7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

1/21

Aspirants benton vying for pollAL, BNP high commands desperate toensure lone runners in upazila elections

nMohammad Al-Masum Molla

Many local leaders of the two majorparties are not identifying with thepolitical equation that has changedafter the January 5 national election,by reportedly disobeying party orders

for ensuring lone candidates at everyupazila.Both the Awami League and BNP,

who have their very own challenges toface, are desperate to consolidate organ-isationally by doing well in the upazilapolls, on which heavily depends thenear future of the countrys politics.

The parties have identified that in or-der to make sure that their arch rivalsdo not get an upper-hand in the elec-tion, they must ensure that the grass-roots leaders do not run against eachother and their votes are not divided.

But the field reality has been differ-ent in many places.

No political party can directly nom-inate candidates for the upazila p arish-ad elections. But they can give support

to certain candidates which eventuallyshape the election outcomes.

BNP gave me backing and I will bein the race. Others will withdraw theircandidature on February 3 [the last dayfor withdrawing nomination papers],said Sahidul Islam Farhad, BNP-backed

candidate in Ramgar Upazila of Kha-grachari.However, Belayet Hossain Bhuyan,

another BNP leader from the upazila,said: I filed nomination papers to con-test the polls. In local elections, there isno option for partisan nomination. So, Iwill not withdraw my candidature.

In Sathia upazila of Pabna, the Awa-mi League has backed Abul Kasemin the upcoming polls, instead of thecurrent upazila chairman, NizamuddinAhmed.

It is not a partisan election. So I amnot bound to obey party orders here.People have elected me in the past andwill elect me again. I will be with thepeople and people will also be with me,Nizamuddin told the Dhaka Tribune.

The BNP, by boycotting the parlia-mentary election, has virtually given awalkover to the Awami League, whichhas already formed the 10th parlia-ment by winning an election allegedly

marked by vote rigging and manipula-tion. The ruling party is now focusing

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

20 pages plus 8-page monthly Arts & Letters supplement | Price: Tk10

Magh 20, 1420

Rabius Saani 1, 1435

Regd. No. DA 6238

Vol 1 No 309 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com SECOND EDITION

7|THE REAL RECORD: INFLATION6|GRACE UNDER FIRE

BusinessB1 Road transport owners have urged the

government to help get their bank loans

rescheduled as they could not repay due to

prolonged political unrest ahead of January

5 national election.

News3 The authorities will conduct special

operations soon to drive away beggars from

the capital.

4 Boro cultivation acreage is likely to

increa-se this year despite a hike in

input costs

Entertainment12With a grand rendezvous of former

and present students and teachers of

Chhayanaut, the cultural organisation having

a beaming history organised a two-day

programme celebrating its 50th founding

anniversary which began on Friday.

INSIDE

9| DIPLOMATS CLAIM CHALLENGED 13 | SHAKIB CONFIDENT OF FUTURE

Activists of Youth Coalition for Climate Justice hold a demonstration in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding immediate

halt of the Rampal power plant construction to save the Sundarbans and its ec osystem. Story on page 4 MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

INTL CIRMES TRIBUNAL

Prosecution maybe rearrangedsoonnUdisa Islam

The prosecution of the InternationalCrimes Tribunal, formed three yearsago, is likely to be rearranged soon in abid to drop some of the less active pros-ecutors, a source from the prosecutionoffi ce has sa id.

Out of the 21-strong prosecutionteam of the two-part tribunal, onlyabout eight of the prosecutors havebeen taking almost the entire workloadsince its formation.

Most of the remaining prosecutorshave hardly done any work but beenenjoying the state facilities that comewith their statuses equivalent to attor-ney general, deputy and assistant at-torney generals.

Sources said most of these inac-tive prosecutors were given appoint-ments in the first place because theyhad been actively involved with thepolitics of the ruling Awami League.

Seeking anonymity, a prosecutortold the Dhaka Tribune: These prose-cutors are just using the position. Theyregularly practice at the lower courts.They got the appointments as rewardsfor serving the party [Awami League].

Sources also said despite several at-tempts in the past, these prosecutorscould not be removed because of theirstrong political connections.

Some senior prosecutors of the tri-bunal have agreed that they had beensuffering immensely because of their

colleagues inaction and insincerity.One of them said the government

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

It is not a partisanelection. So I am notbound to obey partyorders here

9th JS lawmakers yet to vacate flatsnKamran Reza Chowdhury

Most of the MPs of immediate-pastninth parliament are yet to leave theapartments they have been using since2009, albeit the authorities have askedthem to leave those by January 30 toprovide accommodation facilities tothe newly-elected lawmakers of thecurrent parliament.

They include MPs of the BNP, Bang-ladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Ja-tiya Party and Liberal Democratic Party(LDP).

Out of the 297 MPs in 10th parlia-ment, 172 lawmakers have been ree-

lected while 125 former legislators haveeither failed to get elected or stayedaway from the January 5 poll.

The lawmakers reelected will bestaying in the fully-furnished apart-

ments in front of the Jatiya SangsadBhaban on Manik Mia Avenue and inNakhalpara. The Parliament Secretariatbears utility bills for the MPs.

On January 14, the Parliament Sec-retariat issued letters to the MPs, fail-ing to get reelected, for vacating theapartments by January 30.

Some of them have sought timefrom the authorities to pack up.

Many of the former MPs have ap-plied for extension of their stay for 15more days. I have sent those applica-tions to the honourable speaker for de-cision. We are yet to get any feedback,Syed Ahmed, an additional secretary in

charge of the apartments, told the Dha-ka Tribune.He said many of the new MPs had al-

ready looking for their accommodationfacilities in Dhaka as a good number of

the legislators had no place to live inthe capital.

Unless the former MPs leave, howcan we accommodate the new MPs?

The offi cial sa id he had sent t he fileof applications to the speaker for deci-sion as the parliaments House commit-tee, headed by the chief whip, was notformed.

I have applied for time extensionas my father died recently. I have noapartment in Dhaka. So, I need sometime to vac ate the apartment, MostaqAhmed Ruhi, who did not contest theJanuary 5 poll, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, a BNP

lawmaker of ninth parliament, told theDhaka Tribune that the authorities hadnot given enough time to vacate theapartments.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Shibir-police gunfightleaves four injurednTarek Mahmud, Chittagong

At least three policemen received inju-ries and an Islami Chhatra Shibir activ-ist was shot in a gunfight between agroup of Shibir men and police at Sat-kania upazila in Chittagong district ear-ly yesterday.

Police arrested bullet-hit Shibir cad-re Nasir alias Kolla Nasir along with one

of his cohort Rimon from the spot witha light gun, a shotgun, eight cartridg-es, a machete and two knives from thespot, said police sources.

Injured policemen are Sub-Inspec-tor Nazmul Hossain Fazlu and Assis-tant Sub-Inspector Ansarul who wereadmitted into a local hospital, addedthe sources.

Khaled Hossain , offi cer-in- charge of

Satkania Police Station, told the DhakaTribune that they nabbed Nasir fromhis residence at Alinagar area of theupazila at 12:30pm.

Getting information from Nasir afterinitial interrogation, police conducteda drive in Moddhyom Kanchhana areaof the upazila around 4:00am to recov-er arms and Nasirs aides, he said.

Sensing presence of the law enforc-

ers, the cohorts of Nasir, who are Shibiractivists, opened fire on police prompt-ing the law enforcers to retaliate and fire16 bullets, leaving Nasir shot in his legwhile attempting to flee, he also said.

During gunfight, Nasir and three po-licemen were also injured. Police, lat-er, arrested Nasir and Rimon from thespot, added the OC.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Jamaat defershartal to Thursday

nManik Miazee

Jamaat-e-Islami deferred its Mondayshartal to Thursday considering AkheriMunajat of Bishwa Ijtema and SaraswatiPuja. In a statement yesterday, Jamaatsacting secretary general Shafiqur Rah-man made the announcement.

Jamaat on Friday called a nation-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Mondayprotesting the death penalty to Ja-maat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami in10-truck arms haul case.

A Chittagong court on Thursday pro-nounced the death penalty to 14 peo-ple including Nizami and former stateminister for home affairs LutfozzamanBabar for smuggling 10-truckloads ofarms into the port city in 2004.

Jamaat had observed hartal on De-cember 15 protesting execution of itsleader Abdul Quader Molla in the warcrimes trial.l

A ROAR TO SAVE THE SUNDARBANS!

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

2/21

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

Freedom fightersto see allowancehikenOur Correspondent, Sylhet

The government will increase themonthly allowance of freedom fightersfrom Tk2,000 to Tk5,000 from Januaryonwards.

I have discussed the issue with thefinance minister and he has approvedit, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKMMozammel Haque said while address-ing a roundtable at Kabi Nazrul Audito-rium in Sylhet city.

The government will publish a ga-zette notification on a final list of free-dom fighters soon which will cancel allprevious gazettes in this regard.

Saying that the government wouldsoon form a committee to verify thegenuine freedom fighters, he added thatthe war veterans would be providedwith digital certificates. A tribunal willalso be formed where genuine freedomfighters will be able to appeal if theyhave been dropped from the new list.

The minister also said punishmentwould be minimised if the fake freedomfighters surrendered willingly.l

10TRUCK ARMS HAUL CASES

Babar, Nizami sent

to Kashimpur jailnTarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Four death row convicts includingformer state minister for home affairsLutfozzaman Babar and IndustryMinister and Jamaat-e-Islami leaderMotiur Rahman Nizami in the 10-truckarms haul cases were sent to Dhakayesterday.

Nizami and Babar were sent toKashimpur Jail in Gazipur, whiletwo other convicts Maj Gen (retd)Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury andBrig Gen (retd) Mohammad AbdurRahim were forwarded to DhakaCentral Jail, said Mohammad SagirMiah, senior jail super in ChittagongCentral Jail.

