Islamic sects.

Added to that is my moral obligation as an Arab intellectual who is of the view that the solution to end a reality dominated by sectarianism and polarisation lies in a formative view that makes consultation on the ground for a constructive, and above all, humane, solution.

This consultation should act as a meeting-point for all societal forces to combine their efforts for the interest of the general public, which aims to rebuild society and enable individuals to learn in conjunction with a renewed Islamic thought, such as that of Imam Muhammad Al-Shawkani; one of the most notable scholars in modern Yemeni history. It must be a solution that prepares active citizens who are willing to stand up in defence of what the vast majority of Yemenis believe in, a healthy society that is devoid of hatred and fear. l Prince El Hassan bin Talal is a member of the Hashemite Royal Family and is working to address issues such as regional integration, inter-faith dialogues, water, energy, the human environment, and human dignity. This article was first published in opendemocracy.net

The lessons

Today, Yemen marches through the tunnel of a deepening conflict on all its territory -land, air and sea. The country is in dire need of a decisive resolution that ends the conflict -- but even more of solutions that establish humanitarian, economic, political, and environmental security; restore human dignity; and honour the profound Yemeni self. Asifat al Hazm (Operation Decisive Storm) must incorporate a political program to rebuild Yemen, reinforcing the role of a society based on respect for all stakeholders while moving away from sectarian and doctrinal classifications.

It must also convince all the entities involved of the importance of Yemen's security and stability, for that is a regional demand that extends beyond Yemen to all the Gulf and Red Sea states. In the last six years, Yemen has witnessed around eight wars which have created nothing but further divisions. The way forward now must be part and parcel of a regional settlement that establishes equality of independence for all peoples and states in order to guarantee an opening towards a humane, integrationist, and objective regional stability.

At the same time, though, Yemen is indeed part of a delicate regional equation, it also possesses specificities of its own, meaning that the real solution for Yemen can only be conceived from within the Yemeni womb rather than from outside. That must entail guarantees for a system of justice, dignity, and real development in Sa'ada, one that also enables legal order and the restoration of rights.

Moreover, those in charge of imple-

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Dreams shattered to pieces n SM Shahrukh You were sixteen and ready to blossom, A blossom making a rose redder in shame.

You ran on the fields of rice paddy The air trying to play with your hair But only the pony tails danced, A dance that traveled to your heart, That shepherd is a shameless creature, You thought and blushed, hiding your giggles Giggles that picked the heart strings of the young, Young men in prime have strings Tuned to the fingers of music, music of love Music of a woman’s beauty, the rustle of the paddy sheaves.

How happy are the young, free from life’s cares?

Your mother wondered and floated to a time gone by In the time boat of the mind moving backwards Only in her imagination, she blushed like a new bride That she once was, happy and in love.

You were dreaming of a red trousseau Shining bright and sparkling in love, You hid your face as the sparkle lit The shepherd’s eyes as if Burning in the fire of love and desire.

You ran from the field to hide Hide your happiness from the evil eyes, Knowing little that your euphoria Would trample under an alien gaze.

You stopped and looked as the thunder clapped, What’s making that noise on a clear day, you thought?

Your young mind was unaware of war and olive drab Blissfully unaware that the ravages it wrought.

You felt the groping hands of an unknown tongue, Your virtue taken away then and there and You lost sense of being as they dragged you along.

Hours, days, and months passed Your virtue a distant memory in someone else’s dream.

Every time you opened the gates to an intruding being, You heard the noise of a dream shattering to pieces.

Was there ever a shepherd in my life then, you thought?

Crushed under the boots of several men, but A face, a sparkling eye in every shard of the broken dream. l SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

On good taste n SN Rasul As a teenager on the wrong side of 15, my favourite novel was Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. It had short chapters, interesting snippets of scientific and religious facts, conspiracy theories. It also had terrific pacing (like all of Brown’s novels, I read through it overnight), aided by its short chapters and the writing style, which stayed focused on action, on secrets, prying on my needto-know. The language was soft and mild, devoid of complications, and its content and characters, blatant and overexposed. And it always seemed on the verge of making significant world-changing discovery, one that he had stumbled upon during the writing of the novel. In a word, it was easy.

The rest of my library was polluted by authors of the same calibre: the androgynously named Sidney Sheldon, the ex-convict PM Jeffrey Archer, and the medical drama expert Robin Cook. There were others but I won’t spend too much time on the already-withering memory of their existence.

Now, however, I read writers from a different horde. These are the Ishiguros and Rushdies, the Selfs and the McEwans. But what exactly makes these writers different?

For one, I realise now that I have “good” taste as opposed to the “not-so-good.” And even then, as I write these words, my tone is hesitant, my fingertips wary. What, after all, is “good”? What exactly constitutes “good taste”? A staunch relativist and believer (nay, knower!) of the fact that these adjectives are subjective impressions completely dependent on the individual, a byproduct of his collective experiences, biological functions, and personal influences, how can I even claim to be an indulger of good literature without becoming a hypocrite?

I can’t. Not without telling myself that, when it comes to literature, I make clear distinctions between good and bad writing.

My principles, I guess, stand for nothing. But these are the internal musings of a tired soul; what does this clear distinction signify?

Retrospectively, I admire my father for

introducing me to these authors. He was aware of the fact that I was a young lad, my mind not accustomed to profound thinking, and the best way to get me to start reading would be the simplicity of the melodramatic narrative, the sexualised (though I’m not sure he had that exact quality in mind) characters, and the accessible language. And it was effective; he may not have known what was considered to be good literature at the time, but he understood that a reader was a good thing to be.

“Literature”, it seems, serves a purpose.

Even if it hasn’t taken much effort, and even if the linguistic prowess of the author is lacking (“He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionised essence,” from The Da Vinci Code; ah yes, that familiar tang of deionised essence), some literature entertains, and does it well. The trick is to elevate ourselves, as self-proclaimed artists and connoisseurs, from the horde, and learn to recognise good art when it comes. It is indubitable that no matter how quickly I

finish a Brown or Sheldon novel (or used to), it cannot compare, let alone repeat, the gradual revelations that a high-brow piece of work can instill in me. The subtle variations in the behaviours of the characters, the complexity of the narrative, succeed, at times, in providing me with a sense of wonder that is unparalleled by popular fiction.

Churchill famously said (or was it Wilde?): “My tastes are simple. I am easily satisfied by the best.” But there’s no reason we can’t be a little more like Voltaire: “For my part, I read only to please myself and whatever suits my taste.” After all, wasn’t much of canonical literature (from the Romantic Keats to the Modernist Joyce) a reaction against what was considered the norm at the time, labeled “heretical” and “unworthy”?

But foo! Who cares, really? Let me have my brand of elitism. For the individual, is there A really a taste better than his or her own? l SN Rasul works for the Dhaka Tribune.

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Stargazing n Stephen Thompson (This is an extract of Stephen Thompson’s upcoming novel, Stargazing, published by Jacaranda.)

Chapter Three No sooner was I back at home than I wanted to be out again. I just couldn’t face another evening indoors by myself. In the last few weeks I had done little else besides sit around my apartment and brood. Perhaps Kristin had a point. Perhaps I should ‘see someone’. It spoke to the level of my desperation that I was even considering therapy. After the last sessions, I was wary of wasting my time, and money, again.

And besides, what would I have to say to a shrink? That I couldn’t come to terms with my father’s death? Would talking about it ‘cure’ me? Could it cure Mother? In her case I doubted it very much. Granted, she was making a go of things. In Mr Manolo she had found someone she could rely on, but I couldn’t see how she would ever recover from losing the man who had been everything to her for the best part of thirty years.

Now when I looked at her – on the rare occasions that I saw her – there was only the outline of the person I used to know, there

Chapter Four All weekend I had been putting it off, but with the day now drawing to a close, I knew I would soon have to decide whether I was going to work the next morning, whether I would ever go back to work. It wasn’t as if I had to. I certainly didn’t need the money.

In fact I would never have to worry about money again. Father had seen to that in his will. But what would I do instead of work?

How would I fill my time? Could I seriously consider walking away from my job? I had worked very hard to reach the top of my profession, and had all the material benefits to show for my efforts, yet what good was any of it to me now? The designer clothes and household goods, the fancy sports car – they were just so many things.

Even my hillside apartment with its expansive view of the desert, so sought after by the city’s upwardly mobile, had gone from being my refuge to my prison. Perhaps it was time I sold up and moved, cashed in on the property boom. Perhaps I should do what Mother did and ‘relocate’. It was certainly a tempting idea, but of course the problem still remained of what I would do with myself.

That I was even contemplating such things was a measure of how acute my situation had become. A year ago I believed I could walk on water. And then Father died and everything changed. For almost a year I coped quite well, but in the last month or so my life had begun to unravel. Would moving make things any better? Mother must have thought so. That would explain why she had run.

But the question was, could she hide, could she get away from herself, from her memories? From what little I knew about him, Mr Manolo seemed like a good man, good for Mother that is, yet he would never be anything other than a consolation prize.

