e_Paper 20-11-2016

SECOND EDITION 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016 | Agrahayan 6, 1423, Safar 19, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 203 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10 

‘We need to all be humans, not 

minorities’ › 15 

Of Googlies and Chinamen › 17 

Dhaka Lit Fest ends on a high note of hope › 32 

Juddho Sheshe Juddho › 18 Gemcon Literary Award given at DLF › 32 

Shahebganj sugarcane 

field up in flames › 2 Protect minority rights › 3 

Ivy: Shamim will campaign 

for me, if loyal to party › 5

2 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016 

DT 

News 

‘MP Azad took part in attack’ 

Justice for Santals of Gaibandha demanded 

• Ashif Islam Shaon 

Socheton Nagorik, a platform of 

civil society members, yesterday 

alleged that ruling party lawmaker 

Abul Kalam Azad had taken part in 

the November 6 attack on Gaibandha’s 

Santal community. 

“Local MP Abul Kalam Azad a 

year back assured the Santals of 

peaceful solution to their land dispute, 

but he finally took part in the 

attack on them directly,” writer and 

columnist Syed Abul Maksud said 

at the press conference at the Dhaka 

Reporters Unity in the capital. 

The same allegation came from 

the affected Santals. In a meeting 

with top AL leaders on November 

16 at the party’s Dhanmondi office 

in Dhaka, Jatiya Adibasi Parishad 

President Rabindranath Soren 

told AL General Secretary Obaidul 

Quader how the lawmaker and UP 

Chairman Shakil Ahmed instigated 

the premeditated attack. 

In that meeting, Soren told 

Obaidul: “Police opened fire in the 

presence of local MP and the chairman. 

MP Azad ordered the police to 

open fire through a hand mike. We 

can submit the evidence, if needed. 

We have VDO footages and still 

photos as proofs. And when we 

went to police station to file a case, 

the police did not take our case. On 

the contrary, the police after shooting 

us filed a case against 200- 

300 persons naming 42 including 

the dead.” 

Abul Maksud yesterday said: 

“This is not a way to evict anyone 

from his land. They could have 

talked to the Santals; police could 

have arrested some Santals, if 

needed; but they resorted to shooting 

indiscriminately to kill the poor 

Santals.” 

He said that the police, local administration 

and local public representatives 

acted like the Pakistani 

occupational forces of 1971 and a 

group of hired goons acted as their 

auxiliary force during the attack. 

Judicial probe, compensation 

demanded 

Speakers at the briefing also urged 

the government to form a judicial 

inquiry committee to probe into 

the bloody attack that left three 

Santals dead and over 30 injured. 

Some 2,000 Santals were evicted 

from 15 villages on that day, 

and the Bangalis who joined hands 

with the law enforcers looted valuables 

of the houses before burning 

them to ashes. 

They demanded that the government 

provide compensation 

and ensure security of the displaced 

Santal families so that they 

can return to their homes and start 

A fire whose cause has not yet been determined breaks out in a disputed sugarcane field in Shahebganj in Gobindaganj upazila, Gaibandha yesterday 

normal life. 

“The government must take 

responsibility for the treatment of 

the injured. Those who have violated 

human rights must be tried and, 

above all, the rights of the security 

of the indigenous people must 

be ensured,” Prof Abul Barkat, an 

economist, said at the press conference. 

Barkat said: “The false cases 

filed against the victim Santals 

must be withdrawn and the local 

administrative officials involved in 

the attacks, carried out in name of 

eviction drive, have to be removed 

too.” 

Police even handcuffed three 

Santals while undergoing treatment 

at hospitals, an act that created 

massive outrage. 

On November 17, after a case was 

filed by a Santal, following Obaidul 

Quader’s instructions to Gaibandha 

police to take Santals’ case, 

Jatiya Adivasi Parishad President 

Rabindranath Soren told the Dhaka 

Tribune that the case had not been 

filed on behalf of the affected Santals. 

Police tactfully made a Santal, 

living outside Madarpur and Joypurpara, 

file the case to save the 

real culprits. The plaintiff was not 

affected during the drive. 

The group of citizens visited 

Gobindaganj upazila’s Sahebganj-Bagda 

Farm area and Madarpur 

village on November 13, and 

talked to the displaced Santals, 

living under the open sky without 

proper access to food and water. 

After the incident, police filed 

five cases against the Santals for 

obstructing the law enforcers from 

carrying out their duties. A fresh 

case was filed against them yesterday 

over the arson attack on a sugarcane 

field in the area. 

Prof Barkat said: “Of the 5,500 

acres of land there, some 4,500 

acres belong to the Santals. The 

government proposal for establishing 

a special economic zone on 

this land is defective. As per the 

preconditions, an economic zone is 

not supposed to be built on a land 

that produces multi crops. Besides, 

there must be a national highway 

within 10 kilometers of the zone 

and navigable river.” 

Among others, Coordinator of 

Nijera Kori Khushi Kabir also spoke 

at the briefing while Sanjib Drong, 

general secretary of Bangladesh 

Adivasi Forum, presented the keynote 

paper. 

‘I want Santals ousted, not solution’ 

Oikya NAP President Pangkaj Bhatyacharya 

said: “I talked to Industries 

Minister Amir Hossain Amu 

seeking a solution over the land 

issue. But, unfortunately, the minister 

said that he only wanted the 

Santals to be ousted, no solution.” 

Talking to media, Amu also alleged 

that a vested interest group 

wanted to grab the government 

land using the Santals. 

A similar comment came from 

PM’s Special Envoy and Jatiya Party 

Chairman HM Ershad, who said 

that evicting the Santals from the 

land had been nothing wrong. • 

Shahebganj sugarcane 

field up in flames 

• Md Tazul Islam, Gaibandha 

The controversial Shahebganj 

sugarcane farmland of Rangpur 

Sugar Mills Ltd in Gobindaganj 

upazila, Gaibandha went up in 

flames on Saturday afternoon, 

causing damage to around 33 

bighas or 4.41 hectares of sugarcane. 

The fire started around 1:30pm 

at a field in 11-I block of the farm 

in the upazila’s Fakirganj area 

and spread quickly, said Alamgir 

Hossain, deputy general manager 

of the farm. 

Soon after the fire broke 

out, a team of fire fighters from 

Gobindaganj fire station rushed 

to the scene and was able to bring 

the blaze under control within 

30 minutes, said Abdul Hannan, 

upazila nirbahi officer of 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Gobindaganj. 

Alamgir said it was not yet 

confirmed as to how the field 

caught fire. “We do not know 

how the fire was started. We are 

working to find out what happened.” 

Learning about the fire, the 

factory’s Managing Director Abdul 

Awal and Gobindaganj police 

station OC Subrata Kumar Sarker 

visited the site. 

The Shahebganj farm field 

was home to a community of 

indigenous Santals until the 

police, RAB and local Bangalis 

conducted an eviction together 

against the Santals on 

November 6. 

Santal leaders claim that at 

least 2000 families of 15 villages 

in the area were evicted from 

their ancestral lands. •

News 3 


‘No Hindus will be left after 30 years’ 

DT 

• Kamrul Hasan 

Eminent economist and researcher 

Dr Abul Barkat has observed 

that there will be no Hindus in the 

country after three decades. 

“The rate of exodus over the 

past 49 years points to that direction,” 

the Dhaka University teacher 

said in his book “Political economy 

of reforming agriculture-land-water 

bodies in Bangladesh” published 

yesterday. 

From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 

million Hindus left Bangladesh due 

to religious persecution and discrimination, 

he said. It means on an 

average 632 Hindus left the country 

each day and 230,612 annually. 

From his 30-year-long research, 

Barkat found that the exodus mostly 

took place during military governments 

after independence. 

Before the Liberation War, the 

daily rate of migration was 705 

while it was 512 during 1971-1981 

and 438 during 1981-1991. The 

number increased to 767 persons 

each day during 1991-2001 while 

around 774 persons left the country 

during 2001-2012, the book says. 