The transfer was undertaken con-sidering the schedules of a hartal andBiswa Ijtema, he said, adding that they

were being transported in their prisonuniforms.

Meanwhile, Chittagong Central Jailsources said as the four convicts wereaccused in separate cases which wereunder trial in Dhaka, they were sent tothe capital.

Nizami is accused in a case that isunder trial in the International WarCrimes Tribunal where the three othersare also sued in the August 21 grenadeattack case, sources said.

The 14 accused in the 10-truck armshaul case, including Babar and Nizami,were sentenced to death on January 30,around 10 years after the incident.

Amongst the convicted 14, Ulfacommander Paresh Barua andformer additional secretary of in-dustries ministry Nurul Amin areabsconding.l

Prosecution may be rearranged soonPAGE 1 COLUMN 6had been closely watching the inac-tive prosecutors and would decideon their fates at the end of the surveil-lance.

Although the source from the pros-ecution offi ce could not con firm all thenames to be dropped, prosecutors AltafUddin, Mir Iqbal and Abdur RahmanHawlader all enjoying the protocol ofadditional attorney general may bedropped.

The source added that there weresome junior prosecutors in the radar aswell. Most of them were app ointed lastyear and had not done any mentionablework since being included in the roster.

At present, the two InternationalCrimes Tribunals are conducting a totalof six war crimes cases.

Of the 21 prosecutors, three are en-joying attorney generals status andone is enjoying deputy attorney gener-als status.

Sources from the prosecut ion offi cesaid some of the lawyers had not con-ducted a single case since the formationof the tribunal in 2010. Many of themwere never involved with any of thecases as assistants or researchers either.

But they have all been drawingTk76,000 monthly gross salaries, riskallowances and being provided withgunmen for security.

Nurzahan Begum Mukta, rankeddeputy attorney general, has remainedabsent at the tribunal for nearly theentire duration since mid-2013. Theonly work she had done since beingappointed a prosecutor was assisting

Saiful Islam in the cases against death-

row Jamaat leader Kamaruzzaman.Sources said Mukta had been try-

ing to get nomination from the AwamiLeague for the recently held parliamentelection and therefore been busy withparty activities.

Altaf Uddin, Mir Iqbal and AbdurRahman Hawlader have reportedly allbeen busy with the activities of theBangabandhu Parishad, of which theyare top leaders.

Senior lawyer Syed Rezaur Rahman,enjoying attorney generals status, hasnever been present at the tribunal since2011. Although he had not taken any al-lowance for the post, he has also beenthe chief prosecutor in the recentlyconcluded BDR mutiny case.

Prosecutor Tureen Afroz told theDhaka Tribune: We cannot confirmthe rearrangement. But it shouldhappen. Some of us are working veryhard, conducting virtually all the casesalone. But the others are only enjoyingthe state facilities without doing anywork. I am sure the authority knowsvery well who work and who do not.

Prosecutor Shahedur Rahman said:We are not sure about this [the rear-rangment]. He, however, admittedthat some of the prosecutors had beenabnormally inactive. Maybe the new-ly-appoint ed offi cials wil l think aboutit. If the government thinks about re-shuffl ing or t rimming the team , wehave nothing to do.

Newly appointed Law Minister Ani-sul Haque said: I am new to the min-istry, I need some time to think aboutthis. After observing them, I will defi-nitely do what is needed.l

9th JS lawmakers yet to vacatePAGE 1 COLUMN 3

I have left my apartment, but many ofthe MPs need more time as they haveno place to stay in Dhaka. They [parlia-ment authorities] have treated the MPsinhumanely, she said.

Refuting the allegation, a top rank-ing offi cial told the Dhak a Tribune thatthe MPs should have advanced prepa-ration in this regard as they must leavethe apartments at the soonest in case oftheir defeat or decision not to contest

the election.The 15-member House committee of

the 10th parliament is yet to be formed.Lawmakers from all parties having rep-resentation in parliament are the mem-bers of the committee, which cannotbe formed unless parliament goes intosession.

The House Committee is the bodyto look after accommodation and otherfacilities for the MPs. The 10th parlia-ment session began on January 29. l

Aspirants bent on vying for pollPAGE 1 COLUMN 2

on giving an impression that it does notbelieve in election manipulation.

On January 28, Awami League Pres-ident Sheikh Hasina told her partyslawmakers that the upcoming upazilaelection would be a tough fight as theBNPJamaat-backed candidates wereset to vie the polls.

The BNP, on the other hand, is tak-ing the upazila poll as a chance to turnaround, especially after the crash land-ing of the pro-caretaker movement andfailing to resist the January 5 electionwhich threw the party out of the Housefor the first time in more than two de-cades.

The upcoming upazila elections aresignificant for the BNP, especially con-sidering the fact that it boycotted thelast upazila elections in 2009.

These [upazila] elections are posingtwo challenges for the Awami League.If it fails to do well, then its legitimacywould be seriously questioned. Theparty will also have to take a blow evenif it tries to win by manipulating, saidPyas Karim, a Brac University teacherand who has interest in following polit-ical developments.

On the other hand, there is noshort-term option for BNP other thanwinning. The BNPs politics would beplunged into grave troubles if it doesnot do well [in the upazila polls], saidPyas.

A number of Awami League andBNP leaders have told the Dhaka Tri-

bune that whether the two parties havemanaged to select lone candidates forevery upazila will be clear before to-morrow the last date for withdrawingnominations.

As of yesterday, no candidate hasmade any announcement about quit-ting polls in accordance with party de-cisions.

The Dhaka Tribune has talked tothe local leaders in at least 15 districts.In most of those districts, neither theAwami League nor the BNP has yetmanaged to finalise lone candidates.

In order to finalise lone candidate atevery seat, both the parties have start-ed forming committees. In many upa-zilas, these committees have startedworking to convince the local leaders.

In four the upazilas of Sirajganj,nine from the Awami League, 10 fromthe BNP, three from Bangladesh Ja-maat-e-Islami and one from the otherparties are contesting the polls.

Recently, Health Minister Moham-mad Nasim, also a presidium memberof the Awami League, held a meetingwith the Pabna district leaders to fi-nalise one candidate in every seat andwarned of tough actions if anyone vio-lated party orders.

However, Abul Kalam Azad, a con-tender for the Kazipur upazila chair-mans post, alleged that three of hiscampaigners had been harassed bylaw enforcers because they had cam-paigned for him instead of MozammelHaque Bakul, another Awami League

leader and the current chairman.They were detained on charges of

misguiding the voters. However, afterscrutiny, they were freed, Abdul Jalil,acting OC of the Kazipur police station,told the Dhaka Tribune.

In the Sylhet division, the AwamiLeague has formed a six-member com-mittee headed by Presidium MemberObaidul Quader, also the communi-cation minister. The BNP on the oth-er hand has formed a three-membercommittee, headed by Vice-ChairmanShamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

The first phase of the upazila parish-ad elections in 12 the seats in the Sylhetdivision will be held on February 19.

Mesbahuddin Siraj, organisingsecretary of the Awami League, saidthe incumbent chairmen would getpriority and the final list of lone can-didates for each upazila would bereached through compromise betweenthe aspirants.

The final list will be made publicon February 3 in the presence of thecentral election coordination team, hetold the Dhaka Tribune.

Dildar Hossain, senior vice-presi-dent of Sylhet district unit BNP, saidthey had been trying to pick singlecandidate for every upazila and had al-ready talked with the aspirants and thelocal leaders in this regard.

The final list will be made pub-lic soon and if anyone violates partyorders, tough actions will be takenagainst them, he said. l

Shibir-police gunfightPAGE 1 COLUMN 3

The injured Shibir cadre, Nasir aliasKolla Nasir, who is accused in severalcases lodged with Satkania Police Sta-tion earlier, was admitted into Chit-tagong Medical College Hospital.

A case was lodged with Satkania Po-lice Station while police are conductingdrives to nab the other cohorts of Nasir,the OC added.

In another drives, Satkania Policenabbed four Jamaat-Shibir men fromdifferent areas in the upazila who

were involved in the sabotage on Chit-

tagong-Coxs Bazar Highway duringpre-election and post-election period.

Meanwhile, Lohagara police nabbed22 Jamaat-Shibir men from different ar-eas of the upazila in an overnight drivefor humiliating Awami League Memberof Parliament Abu Reza M Nezamuddinin the upazila on the previous night,said OC Mohammad Shahjahan of Lo-hagara Police Station.

On Friday night, MP Nezamuddinfaced humiliation while attending areligious programme, Sirat Mahfil, a 19-

day long Muslim religious programme,

at Shah Shaheb Kebla under Chunatiunion at around 8:30pm.

Some Jamaat-Shibir activists threwshoes at Nadavi as soon as he arrived atthe programmme.

Later, the MP, who was the chiefguest of the programme, and his fol-lowers took shelter in the adjoiningmosque.

The MP was later escorted off thepremises by police and BGB men.

Nadavi claimed before Dhaka Tri-bune that the attacked on him by Ja-

mat-Shibir men was pre-planned.l

Chhatra League men vandaliseMBSTU over Facebook statusnOur Correspondent, Tangail

Bangladesh Chhatra League activistsof Tangails Maulana Bhashani Scienceand Technology University (MBSTU)locked the administrative buildingand all the classrooms yesterday, de-manding the removal of a teacher ofcriminology and police science (CPS)department.

Md Rabiul Islam, security in-chargeof the university, said the BCL activists,led by CPS students Suman Fakir, So-ton and Zahir, locked the administra-tive building and the classrooms beforevandalising the academic building andsetting some classrooms on fire.

Assisted by outsiders, the BCL menthen forced out all teachers and staffsfrom the campus, he added.