In a way I pitied him. He must have known what he was getting himself into, that he would have to contend with Father’s ghost, but even so, it couldn’t have been easy for the man. I had to admit that I remained sceptical over whether he and Mother had a future together. Had they been younger,

things might have been different, but at their age it was difficult to imagine them making the necessary compromises, telling the necessary lies. Still, for Mother’s sake, I hoped I was wrong, I hoped she wouldn’t end up old and alone. Anything but that.

Just when I had given up hope of hearing from her, Mother rang. She apologised for being out when I called.

‘We went to see a movie.’

This seemed an unlikely thing for them to be doing. They were not teenagers, after all. ‘You went to see a film in the afternoon?’

I tried to hide my disbelief, but evidently it hadn’t worked.

‘Yes. Is that so strange?’

I let it go. From then on the conversation ran along the usual lines, that is to say haltingly, full of awkward silences and suppressed emotion, at the end of which Mother half-heartedly agreed to my coming to visit. Such was her lack of enthusiasm that I almost changed my mind about going to see her, but I didn’t because I had resolved to have things out with her once and for all. l

a pang of guilt. One hand closed over her moneybag. She wanted to help him – but needed every penny for herself. Her eye caught the Star of David stamped on the window, just above the door.

The woman’s resolve melted. She delved her shaking hand into her moneybag and placed a farthing on his palm. He murmured a ‘thank you maam’ and sprang up, running down the alley.

With an arm draped protectively over the bundle under her cloak, she pushed the doors to the synagogue open, slipping inside.

It was cold, dark. There were no windows, no light. The woman briefly wondered whether she was making the right decision. Then she realized, this was the only decision.

She clutched the bundle closer to her, climbing the stone steps carefully. Once again, her footsteps echoed against the walls.

The woman turned a corner and stepped into her sanctuary. She lowered her hood tentatively.

This was a safe space.

Silence. The silence was too loud. Every move she made, her footstep or the rustle of her dress, seemed to reverberate. She swallowed, standing before an altar – well, it looked like an altar.

In the middle of the room.

It was guarded with four posts – each one with three candles, like a trident. Propped up on a plush velvet cushion, sat a prayer book.

A strange kind of peace washed over her. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought.

The woman climbed the steps of the ‘altar’, feeling a little uncomfortable. Was she even allowed up here?

The bundle began to stir. She pushed her cloak to the side, slowly lifting her baby out.

Her child was almost about to awake from her slumber. She writhed under the thin blankets, her tiny starfish hands clutching at her raw cheeks. Biting back the tears, the young woman placed her daughter on the floor, right under the prayer book. At least this way, she would be noticed.

“Mama loves you baby.” She whispered to her little one, “You won’t remember. But I want you to have the best chance you can get. And you won’t get it with me baby.”

The baby turned her little head, her elfin ear plucking up to the sound of her mother’s voice.

With her lip trembling, the young woman pressed a kiss her daughter’s soft cheek. “I love you baby. Your mother loves you. You need to know that.”

For the first time in months, the young woman separated herself from her child.

Tears leaking from her eyes, she leant against the post for support. A sharp pain stabbed at her abdomen. She didn’t know what it was.

She didn’t know what was happening to her, she didn’t know if she was going to die.

But she knew her baby would be safe.

Her baby’s cries won’t fall on deaf ears.

At least she had hope. A chance to make

something of herself in this world.

The young woman knew it didn’t matter what happened to her, she was half-past dead anyway. The birth had been bloody and difficult. Squatting at the end of Spitalfield’s market, screaming for help that never came.

Finally, once her child slid out of her in a tiny, bawling, mess and she picked her up and clasped her to her chest… she knew she only had one option.

A door creaked open.

The young woman backed away into the shadows, concealing herself behind a thick white pillar. Peering over the edge, she watched the Rabbi glide toward the altar, his robes swishing across the floor. He stopped. The prayerbooks he’d been carrying dropped to the floor. He carefully bent down, picking up the baby – her baby. He whispered something in Hebrew, rocking her gently.

The young woman cracked a smile.

The defeated look haunting her eyes, was instantly washed away.

Washed away by the sight of her daughter in the care of someone who could give her something she never could.

A loving family.

Lifting her hood back up, she laced up her cloak, her eyes fixed on the Rabbi and her child before her. She slipped further into the shadows, disappearing forever. l

was shape but hardly any substance, and though we never discussed such things, I was prepared to wager that I looked the same way to her. That would certainly explain why she had taken to avoiding me. I’m convinced that she saw a reflection of her broken self in me and had decided to stay away from the mirror. Whatever was going on with her, there was no doubt that Father’s death had caused a deep rift between us, and it remained to be seen whether we could find a way back to each other.

Stephen Thompson is a London-born Jamaican novelist whose books include Toy Soldiers and No More Heroes. He has lectured in Creative Writing at Birkbeck College and the University of Edinburgh and is publisher of the Colverstone Review.

Sanctuary n Christina Algaratnam

The young woman glanced down the alley of Sandy’s Row, peering over the hood of her cloak. There was a small child in torn clothes, crouched in front of the synagogue.

Still dizzy with fatigue after the events of the night, she limped down the alley, her heels clicking on the cobbles. Walking had never been so painful. It hurt, oh God did it hurt.

Her mother never told her it hurt so much. A stinging pain piercing right between her legs.

When she approached the wide doors, the child lifted his head up, thrusting out his thin hand. She eyed him warily, feeling

Christina Algaratnam is a writer for Doughnut Productions and is currently working on her first novel.

DT

18 HERITAGE

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

The one who became many n Tim Steel

W

hen the immortal Rabindranath Tagore presided at the 70th birthday celebrations of Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray in 1931, paying tribute to this other great Bengali, he referred the Upanishad scriptures.

“It is quoted in the Upanishads that The One said: ‘I shall be many.’ The beginning of creation is a move towards self immolation.

Prafulla Chandra has become many in his pupils and made his heart alive in the hearts of many. And that would not have been at all possible had he not unreservedly made a gift of himself.” That the great Tagore should wax so lyrical must mean that perhaps we should all recall this great chemist, born in the lands that are now Bangladesh.

But Tagore may, in fact, have been sadly mistaken when he continued: “The glory of this power in Prafulla Chandra as teacher will never be worn out by decrepitude. It will extend further in time through the ever-growing intelligence of youthful hearts; by steady perseverance they will win new treasures of knowledge.”

His name, his fame, and his reputation,

it seems, in Bangladesh, to have largely vanished. Which is particularly sad, since one of his greatest passions was the history of his people: The many, the diversity of peoples who, even today, still so often self identify as Bengalis.

Much has, of course, changed in his homelands since he passed away, in 1944.

Even, Bengal is no longer Bengal. However, as the founder of India’s first pharmaceutical company, Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, he certainly laid the foundations for one of the most thriving private sectors of the Bangladesh of today.

Unquestionably one of the great patrons of the development of the study, and manufacturing of chemical-based products in the subcontinent, much of his interest seems to have been founded on the traditional uses of chemistry, and in 1902 he published one of the seminal works on the subject, A History of Hindu Chemistry From Earliest Times to the Middle of the 16th Century. It remains, of course, a long and noble history.

Born in Raruli-Katapara, in the Khulna District, in 1861, although his family migrated to Calcutta in 1870, a severe illness left him with a health condition that lasted

As the founder of India’s first pharmaceutical company, Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Prafulla Chandra certainly laid the foundations for one of the most thriving private sectors of the Bangladesh of today

DT

HERITAGE 19

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

his lifetime. However, it also resulted in his spending much of his youth back in his home village, and with the freedom to read far more widely than the constraints of a school curriculum would have allowed. A phenomenon that still argues against the constraints of such focused study in schools and colleges in limiting the ability of the young to realise their full potential. Certainly, he always maintained that his illness turned out to be a “blessing in disguise.”

Once he returned to his more conventional studies, in Calcutta, his academic career flourished. However, chemistry had already begun to absorb his greatest interest, and he began, as an external student, to attend the lectures of the British teacher, Alexander Pedler.

In 1882, no doubt with encouragement from Pedler, without completing his degree course in Calcutta, he applied for, and was awarded, a scholarship that took him to a BSc degree course in physics, chemistry, and biology, at Edinburgh University in the UK. Whilst studying for his doctorate at Edinburgh, his popularity with fellow students saw him elected Vice President of Edinburgh University Chemical Society in 1888.

It was whilst in Edinburgh, that his extensive reading forced him to the conclusion that, as he later wrote, “every civilised country, including Japan, was adding to the world stock of knowledge but that unhappy India was lagging behind.”

No doubt that thought process was what made him one of the architects of the great, late 19th and early 20th century surges in education, and even gave him international fame, in the sciences and the teaching of the sciences, in his land of birth.