DU teacher Prof Ajoy Roy said the 

government grabbed the properties 

of the Hindus during the Pakistan 

regime describing them as enemy 

property and the same properties 

were taken by the government after 

independence as vested property. 

According to the book, these 

two measures made 60% of the 

Hindus landless. 

Retired Justice Kazi Ebadul 

Haque said the minorities and the 

poor were deprived of their land 

rights. For example, when a shoal 

rises in a river the local leaders register 

them in the name of poor people, 

but the same leaders file a case and 

take the land under the possessions 

showing the court’s stay order. 

The deprived people remain 

deprived, he said, adding that the 

land management system should 

be reformed. 

Dhaka University teacher Prof 

Farid Uddin Ahmed said that the government 

has to ensure that the indigenous 

people would not be affected 

or harmed. “The government must 

ensure that the people do not think 

about leaving the country for once.” 

No accurate estimation of 

indigenous peoples 

Discussing on a separate book of Prof 

Barkat “Political Economy of Unpeopling 

of Indigenous People: The case 

of Bangladesh” published yesterday, 

former NHRC chairman Prof Mizanur 

Rahman said that there was no 

accurate estimation of the indigenous 

peoples living in the country. 

He mentioned that at least 22 indigenous 

groups had disappeared 

from the country. 

Prof Mizanur also urged Jyotirindra 

Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu 

Larma to inform the indigenous 

peoples of the Chittagong Hill 

Tracts about the 1997 Peace Accord. 

In his speech, Bangladesh Adivasi 

Forum President Santu Larma agreed 

that the implementation of the Peace 

Accord was not the only solution to 

the crises in the CHT region. 

He added that the current stance 

of the ruling party would not solve 

the disputes through different reform 

programmes, rather they want 

to hinder the process. “We need a 

people-oriented government. But 

the reality of state mechanism does 

not allow this to happen.” 

Santu Larma, also chairman of 

the CHT Regional Council, claimed 

that over 50 indigenous groups 

were on the verge of extinction, but 

they want to live with dignity with 

the remaining indigenous groups. 

Prof Ajoy Roy observed that in 

his book Prof Barkat had used the 

word adivasi even the government 

does not recognise them as indigenous 

peoples. 

Prof Barkat dedicated the book to 

his childhood friends who belonged 

to “Buno” indigenous group, but 

now remain traceless, Prof Ajoy Roy 

said, adding that he too had met the 

group in a small forest in Faridpur. 

“I have not heard about them 

since long … May be they were 

forced to leave the place by the 

land grabbers and have gone to India 

and took a different name.” 

Prof Mizanur said although the 

prime minister had taken stance in 

favour of the indigenous peoples, the 

ruling party leaders were involved in 

heinous activities against them. 

Addressing the programme as 

chief guest, Civil Aviation Minister 

Rashed Khan Menon urged rights 

activists to stand by the side of the 

indigenous peoples. • 

MRG to Bangladesh: Protect minority rights 

• Tribune Desk 

MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016 

PHOTO: MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 

Bangladesh parliament, government 

officials and law enforcers 

should consider the protection of 

rights of the minority communities 

as a priority since the country has 

failed to protect them from a new 

outbreak of targeted killings and 

communal violence, says a new 

report by Minority Rights Group International 

(MRG). 

There must be a stronger commitment 

to understanding and recognising 

the potential drivers of violence 

that include land grabbing, 

political rivalries and hate speech 

so that preventive action can be 

taken to stop recurrence of abuses. 

The report “Under threat: the 

challenges facing religious minorities 

in Bangladesh, since 2013” 

mentioned the series of violent incidents 

targeting religious minorities 

by local and international militant 

groups such as Islamic State 

and al-Qaeda. 

Furthermore, communal violence 

driven by political rivalries 

continues to take place with perpetrators 

enjoying apparent impunity. 

The London-based group, which 

has over 150 partners across some 60 

countries, prepared the report based 

on reported incidents, fieldwork by 

local rapporteurs and first-hand author 

interviews with a number of activists, 

lawyers and journalists. 

The MRG also expressed concern 

over the recent attacks on Hindus 

in Nasirnagar, Brahmanbaria, injuring 

over 100 people and vandalising 

over a dozen temples and Puja pavilions. 

Over 60 houses were also 

damaged and looted by the attackers 

who were protesting against an 

alleged blasphemous post on Facebook 

demeaning Islam. 

“The rising attacks and death 

toll have highlighted how vulnerable 

minorities are to attacks ... The 

variety of abuses they experience, 

from forced abduction and sexual 

assault to land grabbing and arson, 

have occurred within a broader climate 

of impunity, with many abuses 

appearing to be carried out with 

the complicity of law enforcement 

agencies and the judiciary,” Carl 

Soderbergh, MRG’s director of policy 

and communications, said in a 

press release yesterday. 

The MRG also expressed concern 

over the systematic migration 

of the Bengali people in the Chittagong 

Hill Tracts region, eviction 

of indigenous peoples and violence 

against women. 

“The government-sponsored 

migration of Bengali settlers since 

the 1970s has led to conflict and 

dispossession for indigenous 

peoples, who are predominantly 

Buddhist and Christian, as well as 

Hindu and animist, leaving many 

displaced from their ancestral 

land. There are also ongoing high 

levels of gender-based violence 

against indigenous women living 

in the region,” the statement said. 

Apart from the religious minorities 

and the indigenous peoples, 

atheists, secular bloggers and liberals 

have borne the brunt of extremist 

attacks. 

KEY FINDINGS 

● Militant attacks on non-Muslims, non-Sunni, liberals and LGBT 

rights activists, and communal attacks in a climate of impunity 

● Political marginalization and economic discrimination 

● Minorities sidelined as second-class citizens 

● Respect towards religious minorities decreasing 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

● Guarantee the security of religious minorities 

● Enforce legal protections for religious minorities 

● Ensure justice to victims of targeted rights abuses 

● Promote the participation of religious minorities 

● Address root causes of violence and discrimination 

● Support the work of civil society organizations on 

behalf of religious minorities 

● Strengthen the capacity of the NHRC to address violations 

Despite the promise of independence 

in 1971 and the passing 

of a secularist constitution the 

following year, an increasingly restrictive 

religious nationalism in 

the ensuing years has sidelined 

Bangladesh’s minorities within 

their own country, the MRG said. 

The rights body has asked the 

government to implement anti-discrimination 

legislation aimed 

specifically at religious minorities 

and marginalised groups; review 

current inequalities within the legal 

system, including the place of 

Islam as the state religion and the 

use of draconian provisions against 

secular writers and activists; and 

take steps to strengthen the National 

Human Rights Commission 

to respond to violations against 

minority communities. 

The civil society should mobilise 

a more coordinated response 

to rights violations, speak out in 

unison to condemn minority rights 

violations and support the vulnerable 

groups including secularists, 

LGBT groups and liberals. 

On the other hand, the media 

should provide adequate coverage 

to minority rights issues, highlight 

incidents of abuses, expropriation 

and violence against religious minorities, 

and engage activists and 

community leaders to provide 

them with a much-needed platform 

to articulate their concerns. •

4 


DT 

News 

‘Our job is to strengthen the party and govt’ 

Delwar Hossain, a former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Dhaka University unit, was 

inducted into the newly formed central working committee of Bangladesh Awami League as 

forestry and environment secretary. Speaking with the Dhaka Tribune’s Mohammad Abu Bakar 

Siddique, he talks about his journey from student politics to being a part the upper echelon of the 

ruling party – a journey that has taken many by surprise 

Delwar Hossain with student political activists at the 20th national council of the 

Awami League last month 

COLLECTED FROM FACEBOOK 

Akbar Ali Khan: Parties 

should sit across table 

• Manik Miazee 

Political parties, including the two 

major ones – Awami League and 

BNP – should discuss the next parliamentary 

election issues behind 

the screen, an adviser to the former 

caretaker government has suggested. 

To solve the controversies over 

the “election time government” 

centring the next election, the two 

major political parties should hold 

discussions out of the public eye 

and with a mentality where they 

are both willing to make sacrifices, 

said Akbar Ali Khan. 