The agitated BCL members carriedout the violence, reportedly protest-ing a Facebook post by CPS AssistantProfessor Jahirul Islam who allegedly

spoke ill about the university.When contacted, Jahirul said he had

repeatedly voiced protests against agroup of students and outsiders whodominated and collected extortionsfrom the campus by identifying them-selves as BCL men.

Finally I wrote on my Facebook thatthe dream campus of the MBSTU wasin the grasps of devils, thugs and hooli-gans, the teacher added.

Tangail Sadar Model police stationOffi cer-in-Ch arge Nazrul Isla m said thesituation has been contained, while ad-ditional police personnel have been de-ployed on the campus to prevent fur-ther violence. No case has been lodgedin this connection so far.

Sumon Fakir, Soton and Zahir couldnot be reached for comments.

Nazmul Huda, president of theBCLs Tangail district unit, said no BCLactivists had engaged in the violence,as there was no committee of the Chha-tra League on the campus.

The university proctor, KhadimulIslam, said authorities were holding anemergency meeting over the matter.

Pro-VC of the university Prof Dr Mu-niruzzaman, however, said he was notconcerned about the matter.

Earlier on July 2013, BCL activistsled by Sumon Fakir allegedly attackeda human chain of MBSTU employees,injuring at least 10 people. l

Potato growersincur lossesnOur Correspondent, Bogra

Potato growers in the district are sellingthe vegetable at a cheap rate incurringheavy losses as the prices of varietieshave fallen in the local markets.

According to the Department of Ag-riculture Extension (DAE), around 4.44lakh hectares of land were brought un-der the cultivation with a productiontarget of 86 lakh tonnes.

The farmers spent Tk4.95 to Tk6 onan average to product a kg potato. Butthey are selling it at Tk40 to Tk250 per40kg in the wholesale markets. They haveto incur losses Tk3 for per kg as produc-tion cost, sa id offi cials.

Farmer Shafiqul Islam of Peracha-la village in Shibgonj upazila said; Igot Tk600 selling 400kg potatoes inMahasthangarh wholesale market fewdays ago, whereas I spent Tk270 astransport cost, Tk200 for agriculturelabour and Tk100 for clearance.

Mokarom Hossain of Shocnapara vil-lage in Shibgong upazila said that he had

got Tk 200 selling 400 kg potatoes.l

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and former junior home minister Lutfozzaman Babar wave at supporters after they step out of Chittagong Jail for being transferred to

Kashimpur Jail in the 10-truck arms haul case FOCUS BANGLA

Bank burglarSohels wife heldwith Tk2.5 lakhn

Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

Police yesterday arrested wife ofKishoreganj bank burglary mastermindSohel from the capitals Jatrabari areawith Tk2.5 lakh.

Mahila Aktar, 27, wife of Sohel aliasYusuf Munshi was detained by a teamof police led by Abdul Malek, investi-gation offi cer of the ca se and also th eoffi cer-in-c harge of Kishoregan j policestation, around 4:45pm.

OC Abdul Malek confirmed the newsof the arrest.

Police recovered Tk2.5 lakh morefrom a house from the old part of thecapital.

Abdul Malek, offi cer-in-charge ofKishoreganj police station and investi-gator of the case, said they picked upMahila Akter for interrogation. The of-ficial said Mahila, second wife of Yusuf,stayed with him during the Tk16.40crore heist.

He said they recovered the mon-ey from a house on the fifth floor of

a six-storey building in Kadamtoliaround 4:15pm.

Yusuf, the 37-year-old man, digginga tunnel between his rented house andthe main branch of Sonali Bank in thedistrict, committed the robbery.

Earlier on January 28, Rapid ActionBattalion (Rab) personnel arrested Yu-suf Munshi and his brother Idris Mun-shi with Tk16.19 crore from a flat thatYusuf rented in the capitals Shyampurtwo days after the robbery.

Police identified Habibur Rahmanalias Sohel as Yusuf Munshi and IdrisMia as Idris Munshi. Both are siblings.

The architect of the cinematicKishoreganj bank burglary and his aidewere arrested with the stolen money inthe capitals Shyampur Balurmath areaon Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Yusufs maternal fa-ther-in-law Motahar Hossain, was alsoarrested from a nearby building namedPronoy Villa.

On Wednesday afternoon, they werehanded over to Kishoreganj police.l

Inqilab building

openednKailash Sarkar

The Detective Branch of Police lastnight opened the main gate of Inqilabbuilding, around two weeks after theoffi ce of th e Bengal i newspa per hadbeen sealed off for publishing a con-troversial report on January 16. But thepress of the daily was not opened.

Jahangir Hossain Matubbor, depu-ty commissioner of DB (east division),said: We have opened the main gate ofthe building. The court will decide onthe press and the seized materials.

He said the court might deliver anorder today in this regard. When asked,the DC said they opened the building asthe newspaper had apologised.

The DB filed a case against the dai-ly on January 16 and arrested its threejournalists for publishing a report thatsaid the Indian troops had taken part inthe drives by joint forces in Satkhira. l

The agitated BCLmembers carried outthe violence, reportedly

protesting a Facebookpost by AssistantProfessor Jahirul Islamwho allegedly spoke illabout the university

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

3/21

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

PM: Present best translationsof Bangla literary worksnTribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yester-day urged the quarters concerned totranslate the best creations of Bang-la language and present them on theworld arena.

I request you to present the bestcreations of the Bangla language to theworld through their translations, shesaid, while inaugurating the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at theBangla Academy premises and on partsof the Suhrawardy Udyan in the city.

The UNB quoted the premier as say-ing that the trials of war criminals andbutchers of 1971 was the beginning ofa new historic process of cleansing thesociety from stigma of the documentedatrocities on a nation.

There will be no space for evil forc-es in Bangladesh. Our nation will be a

pacifist one in South Asia, Hasina said.The BSS also reported that the

prime minister termed the book fair asa source of inspiration for Bangalees,adding that the space of the book fairhas been expanded across Suhar-awardy Uddyan this year with the goalof turning the historic venue as the na-tions cultural center.

Sheikh Hasina said her governmentwas continuing its efforts to makeBangla as one of t he offi cial lang uagesof the United Nations.

Hasina also recalled the contribu-tion of language movement veteranDhirendranath Dutta, who first placedthe demand in the then Pakistan Na-tional Assembly in 1948, and the lead-ership of the Bangabandhu SheikhMujibur Rahman during the LanguageMovement in 1952.

The prime minister handed over

honourary fellowship of Bangla Acade-my to noted pantomime artiste ParthaPratim Majumder and Bangla AcademyLiterary Award to nine eminent poets,writers, researchers and academics fortheir contributions in various disci-plines of literature.

Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman,the chairman of Bangla Academy, pre-sided over the function while CulturalAffairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noorand Cultural Affairs Secretary Dr Ran-jit Biswas also spoke on the occasion.Director General of Bangla AcademyShamsuzzaman Khan gave the wel-come address.

The speaker, deputy speaker, minis-ters, premiers advisors, fellows and lifemembers of Bangla Academy, academ-ics, teachers, poets, litterateurs, writ-ers, publishers, and artistes also attend-ed the inauguration of the book fair. l

BNP reschedules protest rallynMohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP yesterday night said it wouldstage the protest rally tomorrow in-stead of earlier scheduled for Sunday.

The rally was called protestingagainst the January 5 poll and DMPs re-fusal to permit to carry out its black flagprocession in the capital on January 29.

The BNP shifted its programme toMonday because of Bishwa Ijtema andinauguration of The Ekushey Book Fair.

At first, the party scheduled its rallyin the capitals Suhrawardy Udyan onSaturday which shifted to Monday.

The protest rally will be held to-morrow instead of Sunday because oftodays Akheri Munajat, Abdus Salam,member secretary of Dhaka city unit

BNP, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Earlier at a press briefing, BNP JointSecretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizviclaimed that the Awami League gov-ernment was taking vengeance on thepeople of the country as they had re-jected the January 5 farcical poll.

The BNP leader made the remarkswhile addressing a press briefing at thePartys Nayap altan offi ce on Saturday.

Rivzi said: The illegal governmentexposed its anarchic image in a new di-mension to stay in power illegally.

Claiming that the government iskilling common people of the countrythrough crossfire, he said: The gov-ernment is conducting killing opera-tions against innocent people acrossthe country in order to defend the far-cical and shameful poll.

Regarding the Saturdays country-

wide protest programmes, he said:We were barred from staging our pro-test programmes in different parts ofthe country. The members of the lawenforcement agencies attacked ourpeaceful processions with the help ofAwami League goons.

He further said: The law enforcersare killing our people [19-party mem-bers] in crossfire and arresting them infalse charges in order to ruin the BNP.

On January 31, the BNP-led 19-partyalliance announced to stage demonstra-tion across the country on Saturday.

The opposition alliance announcedthe programme demanding the can-cellation of the January 5 election andprotesting the DMPs denial to permitthe party to hold its black-flag proces-

sions in the capital.l

Slack security makes book fair visitors happynMuktasree Chakma Sathi

The lax security on the first day of AmarEkushey Book Fair 2014 made the visi-tors happy as they had not to stand ina long queue for security check beforeentering the fair premises.

The security was cooperatively slackin the fair that witnessed only a hand-ful of peoples presence in the vicinityyesterday afternoon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inau-gurated the fair around 3pm yesterday,following which the fair was open forpublic.

The security was beefed up aheadof the premiers arrival in the BanglaAcademy, but later it had been lax.

But police said security would betightened in line with the rise in num-ber of visitors.

For the very first time, the Bang-la Academy is holding the fair in theSuhrawardy Udyan besides its ownpremises.

There was no security check on the

first day of fair, said Munna Abir, a stu-dent of Dhaka University.