With the benefit of hindsight, it makes a fascinating, “what if?” of history, to wonder

if, alongside the colonial investment and facilitation of educational opportunities for native Indians, their greater, and earlier involvement in their own governance had also been facilitated, might not the British Empire have evolved, earlier, into more of a “Commonwealth,” of even greater strength and unity than today’s somewhat token organisation wracked by so much, continuing, post colonial resentment?

ly, “made many” of his more promising students, first at the Presidency University in Calcutta, and subsequently, at the newly founded Calcutta University College of Science.

A lifelong bachelor, his life seems to have been entirely devoted to his research, and his teaching, as well as Brahmanic studies.

The University College of Science benefitted, not only from his published research,

A lifelong bachelor, his life seems to have been entirely devoted to his research, and his teaching, as well as Brahmanic studies

Returning, however, to an imperial colony in which racial discrimination did continue to hamper the careers of even the most able native citizens, and was already laying the foundations for civil unrest, he found his own career limited by that discrimination.

He may well have continued, in his own work, to make the great contribution that he unquestionably did, to the advancement of his own people, but it seems likely that his life was always shaded, somewhat, by the discrimination he certainly felt; perhaps more so because it is very likely that, in Edinburgh, he felt less of the lower middle-class racism that seems to have permeated much of the last half-century of colonial rule.

His work, as Tagore observed, certain-

and his teaching, but also financially when, in 1921, he donated his entire salary, from that day on, to the furtherance of chemical research, and the development of the Department of Chemistry at the University.

Nor was he, simply, a “dry” academic; he was also very socially aware. When, in 1923, Northern Bengal suffered floods that made millions of people homeless, he organised fund collection and distribution to people in the affected area. He also donated money to the cause of education, and especially chemistry, elsewhere in north-east India.

The 1923 floods, incidentally, also attracted the close attention of a fellow scientist, the nascent astro-nuclear physicist, Dhaka-born Meghnad Saha, inspiring his

work on the mastering of India’s rivers.

Prafulla Chandra’s contribution to academic achievement was also widely recognised. In 1912, he received an honorary doctorate from the ancient University of Durham, in UK; and another from Dhaka University, then one of the great universities of Asia, in 1936.

In 1911 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, by King George V; and a knighthood followed in 1917.Further recognition came from both Germany and Britain.

A Hindu, recognition of his vital work certainly reached far beyond his own community, as his international “awards” attest.

Equally, within India, his convocation address to Aligarh Muslim University confirmed his clear belief in the universality of wisdom and knowledge.

“Not in isolation, rigid and exclusive, but in active intercourse with the modern progressive world does our own progress lie. We cannot ignore the fact of the impact of the West upon the East; it will not do, ostrich-like to shut our eyes to the fact that for the last few centuries Europe has been progressive while Asia has been stagnant. And there is no humiliation in seeking the truth wherever it is found. Truth has no boundaries, it is international.”

An address that might well resonate, even today, in many Asian ears.

But it was, clearly, his work in his homeland, which meant most to him, and he should certainly be remembered as one of the greatest Bengalis, and child of the lands that are now Bangladesh, of his time. And, through his teaching, and support, his one, became many, as Tagore foresaw. l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

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20 LONG FORM

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

REUTERS

Hillary 2016? n Rehan Kabir

A

n incredible social development to choose the first Madam President has been picking up pace. Much the same as the development that chose the first African-American president in 2008, the “Madam President movement” will be pushed by the standard media, Hollywood, and social networking.

Together they will fabricate force and coalitions over all stages, while delighting in their amazing social and cultural importance.

You will hear the “triumph of the 60s women’s activist development.”

You will hear that “you” will be “voting to leave a mark on the world.” And you will hear that “your” vote will be utilised as a “mallet to achievement, the discriminatory constraint of the Oval Office,” the “breaking of the highest glass-ceiling.”

Hillary Clinton, as the first female presidential candidate of a major political party, will be anointed by the media, Hollywood, and popular society pretty much as they anointed the junior representative from Illinois in 2008. The main distinction in the middle of then and now is that Obama was hailed as the saviour, and Hillary will be the ruler prepared to climb to her regal throne.

NBC had even announced a Hillary miniseries which was later cancelled.

She was “lenient Hillary,” who was openly mortified by her deceiving spouse and afterward triumphed over difficulty by being chosen to the US Senate in 2000, “forgiving Hillary,” who was crushed by her own particular party for the presidential assignment in 2008, and afterward further rejection by Obama to be his running mate.

Success came eventually when Hillary was appointed the ever-travelling secretary of state, and in spite of an absence of any genuine achievement, in the long-run earned worldwide appreciation and higher support evaluations than the group pioneer himself.

In this manner, as a result of her highs and lows, the “unholy union” of social and media forces genuinely accepts that it is her time, that she merits it. This oblivious conformity will make for a lethal punch of media predisposition that the Republican presidential applicant will be compelled to drink once a day.

In 2012, the last Electoral College standings were 332-206 in favour of Obama. In the event that Romney had won the battleground conditions of Florida (29 votes), Ohio (18 votes), and Virginia (13 votes), Obama would at present have been re-chosen, however, by a closer edge of 272 to 266.

Presently, only in light of the fact that Obama won well more than 300 appointive votes does not mean Hillary will rehash that accomplishment. In any case, the way to 270 is much simpler for any Democrat hopeful given present and future demographic development and recognised voting examples.

Amid a summer Democratic National Convention, Bill Clinton encouraged America to vote in favour of President Obama in what was proclaimed all things considered an articulate discourse that it made Obama appear to be little by correlation.

Right then and there, Democrats and their media partners encountered a torrent of feel-great Clinton sentimentality that proceeds right up till today, and “Hillary 2016” is the preeminent recipient. Moreover, from a popular society/media viewpoint, her all the more exceedingly advanced, absolutely rebranded, all around regarded beneficent spouse (of Clinton Global Initiative popularity) will be one of Hillary’s most prominent resources on the battlefield.

The once lethal “Clinton weakness” that tormented Hillary in 2008 now just lives in the psyches of Republicans. Unless someone the likes of a megastar such as Michael Jackson or Elvis is resurrected as a Republican, the GOP has no superstar that can compete

toe-to-toe with such a well-backed presidential hopeful.

In the event that these are the last years of the Obama administration, Team Clinton, with the assistance of the complicit media, could undoubtedly repackage herself to run for Bill Clinton’s “third term.” Go back to 2008, when his third term was won by Al Gore and then sabotaged by the wily George W Bush, or so the Democrats would want you to believe.

Be that as it may, the trap for Hillary is to still use Obama’s ever-agreeable persona sufficiently only to start up his steadfast base to fill her own particular needs. This strategy will make progress regardless of how low Obama’s endorsement appraisals go, in light of the fact that there are dependably Republicans to be faulted.

As the potential first female leader of the free world, Hillary must demonstrate that it is well within her competence to take solid initiative and is not be hesitant to trade off with Republicans so as to take care of the issues America currently faces. However, even with her past approval, and friends singing her praises throughout the media, her popularity has waned owing to the much-publicised controversy surrounding her private email account and the 2012 Benghazi attacks.

This has added cause to the Republican camp taking several shots at her and President Obama; Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said that the former US representative’s part in the demise of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, amid her term, provide reason to feel ambiguous about her capacity to serve as president. Senator Ted Cruz has criticised both President Obama and Hillary Clinton on the issues of foreign policy and gun rights. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has expressed that the Obama-Clinton foreign policy has damaged relationships with allies.

As Secretary of State, Clinton won applauses for her efforts on women empowerment throughout the globe. She has drawn

feedback, nonetheless, for an absence of any significant achievement amid her term.

Others have panned Clinton’s treatment of the 2012 Benghazi attacks that resulted in the demise of a US diplomat and three other Americans. A few policy-makers blamed the State Department for extreme security failings and asserted that Clinton took part in a resulting concealment.

Despite all these, April saw Hillary declare her presidential candidacy, where she will embark upon her second -- and perhaps her last -- bid for the Oval Office. It was not astounding that Mrs Clinton decided to make her plans clear via a video circulating online.

Since she exited the State Department in 2013, she has discovered an appreciated outlet in Twitter, which has permitted her to express her assessments in succinct notes while keeping away from the news gatherings that are prone to turn into a pillar now that she is a presidential competitor.

From Wellesley to Yale and from Little Rock to Washington and beyond, her personal milestones will be spearheads in her second presidential campaign. She’s a baby boomer, were she to win, she’d likely be one of the last in her generation to occupy the Oval Office.

Through all the controversies during President Clinton’s tenure at Washington, to being the only first lady to be elected to the US Senate and a cabinet secretary, Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton has been preparing for this moment her entire life. Bill Clinton had his share of the cape and the spotlight. Now it’s her turn. He’s now the sidekick, she’s the superhero.

For the record, I am not in favour of any of the candidates. The best I can hope for is that the presidential election campaign in 2016 will be fair, clean, and without any media bias that you can almost always come to expect during any election. l Rehan Kabir is a freelance contributor.