He made the statement while 

addressing the public parliament 

on “Whether there is a need for 

interim election time government 

to hold a fair election” at the FDC 

auditorium in Dhaka. 

Debate for Democracy organised 

the debate programme, with 

Dhaka International University and 

Prime Asia University as participants. 

“For a free and fair election, 

they [political parties] should 

change their political culture. The 

election time government can hold 

free and fair elections,” the former 

adviser said. 

Addressing the programme as 

chief guest, Akbar Ali Khan proposed 

formation of several election-time 

governments, including 

one with the ruling party elected 

by the general people. 

He also suggested that a separate 

election time caretaker government 

be formed, with the participation 

of all parties and with 

suggestion from the Supreme 

Court. 

Regarding the country’s bureaucratic 

problems, he said the Election 

Commission did not hold the 

election alone, as the government 

officials are also involved with the 

process. • 

How does it feel to be a part of the 

central committee of the Awami 

League? 

It is overwhelming. And of course, 

I am grateful. 

It is a bigger responsibility than 

that of a unit president of the 

student affiliate, is it not? 

Well, from the organisational 

point of view, the DU unit of Chhatra 

League has the same status as its 

district unit. And there is the fact 

that Dhaka University has been the 

centre of student politics for the 

entire nation, not just the Chhatra 

League. So I have had the opportunity 

of working with all active student 

organisations as well as to serve as a 

leader at the national level. 

How did you get involved in 

politics? 

My first formal introduction to 

student politics was when I was 

in Class IX – I was made general 

secretary of a Chhatra League unit 

in my school. 

When I took admission at DU’s 

geography department in 1991-92 

session, I started participating in 

the DU Chhatra League’s activities 

and worked my way up. In 2001, 

I became the president of the DU 

unit. 

Fakhrul: AL reaction was 

premeditated 

• Manik Miazee 

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhru 

Islam Alamgir claimed that the 

ruling Awami League’s reaction 

over BNP chairperson’s proposal 

on reformation of Election Commission 

(EC) was premeditated. 

Observing that the ruling party 

was ready beforehand ‘to reject the 

proposal’, Fakhrul said: “The way 

AL expressed their reaction within 

moments of announcing the proposal 

as well as the language they 

used clearly shows that it was all 

worded in advance.” 

Speaking at a discussion yesterday 

in the capital, the BNP leader 

said: “Just after the BNP chairperson 

finished her speech, a reporter 

told me that the AL has rejected it.” 

He also said we didn’t expect 

them accepting all the proposals, 

but they could at least initiate a dialogue 

with all political parties as 

proposed by Khaleda. 

What are the potential challenges 

that you may face as you take up 

your new role in the party? 

Our problems are well-identified. 

After being elected in 2008, our 

leader and Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina has taken initiatives to 

address these problems, and we 

have to work to implement those 

initiatives to achieve the intended 

development goals. Our job is 

to strengthen the party and the 

government as there are many 

forces that are always trying to 

destablise the country. As for my 

role, there are a lot of environmental 

challenges. I will try my best to 

address these challenge as much 

as possible. 

How do you consider your 

responsibilities as a young leader? 

We have a huge population of 

young people. Our development 

largely depends on them, so we 

have to use their force, using the 

experiences of the elderly, to mobilise 

our country towards development. 

The opportunity to work 

with such a big young population 

comes once in a century. 

Your party has a longstanding 

stance against communalism. In 

the national council, you pledged 

He further said without an independent 

EC, any election neither 

could be free-and-fair in the future, 

nor it was in the past. 

“If you wish well for the country, 

sit across the table to start a dialogue 

with all political parties for 

re-forming EC,” he called upon the 

government. 

He called to party man to rising 

public sentiment for Khaleda Zia’s 

proposal. 

On Saturday BNP senior leader 

to fight militancy. There are other 

important challenges, such as 

women empowerment. What is 

your message to young people 

regarding these challenges? 

Communalism is a colonial legacy, 

which is aggravated by lack of 

proper education. A coordination 

in the learning process is crucial 

to solve problems like this. And 

there are some political parties 

who want to take ill-advantage of 

public sentiment. 

But people of all religions took 

part and sacrificed in our Liberation 

War. Awami League believes 

in the everyone’s right to practise 

their own religion. We are keen 

on using the potential of all young 

people, irrespective of their religious 

faith. 

They can play a vital role in 

bridging the gap among all communities 

and create harmony. 

No other party accommodates 

women in their activities like 

the Awami League. Other parties 

should also come forward to 

contribute to the our women’s 

development. Without women’s 

participation, there would be no 

development. Educated women 

should come forward and take a 

lead in this regard. • 

remarked those issues while he was 

a chief gusts at a party programme 

in Kochi-Kacha auditorium in city. 

Mentionable, Khaleda placed 

a 13-point proposal regarding EC 

reformation before the media on 

Friday. 

A search committee, clean EC, 

ballot reforms and empowerment 

of the military during election are 

the focal points of her recommendations. 

In her speech, the former threetime 

prime minister suggested 

the President of Bangladesh to 

take into account the recommendation 

from a constitutionallyadvised 

search body while appointing 

the CEC and the three 

commissioners. 

The EC is stipulated to be reconstituted 

by February next year as 

the tenures of incumbent commissioners 

including the chief election 

commissioner (CEC) will expire 

halfway through February. •

Ivy: Shamim will campaign 

for me, if loyal to party 

• Tanveer Hossain, 

Narayanganj 

Incumbent Narayanganj City Corporation 

(NCC) Mayor Selina Hayat 

Ivy hopes that local Awami League 

heavyweight Shamim Osman will 

campaign for her as the party’s nominated 

candidate for the city election. 

“Shamim Osman is an Awami 

League politician and I’m the party’s 

candidate. He will campaign 

for me if he is loyal to the party,” 

she told reporters at her home in 

Narayanganj yesterday. 

Ivy, a doctor by training, defeated 

Awami League candidate Shamim, 

a member of the powerful Osman 

family, in the 2011 election to become 

the country’s first female mayor. 

The two had been at each other’s 

throats since then. 

Ivy downplayed the rivalry, 

saying there was no “division or 

tussle” between them. “The grassroots 

leaders and activists are elated 

that I got the nomination. I hope 

minor misunderstandings, if there 

is any, will be resolved.” 

She urged everyone to work for 

the party’s candidate. 

The ruling Awami League chose 

her on Friday to represent the party 

at the election. She had not been 

among the three proposed candidates. 

Narayanganj City Corporation is 

scheduled to go to polls on December 

22. 

Anwar Hossain out of reach 

Awami League’s Narayanganj city 

unit President Anwar Hossain, who 

until Friday was a mayor hopeful, 

became unreachable as soon as 

since Ivy’s name was announced 

as the ruling party candidate in the 

mayoral election. 

Sources said his mobile phone 

was switched off shortly after Ivy 

was given the final approval to run 

for the mayor’s office again around 

8:15pm on Friday. 

His phone remained unreachable 

until this report was filed 

around 7:45pm yesterday. 

In addition, his flat was found to 

Taimur gets BNP nod 

• Tanveer Hossain 

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party 

(BNP) yesterday evening finalised 

Taimur Alam Khandaker as its 

mayoral candidate in the Narayangaj 

City Corporation polls scheduled 

to be held on December 22. 

The decision was taken at a 

meeting at the BNP chairperson’s 

Gulshan office yesterday evening. 

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 

secretary general Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir and Narayanganj 

district BNP leaders were present 

in the meeting where Taimur was 

asked to preparare to vie for the 

NCC polls on party ticket. 

Taimur, however, while talking 

to the Dhaka Tribune after the 

meeting, expressed his reluctance 

to contest the polls as ‘the election 

would not be a fair one’. 

During a previous campaign for the mayorship of Narayanganj, Awami Leaguebacked 

Shamim Osman and rival Selina Hayat Ivy meet 

FILE PHOTO 

He also had told the BNP chairperson 

about his reluctance, he informed. 

It had been widely assumed that 

Taimur would be nominated for 

the mayoral post by BNP. 