I do not know how to react. Lastyear, I had to queue up for hours be-cause of security check by the law en-forcement agencies, but this time, it isan exception.

The visitor said he was happy withthe fact that he did not have to waitfor long in the queue, but was alsoworried about the security consideringthe current political situation in thecountry.

Shahid Chowdhury, patrol inspectorof Shahbagh police station, also incharge of security at the fair, told theDhaka Tribune: We have suffi cientnumber of lawmen deployed to ensure

the security at the fair. There is nothingto be worried.

As it is the first day, there is no se-curity check, but it will start soon andthe security will be beefed up.

A few book lovers were seen roamaround the bookstalls and look for theirfavourite authors books.

A number of stalls particularly themagazine section on the Bangla Academypremises were almost empty of people.

The construction of some stalls areyet to be finished. Bangla AcademyDeputy Director Murshed Anwar toldthe Dhaka Tribune he was hoping allstalls would be open by today.

This is the first time we extendedthe fairground to Suhrawardy Udayn.That is why things got a little messy,but I am sure, everything will be fine bytomorrow [today], he added.

According to the Bangla Academyoffi cials , a total of 299 publishing hous -es, government, non-government andsociocultural organisations are partici-pating in this years event.l

Special drives to make Dhaka beggar-free soonnMohosinul Karim

The authorities will conduct specialoperations soon to drive away beggarsfrom the capital.

Among them, those who are forcingor inspiring poor people in the profes-sion to earn money will be arrested. Allthose detainees would be rehabilitatedin their village homes so that they donot need to beg alms anymore, SocialWelfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali toldthe Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.

According to the ministrys data,there are around 100,000 beggars inthe Dhaka, a city of over 1.2 crore peo-ple. Most of them regardless their ageare seen begging on different streetsand public places. Many of them arephysically disabled.

The Directorate of Social Welfareunder the ministry carried out a surveyon beggars in the capital in 2012. A totalof 10,000 beggars were brought underthe survey to find out the root cause oftheir problems and to offer them alter-native livelihoods.

The government then enlisted 10non-governmental organisations (NGOs)to carry out the survey where the beg-gars were registered under different cat-egories including seasonal or irregular,disabled, women and children.

The scheme to survey the beggarpopulation in the capital was conduct-ed amidst criticism from some humanrights groups at that time. They arguethat the survey was meant for discrim-inating against the beggars rather thanrehabilitating them.

Despite the governments efforts toabolish begging, the practice remains

widespread in the capital as well as inother parts of the country.

According to the ministry, 66 identi-fied beggars were rehabilitated in My-mensingh and Jamalpur district duringthe previous government tenure. Theywere given a rickshaw van and TK5,000each.

But, most of them returned to theprofession again within only five to sixmonths as they can earn more by beg-ging every day, say mini stry offi cials. Asection of culprits are using these poorpeople as their earning sources.

The culprits, who are bringing theminto begging or using them as earningsources destroying the city, will also bedetained hauled during the drive. Theywill be punished according to criminallaws. It is quite impossible to ensure abeggar-free Dhaka without rooting outthe culprits, the minister said.

He said the ordinary beggars wouldbe detained too along with their boss-es. We will help those who want to goback to their v illages and take alterna-tive professions.

We will give them vocational train-ing. For some others, we are ready togive old-age pensions. For the rehabil-itation programme, we needed preciseinformation about the beggars. Wehave already got it. Steps will be takenshortly, he added.

The minister said since begging isbanned in the capital, there is a dangerthat anyone who admits of being abeggar can be considered as an offend-er. But the government will not punishthem who come forward to take part inthe rehabilitation programme.

Earlier in mid 2013, the government

said it had decided to clear beggarsfrom some locations in the capital in-cluding Shahjalal International Airportarea, Bailey Road, the diplomatic zoneand places surrounding the embassies,

and the Sonargaon, Ruposhi Banglaand Radisson hotels.

After the Awami League-led govern-ment passed the Vagrant and Home-less Persons (rehabilitation) Act, 2011,

NGOs namely Brac, Ain o Salish Ken-dra, Bangladesh Legal Aid and ServicesTrust (BLAST), ADD International andNijera Kori protested the move termingthe law a means for throwing homeless

people in jail as they are labelled aspossible criminals.

The law also says the governmentwill establish more shelters for the vag-abonds.l

Women MPs poll in MarchnMohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission is likely tohold an election for the 50 reservedwomen seats of the 10th parliament bythe third week of March.

The date might be announced by themiddle of this month, a senior assistantsecretary of the EC told the Dhaka Trib-une yesterday.

Earlier the EC sent letters to sevenpolitical parties and independent candi-dates, who had won seats in the January 5poll, asking whether they would join anythe alliance or a political party respective-ly to contest for the reserved seats.

After getting confirmation from theseven political parties and independ-ent candidates by February 9, the com-mission would publish the voter list onFebruary 10 or 11, he said.

After publishing the voter list, thecommission may announce the sched-ule for reserved women seats poll onFebruary 13 or 16, said the offi cial.

EC offi cials said th e commi ssionwould announce the polls schedule af-ter settling any kind of demand or ob-jection arising over the voter list.

According to the laws, reserved seatselections should be held within 90 daysafter publishing the gazette of parlia-

mentary election. The reserved seats aredistributed among the parties or allianc-es in proportion to the total seats won bythem in the general election. To contest,a candidate would have to be proposedby a lawmaker. On January 8 The Elec-tion Commission published the gazettefor 10th parliamentary elections.

The commission did not publishthe gazette of two constituencies- Jes-sore-1 and Jessore-2, because the Elec-tion Commission demanded a show-cause from Awami League candidatesin those seats for unethical conduct.

Meanwhile, Tangail-8 constituen-cy has become vacant because of thedeath of Shahkat Momen Shahjahan,who was the elected MP from AwamiLeague in the constituency.

The Election Commission would allo-cate 10 days for submitting nominationpapers, two days for screening nomina-tion papers and six days for withdrawalof nomination before the poll.

The commission is preparing the listof independent candidates that wouldbe sent to the Sangsad secretariat, saidthe offi cials .

Until holding the election to reservedseats, no changes can be made in thelist, however, the commission canamend it if any corrections necessary. l

Amar EkusheyBook Fair begins atBangla Academy andSuhrawardy Udyan

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina poses for a photograph with the recipients of Bangla Academy literature award and scholarship at the

inaugural programme of Amar Ekushey Boi Mela in the capital yesterday BSS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Road accidents

kill fournTribune Report

Four people including a four-year-oldwere killed yesterday in separate roadaccidents in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The child, identified as TaslimaAkhter, was ran over by a mini truck inUttara sector 12 while she was playingin front of her shanty around 4:30pm.

Taslima was taken to Dhaka MedicalCollege Hospital in a critical conditionwhere the doctors declared her deadaround 6pm. She was the only daugh-ter of truck labourer Saidur Hossainand sweeper of North Dhaka City Cor-poration Laizu Begum.

Sub-Inspector Hajarat Ali of Uttara(west) police station said the driver hadfled the spot leaving the vehicle.

On Gausul Azam Avenue in Ut-tara sector 13, Abul Kashem, 46, wascrushed under the wheels of a truckwhen he was returning home on a bicy-cle around 2am after finishing his duty.

A pedestrian admitted Kashem to Ut-tara Medical Hospital in a critical statewhere the doctors declared him dead.

Both the bodies were sent to DMCmorgue for autopsy, said police.

Meanwhile, two people were killedin separate road accidents on Dha-ka-Chittagong highway in Chittagong.

Sergeant Mehedi Hasan of Jaraganjhighway police outpost said KamalHossain, 35, was hit by a truck after hefell down from a CNG-run auto-rick-shaw at Thakur Dhigi in Chittagongaround 1am. He died on the way to thelocal upazila health complex.

Abdullah Arman Faisal, 14, a classIX student of Ispahani Victoria HighSchool in Akbar Shah area, died when aspeeding lorry hit him in front of worldFashion Furniture at Badamtali of UttarKattali on DT Road while he was c ross-ing the road around 11am, said ASI Ahi-

uddin of Akbarshah police station.l

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

4/21

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

City High Low

PRAYER TIMES

Fajar 5:21am

Sunrise 6:38am

Zohr 12:12am

Asr 4:09pm

Magrib 5:45pm

Esha 7:03pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Dry weather likely

nUNB

Weather may remain dry with tempo-rary partly cloudy sky over the countryuntil 6pm today.

Moderate to thick fog might occurover the country during night till morn-ing, Met Offi ce said.

Night and day temperature may re-main nearly unchanged over the coun-try.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:45pmtoday and rises at 6:39am tomorrow.

Countrys highest temperature 31.0degree Celsius was recorded in Sylhet

and lowest 09.5 degrees in Ishwardiyesterday.

Highest and lowest temperatures re-corded in some major cities yesterdaywere:

Dhaka 25.0 13.8

Chittag ong 25.0 17.0

Rajshahi 24.5 10.3

Rangpur 24.2 12.0

Khulna 24.8 13.0

Barisal 24.7 10.3

Sylhet 31.0 13.3

Coxs Bazar 28.2 17.5

4 killed across countrynTribune Report

At least four people were killed in sepa-rate incidents in Pabna, Habiganj andJessore on Friday.

Police recovered the body of a youthfrom a ditch in Halot area of Pabna onFriday after four days of his going miss-

ing. The victim Masud Rana, 22, is aresident of Bilkula village under Atai-kula police station, reports UNB.

Police said locals spotted the bodyof a youth afloat in a ditch beside thePabna-Tebunia highway in the areaaround 5pm and informed police.

Later, family members identifiedthe body at the police station.

Police suspected that miscreantsmight have killed strangled Masud anddumped the body into the ditch.