DT

21

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

PHOTO: COURTESY

T-JUNCTION

Pirates of reality

INSIDE

22 prep

The boot loot

23

letters to Mars

Getting even

24

Written in the Stars

The pursuit of authenticity

DT

22 T-JUNCTION

Tell

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

prep

The boot loot Leave no collection unfinished

n Mahee Rahman The problem

It’s no real surprise that football boot collectors living in this country have a terribly hard time with their collections.

There are far too many knock-offs being sold around the country, and being an avid collector myself I know that these boots will not be satisfactory. The problems we face are these knock-offs, unavailability and even when they are available, their ridiculous prices. But what are the reasons behind such a sad state of affairs? What is really stopping us from achieving true collector status?

The cause

Seeing as we live in a cricket loving nation, the football loving side is rather neglected.

As cricketing equipment bring in the sales, the stores do not bother much about football equipment. The ones that are available are mostly cheap knock-offs and the like - it is quite rare to stumble upon a good pair of boots in this country. And even when we do find the elusive originals, which ones should we buy? Most amateur collectors simply purchase the first one that catches their eye, often the shiniest, from the most popular brand.

Collecting football boots is more than just a hobby. It’s a way of life for us fanatics. The feeling we get when we break in the perfect new pair of boots is a feeling like no other.

But for most of us, such hopes are often left incomplete. More often than not, we do not know how to start our collections and how to fulfill this dream without burning a hole in our wallets. However, you can now bid goodbye to those sordid days of uncertainty and concern, because I am here to help you kick start your dream collection.

The way out

First of all, you should decide on how much you are willing to spend on a pair of boots.

It’s recommended that you should start every collection with the most popular

ones, since they are the easiest to find and are relatively low priced. Brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma are the best ones to start out with since they are available in most countries. Even starting with just Nike makes sense since they are more sought after. Their collections are massive and some of the most well-known players prefer this brand.

For an aspiring collector, I would suggest purchasing the new Nike Magista series or the Nike Hypervenom series which are quite well known. Another one you can try out is the Nike Mercurial, which is currently the most popular. If you’d prefer Adidas then my advice would be to start off with the Adidas Nitrocharge series or the Adidas “THERE WILL BE HATERS.” Whichever you choose from the above mentioned alternatives, it’d undoubtedly be a great way to start off your collection.

The path

Right about now you might be wondering why I’m contradicting myself by suggesting such boots, when earlier I had mentioned that you can’t find them in our country. It simply means I’m pointing towards online purchase. The immediately obvious concern with that notion is that not only will you be spending a fortune on the boots, added to that would be the ludicrous shipping charges associated with such endeavours.

Fortunately, backpackbang.com is the solution to all your problems. You can find each of the above mentioned collections there, all of them at affordable prices.

And the best part is that you can get your order within 7-14 days - compared to other alternatives which take three weeks to a month it’s a magical experience. Even their total cost after taking shipping into account is amazingly reasonable.

As collectors it’s crucial to remember that football is not just a sport, it is a way of life and we should never settle for second best when we have perfection available around the corner. So why wait? Take the initiative and begin your dream collection with a bang!l

T-JUNCTION 23

DT

Tell

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

letters to Mars

letters to Venus

Getting even

Second thoughts

n T-Junction desk

should I do?

n T-Junction desk

suggest I should do?

Three years ago I went on a business trip to Bangkok, and after a long night of partying with my work friends, I ended up spending the night with a strange woman. I never saw the woman ever again in my entire life and I came clean to my wife regarding this mishap about three months after it happened. I felt awfully guilty about what happened, and to this day, I don’t know if my apology was good enough and I just can’t stop feeling bad about it. My wife obviously didn’t take it very well. We have two beautiful children to worry about, so, in spite of all the hate, we decided to work on our marriage and keep it intact.

You can imagine how grateful I must feel to have a wife like that. However, the problem is that now she goes around having affairs with various men and flirting with the next man she sees right in front of my eyes. And I can’t even say anything because I did this to her.

She obviously deserved better from me, but for the last few months I’ve been feeling like I’m over-compensating for my wrongdoing.

I still want to work on our marriage, but I can’t think of a way to make her see it without her accusing me of the same thing every time. What

Well, you’re right. You have paid for your sins, what, ten times over by now? Tell her that if what she seeks from this is getting even, then she’s going about it the wrong way. What she is doing is very immature and, not to make judgments or draw conclusions, something you’d expect from a very hormonal 17-year old instead of a grown woman and a mother of two. Please remind her of her duties as a mother and that the first step to ideal parenting is becoming good role models, and if she doesn’t listen to you, then your whole marriage is a sham. I am not saying that she’s wrecking your marriage – you obviously started this. However, instead of acting like a self-centered narcissist, she should put her children first and actually work on moving forward with you. If she tells you that that is not possible, then you should probably break it off with her. Your guilt trips will be haunting, but, in the long run, this is definitely the ideal solution.l

My husband is the ideal husband. I know it might look like I’m over-reaching a little bit there, but it’s really not an exaggeration. He and I used to be best friends before we got married and our married life has been half a decade of endless bliss for both of us. We have a three-year old too and we love him dearly. However, something my sisters and friends told me got under my skin a little bit. They think he (and I cannot stress the emphasis on the word “might” enough) might be homosexual. And I can’t deny it: I see it too sometimes. He never wants to be intimate with me. Excuses range from, “I had a bad day,” to, “I have a meeting tomorrow, sweetie.” Of course, there is the likely possibility that this is all a big misunderstanding, but it worries me a little bit. I realise that having this talk with him will be like opening a can of worms but I just can’t sit back and pretend all this isn’t happening. What do you

Obviously, this is an issue that you need to address with the utmost urgency.

There are two possible outcomes of you breaking it to your husband: it will either put a tiny dent in your marriage or completely destroy it. If you’re wrong and he’s not what you think he might be, then he’ll probably feel offended and degraded that you don’t respect his, “masculinity the way you should.”

However, if you are right, then this just might be a blessing in disguise.

It’s true that there is a child that needs to be accounted for but as you have mentioned, you both love him, and getting an amicable divorce if it comes to it should not change a lot of things. Just try to keep an open mind. You cannot spend your life with someone who isn’t attracted to you the way you are to him; you deserve better. Talk it out with him and pray for the best. l

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

ARIES (MAR 21-APR 19)

This week will be a good time to resist your urge of splurging and save up for the rainy days. If a close friend comes to you for help, don’t turn your back on them.

TAURUS (APR 20-MAY 20)

HOROSCOPE

You’ll feel unstoppable this week, with your head entirely in the game. You may bump into a special someone this week, think twice before walking away from them, unlike last time.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUN 20)

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

LEO (JUL 23-AUG 22)

This week you may need to be a little more careful and responsible at work, if you can manage to do things right, you’d be showered with appreciation.

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 22)

You’ve been so busy at work lately that you forgot to pay any attention to yourself or your dear ones. You need a break to clear your head and have some quiet time.

LIBRA (SEP 23-OCT 22)

things slow.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22-DEC 21)

You have been bottling things up lately and we all know that that’s not healthy.

Let it out, speak your heart out but make sure you aren’t being too insensitive.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN 19)

Go out, have fun, take risks. Live it up, you’ve earned it. Don’t let anything or anyone kill your spirit this week.

This is your time to shine. Exciting new projects await you, all you need to do is focus on one thing at a time and never doubt your abilities.

Don’t let others weigh you down with their problems. But don’t forget to lend them a hand. You have a peaceful week coming up, but watch out for those last minute complications.

AQUARIUS (JAN 20-FEB 19)

CANCER (JUN 21-JUL 22)

SCORPIO (OCT 23-NOV 21)

PISCES (FEB 20-MAR 20)

Now is not the time to go all out and splurge on unnecessary things. Take some alone time that you can use simply to unwind.

Love is in the air, and it seems like whoever you come across wants to win your heart.

Don’t make any hasty decision, with all the attention that you’ll drown in this week. Take

Now is a good time to bond with your colleagues. You may have to get busy with complicated projects at work, but your co-workers have got your back.

You’ve been on a roll, taking up one challenge after another. Your curious mind and high spirit will make you discover intriguing things this week. l

DT

24 T-JUNCTION

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Written in the Stars

The pursuit of authenticity

Originality is threatened if it cannot be protected and saved from being duplicated or stolen

n Saudia Afrin From its birth in 2011, Bangladesh Copyright & IP Forum (BCIPF), a not-for-profit entity devoted itself in promoting creativity and innovation through promoting intellectual property (IP) rights, IP awareness, protections and enforcement of IPR within Bangladesh. T-Junction had a comprehensive discussion on its working process and the importance of IP protection and IP awareness with the founder of BCIPF, Barrister ABM Hamidul Mishbah.

What made you to initiate a platform like Bangladesh Copyright & IP Forum (BCIPF)?

In our country, there are ample innovative and creative works created by ingenious brains that need legal protection. Most of these creators or innovators are not aware about the potential of their creations and are unaware about how to protect their works. Similarly it is not so easy for them to understand the legal implications of such matters too. We therefore thought that we need to create a platform that can provide a means for the creative fraternity to make themselves aware of their rights and dos and don’ts regarding their creative works.