Earlier, at his Masdair residence 

in Narayanganj, Taimur told the 

Dhaka Tribune: “I am not interested 

to compete the election as I don’t 

have any confidence in the present 

Election Comission (EC). A large 

section of the media also will not favour 

the (BNP). For these reasons, I 

am reluctant to vie for the mayoral 

post.” 

“Since the morning, scores of party 

leaders and activists are coming 

to my house to request me to participate 

in the polls. So many calls are 

coming that I even switched off my 

cell phone. I have told everyone that 

the party chairperson’s decision is 

News 5 


be locked when Ivy went to meet 

him around 11am yesterday. 

Neither the party men nor Anwar’s 

close acquaintances could 

tell where he could be. 

When contacted over phone, 

Anwar’s spokesperson GM Arafat 

told the Dhaka Tribune that he did 

not know where Anwar was. 

“He [Anwar] had the support 

of the party’s grassroots activists. 

They are disappointed that he was 

not given the nomination. But 

since the prime minister herself 

made the decision to nominate 

Ivy, that is what will happen,” he 

added. • 

the final one,” he also said. 

“Moreover, during the last NCC 

polls, after getting party nomination, 

I was dumped only seven 

hours before the election for which 

reason I still don’t know,” he said in 

reply to a query of Dhaka Tribune. • 

UN: Allow safe passage 

for Rohingya Muslims 


The United Nations High Commissioner 

for Refugees (UNHCR) has 

urged Bangladesh government 

to keep its border with Myanmar 

open in order to allow safe passage 

for the Rohingya Muslims fleeing 

persecution by the Myanmar military. 

UNHCR spokesperson Adrian 

Edwards made the appeal at a 

press briefing held at the Palais des 

Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on 

Friday, according to a statement issued 

by the UN refugee agency on 

its website. 

“UNHCR is deeply concerned 

about the safety and well-being of 

civilians in the northern part of Rakhine 

state, Myanmar. We are urging 

the government of Myanmar to 

ensure the protection and dignity 

of all civilians on its territory in accordance 

with the rule of law and 

its international obligations,” the 

statement reads. 

“We are also appealing to the 

government of Bangladesh to keep 

its border with Myanmar open and 

allow safe passage to any civilians 

from Myanmar fleeing violence,” it 

continues. 

Edwards also appealed for calm 

in the conflicted region and for 

humanitarian access to assess and 

meet the needs of thousands of 

people who have reportedly been 

displaced from their homes by the 

ongoing security operation. 

“The affected population is believed 

to be in urgent need of food, 

Myanmar denies Bangladesh 

account of Rohingya flight 

• Reuters, Yangon 

Myanmar’s state media yesterday 

denied Bangladesh border guards’ 

accounts of Rohingya Muslims fleeing 

conflict at home by trying to 

cross into the northern neighbour. 

A commanding officer of Border 

Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said on Friday 

his staff provided food and medicines 

to 82 people, including women 

and children, attempting to leave 

Myanmar but turned them back from 

the frontier. Two boats with 86 people 

were pushed back on Tuesday. 

State-run English language 

newspaper Global New Light of 

Myanmar yesterday said a newly 

created information taskforce had 

found the reports to be untrue. 

“An inquiry into news reports 

DT 

shelter and medical care,” he was 

quoted in the statement. 

The UNHCR urged the Myanmar 

government to immediately allow 

aid workers to resume the life-saving 

activities they had been carrying 

out for some 160,000 civilians 

in Rakhine until such activities 

were suspended on October 9. 

Tension has been rife in Myanmar’s 

border areas with Bangladesh 

since several hundred militants 

linked to Aqa Mul Mujahidin 

group launched attacks on the border 

police and the army on October 

9, resulting in the deaths of a dozen 

law enforcers. The Myanmar Army 

has since been conducting operations 

to arrest the attackers. 

Myanmar authorities have heavily 

restricted access to the area, 

making it difficult to independently 

verify government reports or accusations 

of army abuse, as well as 

provide humanitarian aid. 

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims 

are fleeing the crackdown to Bangladesh, 

trying to escape the upsurge 

of violence that has brought 

the total number of dead confirmed 

by the army to more than 130, Reuters 

reported on Wednesday. 

Border Guard Bangladesh on 

Tuesday pushed back 86 Rohingya 

people, including 40 women and 

25 children and all hailing from 

Khoiarchar village in Sittwe, the 

capital of Rakhine, and also seized 

two boats after they entered Bangladesh 

through No 5 Sluice Gate 

and Wabrang area of Sabrang union 

crossing the Naf River. • 

by Reuters that nearly 200 people 

fleeing Myanmar had been arrested 

and repulsed yesterday by Bangladesh 

border guards has been found 

to be false,” said the newspaper. 

Myanmar soldiers have flooded 

the north of Rakhine state responding 

to attacks by alleged Muslim militants 

on October 9. 

Sixty-nine suspected insurgents 

and 17 security personnel have 

been killed since the violence began, 

according to official reports. 

Earlier this month, Myanmar denied 

accusations by Rohingya that 

its military had killed people fleeing 

the conflict which has displaced 

up to 30,000 people. 

Rohingya have told Reuters hundreds 

have tried to flee to Bangladesh 

after fighting intensified a week ago. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

DRY WEATHER 

LIKELY 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 

Dhaka 29 16 Chittagong 28 19 Rajshahi 29 17 Rangpur 28 14 Khulna 30 16 Barisal 29 17 Sylhet 29 13 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 5:11PM 

SUN RISES 6:18AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

31ºC 13.4ºC 

Bogra 

Jessore 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Cox’s Bazar 29 19 

Fajr: 5:40am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 4:00pm | Magrib: 5:24pm 

Esha: 7:30pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

CHHAYA PROTIBANDHI O AUTISTIC SCHOOL IN NATORE 

A lighthouse for physically challenged 

• M Kamal Mridha, Natore 

Chhaya Protibandhi O Autistic 

School run by local philanthropists 

in at Mohorkoya village in Lalpur 

upazila of Natore, has brought a ray 

of hope for better future of the disabled 

and autistic children in the 

area. 

The school, which was founded 

in 2012 to ensure free education for 

the physically challenged and autistic, 

has now 175 students. 

There are intellectual and physical 

both types of disabled students 

in the school. 

All of the 13 teachers of the institution 

have received training on 

autism, while three of them have 

received special training to give 

therapy to the special students as 

well as obtained training on sign 

language, said Simanur Rahman, 

the founding headmaster of the 

school. 

Simanur said there were general 

education, sign language education 

and autism education in the 

institution. 

The students also did physical 

exercise there, he added. 

The students do not have to pay 

Three killed in 3 districts 


At least three people including a 

woman were killed in three districts 

in separent incidents yesterday. 

In Jessore 

A youth was killed in a gunfight between 

two robber gangs in Kholadanga 

area of the district town, reports 

our correspondent. 

The deceased was Jahangir, 32, 

son of Nowsher, a resident of Shantola 

area. 

Md Ilius, OC of Kotowali police 

station, said on information that a 

gunfight ensued between two robber 

gangs, a team of police conducted 

a drive in the area around 1.45am. 

Sensing the presence of police, the 

members of both the gangs fled away. 

Later, police rescued Jahangir 

with bullet injuries at his head. 

The injured was taken to Jessore 

General Hospital where doctor declared 

him dead. 

In Sirajganj 

According to reports of our correspondent, 

a man was beaten to 

death allegedly by his three brothers-in-law 

over family feud at 

Chandangati Dakkhinpara village 

in Belkuchi upazila. 

The deceased was Abu Taleb, 

46, son of Gafur Molla, a resident of 

the village. 

OC of Belkuchi police station Sajjad 

Physically challenged and autistic children are attending a class at Chhaya Protibandhi O Autistic School run by local 

philanthropists in Lalpur upazila of Natore. The photo was taken recently 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Hossain said three brothers Uzzal, 

Saudagor and Saddam beat up their 

bother-in-law Abu Taleb mercilessly 

following a family feud in the morning, 

leaving him critically injured. 

Locals rescued Taleb and took 

him to a local hospital where doctors 

declared him dead. 