In Habiganj, a vegetable trader waschopped to death by his rivals overland dispute at Nowaoi village in Bahu-bal upazila on Friday night.

The deceased Ramij Miah, 45, wasa resident of the same village, reportsUNB.

Quoting locals, police said there hada longstanding dispute between RamijMiah and Fazal Miah of the village overownership of a piece of land.

Fazal Miah and his men swooped

on Ramij and chopped him indiscrimi-nately with sharp weapons when hewas returning home from a local mar-ket around 9pm, leaving him dead onthe spot.

The attackers also stabbed four vil-lagers, including a woman, as theycame forward to help Ramij. They were

admitted to the upazila health com-plex. Police recovered the body andsent it to a local hospital morgue.

A case was filed in this connection.Elsewhere in Jessore, at least two

people were hacked to death in sepa-rate incidents. Abhaynagar police re-covered the body one Selim Sheikh, 35,from a brick kiln at Chalishia v illage un-der Abhaynagar upazila yesterday.

Police and locals said unknown miscre-ants hacked Selim to death at night aftercalling him on mobile phone on Friday.

Khabir Ud din, offi cer in-c harge ofAbhaynagar police station, told report-ers that police recovered the body afterbeing informed by the locals, and add-ed that the reason behind the killingcould not be known immediately.

Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz Mollah, 55, alabourer of Jessore Jute Industries Lim-ited was also hacked to death by hisbrothers over land dispute on Fridaynoon. l

200kg tortoisesseized in Khulna

nOur Correspondent, Satkhira

Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) mem-bers seized tortoises weighing almost200kg from a passenger bus on Satkh-ira-Khulna highway yesterday.

They suspected that the tortoiseswere being smuggled across border.However, it could not be identified whowere carrying the tortoises.

Lt Col Imam Ahsan, commander of38 Battalion of BGB, said the value ofthe tortoises was about Tk200, 000.

He said the tortoises were set free inthe municipality pond in the evening inthe presence of the Satkhira municipal-ity mayor.l

Civil society for RTI

implementation in SDGnTribune Report

Civil society leaders have demandedthat the government include publicsaccess to information and governmentdata in its proposal over the sustainabledevelopment goals (SDGs)

They made the call at a discussionjointly organised by London-based hu-man rights organisation ARTICLE 19,The Daily Star and EquityBD, a networkof rights-based NGOs in Bangladesh.

The freedom to voice out viewsand participate at the decision makinglevel without fear and the need for ac-cess to information and independentmedia have been recognised as es-sential components of the SDGs, saidTahmina Rahman, Country Director atARTICLE 19.

The speakers mentioned that the

Millennium Development Goals (MDG)would be replaced by Sustainable De-velopment Goals by 2015. Initial recom-mendations made by the Bangladeshigovernment were discussed in theUnited Nations General Assembly heldin September in 2013.

Foreign Ministry Director GeneralSaida Muna Tasneem said: The Ban-gladesh government has been invitedto contribute in development of the

new goals at top rank meetings ofstates because of its previous successesin implementing the MDGs. The gov-ernment is open to strengthening ar-ticulations on access, governance andoversight.

Cabinet Division Additional Secre-tary Nazrul Islam said the governmenthad acknowledged that more workneeded to be done to implement theRTI effectively.

Transparency International Bangla-desh Executive Director Iftekharuzza-man said the country had lost 13.6% ofbudget and 2.4% of GDP because of cor-ruption, this percentage could be mini-mised had the government committedto sincere implementation of RTI.

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of Equi-tyBD said: Disclosure of informationregarding public expenditure such as

those on defense and development,are critical to discussions of equity andgood governance.

Information Commissioner Profes-sor Sadeka Halim, Manusher JonnoFoundation Executive Director SaheenAnam, Action Aid Director Asgar Ali Sa-bri, Monisha Biswas of Oxfam, and for-mer parliamentarian Dr Akram Hossainand Faruque Ahmed also participatedin the discussion. l

Gono Forum wantsearly elections

nManik Miazee

Gono Forum demanded an early andinclusive national election with theparticipation of all political parties.

The president of the party and notedjurist Kamal Hossain, after the partyscentral committee extended meetingat its central offi ce in the capital yester-day, said the national elections held onJanuary 5 was not acceptable and mostof the voters rejected the polls. Kamalstated that dependency on a single per-son [chief of a political party] has be-come a curse for the nation.

Do not depend on any single per-son. It is a major weakness in the SouthAsian region, he told his party leaders.

Kamal called on all the left and pro-gressive political parties to be united towage movement in demand of an in-clusive election.

Gono Forum will participate in the

upcoming upazila parishad elections,Kamal added.l

Environmentalists: Switch energy

source for Rampal power plantnTribune Report

Conservationists have urged the gov-ernment to switch to solar power orother alternative energy sources in-stead of using coal at the Rampal pow-er plant in Bagerhat to save the worldslargest mangrove forest Sundarbansfrom further degradation.

It will also reduce the risk of climatechange, said Youth Coalition for Cli-mate Justice (YCCJ) yesterday with acall to stop implementing the 1320MWcoal power project.

They made the urge from a uniquedemonstration in the capital on the

eve of World Wetlands Day 2014. Theactivists covered their faces with tigermasks and pictorial placards.

The Indian state-owned powercompany is implementing the Rampalplant where the operator will useimported coal. Prime Minister SheikhHasina inaugurated construction workof the plant in October last year. Thegovernment has plans to constructanother plant of similar capacity at thesame site.

An impact study by Khulna Univer-sity teacher Prof Dr Abdullah HarunChowdhury on the Sundarbans and itssurrounding areas revealed around 27

bad impacts out a total of 34. Coal-firedplants emit a huge amount of carbondioxide which will damage soil, water,air of the mangrove forest also a Unes-co World Heritage Site.

SM Shaikat, the YCCJ president,said: The government must protectthe bio-diversity of this forest consid-ering the Unescos recognition.

Citing a report of the GreenpeaceInternational, the YCCJ said around1,00,000 people were killed in India be-cause of pollution from the coal-firedpower plants in 2012. Most of the powerproduced in the neighbouring countrycomes from coal-based plants. l

Thousands converge for final Ijtema prayer

nMohammad Jamil Khan,from Tongi

The banks of river Turag in Tongi nearDhaka have once again become theplace to be for hundreds of thousandsof Muslims from around the countryand also from abroad.

With the Akheri Munajat of thesecond phase of Bishwa Ijtema sched-uled for today morning, devotees havebraved the cold wave, traffi c conges-tion, shortage of accommodation andmismanagements at the venue to at-tend the prayer, the biggest attractionof the congregation.

Many devotees, who seem to havelearnt from last years mistakes, havethronged the venue as early as 24-hoursbefore the p rayer. They could be seenfinding places for themselves on theroadsides, beside the main entrance,in front of shops and market buildingsand even on boats on the Turag River.

Mohammad Jamal Uddin from Na-rayanganj have also learned from hismistake. Last year, I started earlyon the day of the Akheri Munajat andreached Tongi after the munajat wasover. So, this time, I have come a daybefore so that I do not have to miss theprayer again.

Minhaz Uddin, 60, from Tangail hascome to Tongi yesterday for attendingtodays Akheri Munajat. He said he had

left Tangail around 8:30am yesterdayand reached Tongi in the afternoon be-cause of the heav y Ijtema-boun d traffi con the highway.

I gathered 50 people from my areaand hired a truck. After coming here,we collected some mobile beds andtook position at the Kamarpara roadwater tank area. There is no facilityhere. Bread is the only food that wehave managed to arrange so far for ourcompanions. Now we are trying to ar-range something for dinner, Minhazsaid.

However, the organisers are plan-ning to hold the final prayer of thisphase a little earlier than when it washeld during the first phase that endedlast week.

The devotees should be givenenough time to go back home after theprayer, said Gias Uddin, an organisingcommittee member.

Gias said they were hoping to hold

the Akheri Munajat between 11am and12pm today instead of 1pm from theprevious phase.

Maulana Abdul Wahub from Paki-stan and Maulana Islam Gordar fromIndia delivered boyan, religiousspeech, during yesterdays Ijtemasession. They were followed by localpreachers Maulana Jubayerul Hassanand Maulana Ahmad lat.

Meanwhile, two more devotees died

at the Ijtema venue on Friday night andSaturday afternoon. They were NurMohammad, 70, from Noakhalis Sno-aimuri, and Muzibur Rahman, 60, fromDhakas Mirpur. Another devotee namedAbdur Rahman, 60, died at the Tongi Ba-zar area after being run over by a bus.

Islmail Hossain, OC of the Tongi po-lice station, confirmed the deaths.

The traffi c control departmen t ofGazipur has decided to keep vehicularmovement suspended in the Tongi areafor seven hours starting 5am today forthe final prayer.

Shakhawat Hossain, assistant policesuper of Gazi pur traffi c, told the DhakaTribune that only special buses carry-ing the devotees would ply betweenBhogra bypass and Tongi. Movementof all other vehicles would be restrictedin the area until the end of the finalprayer.

More dowry-free wedding

On the second day of the second phaseof Ijtema yesterday, the organisers ar-ranged a total of 134 dowry-free wed-dings as part of a mass arrangement onthe Turag bank.

Organiser Gias Uddin said the wed-dings were conducted upon consent fromthe brides, grooms and their families.

During the first phase of the congre-gation last week, 125 dowry-free wed-dings were conducted. l

Workers Partycongress onApril 24nManik Miazee

The ninth congress of Workers Partyof Bangladesh will be held on April 24.

The decision came from a two-daymeeting of the WP central committee

held at its centr al offi ce with its pres i-dent Rashed Khan Menon in the chair.