What are the approaches that BCIPF is following to achieve its objectives?

Our core aim is to create an IP culture within Bangladesh, through creating IP awareness, capacity building and support the relevant people to enforce their IP rights. In over three years, we have been successful in conducting several workshops, training sessions, seminars, awareness campaigns, etc. We have worked with various industries, for instance the music industry, writers and publishers, film industry, media, start up business community, software developers and so forth. We have arranged and conducted IP training for judges and magistrates, and police officers, start up businesses, musicians and filmmakers. We

assisted the music fraternity to establish the first ever Collective Management Organisation (CMO) in Bangladesh, which will now simplify licensing, and collection of royalty on music and help reducing the rate of piracy. We have established an IP Plus Law Clinic to help the growing number of start-up businesses with their business establishment, IPR registration, and IP protection.

Is there any platform for youngsters to contribute?

For the youth and student community we have come up with a platform called “Volunteer for IP” (VIP) which creates IP ambassadors who are expected to spread the IP awareness among their networks.

Under the VIP program we train 100 young individuals or students every year on the basics of IP. We often attend invitations at various universities to run IP awareness sessions among the students to create IP preparedness among the students as well as sensitise them on the importance of IPR protections, which actually drives economic growth and creates new employments. For the VIP program, interested students can apply online.

Who are the other organisations you work with?

We work in partnership with various government offices, including the Copyright Office and the Department of Trademarks, Patent and Design and relevant ministries.

We are now planning to take our activities to the district level to reach out to the creative section of people living throughout Bangladesh.

What is your opinion about incorporating intellectual property as a discipline in education system?

It would be of much help if we can incorporate IP education into our national

curriculum, especially the issues related to plagiarism, which shall eventually ensure that our students do not copy or steal others’ work and grow skill and creativity within.

It would have been nice have we had our National Education Policy 2010 included a section on this issue. Relevant government organisations should consider this with priority.

What are the future activities you are planning to come up with?

We are now working on a project to take IP education and awareness to the school level. This will help the very young students of tender age to grow learning the dos and don’ts of IP. In addition, for rest of the stakeholders, we are coming up with a project under which we will take the IP information, knowledge, and tools to the mass target users to make it more accessible in an easier and quicker manner. We also publish an Intellectual Property Magazine titled “INTELLECT” which promotes the creative and innovative section of the population, and very soon we will be launching the online version of the magazine. l

PHOTOS: COURTESY

We need to grow a sense among ourselves that using someone else’s creative work without permission (photographs, music, software etc) is the same as stealing someone else’s tangible property.

Why would we label ourselves as thieves, and grow a culture of stealing?

It is time that we nurture ethics within. Once we have done it, we will see that we have grown an IP cultured Bangladesh, and have shredded off the referred tag of “thief.”

Barrister ABM Hamidul Mishbah. Founder, Bangladesh Copyright & IP Forum

Palermo striker Paulo Dybala is set to join Juventus on a five-year deal worth 32 million euros that will see the Argentinian earn 2.5m euros a season, reports said yesterday

Sport 26

FARUK AHMED, THE RISK-TAKING MAN WITH A VISION

27

WARNE, TENDULKAR BACK NEW ‘GREATS’ T20 LEAGUE

28

25

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JUVE BOUND?

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

ANFIELD GATHERS FOR GERRARD’S LAST HOME GAME

Rain plays foul in top-flight football n Raihan Mahmood

It was raining cats and dogs in Dhaka and several other parts of the country yesterday. And as a result, the Bangabandhu National Stadium was flooded with rain-water, forcing the abandonment of the two Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League matches between MohammedanRahmatganj and Brothers Union-Feni Soccer Club. The Mohammedan (white jersey) and Rahmatganj players can be seen running away from the field in order to avoid the repeated lightnings MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Both the scheduled matches of the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday were abandoned due to unfavorable weather and unplayable conditions.

The first match of the day between Mohammedan and Rahmatganj duly kicked off at 4:15pm but referee Abdul Hannan Miron was forced to stop the match due to the heavy downpour that started at 4:22pm.

Following more than an hour’s wait, the referee called off the match as the field became too soft and both the flanks became water-logged due to the poor drainage system.

Match commissioner Rafikul Alam explained the scenario. “It is not possible to keep the balance in the pitch and the rain has not stopped. There were also fears of lightning and thunder. So, the matches are abandoned and as per the by-laws it will be shifted to another date,” said Rafikul.

The second match of the day between Brothers Union and Feni Soccer Club at 6:15pm was also called off.l

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26 Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Faruk Ahmed, the risk-taking man with a vision

Many cited Mashrafe bin Mortaza’s bold captaincy as one of the reasons behind the Tigers’ impressive performances in the 2015 ICC World Cup while others suggested that head coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s positive influence rubbed off well on his charges.

Chief selector Faruk Ahmed’s role, however, should also not be forgotten.

One-third of the national selection panel comprising Habibul Bashar and Minhajul Abedin, Faruk was a picture of braveness when he announced the final 15-man squad for the World Cup as nine cricketers were included who had no previous experience of playing in the global showpiece event. Everyone was eagerly waiting to find out if the likes of Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Taskin Ahmed had what it takes to shine on the world stage.

The courageous youngsters vindicated Faruk’s belief in some style, guiding Bangladesh to the quarter-final for the first

time in history.

This was, of course, not the first time Faruk had drafted a World Cup squad. The 49-year old was also responsible for picking the squad in the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean where Bangladesh gave a great account of themselves on their way to the Super Eights.

On that occasion, Faruk was credited for selecting untried and untested cricketers like Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan. The trio passed the World Cup test with flying colours as they defeated India and South Africa and are now one of the leading cricketers not only in Bangladesh but world cricket.

Faruk, the only selector in Bangladesh who has selected two World Cup squads, talked with Mazhar Uddin of Dhaka Tribune yesterday and during a candid conversation, he spoke at length regarding the challenges and limitations of being a selector. Faruk also gave his reasons behind the selection of Soumya in the World Cup squad and Shuvagata Hom in the two Tests against Pakistan.

Here are the excerpts:

Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiq. While this time, we already had a good and experienced set of players. Having said all that, we had to consider picking cricketers who would be able to cope with the conditions in Australia and New Zealand.

With the exception of the bilateral home series against Zimbabwe in November, Bangladesh experienced a dismal 2014. With the World Cup just around the corner, there were all sorts of suggestions flying around with regards to the team combination in Australia-New Zealand. In these circumstances, how challenging was it to pick the World Cup squad for the second time?

The job of a selector is not an easy one. You guys probably face a lot of suggestions and influences before selecting a team.....

It was definitely a big challenge for us. But, the 2007 World Cup team selection was rather different in comparison with the 2015 World Cup. As we had a poor 2003 ICC World Cup, we had to rely on the age-level cricketers like

Soumya played just a solitary one-day international – fifth and final match against Zimbabwe – prior to being selected for the World Cup. Was his selection a gamble?

You can say it was a calculated risk which a selector has to take. In 2007, I did the same by picking Tamim and Mushfiq, who barely had any international experience.

In the 2015 World Cup, we were looking for a top-order batsman who can be a replacement of the openers and someone who can also bowl a bit at the same time. He would have helped with our team combination. You can say it was a gamble but from my point of view, it was a calculated one. Even the selection of Sabbir Rahman was a calculated risk as he was relatively new to the 50-over format.

To his credit, Sabbir also played well.

To be honest, I have never faced any influence whenever we (Bashar and Minhajul) pick a particular team. However, we do get some suggestions from the coach. And, whoever is able to provide a strong justification for a player, we never hesitate to include that particular cricketer.

Compared to the past, there are now more cricketers in the pipeline. Does that make your job easier while selecting a particular

Not the best of times for Sheikh Jamal n Shishir Hoque Defending top-flight champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club made a flying start in their pursuit of the title defence.

At one stage, the Dhanmondi-based outfit extended their lead at the top of the 11-team points table to nine and it was already looking like the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League 2014-15 season was a foregone conclusion, much like the previous season.

However, two consecutive draws against Brothers Union and Mohammedan meant the holders stuttered for the first time this season. The scenario turned a bit trickier when they went down to a defeat against Abahani last Thursday. The loss against the traditional Sky Blues was their first defeat in 28 matches.

The twin draws and the defeat saw Sheikh Jamal’s lead at the summit cut down to six points as they garnered just two points from a possible nine. The table-toppers now have 23 points from 10 matches, six more than Abahani who have played a game less. Third-placed Sheikh Russel (16 points), meanwhile, have the golden opportunity to move to just a point behind their namesake if the former win their two matches in hand.

Having begun the season in an imposing fashion, winning the season-opening Federation Cup, Sheikh Jamal’s prospects, however, have taken a hit in recent times. And during

a brief conversation with Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Sheikh Jamal head coach Maruful Haque said if they do not arrest their slide in form sooner rather than later, they might surrender their lead at the top.

STATS

Although we are still at the top of the league, I am not satisfied with the performance of my team. We have the ability and could have ended the first phase with a maximum 30 points.