In Gaibandha 

A woman was killed by his ex-husband, 

also a BGB member, at 

Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha 

district, said our correspondent. 

The deceased was Shammi Akter 

Brishti,25, daughter of Jahurul 

Islam at Purbapara village. 

The father of the victim said 

Shammi had been married off with 

Shafi Sarkar, son of Abduzabbar of 

Sarkarpara village three years back. 

After 1.5-year of the marriage, 

Shafi divorced Shammi and after-wards 

she was staying with her 

family members. 

Shammi also filed a case over 

the divorce and the case was under 

proceeding. 

On the day, Shafi called Shammi 

over cell phone and she went to 

meet him at his home. 

Later, her body was found near a 

railway in the area. 

On information, police recovered 

the body and sent it to hospital 

morgue, said Ataur Rahman, 

OC of Bonarpara Railway police 

station. • 

any fees for receiving education in 

the school. 

Moreover, the school authorities 

bear the transport costs of the students, 

said the headmaster. 

Being curious, when our correspondent 

aksed Simanur how the 

school had been managing all the 

expenses, he went back to 2012. 

“I did social work and run a kindergarten 

in the area. I observed 

that there were many students who 

were not fit for general education. 

Then I decided along with my 12 

friends to build up such a school,” 

Simanur said. 

Then they requested the local 

influential men to come forward in 

this regard. 

Together with the financial help 

of locals and their own financial 

contribution, they built up the 

school, which is now a registered 

organization of the government, 

said Simanur. 

There were 21 staff, including 

the teachers, who never had received 

any salary since the very 

beginning, he added. 

Among the donors, Firoz Khan, 

an American expatriate, Superintendent 

of Police Alamgir Kabir, a 

resident of Pabna’s Iswardi upazila 

adjacent to Lalpur, and local lawmaker 

Abul Kalam Azad, who has 

an autistic son, are mention worthy. 

The headmaster, however, said: 

“We have to look after our families 

also and that is why if the government 

would take steps to ensure 

our salaries, we would be able to 

run the school without any tension.” 

• 

Another child raped in Dinajpur 

• Bipul Sarker Sunny 

In a turn of sickening events, 

a six year-old girl was raped in 

Brishtopur Shonachalani area of 

Birganj upazila in Dinajpur on November 

6. 

The heinous crime came to light 

when the victim was admitted to 

Dinajpur Medical College Hospital 

on November 14 in critical condition. 

Police arrested the alleged rapist 

Motiur Rahman, 34, of the same 

area after father of the child filed 

a rape case with Birganj police station 

on November 16. 

According to the police and locals, 

mother of the girl went to her 

parents’ house on November 6 following 

a dispute with her husband, 

leaving the girl in care of Motiur, 

whom the mother respected as her 

own father. 

At midnight, Motiur fled his 

house, as his family members 

heard the girl’s scream. 

Next morning, the child informed 

her mother of the 

incident. 

Then she was taken to a local 

homeopathic doctor, as she was 

bleeding. 

Meanwhile, Palashbari Union 

Parishad (UP) Chairman Jewelur 

Rahman and UP Member Nure 

Alam prevented the parents of the 

child from treating the victim at 

hospital and taking any legal action. 

They also offered the family 

Tk30,000 to remain quiet. 

The doctors at the hospital said 

the girl was undergoing treatment, 

as she had serious injury. 

When our correspondent contacted 

Jewelur and Alam, Jewelur 

refuted the allegation and said he 

was unaware of the incident, while 

Alam refused to answer any question. 

• 

AL men get dealerships of Tk10 rice 

• Rafiqul Islam, Feni 

Bangladesh government has taken 

a very smart decision to reduce suffering 

of ultra-poor people by selling 

Tk10 per kg to them. 

But it has already proved that 

this project was undertaken to fatten 

Awami League’s local leaders, 

alleged locals. 

Local people of Parshuram 

upazila of Feni district alleged that 

upazila food officer has appointed 

Awami League leaders and ALbacked 

members as dealers to line 

the pockets of them. 

Sources said Md Lokman Hossain, 

leader of Boxmahamud union 

AL unit, Nuruzzaman Bhutto, 

chairman of Mirzanagar union 

and general secretary of union AL, 

members Abul Kalam Azad, Yeasin, 

have got dear ships. When Nuruzzaman’s 

brother used to sell rice 

instead of him. 

When contacted, these people 

said that they were appointed as 

dealers and they are distributing 

Tk10 rice fairly. 

Though locals alleged that ruling 

party men grabbing poor’s rice. 

Saiful Islam, upazila food officer, 

said: “I have bound to appoint 

local AL leaders as dears due 

to heavy pressure.” 

Earlier, in September, Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated 

the generous food-aid programme 

for the ultra poor under 

which a card holder would get 

rice at Tk10 per kilogram for five 

months a year during the lean season. 

The programme – “Sheikh Hasinar 

Bangladesh, Khudha hobe 

Niruddesh” – is aimed at making 

rice available at a very low price for 

the poor of the country. •

News 7 


DT 

PM inaugurates golden jubilee 

programme of CU 

• FM Mizanur Rahaman, 

Chittagong 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally 

inaugurated the golden jubilee 

programme of Chittagong 

University (CU) through video conference 

yesterday morning. 

The PM also unfolded a commemorative 

postal stamp on the 

occasion. 

While inaugurating the programme, 

the Prime Minister said 

the brandishing of arms began in 

the educational institutes during 

the military regimes in the country. 

“Politics of conspiracy and killing 

began following the assignation 

of the Father of the Nation in 1975. 

The August 15 massacre of Bangabandhu 

family was followed by illegal 

military rule. The illegal military 

dictators usurped the state power 

and they could not develop the nation,” 

said the Prime Minister. 

“45 years have passed since 

we achieved independence. It is a 

disgrace for us that we could not 

achieve 100 percent literacy rate. 

During 1996-2001 period we undertook 

measures to eradicate illiteracy 

from every district of the 

country. We could also achieve 65 

percent literacy rate. However, the 

literacy rate dropped to 45 percent 

when we came to power again in 

2008,” the Prime Minister also said. 

The authority of the university 

chalked out a two-day long colourful 

programme on Chittagong 

University (CU) campus starting 

from November 18, marking the 

celebration of golden jubilee of the 

university. 

Speaker of Bangladesh National 

Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury 

attended the programme 

as the chief guest and Professor 

Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman as the 

golden jubilee speaker. 

“The present government has 

placed education on the top of its 

priority list and many steps have 

been undertaken to ensure quality 

education,” said the Parliament 

Speaker. 

CU VC Prof Dr Iftekhar Uddin 

Chowdhury presided over the inaugural 

ceremony where Housing 

and Public Works Minister Engineer 

Mosharraf Hossain, Water Resources 

Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, 

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas 

Minister Nurul Islam BSc, State Minister 

for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury 

Jabed and State Minister for 

Hill Tract Affairs Bhir Bahadur was 

present as the special guests. 

Chittagong City Awami League 

President and former city mayor 

ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, General 

Secretary and Mayor AJM Nasir 

Uddin and UGC Chairman Prof 

Abdul Mannan also attended the 

programme among other distinguished 

guests. • 

RU students 

among 44 sent 

to jail 

• Abdullah Al Dulal, Rajshahi 

A Rajshahi Court yesterday sent 44 

people including two students of 

Rajshahi University (RU) conected 

with Hizb ut Tahrir to jail. 

Iftekhar Alam, senior assistant 

comissinoer of Rajshahi Metropolitan 

Police (RMP) told to the Dhaka 

Tribune that a team of Boalia police 

station arrtesed RU students Abdul 

Matin, 23, student of Islamic Studies 

and Mamunur Rashid, 22, student of 

Philosophy department, at Sonadia 

Mor for their connection with Hizb 

ut Tahrir on Friday while they were 

distributing leaflets of Hizb ut Tahrir. 