According to sources, the meetingtook a decision that the party will ob-serve the founder president NiormalSens 100th birth anniversary with vari-ous programmes throughout the yearfrom 19 July, 2014.

The meetings political proposalsaid that as part of longtime politicalconspiracy, BNPJamaat led by 18-partyalliance did not participate in the 10thparliamentary election.

The meeting also took decisionthat upazila units of the WP will becompleted between February 15 andMarch 10.

The five-day congress will concludeon April 28.l

Boro acreagerises despiteinput cost hikenTribune Report

Boro cultivation acreage is likely to in-crease this year despite a hike in inputcosts faced by farmers since the begin-ning of Boro paddy cultivation, field re-ports of the Department of AgriculturalExtension (DAE) have indicated.

Specialists said the losses incurredby the farmers in winter vegetables, aswell as a comparatively better price ofpaddy in the last Aman season, haveencouraged farmers to prefer Boropaddy cultivation in the ongoing sea-son over the cultivation of other crops.

According to the Field Service Wing(FSW) of the DAE, about 50% of trans-plantation target of Boro paddy hasbeen completed so far this season,against about 40% coverage of the tar-get achieved during the same period ofthe season last year.

Earlier, the acreage target for Boropaddy cultivation this season was fixed

at 48 lakh hectares, and the productiontarget at 189 lakh tonnes. The countryproduced about 187.5 lakh tonnes ofBoro paddy in the last season over thesame extent of land.

DAE Director General Abu HanifMiah told the UNB that a comparativelybetter price of Aman paddy during Oc-tober-November last year had encour-aged the farmers to go for Boro cultiva-tion this year.

Unless there is any severe unex-pected climatic event, we are going toachieve the target production this sea-son, he said.

However, at the onset of the Borocultivation, farmers faced a fresh hikeof the cost of inputs, including seed, ir-

rigation, fertiliser and labour.M Shahadat Hossain, a farmer from

Durgapur village in Rangpur sadarupazila, said the prices of both the ureaand the non-urea fertilisers have shotup because of uncertainties in supplyover the last two months.

Farmers cannot buy the fertiliser atthe fair price. The actual price of urea isTk16 per kg, while we are forced to payabout Tk20-22 per kg, he said.

Shahadat added that the labour costwas extremely high.

The seeds are also costing higherthis season, he said, adding that farm-ers had to spend at least Tk100 morethan the actual price to buy every 10kgseeds from the market.

Bangladesh Krishak Samity Presi-dent Morshed Ali said irrigation cost insome areas of the country would shootup by 30-40% this season comparedto that of the previous season, as theirrigation pump owners have already

started to charge higher.A Brac survey conducted in Novem-

ber last year showed that despite thehike in input cost, most of the farm-ers will increase the cultivation offood grains, including rice, wheat andmaize, rather than going for the culti-vation of vegetables that has alreadybeen considered risky given the recentpolitical uncertainties, reports UNB.

Brac Executive Director MahbubHossain said: The study shows thatthe farmers shift a bit from the com-paratively profitable cultivation ofvegetables to the cultivation of rice;although rice farming over the yearshas not been able to ensure the farmerswith a minimum 50% profit margin.l

Even after three weeks into action, authorities are yet to complete the repair works of an underground gas line in the capitals Adabar

area. The works have been causing huge sufferings to residents and commuters RAJIB DHAR

Devotees light oil lamps and offer prayers for Chandamoni Mahasthabir for his contribution in preaching Buddhism in Khagrachhari

yesterday BANGLAR CHOKH

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

5/21

News 5DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

15 injured in afierce clashnOur Correspondent, Madaripur

At least 15 people were injured in abloody clash between two groups overestablishing supremacy at a Kalkini vil-lage in Madaripur yesterday.

Law enforcers arrested 20 people afterthe clash that took place at Charalimabadvillage under Koyaria union at noon.During the clash from 1pm to 2:30pm, theagitators fired over 100 bullets and exploded hundreds of hand bombs.

The injured were admitted to Mu-ladi, Gouranagar and Kalkini upazilahealth complexes.

Police recovered one pistol, one re-volver, 22 hand bombs, four knives andfive handmade lethal weapons fromthe spot, Kalkini police station Offi -cer-in-Charge Nazmul Huda said.

Members of a group led by HabibFakir had rivalry for a long time withthe members of another group headedby Mosharraf Fakir. Earlier, they en-gaged in clashes several times.

Yesterday, the cla sh ensued when themembers of Habib group took controlof the whole village by driving away themembers of another group. Addition-al Police Superintendent Uttam KumarPaul said: There have been several cases

against the members of both groups.l

National poetryfestival beginsnArif Ahmed

The 28th National Poetry Festival be-gan on the Dhaka University campuson Saturday with the slogan KabitaSahena Danab Jatana.

Poet Syed Shamsul Huq inauguratedthe two-day programme in front of theDU central library, organised by the Na-tional Poetry Council.

Syed Shamsul Huq said: The festi-val was first celebrated before 27 yearsprotesting Ershad governments au-tocracy, terrorism, communalism andwar-criminals.

Council President poet HabibullahSiraji presided over the functionwhile among others, event ConvenerMuhammad Samad, Joint ConvenerTarek Sujat and General SecretaryAslam Sani spoke on the occasion.Later, poets both from home andabroad recited self-composed poems infour sessions.

The council has been holding thefestival since 1987. l

Three hurt in Munshiganjgun attack

At least three people, including a couple,

sustained bullet wounds in a gun attack by mis-

creants at Dighirpar village in Tongibari upazila

of Munshiganj on Friday night. Iqbal Hossain,

35, his wife Rehana Begum, 23, and Habibur Rah-

man, 25, a rickshaw puller, were injured as a gang

of miscreants opened fire on them while they

were returning home from a wedding ceremony

by a rickshaw, Shahidul Islam, offi cer-in-charge

of Sadar police station, said. Hearing their

screams, local people rescued them and sent

them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. A case

was filed in this connection UNB

Abducted easy bike driver yetto be rescued

The police were yet to rescue an easy bike driver,

who was allegedly abducted by three ethnic

youths at Koibollopit area under Khagrachhari

sadar on Friday night. The abducted driver

Mohammad Abu Taher, 32, hailed from College

Gate area under same upazila. Quoting locals,

Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad

Joynal Abedin said a group of three men ethnic

youth, who hired Taher for going to Zeromile

area around 10:30pm allegedly abducted him.

We have been conducting drives to rescue

Taher and temporary check posts have been set

up at different spots in the district, Additional

SP Joynal said. No case had been filed in con-

nection with the incident. Our Correspondent,

Khagrachhari

Labour buried under soilduring construction work

A labour was buried under soil while working at

a rubber dam over Moharashi River in Jhenaigati

upazila of Sherpur on Friday night. The deceased

Afzal Hossain, 30, hailed from in Komorpur

village of Noldanga upazila under Natore. Eye-

witnesses said while releasing water of the dam,

soil from a drain fell on him, leaving him dead on

the spot. Our Correspondent, Sherpur

Police arrested four youthsin Naim murder

Police arrested four youths for their alleged

involvement in killing Naim Mia in Narsingdi

yesterday. Detective Branch of Police conducted

drives in different areas of the district early

yesterday and made the arrests. The arrestees

Kawser Mia, 16, Saiful Islam, 15, Faysal Mia,

16 and Sirajul Khandakar, 17 had confessed

their involvement with the murder, saying that

they killed Naim centring drugs. Police have

recovered the body of Naim Mia, 15, from an

under construction building Friday afternoon.

Family members of Naim said he had been

missing since Wednesday. Our Correspondent,

Narsingdi

NEWS IN BRIEF

Traffi c problem to worsen in next few yearsnTribune Report

The spectre of t raffi c congestion i n thecapital is only expected to deterioratefurther in the days ahead, compound-ing the daily suffering faced by com-muters in one of the most densely pop-ulated megacities of the world.

I have to spend about two hoursevery day travelling to and from myPaltan offi ce, said Jann atul Ferdous,a resident of Natunbazar, adding thatthe trip usually takes 30 minutes on anon-congested road.

A number of passengers and com-muters also shared similar frustrationsover the problems they have to face ona daily basis bec ause of traffi c jam.

Jannatul said she often had to waitfor long periods on the road becauseof the lack of public transports onthe citys thoroughfares, adding that:Even if I can catch any passenger ve-hicle luckily, there is almost no roomleft, even for standing.

Calling for the number of public

transports to be increased in the city,she said: If something is not donesoon, commuting will become a worseexperience in a few years.

Echoing Jannatul, urban plannerProf Nazrul Isla m said: The traffi c con-gestion problem will worsen in the cityin a few years, because of its growingpopulation.

However, Communications MinisterObaidul Quader on Wednesday told re-porters that his primary task would beto free the choking capital Dhaka fromthe grip of tra ffi c jam.

As part of the first steps towards re-alizing this goal, the minister pledgedstern steps to evict illegally occupiedroadside establishments and to stopthe plying of unauthorised vehicles inthe city.

The minister also gave assurancesfor starting construction works of twomega projects the Metro Rail Transit(MRT) and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that can signific antly reduc e traffi ccongestion in the city.

Communic ations mini stry offi cials,however, did not share their ministersoptimism over the timing of the twoprojects.

Sources at the ministry said althoughconsultants have been appointed forthe MRT project, the tender process forwork on the main structure have noteven started.

Besides, the construction of theTk22,000 crore MRT, stretching fromthe capitals Uttara to Motijheel, wasa very long-term project, with 130months (12 years) set aside for it.

The same sources also saidconsultants were yet to be appointedfor the 20km BRT project, which willstretch from Shahjalal InternationalAirport in the capital to Joydebpur inGazipur.

The BRT project estimated to becompleted as early as 2016 wouldprovide Gazipur residents with adedicated road to drive straight to theairport.