But, we ended up losing seven points which is totally unexpected.

Sheikh Jamal 23 points - 10 matches

Abahani 17 points - 9 matches

What do you think are the reasons behind the dropped points against the three aforementioned clubs?

Sheikh Russel 16 points - 8 matches

The players were not at their best, to be honest. They showed a lack of determination and their concentration in the game was not enough. The tiredness of the players is another reason as they have played a lot of matches this season.

Highest margin of victory 4-0 against Chittagong Abahani

Only defeat 2-0 against Abahani Limited

Scorers Wedson Anselme Emeka Darlington Landing Darboe Kasto Kumar, Mamunul Islam, Leonel Preux

Sheikh Jamal began the season in a dominating style before conceding points against Brothers Union, Mohammedan and Abahani recently. How do you evaluate Sheikh Jamal’s performance following the first phase of the league campaign? Are you satisfied with the overall display?

:6 :6 :3 : 1 each

Are you mulling any new signings in the upcoming players’ transfer window?

Not yet.

What is the target for the second phase?

The target is to extend our lead at the top of the points table. I still believe we will win the title. l

player for a format?

Obviously, it is a great sign for Bangladesh cricket that we are now getting enough players in the pipeline. Definitely, it makes our job easier as we can now consider a particular player who can contribute to the side in different formats. Now, we can rotate the cricketers more often in order to see which player is suitable for which particular format.

According to many, we are yet to have a perfect combination for the longer version in comparison with the shorter formats. For instance, the inclusion of Shuvagata in both the Tests against Pakistan was criticised heavily. What are the reasons behind his selection?

We are yet to give our best in the longer format. We are still lagging behind when it comes to Test cricket. Our job is to select the perfect team combination but it is up to the players’ application on the field.

Let me give you an example. When you see a boxer before a fight, you think he is strong and is definitely capable of fighting. But, it is up to the boxer to prove his worth on the ring.

I think we need to work more on this format, such as preparing more green pitches in the domestic circuit so that the players can adopt their game to certain situations. The board is working on this aspect as I speak.

There has been a lot of criticism regarding Shuvagata’s inclusion in the Test side.

But, to be very frank, we were looking for an off-spinner who can also bat lower down the order. We had very little options with that position. But, I am hopeful Bangladesh will play better Test cricket sooner rather than later as the players are now performing consistently in the shorter formats of the game.l

Kohli, seniors request for rest in Bangladesh series: reports n Tribune Desk In the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who recently announced his retirement from Test cricket, it was expected that Virat Kohli would lead India in the upcoming tour of Bangladesh comprising one Test and three one-day internationals.

Kohli, however, along with a few other senior cricketers have requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India to be excused from the tour, according to a report published yesterday on online cricket portal Cricbuzz.

Kohli and a few others cited that they needed a break from the continuous cricket action. The Bangladesh Cricket Board, on the contrary, wants some key Indian players to be sent to Bangladesh as it will keep some interest alive with the television viewers.

The BCCI is scheduled to announce the squad for the tour of Bangladesh this Wednesday.

India will take on Bangladesh in the solitary Test match from June 10-14 at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The three ODIs will all take place at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on June 18, 21 and 24 respectively.l

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Sport 27

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

QUICK BYTES Chittagong DSA beat Cox’s Bazar DSA in beach rugby Chittagong District Sports Association beat Cox’s Bazar DSA by 6-2 points in the Hotel Astar Eco First Beach Rugby at Urmee Point, Cox’s Bazar yesterday. In the second match, Bangladesh Amateur Rugby Club edged past Cox’s Bazar District while Chittagong DSA Green inflicted the second defeat upon Cox’s Bazar DSA in the last game of the day. ADC General of Cox’s Bazar, Abdul Sobhan, inaugurated the event as the chief guest. Cox’s Bazar District Awami League president Mojibur Rahman, Cox’s Bazar DSA secretary Anup Barua Apu and Bangladesh Rugby Federation joint secretary Saeed Ahmed were also present among others on the occasion.

–Raihan Mahmood

Welbeck to miss OT return Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck will miss the chance to haunt former club Manchester United for a second time this season after being ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League game at Old Trafford with a knee injury, manager Arsene Wenger said. The 24-year-old, who has scored eight goals for Arsenal since joining for 16 million pounds ($25.2 million) last year, scored the winner in the Gunners’ 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory at Old Trafford in March.

–Reuters

Chelsea make it 5 Brazilians after Nathan swoop

Chelsea’s Brazilian contingent will grow in size to five players after they agreed to sign teenager Nathan from Atletico Paranaense on Thursday. The 19-yearold attacking midfielder has passed a medical, agreed personal terms and will complete his move on July 1.

–Reuters

FC Tokyo snap up 13-yearold ‘Japanese Messi’

FC Tokyo have taken advantage of Barcelona’s punishment for breaching rules on the transfer of young players by swooping to bring home a 13-year-old player dubbed the “Japanese Messi”. Takefusa Kubo had signed for the Spanish giants in 2011 to train at their famed La Masia academy but the club were found guilty of “serious” youth transfer breaches between 2009 and 2013 by FIFA last year.

–Reuters

Lyth to replace Trott as Cook’s opening partner

Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth is poised to make his debut after being named on Thursday in a 12-man squad for the first test against New Zealand at Lord’s that starts on May 21. Lyth is set to partner captain Alastair Cook at the top of the order after Jonathan Trott announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect following a disappointing recent tour of the West Indies.

–Reuters

FFC Frankfurt’s team pose with the trophy after winning their Uefa Women’s Champions League final against Paris St Germain in Berlin on Thursday REUTERS

Fourth title for Frankfurt, tears for PSG n AFP, Berlin A late Mandy Islacker winner sealed a 2-1 victory and record fourth Women’s Champions League crown for Frankfurt, dashing Paris Saint-Germain’s hopes of a first title, in Berlin on Thursday.

Frankfurt, already champions in 2002, 2006 and 2008 and finalists in 2004 and 2012, are now the most decorated European club ahead of Wolfsburg, Potsdam, Umea and Lyon, who have two each.

But if the team of striker Celia Sasic, by far the top scorer in the tournament with 14 goals this season, crushed all their rivals with 40 goals for just two conceded in eight matches, they had to battle past the French novices.

The Ligue 1 runners-up, who had eliminated French champions Lyon and two-time defending champions Wolfsburg en route to the final, held firm for the first 30 minutes largely

thanks to the efforts of their Polish goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek.

Frankfurt found a way through however after 32 minutes when Sasic picked up a centre from Kerstin Garefrekes to head past Kiedrzynek.

The Parisians reacted with Marie-Laure Delie equalising after 40 minutes, but watched

by German chancellor Angela Merkel, Islacker, 26, grabbed the winner two minutes into extra time as PSG’s Shirley Cruz Trana missed a last-gasp effort before the final whistle.

It was the end of the adventure for Paris Saint-Germain who had been competing in their first final, and whose fortunes have been transformed since the club was taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, with the women’s team turning professional the following year.

“I can’t find the words to express my disappointment,” said defender Laure Boulleau.

“We had a fabulous run, eliminating Lyon and Wolfsburg, and really wanted to give something back to PSG. “We have to turn the page now and focus on ‘Les Bleus’. There are lots of things to do with this fabulous team,” she said, with three weeks to go before the World Cup in Canada.

PSG’s Qatari chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in Berlin for the match, said: “It’s great experience for us. We have all the qualities to win the Champions League, we’ll try again next year.”

Having finished third in the women’s Bundesliga behind winners Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, Frankfurt had missed out on qualifying for next season’s Champions League, and needed a victory.

German clubs have now won nine of the 14 editions of the elite European tournament, with the victory boosting German hopes of a third World Cup title in Canada.l

Warne, Tendulkar back new ‘greats’ T20 league n Reuters, Sydney Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne are backing a new Twenty20 league for former cricketing greats that will be played in cities around the world from later this year, the Australian newspaper reported on Friday.

Indian batsman Tendulkar and Australian spin bowler Warne, now both retired, are widely regarded as two of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game.

The report said Australians Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, Englishmen Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff as well as South African Jacques Kallis had all been approached with offers of $25,000 a match.

Tendulkar and Warne planned to recruit 28 players to play 15 matches in the Cricket All Stars League over the next 3 1/2 years, starting with matches in three cities in the United States in September, the report added.

Several of the players targeted have, like Warne, extended their careers with lucrative stints in Twenty20 leagues after retiring from international cricket. While senior tours in

tennis and golf have proven successful in providing an income for older players and regular doses of nostalgia for fans, it has never before been attempted in cricket. l

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28 Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Emotional Anfield gathers for Gerrard’s last home game n Reuters, London An emotional Anfield will witness the end of an era on Saturday when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard makes his final home appearance after more than 700 games and 17 years playing for his boyhood club.

Tickets that normally cost 47 pounds ($73.52) are on sale on the internet for more than 1,300 pounds such is the demand to see the Gerrard’s last match on home soil against Crystal Palace after his exceptional, glittering, one-club career.