Meanwhile, police also arrtsed 

42 people including drug pedlars, 

consumers, listed criminals from 

diffent places in the city with phensidyle, 

hem and heroin, he said. • 

Quader urges 

AL followers to 

get united 

• UNB 

Awami League General Secretary 

Obaidul Quader yesterday urged 

the party activists to get united forgetting 

all the divisions as the national 

election is going to be held in 

two years’ time. 

“The national election will be 

held after two years. So, we’ll have 

to get united forgetting all the divisions 

in the party. We won’t compromise 

when it comes to party 

policy and ideal,” he said. 

Quader, also the Road Transport 

and Bridges Minister, said this 

while addressing a mass reception 

at Noakhali Zila High School 

ground. 

He also urged the party men 

not to outshine the achievements 

of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

with their bad behavior with 

people. 

District unit AL president Prof 

Khairul Anam Chowdhury Selim 

presided over the programme. • 

Tourists suffer for beggars, mobile traders 

• Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar 

Despite attempts to drive away 

beggars, street boys and mobile 

traders to make Cox’s Bazar sea 

beach free from the menace, the 

number of them is increasing daily 

causing suffering to the tourists. 

The beggars, especially the kids, 

harass the tourists for alms. Foreigners 

usually suffer the most, 

and at times, the child beggars pull 

the tourists’ hands to gain attention. 

A man is seen spraying chemical on green tomatoes to ripen them prematurely posing threats to public health. The picture was taken yesterday at a field in Godagari 

area of Rajshahi 

AZAHAR UDDIN 

Sometimes they assault the 

tourists if they are refused to entertain 

them, alleged some tourists. 

Everyday thousands of tourists 

from home and abroad visit the 

world’s largest sea beach. Though 

visitors came here to enjoy, their 

all hard works to get peace, joy and 

happiness go in vein due to traders, 

beggars and others, said sources. 

Apart from them, speed boats 

drivers, umbrella-chair owners and 

part timer photographers allegedly 

harass tourists demanding excessive 

money for taking their services. 

Sometimes these people collect 

extra money in the name of local 

administration. 

Dr Faisal and Farzana, a couple 

from Comilla, alleged that they 

have rent an umbrella at Tk30 for 

an hour. But the umbrella owner 

asked them to pay extra Tk30 as 

they sit there five minutes more. 

While they refused to pay the extra 

money the owner assaulted them. 

Chowdhury Akbar, a resident of 

the capital city, said: “Beggars are 

coming to us for begging one after 

another. It seems that we came 

here to pay the beggars not the enjoy 

ourselves.” 

Freedom fighter Rahim Ali, a 

tourist from Dhaka, said: “Some 

unrelenting photographers requested 

us for photo shoots just we 

footed on the beach. They always 

followed tourists until tourists 

agreed with them.” 

He alleged that if authorities 

concerned do not take necessary 

steps to drive the beggars, traders 

and street boys from the beach, the 

beach will be lost tourists gradually. 

When contacted, Additional 

Superintendent of Tourist Police 

Khondoker Fazle Rabbi said: 

“We have banned beggars, street 

boys and mobile traders from the 

beach.” 

Mohammad Ali, deputy commissioner 

of Cox’s Bazar, said: “We 

have taken initiatives to drive beggars 

and mobile traders from the 

beach and we are conducting operations 

against them.” •

DT 

8 

World 


SOUTH ASIA 

Pakistan, India trade fire 

in Kashmir, killing 3 

Three children were killed and 

three others injured Saturday when 

mortar shells fired by Indian forces 

hit a village along the Line of Control 

(Loc) in Pakistan-administered 

Kashmir. Meanwhile, the Pakistani 

military said Pakistan and Indian 

border troops exchanged fire across 

the Loc in two other sectors on 

Saturday, the Inter-Services Public 

Relations (ISPR) said. REUTERS 

INDIA 

Ulfa Militants kill three 

Indian soldiers in Assam 

Three Indian soldiers were killed 

and four seriously wounded on 

Saturday in a separatist attack 

in the restive northeastern state 

of Assam, officials said. Heavily 

armed militants of the outlawed 

United Liberation Front of Asom 

(Ulfa) ambushed an army convoy 

near the Pengeri reserve forest 

in the eastern Assam district of 

Tinsukia. REUTERS 

CHINA 

Dalai Lama visits Mongolia 

despite China’s objections 

The Dalai Lama met with Buddhist 

worshippers Saturday during a 

four-day visit to Mongolia, despite 

Beijing’s strident demand that he 

be barred from entering the country. 

The People’s Republic further 

demanded that Mongolia “not 

allow the visit by the Dalai Lama 

and do not promote any facilitation 

for the separatist activities by 

the Dalai clique”. AFP 

ASIA PACIFIC 

15 missing in Indonesia 

boat accident 

At least 15 people are missing after 

a speedboat collided with a Vietnamese 

cargo vessel Saturday and 

capsized in the Java Sea, according 

to an official. The passenger boat 

was ferrying 27 people some 50km 

off the coast of Tuban, a small 

town in East Java, when it collided 

with a ship transporting tapioca 

starch from Vietnam. AFP 

MIDDLE EAST 

Saudi-led coalition declares 

48-hour-ceasefire in Yemen 

The Saudi-led military coalition 

declared a 48-hour ceasefire in 

Yemen on Saturday, on the condition 

that Shiite rebels abide by it 

and allow humanitarian assistance 

into besieged cities, particularly the 

city of Taiz. However, minutes after 

it went into effect, activists in Taiz 

said that rebel shelling continued 

in the city while a rebel-affiliated 

military spokesman said that there 

was no halt of fighting. AP 

Myanmar rejects reports army killed 

Rohingya fleeing Rakhine conflict 

• Reuters, Yangon 

Myanmar’s government rejected 

accusations by minority Rohingya 

Muslims that the military has 

killed residents fleeing the conflict 

in the northwest of the country, in 

which at least 86 people have been 

killed so far and up to 30,000 displaced. 

Hundreds of Rohingya are trying 

to escape the military crackdown 

after a recent escalation in violence 

in Rakhine State, residents have 

said, adding that some of them have 

been gunned down while attempting 

to cross the river that marks the 

frontier with Bangladesh. 

The information taskforce on 

Rakhine, formed this week by the 

office of de facto Myanmar leader 

and Nobel Peace Prize winner 

Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the 

allegations against the military, 

known as the “Tatmadaw” in the 

Burmese language. 

Soldiers have poured into the 

north of Rakhine along Myanmar’s 

frontier with Bangladesh, 

responding to attacks by alleged 

Muslim militants on border posts 

on October 9. 

They have locked down the district, 

where the vast majority of 

residents are Rohingya, shutting 

out aid workers and independent 

observers. 

A senior Bangladeshi official 

said its border guard force on 

Friday turned back 82 Rohingya 

Muslims, including women and 

children, attempting to leave Myanmar. 

This came after two boats 

with 86 people were pushed back 

on Tuesday. 

Calls for investigation 

Sixty-nine suspected insurgents 

and 17 members of the security 

forces have been killed, according 

to official reports, since the violence 

began last month. 

Residents and rights advocates 

have accused security forces of 

summary executions, rape and 

setting fire to homes. The government 

and army have rejected the 

accusations. 

The UN envoy on human rights 

in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, criticised 

Suu Kyi’s handling of the crisis 

and renewed her appeal to investigate 

the allegations of abuses. 

“State Counsellor Aung San Suu 

Kyi has recently stated that the 

government is responding to the 

situation based on the principle of 

the rule of law. Yet I am unaware of 

any efforts on the part of the government 

to look into the allegations 

of human rights violations,” 

Lee said in a statement on Friday. 

“It would appear, on the contrary, 

that the government has mostly 

responded with a blanket denial,” 

said Lee, adding the security forces 

“must not be given carte blanche 

to step up their operations”. 

Up to 30,000 people are now 

estimated to be displaced and 

thousands more affected by the 

October 9 attacks and the following 

security operation, said Pierre 

Peron, the spokesman of the Coordination 

of Humanitarian Affairs 

(Ocha) in Myanmar. • 

Malaysia’s Mahathir joins calls to oust PM Najib 

• AFP, Kuala Lumpur 

Former Malaysian leader Mahathir 

Mohamad called for a sustained 

push to topple scandal-plagued 

Prime Minister Najib Razak as 

thousands rallied on Saturday to 

demand the premier’s resignation 

over the 1MDB corruption saga. 