To solve the existing crisis, Dr Naz-rul suggested swift implementation ofthe MRT and the BRT, reinforcementof traffi c regulati on system in t he city,and protection of its walkways fromoccupation.

In a word, there has to be an im-provement in the overall managementof the citys communication sector, headded.l

Mizanur Rahman

Chowdhurys 8th deathanniversary today

nOur Correspondent, Chandpur

People in Chandpur chalked out a two-day programme to mark the 8th deathanniversary of veteran politician andformer prime minister Mizanur Rah-man Chowdhury.

He died on February 2 in 2006. Hewas born on October 19 in 1928.

Mizanurs son Aman Ullah Mizan(Razu) Chowdhury said: We have or-ganised a Doa Mahfil at his birth placein Puranbazar Chowdhury Bari. A Mi-lad will be held at a house in the capitaland a discussion meeting in remem-brance of former prime minister at theNational Press Club on February 8.

He started his political careers as aleader of Nikhil Bharat Muslim Leaguein 1945. He was elected as a member ofparliament for six times from Chand-pur constituency.

He was the prime minister of Bangla-desh during 1986-88. He was also theacting chairman of the Jatiya party.l

Fire guts city soap factoryOver 200 houses of Horijon Palli in Khulna destroyed

nTribune Report

At least 252 houses including two fac-tories were gutted in several fire inci-dents in Dhaka, Khulna and Bandarbandistricts in the last two days.

In Old Dhaka, a soap factory and afour-storey building were gutted at Ko-saituli in Bongshal yesterday.

Inspector Abul Hasan, offi -cer-in-charge (investigation) of Bong-shal police station, said the fire hadoriginated at the soap factory housed ina tin-shed building and later it caught aneighbouring hanger factory and thenthe four-storey residential building.

He said the entire area remaineddark as the electric line had been dis-connected immediate to avert massiveaccident from the fire. Firefighters, po-lice, locals and workers doused the fireafter three hours of hectic efforts.

Irin Parveen, duty offi cer of the FSCD,said on information, 11 units of the Fire

Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) sev-en units of firefighters from the FSCDheadquarters, two units from Sadarghatand two units from Palashi fire station rushed to the spot and doused the fire.

Our Khulna correspondent reports:at least 230 houses were gutted in adevastating fire at Horijon Palli in Moil-apota area under Sonadanga police sta-tion at 8:15 pm yesterday.

Mobilisin g Station Offi cer of KhulnaFire Service Rabiul Islam said the firemight have originated from an electricshort circuit. But locals said that some-body masterminded the fire as someinfluential members of the KCC wantedto grab the land.

Local Ward Councillor and PanelMayor 2 Sheikh Hafijur Rahaman de-nied the allegation. Seven units of fire-fighters from Tutpara, Boyra, Khalish-pur and Khulna doused the fire.

Khulna 2 MP Mizanur Rahaman Mi-zan, former MP Nazrul Islam Monju,

Deputy Commissioner of Khulna AnisMahamud visited the spot.

Our Bandarban correspondent re-ports: around 20 houses were gutted ina devastating fire, damaging propertiesworth about Tk1 crore in Kachchapta-li area of Royangchhari upazila underBandarban Hill District on Friday.

Sources said the fire had originatedaround 9pm from a gas stove of a houseand engulfed the adjacent area soon.

Fire fighters from Bandarban townand army personnel of Kachchaptaliarmy camp went to the spot dousedthe fire after two hours of frantic effort.

Royangchhari police station OC Ab-dus Sattar said: The fire caused a dam-age worth about Tk1 crore.

State Minister for Chittagong HillTracts Affairs Bir Bahadur, DeputyCommissioner KM Tarikul Islam andother ad ministra tive offi cers v isitedthe spot last night and distributed aidamong the victims. l

Two future projects,the Metro Rail Transit(MRT) and the BusRapid Transit (BRT),can significantly reducetraffi c congestion. Butthe MRT project is likelyto end in 12 years whilethe BRT in 2016

A firefighter struggles to douse a blaze that erupted at a soap factory in Kasaituli area in Old Dhaka yesterday evening FOCUS BANGLA

DMCH BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT UNIT

Not a single procedure in 3 monthsnMoniruzzaman Uzzal

Despite the hype surrounding the inauguration ofthe countrys first ever bone marrow transplant(BMT) unit, not a single patient had undergonethe transplant procedure in three months sincethe unit offi ciall y opened its doors.

Seeking anonymity, several responsible offi cialsof the BMT unit told the Dhaka Tribune that the unitwas yet to secure an infection-free clearance thatwas mandatory before carrying out the procedureon patients. The clearance from international BMTexperts was given after an assessment of infrastruc-ture, equipment, machineries, reagent and otheraspects.

Sources said Dr Vikram Mathews, professorof hematology and a BMT expert from ChristianMedical College of Bengalooru in India, was nowin Bangladesh to inspect the standard of the BMTunit at the DMCH. He was reportedly assigned bythe Massachusetts General Hospital of the US tomake the assessment visit and submit a report.

Several other BMT experts including DrBimolanshu Dey from Massachusetts GeneralHospital were also currently visiting the DMCHsBMT unit.

Local and international BMT experts arealso scheduled to meet with Health MinisterMohammed Nasim at the secretariat today forupdating the minister on the latest status of theBMT unit.

Prof Dr MA Khan, head of the BMT unit, said ameeting was held with Dr Mathews on Saturday,where he empasised on an infection-free envi-ronment at the unit. The machines were currentlybeing run on a test-basis and their accuracies werebeing examined, he added.

Sources however said the assessment by thevisiting Bengalooru doctor was positive.

Former health minister Dr AFM Ruhal Hoqueinaugurated the five-bed BMT unit and a high-tech BMT laboratory which cost Tk200m to bebuilt at the DMCH on October 20 last year. Al-though it was then announced that the first trans-

plant procedure would take place on Oc tober 26,the deadline could not be reached.

Preferring to stay unnamed, a senior DMCH offi -cial said the announcement for the first bone marrowtransplant on October 26 was just a political stunt.The BMT laboratory was not up to the mark to do theoperation at that time, the offi cial claimed.

It has been learnt that the BMT unit initial-ly lacked essential equipment like an irradiator,which has recently been set up to enable the unitto go for its first BMT procedure.

Dr Bayezid Khurshed Riaz, project director ofthe DMCH-2, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterdaythat the initial date for the procedure had to berescheduled because the doctors wanted to carryout the transplant with full preparation, as anyaccident would have caused patients to lose con-fidence.

The first procedure is likely to be carried outin mid-March, Riaz said, adding that the initialtransplant would be assisted by an expert teamfrom the Massachusetts General Hospital. l

A tourist parasails along the Coxs Bazar sea beach on the last day of the National Kite Festival yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

6/21

Making time for the Dhaka Art SummitThe countdown begins for the worlds largest South Asian art event, February 79

nTasnuva Amin Nova

Mystified about the clocksthat have suddenly sprungup on billboards all overthe capital?

They are part of a public art pro-ject titled Meanwhile Elsewhere bythe Delhi-based Raqs Media Collec-tive, commissioned by the SamdaniArt Foundation for the 2014 Dhaka ArtSummit.

This is their largest public art pro-ject to date, said Nadia Samdani, theFounder and Director of Dhaka ArtSummit.

Competed yesterday, the projectcovered ten billboards and 150 road-side signs with the image of a clock but contrary to traditional clocks,these show Bangla words instead ofnumbers, representing a subjective in-terpretation of time.

The billboards feature clocks whose

minute-hands show one word and thehour-hand another. These words orphrases complement each other, hint-ing towards a deeper meaning. When

all the billboards are seen collectively,it is meant to reveal a combination ofdifferent states of mind and being dur-ing different times of the day, craftedinto a poem.

The final piece is the Crazy Clockvideo installation, to be unveiled at theDhaka Art Summit. The hands will spinaround pause on a crazy message.

The Summit will be taking over thefour floors of the Shilpakala Academyfrom February 7-9. Billed as the worldslargest South Asian art event, the Dha-ka Art Summit will highlight the re-gions contemporary art scene.

The concept behind the clocks is toexamine the way we look at billboards,and subjective experience of time andduration, the artists said.

Research suggests that readingwords on walls or commercial sign-posts can create a strong effect on thesubconscious. It captures the readersmoments between awareness and una-

wareness after reading certain words.Despite being present in the situation,our minds can wander off somewhereelse. Hence, the project title.

Meanwhile Elsewhere is part ofthe Untimely series, one of Raqs Me-dia Collectives experiments with timeand the metaphorical possibilities oftime.

Other installations of the series havebeen exhibited around the world.

In Birmingham, UK, in 2012, RaqsMedia Collective did a similar installa-tion of clocks billboards with Englishwords, called: Whenever the HeartSkips a Beat, as part of the 48 Sheetsproject.

The first of such clocks by the Raqswere seen in Emoo Art.ficial Exhibi-tion, Ita Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo,Brazil in 2002.

The theme there has remained thesame for this installation in Dhaka: tonudge our mental state of being or feel-ing with words, representing emotionswe contemporaneously feel within:epiphany, panic, remorse, nostalgia,fear, ecstasy, awe, fatigue, guilt, indif-

ference, anxiety.Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, who designedthe project, are practitioners of con-

temporary art and through Raqs MediaCollective. They have participated inmany major international shows, in-cluding The European Biennial of Con-temporary Art in 2008.

Diana Campbell Betancourt, artisticdirector of Samdani Art Foundation, iscurator of the initiative. l

6 FeatureDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

Grace under fireAn interview with Rumana Monzur, as part of our weekly serieson One Billion Rising Bangladesh, in support of justice forviolence against women

nSyeda Samira Sadeque

Inever thought it would hap-pen to me. And then it did,Rumana Monzur, iconicsurvivor of severe domestic

abuse, told the Dhaka Tribune in a n ex-clusive interview earlier this week.