Last week the former England skipper was part of a guard of honour saluting champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and this week Palace’s players are expected to line up and applaud him as he leads the team out of the Anfield tunnel for the last time.

After Saturday’s match, Liverpool have one game left at Stoke City on the final day of the Premier League season on May 24 when Gerrard, who turns 35 at the end of the month, will bid farewell to his adoring fans before joining LA Galaxy.

With Chelsea having won the title and

FIXTURES Burnley Liverpool QPR Southampton Sunderland Tottenham West Ham

v v v v v v v

Stoke Crystal Palace Newcastle Aston Villa Leicester Hull Everton

Burnley and Queens Park Rangers already relegated, the only issues still be decided are who fills the third relegation spot and the destination of the three Europa League places.

Liverpool still have a remote mathematical chance of making the top four but, wherever they finish, Gerrard will no doubt relish his last home appearances in a red shirt.

He said earlier this week, the spark went out of his game when manager Brendan Rodgers told the midfielder earlier this season that he would have a restricted role in the side.

“When a manager gets you into the office and says your role is going to change and it’s going to become more limited -- that’s when you make your decision.

“It’s not a selfish thing but coming on as a sub is just not the same buzz so things have changed this year,” he said at a gala dinner for former Liverpool players.

Two matches that are likely to have an impact on both the Europa League and relegation spots are between Southampton and Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City.

Southampton and Spurs are in contention for European places while Villa and Hull need points to guarantee their safety.

Five clubs - Villa, Hull, free-falling Newcastle United, who visit QPR, Sunderland and Leicester City, who face each other, are still in danger of going down with only four points separating Villa on 38 and Hull on 34. The key relegation scrap is at Sunderland, who improved their chances of staying up after winning 2-0 at Everton last week while Leicester look set to escape after winning six of their last seven.l

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard takes part in a training session yesterday on the eve of their English Premier League match against Crystal Palace today INTERNET

Holders Sevilla, Dnipro into Europa final n AFP, Paris

Holders Sevilla, who crushed Fiorentina, face unheralded Ukrainians Dnipro in the Europa League final in Warsaw on May 27.

The finalists progress to the Polish capital finale in wildly contrasting fashions.

Sevilla, seeking a record fourth success in the competition, were firmly in the driving seat after last week’s 3-0 first leg success, and finished off Fiorentina with first half goals from Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico.

Dnipro, a former rocket factory side, on the other hand secured their first ever European final by grittily edging Rafa Benitez’s Napoli 1-0 in Kiev to go through 2-1 on aggregate.

Napoli will be fed up with the sight of Seleznyov as it was he who had come on as a substitute last week to snatch a vital 1-1 draw in Naples.

Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain had an early effort kept out by Dnipro keeper Denys Boyko, who also proved a match for the Argentina striker as the half hour appoached.

In relentless rain, Dnipro emerged after the break only 45 minutes away from their first ever European final on the away goals rule.

But Ukraine international Seleznyov settled the nerves of the ‘home’ side - Dnipro hosting Napoli in the safety of the Ukraine capital, which is 450 kilometres further away from the conflict in eastern Ukraine than Dnipropetrovsk.

In Florence, any hopes of a Fiorentina fightback fizzled out when Colombian striker Bacca opened the scoring for Sevilla in the 22nd minute off an Ever Banega free-kick.

Five minutes later the Italians were caught napping by another setpiece, Carrico tapping in a deflected long ball up the right.

Fiorentina’s attempt at a crucial early goal would have paid off if it hadn’t been for Sevilla’s young keeper Sergio Rico superbly denying Gonzalo Rodriguez’s close range header.l

RESULTS Fiorentina (ITA)

0-2

Sevilla (ESP)

Bacca 22, Carriço 27 Sevilla win 5-0 on aggregate

Dnipro (UKR) FC Dnipro’s supporters celebrate at the end of the Uefa Europa League semi-final second leg football match against SSC Napoli in Kiev on Thursday AFP

Seleznyov 58

1-0

Dnipro win 2-1 on aggregate

Napoli (ITA)

No Tottenham player’s future is safe, warns Pochettino n Reuters, London Every Tottenham Hotspur player’s future is on the line after a disappointing season that has seen the club miss out on a Champions League qualifying place, manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters on Thursday.

The Argentine, who is aiming to build a side capable of finishing in the Premier League top four next season and eventually challenging for the title, said Spurs would have to be “clever” in the transfer market rather than splashing out.

The north London club are sixth in the table, 10 points adrift of Manchester United in fourth with two games remaining.

“Always you need to analyse the last season,” said Pochettino. “Nobody is sure that they are staying at the club.”

Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches and Etienne Capoue have made little impact, while Pochettino’s own signings last year, including defenders Federico Fazio and Ben Davies as well as midfielder Benjamin Stambouli, have struggled.

Pochettino knows lessons must be learned from the club’s mistakes in the transfer market if they are to be successful.l

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SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

River players in hospital after Boca match abandoned n Reuters, Buenos Aires

DAY’S WATCH Channel 9 Bangladesh Premier League 4:15PM Sheikh Russel v Ctg Abahani

Star Sports 6:00 PM ATP 1000 Masters Internazionali Bnl D’italia: SF 1 12:00 AM Internazionali Bnl D’italia: SF 2 10:00 PM Italian Serei A Internazionale v Juventus

Star Sports 2 12:40 AM Italian Serie A Sampdoria v Lazio

Star Sports 4 5:35 PM Barclays Premier League Southampton v Aston Villa 7:50 PM Tottenham Hotspur v Hull City 10:20 PM Liverpool v Crystal Palace

Ten Sports 4:30 PM Moto GP Qualifying : Grand Prix De France

Ten HD 8:30 PM Internazionali BNL d’Italia SF 2 1:00 AM French Ligue 1 Olympique Lyonnais v Bordeaux

Ten Action 1:00 AM French Ligue 1 Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain

Neo Prime 7:30 PM Bundesliga SC Freiburg v FC Bayern Munchen

Neo Sports 7:30 PM Bundesliga VfL Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund

Sony Six 4:30PM Indian Premier League Punjab v Chennai 8:30 PM Rajasthan v Kolkata

Ten Cricket 4:00 PM WTA : Internazionali BNL d’Italia SF 1 1:00 AM French Ligue 1 Lille v Olympique De Marseille

River Plate forward Sebastian Driussi (R) and midfielder Leonardo Ponzio react after being pepper sprayed by Boca Junior supporters during their Copa Libertadores match at the ‘Bombonera’ stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday AFP

Four River Plate players were taken to hospital after they were sprayed with an irritant by fans of bitter rivals Boca Juniors on Thursday, causing their Libertadores Cup derby to be abandoned at halftime.

The last 16 second leg tie between the Buenos Aires clubs at Boca’s Bombonera stadium was deadlocked at 0-0 when the incident occurred in the tunnel as the players came out for the second half.

TV pictures showed Leonardo Ponzio and Leonel Vangioni rubbing their eyes and other players pouring water over their faces to wash away the substance, which had an effect consistent with a lachrymatory agent such as pepper spray.

They, along with team mates Matias Kranevitter and Ramires Funes Mori, were later taken to hospital for treatment for what Argentine radio described as “burns”.

Officials from Conmebol, the South American Football Confederation, called the match off about an hour after the incident and the River players were escorted from the pitch under an umbrella of riot shields.

River manager Marcelo Gallardo, whose side were 1-0 up after the first leg, called the incident “deplorable” and “shameful”.l

Zimbabwe abandon, then reconsider, Pakistan tour n AFP, Harare Zimbabwe cricket authorities on Thursday abandoned a planned tour to Pakistan citing poor security -- before retracting their decision within 20 minutes and saying discussions were still ongoing.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) released an official statement saying the tour would not go ahead following recent militant violence that has revived fears after a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009.

But ZC spokesman Lovemore Banda then

issued a rapid apology, saying the abandonment was not confirmed.

“The executive and the board are in a meeting right now and we are waiting for their decision,” Banda told AFP by telephone, without explaining the earlier statement.

The tour would be the first by a Test-playing nation since militants attacked the Sri Lankan bus in Lahore, killing six Pakistani policemen and two civilians and injuring six Sri Lankan players.

Pakistan has been desperate to regain its status as an international cricket venue,

but security concerns rose further this week when gunmen attacked a passenger bus and killed at least 43 people in the southern city of Karachi.

Zimbabwe are due to arrive on May 19 and play two Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals.

Zimbabwe Cricket said in its first statement: “The decision not to tour at this time has been taken after considering the advice from the country’s supreme sports regulatory authority, the Sports and Recreational Commission (SRC).”l

Nadal, Federer closing on Rome showdown n AFP, Rome Roger Federer remained on course for a semi-final clash with Spanish rival Rafael Nadal at the Italian Open after cruising past Tomas Berdych 6-3-, 6-3 in just over an hour on Friday.

Federer has made the final in Rome three times in the past 12 years but has been beaten on every occasion - twice by Nadal and once

by Felix Mantilla, in 2003.