Malaysians clad in the yellow 

of the reformist Bersih campaign 

flooded Kuala Lumpur for the 

second time in 15 months to vent 

anger over allegations that billions 

of dollars were looted from state 

investment fund 1MDB, Najib’s 

brainchild. 

Speaking to a crowd of at least 

20,000 under the shadow of the 

capital’s giant Petronas Towers 

twin skyscrapers, Mahathir, 91, 

accused Najib of stealing public 

money and said Malaysia was 

“controlled by thieves”. 

“Time has come for us to topple 

this cruel regime. Najib is no 

longer suitable to be the prime 

minister. He is abusing the law,” 

Mahathir said. 

Malaysia has been seized since 

last year by the 1MDB scandal, 

which has sparked investigations 

in several countries. 

But the US Justice Department 

– which has filed lawsuits to seize 

Members of pro-democracy group Bersih listen to former Malaysian prime 

minister Mahathir Mohammad at a rally during a 1MDB protest, calling for Prime 

Minister Najib Abdul Razak to resign, in Kuala Lumpur on November 19 REUTERS 

assets it says were purchased with 

stolen 1MDB money – says the 

fund was pillaged in an audacious 

campaign of fraud and theft that 

This handout photograph was released by the Myanmar Armed Forces on 

November 13, 2016, with information stating that Myanmar soldiers are putting 

out a fire in Wapeik village located in Maungdaw in Rakhine State 

AFP 

involved an unnamed top Malaysian 

official. A Malaysian Cabinet 

official has since admitted that individual 

was Najib. 

Rivers of yellow 

Tensions in the Muslim-majority 

country rose in the rally’s run-up 

due to threats by the “Red Shirts,” 

ethnic-Malay rightists who support 

Najib, to disrupt the demonstration, 

but no clashes were reported. 

Police on Friday arrested Bersih 

leader Maria Chin Abdullah and 

several other figures in an apparent 

bid to undercut Saturday’s protest. 

Amnesty International called 

the arrests “the latest in a series 

of crude and heavy-handed attempts” 

to silence dissent. 

Defying the government pressure, 

rivers of yellow-wearing 

demonstrators flowed downtown, 

blowing vuvuzelas, brandishing 

caricatures of Najib and other 

1MDB figures, and chanting “Catch 

the Thief-in-Chief!” 

Bersih, which means “clean” 

in Malay, is an alliance of scores 

of NGOs and civil-society groups 

that staged several protests over 

the years for electoral reform, 

but has now shifted focus to 

1MDB. 

In August 2015, it drew even 

larger crowds for two days of 

peaceful demonstrations over 

1MDB. •

World 

French conservatives rally voters 

in tightening primaries race 

• Reuters, Paris 

The race for France’s conservative 

presidential nomination looked 

tighter than ever on Saturday, 

with voting due to begin within 24 

hours and polls suggesting whoever 

emerges on top will make it 

all the way to the Elysee Palace. 

Ahead of Sunday’s vote, which 

will select two candidates for the 

decisive November 27 second 

round, centrist Alain Juppe had 

lost most or all of his early polling 

lead as his fellow former prime 

minister Francois Fillon enjoyed a 

late surge. 

After Britain’s shock “Brexit” 

vote in June and last week’s 

election of Donald Trump as US 

president, the French election 

next spring will be the next test 

France’s seven centre-right presidential hopefuls 

• AFP, Paris 

Seven right-wing presidential 

hopefuls will compete in the first 

round of a US-style primary on 

Sunday that is widely expected to 

decide France’s next leader. 

Polls show the winner of the 

two-round November 20-27 nominating 

contest meeting – and 

beating – far-right National Front 

leader Marine Le Pen in the second 

round of the election in May. 

Alain Juppe: Unifier 

Former prime minister Alain Juppe, 

71, has campaigned as a moderate 

and a sage who will unify a 

country divided by a deep economic 

malaise and a wave of jihadist 

attacks. 

The man with the longest CV 

in French politics, including stints 

as foreign and defence minister 

under Sarkozy, has attempted to 

banish the gloom with his vision 

of a “happy” national identity. 

Sarkozy has accused him of being 

“soft” but Juppe insists he “stands 

his ground”. 

Nicolas Sarkozy: Comeback kid 

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, 

61, promised to blow the competition 

out of the water as he bids to win 

back the keys to the Elysee Palace 

but has so far failed to land a knockout 

blow on his arch-rival Juppe. In 

a strategy that cost him re-election 

in 2012 he has again lurched to the 

right on immigration, security and 

Islam in a bid to woo voters tempted 

by the National Front. 

Francois Fillon: The third man 

Francois Fillon is hoping to cause 

an upset by winning a place in the 

CHOOSING FRANCE’S REPUBLICANS PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE 

7 

Candidates 

The frontrunners 

Who can vote: 

You don’t have to be a party 

member: just a French citizen 

2-4 million 

are expected to cast their 

vote, in France and abroad 

(by internet) 

Voters sign a declaration 

saying they support the 

“Republican values 

of France’s right (and 

centre)” 

Sources: Republicans Party, Insee 2013 

N Kosciusko- 

A Juppe N Sarkozy F Fillon B Lemaire Morizet (NKM) J-F Poisson J-F Cope 

of strength between weakened 

mainstream political forces and 

rising populist insurgents. 

Opinion polls have for months 

November 27 run-off as a compromise 

choice with more bite than 

Juppe but less punch than his former 

boss Sarkozy. 

Fillon became the youngest 

member of the French parliament 

at age 27 in 1981 and held 

several ministerial portfolios under 

Jacques Chirac. As Sarkozy’s 

prime minister from 2007 to 2012 

his unflappable, avuncular style 

made him an antidote to the hyperactive 

president. 

Bruno Le Maire: The good pupil 

Agriculture minister under 

Sarkozy from 2009 to 2012, Bruno 

Le Maire, 47, has struggled 

to shake off an image of slightly 

stodgy, over-educated technocrat. 

“My intelligence is an obstacle,” 

the clean-cut politician once 

famously declared. 

His programme comes in the 

form of a 1,012-page “contract” 

with the French. 

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet: Free 

spirit 

At 43, former environment minister 

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is 

the youngest candidate, and the 

only woman. 

A maverick who has called for 

cannabis to be decriminalised, 

she was sacked by Sarkozy as the 

Republicans’ vice president in December 

2015 after she criticised 

his leadership. Known in France 

by her initials NKM, she made an 

unsuccessful bid to become Paris 

mayor in 2014. 

Jean-Francois Cope: Uninhibited’ 

right 

Jean-Francois Cope, 52, was 

forced to resign as president of 

Where they will vote: 

In 10,228 polling stations 

across France and the 

overseas territories 

suggested that far-right National 

Front leader Marine Le Pen will 

make it to the decisive run-off in 

May, but that Juppe would beat 

Sources: Politico, Wall Street Journal 

the UMP, the forerunner of the Republicans 

Party, in June 2014 over 

a campaign finance scandal that 

has also embroiled Sarkozy. 

Jean-Frederic Poisson: Christian 

choice 

The head of the Christian 

Democratic Party, 53-year-old 

her if he won the conservative Les 

Republicains nomination. 

His lead, however, has been 

eroded by two party rivals to 

his right - ex-president Nicolas 

Sarkozy and Fillon, who served 

as Sarkozy’s prime minister from 

2007-2012. 

“I can sense a surprise coming,” 

Fillon told supporters at a rally on 

Friday in Paris. He urged them to 

“shake up” the primaries, winning 

wide applause and shouts of “Fillon 

for president” from a crowd of 

over 3,000. 