To survive is to have a story to tell,to have the chance to show others what

they didnt see. Or ignored. Rumana,having enrolled in law school aftercompleting her Masters degree, is do-ing just that: surviving gracefully, andtelling her story.

Rumana was attacked by her hus-band in June 2011, when he gouged out

her eyes and bit off parts of her nose.Rumana, a former University of DhakaAssistant Professor of InternationalRelations, was visiting Dhaka on breakfrom Vancouver, where she was a grad-uate student at that time.

The brutal act triggered protestsboth at home and in Canada.

Rumana survived to tell her story,and to completely turn her fate around.After extensive medical treatment, sheenrolled as a law student at Univer-sity of British Columbia in Vancouver,where she lives with her parents andeight year old daughter Anusheh.

I am studying law because it makesme legally empowered. I wonder nowif I had had this education, if it wouldhave been easier for me to fight my le-gal battles.

Despite the obvious nature of thecrime, her husbands family has beentrying to claim custody of her daugh-ter, accusing her of faking her blind-

ness, or saying that she will not be ableto take care of Anusheh. She has tosubmit documents to prove that she isvisually impaired.

Vicious cycle of abuse

Domestic abuse in Bangladesh isnothing new. A recent survey by BBS

and UNFPA suggests a staggering90% of women face abuse by their

husbands.Those being abused need to un-

derstand that showing patience tomonsters and demons is wrong. Theymistake our commitment to be ourweakness. No one needs to go throughthis to save their marriage.

Even after being married to herabusive husband Hasan Sayeed for tenyears, Rumana used to be reluctant toreveal her secret.

I used to think talking about itwould be a matter of shame, so I keptquiet instead.

But we must realize it is not us whoought to be ashamed but them, those whoinflict abuse on us who should be held ac-countable, who should be shamed.

Rumana says society also has a roleto play to create a safe haven for thoseliving in a system of abuse. Instead offacing the judgement and stigma of so-ciety, Rumana braved the challenges in-side her abusive home, as many still do.

The societys attitude must change.If they were supportive of those tryingto leave abusive systems, it would be alot easier for girls to do so.

Saving grace

After it happened in June 2011, the in-ternational media was quick to pick up

the story, largely due to the fact thatRumana had an international sup-

port system from her friends and col-leagues in Canada.

In Bangladesh, what stood outabout Rumanas case was the factthat she was an educated, financiallyindependent woman in the society.This incident broke the previouslyheld assumption that domestic abusetakes place primarily in lower incomehomes, to women who are illiterateand unaware of their rights.

I never thought despite having aMasters degree, despite my financialindependence, I would face this, Ru-mana says.

After the incident, her husband jus-tified his attack by accusing her of hav-ing an affair with an Iranian man. Somelocal media agencies also capitalisedon the controversy, falsely reporting orvalidating rumours - mostly triggeredby her husbands family - that soon af-ter the attack she had remarried or thatshe was faking her blindness.

But she was lucky that this time, so-ciety took the side of the woman.

The support that poured out aftermy attack was overwhelming. It showedme that for the 10% of people who be-lieve in these false rumours and thought[the incident] was justified, there is theother 90% who supported me.

Regaining equilibriumThree years since the attack, Rumana is

still trying to come to terms with whathappened.

I really dont know why this hap-pens. But I know that a relationshipmust be about mutual respect. I usedto hear news of acid attacks, wives be-ing burnt.

But we never realize just how trau-matising it is until it happens to us,Rumana says.

But today she is coping.Ive igured out alternative ways

to communicate with my daughter,she laughs adding that she playswith her, cooks for her among otherthings.

She is the reason I am trying togo back to a normal life. I always tryto stay positive because I know I haveto bring her up. I know I have to live ameaningful life.

A meaningful life indeed, for a vic-tim who turned herself into a survi-vor. A survivor who, now that she has

come out of the abuse system, says wemust be careful about our society, andnot overlook any derailments in thesystem.

We mustnt look at domestic abuseas news anymore: its not news, its asituation that any one of us can be inany day.l

8OUT OF EVERY 10 WOMEN IN BANGLADESH SUFFER FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, ACCORDING TO THE SURVEY

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH

Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, designers of the

project

RAPED BYHUSBANDS

NEEDEDMEDICAL HELP

ABUSED BYCURRENTOR PASTHUSBANDS

Raqs Media Collectives installation Now Elsewhere (2009) at the Faurschou Foundation

in Copenhagen

One of the Meanwhile Elsewhere billboards reading: fuzzy/logic, sharp/intense outside

Shilpakala Academy, the venue for Dhaka Art Summit MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Raqs Media Collective, commissioned

for 48Sheet in partnership with the Ikon

Gallery, Birmingham

Dhaka Art Summit

Shilpakala Academy

February 79

Featuring South Asian

artwork from 33 galleries, 14

installation art projects, 13

experimental films, 9 artist

performances, and 5 talks and

speakers panels.

To register for a VIP pass

to Dhaka Art Summit, visit:

dhakaartsummit.com/register

UBC student Rumana Monzur speaks to the media upon her return from India

Rumana Monzur with daughter Anusheh in 2013

A survey conducted in 2011, which was published on the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics website in 2013, has revealed

that 9 out of 10 Bangladeshi women are subject to domestic violence. The survey, titled Report on Violence Against

Women (VAW) Survey 2011, was designed by BBS, the Institute for Statistical Research and Training at Dhaka University,

and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

98 % 33 % 50 %

7/22/2019 Print: February 02, 2014

7/21

7DHAKA TRIBUNELong Form Sunday, February 2, 2014

nJyoti Rahman

For those coming in late,eventhoughinflation has risenunder the current govern-ment(Chart1),real GDP percapita has grownby around

4.5% a year under successivegovern-ments over the past decade.

Over the last couple of weeks, Ihave had a bit of correspondence

about inflation.

The first question posed is: why isinflation a problem if income hasrisen fast enough to compensate forit? Recall, real GDP per capita that is,income after inflation is accounted for has been growing by4.5% a year. So,the question, what difference does itmake if inflation is 5% or 10%?

A simple answer is, inflation is aproblem because people think itsa problem. That might sound like aflippant answer, but its not. Inflationmatters because it affects peoplesdecisions about the future. If inflationwas steady at some rate, say 7%, andpeople knew that it was going to be

steady at 7%, that would not be a prob-lem. Whether its a firm deciding on anew investment, or workers negotiat-ing payrise, or families deciding howmuch to save for childrens education if people knew that inflation wouldbe 7% (or any other rate), they wouldmake their decisions accordingly.

The problem is, the higher the

inflation is, the harder it is to keep

it steady. Thats why economistscounsel low and steady inflation. Andwhile there are many issues wherethe economists prescriptions canseem at odds with popular percep-tion, or even common sense, when itcomes to inflation, economic theoryand the common sense are on thesame side.

There is another reason why highand unsteady inflation matters, even

when real GDP growth remains steady.Whileeconomic growth can comeabout for many reasons, some (many)of which not having anything to dowith government policies or actions,persistently high and unsteadyinflation is almost always becauseof failures in economic policy mak-ing. Persistently high and unsteadyinflation also puts the economy at riskof economic crises, with all the humancosts such crises entail. Thats why,when comparing economic records ofvarious governments, inflation is per-haps a more appropriate metric thaneconomic growth.

Note the qualifiers persistentlyhigh and unsteady and almost al-ways its possible that sometimes aspike in inflation is beyond the controlof any government.

This leads to the second questionI have been asked:how much of therecent inflation is because of global

food prices?As Chart 2 shows, global food prices

rose sharply in 2007-08, declined a bitin 2009, and then rose again in 2010.The 2007-08 global food price risescame as a surprise to most policy-makers around the world, includingBangladesh. The causes of that risewereprimarily global, as was the de-cline in 2009. That years fall i n globalfood prices was a result of the GlobalFinancial Crisis. As that crisis ended, itwas predictable that food price wouldgradually return to pre-crisis levels.And thats what happened. Can theBangladeshi policymakers be excusedfor not being prepared?

The 2010 rise in global food pricesshould have been anticipated by thegovernment. Global oil prices tooshowed the same pattern, whichshould have also been anticipatedwhen the government set theplans forthe rental power plants. Evidently, thisis clearly not something the govern-ment did.

Let me quoteMA Taslim, a Dhaka

University professor and one of thebest commentators on Bangladesheconomy: Economic managementis widely believed to be the weakestlink of the government. However, theineptness with which the electrici-ty issue has been handled is simplymind-boggling. The governmentseemed to have embarked on the rent-al plant road without a clear idea aboutits finances, logistics and consequenc-

es. For example, the government nowclaims that the blowout in subsidyis due to unforeseen increases in theprices of petroleum products and notdue to policy lapses.

It seems absurd that the govern-ment could have planned (in 2009,say) on the basis of c urrent prices,which were clearly very low in the af-termath of the most severe worldwiderecession since the Great Depression(as the crude oil price chart shows).Even a cursory glance at the graphof the monthly crude oil price wouldhave revealed that except for anabnormal period of about 18 monthsin 2008 and 2009, there was a clearupward trend since the beginning ofthe millennium. Interestingly, if onedrew a trend line with the price data

of 2002 to 2007 and then extended itup to 2012 to get the forecast value, hewould have arrived at a number that isvery close to the actual price. Hence,the future price increases should havebeen anticipated and hedged against.

The governments electricity recordis something Ill leave for anoth-

er time. For now, lets accept thatelectricity is important, and put asidethe question of whethersubsidies areappropriate.

The relevant issue for us is, how thefiscal blowout caused by the mis-taken fuel price assump