The 33-year-old Swiss could now meet Nadal, the seven-time champion, in the last four if the Spaniard overcomes Swiss Stan

Wawrinka in their semi-final scheduled for 1900 GMT on Friday. The old foes have met 15 times on clay with Nadal leading Federer 13-2 on his favoured red surface.

Federer admitted it will be a “huge challenge” to overcome the fancied Spaniard.

Although Wawrinka stands between Nadal and a last four meeting with Federer, the Spaniard - who has appeared in nine of the past Italian Open finals - is expected to prevail. Federer admitted his easy win over Berdych had left him feeling comfortable with his progress on the red dirt, less than two weeks before the start of Roland Garros.l

David Ferrer celebrates after winning against David Goffin during their ATP Tennis Open match in Rome yesterday AFP

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30 DOWNTIME

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

CROSSWORD Across 1 Disorderly fight (6) 5 Forefront (3) 7 Very bright (5) 8 Accustomed (6) 10 Fuss (3) 12 Deep mud (4) 13 Newt (3) 14 Easy pace (4) 16 Tinge (4) 17 Born (3) 18 Bathroom item (4) 20 No score (3) 23 Long angry speech (6) 24 Yields (5) 25 Stain (3) 26 Wise counsellor (6)

Down 1 Impartial (4) 2 Quickness of perception (6) 3 Ward off (5) 4 Flank (4) 5 By way of (3) 6 Say further (3) 9 Fissure (4) 11 Not at home (3) 14 Lacerate (4) 15 Meal (6) 16 Make brown (3) 17 Clamour (5) 18 Plant’s support (4) 19 Expensive (4) 21 Gelid (3) 22 Sheltered side (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents G so fill G every time the figure 19 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.

A B C D E FG H I J K L M N O P Q RST UVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

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SHOWTIME 31

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

Passing of the King

CELEBS ON SOCIAL Michael Skolnik @MichaelSkolnik If you’re the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.

Jenny Johnson @JennyJohnsonHi5 It’s embarrassing how many times I have to go to Urban Dictionary to understand if I’m being insulted on social media

n Showtime Desk Riley B King, or better known as BB King, passed peacefully in his sleep at 9:40pm on Thursday, May 14, in his home. King was 89.

Referred to as the “King of Blues,” he defined the genre for nearly seven decades with his unique style of electric guitar and even inspired countless musicians with his talent.

Starting his life as a simple Mississippi farmhand, the legend sold millions of records worldwide. He was a mentor for many famous guitarists of the time, such as Eric Clapton and U2’s Bono (Paul David Hewson). Even at old age, he performed hundreds of shows while keeping his trademark Gibson guitar “Lucille” by his side.

BB King was inducted for the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame as well as the Rock

Lenny Kravitz @LennyKravitz BB, anyone could play a thousand notes and never say what you said in one. #RIP #BBKing and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the 2014 class of the R&B Music Hall of Fame as well. Over his life, he has won 15 Grammy awards, more than any other Blues musician. He was even ranked number one

of the Rolling Stone magazine 100 greatest guitarists of all time, being third the year prior to it.

He was famous for his popular hits such as “My Lucille” and “Sweet Little Angel.” l

WHAT TO WATCH

QUIZ

The world may lose the legends, but their instruments live forever. Can you guess the guitars of these famous maestros?

300: Rise of an Empire HBO 9:00pm The movie is based on the end of the battle of Thermopylae. After the defeat of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, Xerxes beheads him as symbol of his victory. He then moves forward with his viscous army to devour the others.

Cast: Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Rodrigo Santoro Behind enemy lines Star Movies 7:00pm On discovering a suspicious crime scene in a remote area, Lt Chris Burnett’s jet gets shot down and he crashes into enemy territory where he is hunted by Lokar, a serbian paramillitary leader. On the other hand, Reigert plans and executes a rescue mission to save and retrieve him.

Cast: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Vladimir Mashkov HellBoy Warner Bros 9:00pm The Nazis takes a leap at black magic as their final attempt to win the war. In the process they found out that the demon they need is a red demon with horns and a tail. Hell boy faces enemies one after the other as they emerge from the dark.

Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor

DT

32 BACK PAGE

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015

YEMEN: SEEDS OF CONFLICT, GROUND OF TRANSITION PAGE 14

RAIN PLAYS FOUL IN TOPFLIGHT FOOTBALL PAGE 25

PASSING OF THE KING PAGE 31

Saarc withdraws meteorological centre from Bangladesh n Abu Bakar Siddique The Saarc Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) has decided to shut down most of its regional centres, including the one in Bangladesh.

The decision was taken to cut down expenses, said Md Shah Alam, director of the Bangladesh office. The Bangladesh chapter of the SMRC is expected to be closed by the end of this year.

Closing of the regional SMRC is a huge setback for Bangladesh as the country will lose the facility to conduct research and educational activities on meteorology on a large scale, which is a necessity especially in the country’s agriculture sector, he said.

In addition, it is the only comprehensive platform in Bangladesh that can conduct extensive research on meteorology and weather issues.

Currently, there are 11 small and large regional meteorological research centres in the eight member countries of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

Last year, Saarc decided to combine the four centres in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and India to form a separate body named Saarc Environment and Risk Management Centre.

The Saarc Meteorological Research Centre was inaugurated on January 2, 1995 in Bangladesh with the aim to conduct researches on meteorological situation in the country.

As the Saarc member countries are prone to various natural disasters, leaders of the member countries believed that having a collaborative platform which facilitated research work would help minimise the loss of lives and properties.

They also believed that it would contribute to the economic, agricultural and environmental sustainability in the member countries.

The SMRC has seen 65 scientific researches conducted on different issues including sea-level rise, climate change, cyclone, thunder storm, hailstorm and agriculture. l

Hundreds of cyclists pose with their bikes before a colourful rally brought out by BDCyclist, a platform of bicycle riders of Bangladesh, to mark its 4th anniversary. The photo was taken at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Greed drove Rozi to kill co-wife n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The killing of a Chittagong woman on Thursday was a premeditated act carried out by her co-wife, police said after conducting a preliminary interrogation of the prime suspect.

Greed drove Rozi Akhter to murder her polygamist husband’s other wife, Sharmin, with help from her two brothers, police yesterday said.

During interrogation, Rozi confessed to killing Sharmin around midday Thursday over their husband’s property.

The prime suspect had earlier requested her husband to allow her co-wife to live at the flat with her family.

Panchlaish police station Sub-Inspector Oliuddin Akbar, the investigating officer of the case, said Rozi’s brothers Shafi and Shahidul

helped in the murder.

The other residents of the flat were sent out on various errands ahead of the killing, he said.

The victim’s mother Shamsun Nahar lodged a murder case with Panchlaish police station on Thursday night accusing Rozi, Shafi, Shahidul and several unidentified people, he said.

On Thursday, around 1pm, Sharmin, 25, second wife of Abu Dhabi resident Abdul Hakim, was killed by co-wife Rozi in her flat at Equity Village in the city’s Mirzarpul area.

The victim’s family and police sources said Sharmin came to live in the flat where Rozi, her three daughters, domestic help Nazmin and cousin Md Ali reside, about a week ago.

Sharmin’s uncle, Mohammad Azim, alleged that Rozi intentionally killed his niece

because she wanted to be the sole beneficiary of their husband’s wealth.

Sharmin and Abdul Hakim were married two years ago have a one-year-old son named Ahmad.

In police interrogation, Rozi said she sent her daughters, cousin Ali and chauffeur Anis to a cousin’s residence in the city’s Kalamia Bazar and gave the domestic help the day off.

She and her two brothers then killed Sharmin in the flat, the investigating officer of the case said.

“The arrestees will be produced before court and remand will be sought,” he said.

Police initially arrested five people, including Rozi, in connection with the killing.

Shafi was arrested later and Shahidul remains on the run, Panchlaish police station Officer-in-Charge Mohiuddin Mahmud said. l

‘Warm-blooded fish’ traps its own heat in the deep n BBC

The large and colourful opah has become the first known “warm-blooded” fish, as scientists discovered it can regulate the temperature of its whole body. The research is published in the journal Science.

The opah traps warmth from its flapping fins, which are insulated by fat. It uses that heat to keep its heart, brain and other organs warm while swimming to depths of hundreds of feet.

Other fish like tuna can warm specific body parts, but whole-body “endothermy” has not been observed in a fish before.

Mammals and birds are traditionally thought to be the planet’s only warm-blooded animals,

keeping their body temperature consistently warmer than the outside environment.

Fish and reptiles are almost entirely cold-blooded, or “ectothermic”; they are at the mercy of the environment for their warmth and largely get by on slower metabolic rates.

Some fish are known to use so-called “regional endothermy”, including tuna, which can warm their swimming muscles for a burst of speed when pursuing prey. But deep-water fish such are usually relatively slow and sluggish, tending to ambush their prey instead of making chase.

This makes the new findings quite a surprise, according to the study’s first author Nicholas Wegner. l

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