Long trailing in the polls, Fillon 

has come from behind in the past 

week, making the race even harder 

to call. He was judged the winner 

of Thursday’s final televised 

debate before the weekend vote, 

an opinion poll showed. • 

France’s former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron has launched his 

presidential bid just days before the conservative Les Républicains 

hold their primaries. Voters go to the polls next April and May 

Alain Juppé, 71 

Former prime 

minister 

Les Républicains 

Current front-runner 

in polls says French 

identity is grounded 

in respect for 

religious and ethnic 

diversity 

François 

Hollande, 62 

President of France 

Socialist Party 

Has not yet 

confirmed whether 

he will stand for 

re-election 

When they vote: 

1 st round 

November 20 

Top 2 candidates 

go to 2nd round* 

2nd round 

November 27 

Decides the party’s 

candidates 

* Unless one candidate wins +50% of the vote in the first round. 

FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL RACE HOTS UP 

Nicolas 

Sarkozy, 61 

Former president 


Proposes detention 

of thousands of 

people who are on 

intelligence watch 

lists but have never 

been charged 

Manuel Valls, 54 

Prime Minister 

Socialist Party 

Supported attempts 

from right-wing 

mayors to ban 

head-to-foot 

“burkini” swimsuits 

François 

Fillon, 62 

Former prime 

minister 


Only outspoken 

defender of 

economic liberalism 

among party’s 

seven candidates 

Marine Le Pen, 48 

Front National 

Anti-immigrant 

message – 

no place for 

multiculturalism 

under Le Pen 

presidency 

Pictures: Getty Images / AFP 

Four other 


candidates: 

Bruno Le Maire 

(above), Nathalie 

Kosciusko-Morizet, 

Jean-Frédéric 

Poisson and 

Jean-François 

Copé 

Emmanuel 

Macron, 38 

En Marche! 

Former investment 

banker has 

pledged to break 

apart France’s 

political system 

© GRAPHIC NEWS 

Jean-Frederic Poisson has taken a 

firm stance against gay marriage, 

legalised in France in 2013. 

He courted controversy during 

the campaign for refusing to rule 

out voting for Le Pen in the unlikely 

event she meets current Socialist 

president Francois Hollande in 

the election run-off in May. • 

9 


USA 

Trump’s staff picks alarm 

minorities 

DT 

Republican President-elect Donald 

Trump’s choices for leadership posts 

threaten national unity and promise 

to turn back the clock on progress 

for racial, religious and sexual 

minorities, civil rights leaders and 

others said Friday after his nomination 

of Alabama US Senator Jeff 

Sessions for attorney general. AP 

THE AMERICAS 

Argentines protesters 

demand law to fight 

growing poverty 

Tens of thousands of Argentines 

protested Friday to pressure 

lawmakers into backing a measure 

intended to address rising poverty 

in the South American nation. 

Demonstrators flooded the streets 

of Buenos Aires and marched to 

the Congress building waving flags 

representing some of Argentina’s 

most powerful unions and chanting 

slogans demanding passage of 

the “social emergency law.” AP 

UK 

UK Tory party urges MP 

May to drop Brexit appeal 

Three prominent members of British 

Prime Minister Theresa May’s 

Conservative Party on Saturday 

urged her to drop the government’s 

appeal against a court ruling 

that parliament must approve 

the process to trigger Brexit. The 

comments come a day after the 

court ruled the devolved Scottish 

and Welsh governments will be 

allowed to intervene in the appeal, 

due to take place next month. AFP 

EUROPE 

Turkey detains 76 

academics 

Turkey’s state-run news agency says 

76 academics have been detained 

at a university in Istanbul as part of 

the ongoing investigation into the 

movement allegedly responsible for 

an attempted coup. The Anadolu 

Agency reported that detention 

warrants were issued Friday for 103 

employees Yildiz Technical University 

on charges of “membership in 

an armed terrorist organisation.” AP 

AFRICA 

African rats to turn sensitive 

noses against poaching 

Africa’s giant rats have been 

trained to sniff out landmines and 

detect tuberculosis in humans, 

and soon they could turn their 

superior noses to protecting other 

animals by finding illegal wildlife 

trophies being smuggled out of 

African ports. The US-financed 

project is still in its early stages 

- the rats who will be trained to 

scuttle over shipping containers 

in search of pangolin scales were 

only born in October. REUTERS

10 


DT 

World 

Trump national security picks under scrutiny 

• AFP, Washington, DC 

JEFF SESSIONS 

MIKE POMPEO 

President-elect Donald Trump 

meets Saturday with Mitt Romney, 

one of his most vocal Republican 

Party critics now considered a longshot 

choice for secretary of state, 

after naming three polarising conservatives 

to fill key national security 

and judicial posts. 

Anti-immigration SeNator Jeff 

Sessions, one of Trump’s earliest 

supporters during the campaign, 

was nominated Friday to be attorney 

general, signalling Trump is prepared 

to take his hard line on illegal 

immigration into the White House. 

To lead the CIA, Trump tapped 

hawkish Congressman Mike Pompeo, 

a strident opponent of the 

Iran nuclear deal and a sharp critic 

of Trump’s campaign rival Hillary 

Clinton during hearings into the 

2012 attack on the US mission in 

Benghazi, Libya. 

The incoming commander-in-chief 

also appointed retired 

lieutenant general Michael 

Flynn, a top military counsel to 

the 70-year-old Republican billionaire-turned-world-leader, 

as his national 

security advisor. 

Hours after the picks were revealed, 

New York state’s attorney 

general announced that Trump had 

reached a $25m settlement in class 

action suits accusing his now-defunct 

Trump University of fraud. 

The case had been a cloud over 

his campaign for months, and the 

deal spares him the embarrassment 

of further legal wrangling as 

he forms his government. Attorney 

Daniel Petrocelli hailed it as a “victory 

for everybody.” 

Reassuring signals 

While his picks suggest he is adhering 

to conservative positions, 

Trump settles Trump University lawsuits for $25m 

• AFP, New York 

US President-elect Donald Trump 

on Friday agreed to pay $25m to 

settle lawsuits accusing his now-defunct 

Trump University of fraud, 

sparing him the embarrassment of 

further legal wrangling as he prepares 

to enter the White House. 

A trio of suits brought by former 

students alleged that the training 

program – which was not an accredited 

college or university, but 

was in operation from 2005 to 2011 

– fleeced students by tricking them 

with aggressive marketing. 

Students paid as much as 

$35,000 to enroll, wrongly believing 

they would make it big in real 

estate after being taught by the 

Manhattan mogul’s hand-picked 

experts, said the suits brought in 

New York and California. 

Trump’s lawyers had countered 

Trump made efforts to send reassuring 

signals about stability and 

continuity regarding America’s 

place in the world. 

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said 

he had a “good talk” with Trump 

by telephone, telling AFP in Brussels 

he was “absolutely confident” 

that the incoming president remains 

committed to the transatlantic 

alliance. 

Kansas lawmaker Pompeo, 52, 

co-authored a report slamming 

then-secretary of state Clinton’s 

handling of the Benghazi attack, in 

which the US ambassador to Libya 

and three other Americans died. 

Deeper controversy surrounds 

Trump’s national security adviser 

Flynn, 57, who is set to play an influential 

role in shaping policy for 

a president with no experience in 

government or diplomacy, including 

how to contend with an increasingly 

aggressive Russia. 

Flynn raised eyebrows when 

he travelled to Moscow and dined 

alongside Russian President 

Vladimir Putin. 

And he has refused to rule out 

enhanced interrogation techniques 

like waterboarding, which have 

been described as torture and 

which Trump repeatedly condoned 

while campaigning. 

Flynn has described Islam as a 

“cancer” and a “political ideology”, 

and in February tweeted that “fear 

of Muslims is rational.” 

Flynn’s appointment does not 

require Senate approval. 

But that of Sessions as attorney 

general does, and he has baggage: 

racially charged comments he 

made in the 1980s and which once 

cost him a chance for a job for life as 

a federal judge. 

A panel denied him a federal 

judgeship in 1986, after hearing 

for years that many students had 

given the program a thumbs-up and 

those who failed to succeed had 

only themselves to blame. 

But, with the president-elect apparently 

seeking to put the thorny 

matter to rest as he builds his cabinet, 

a deal was reached. 

“Today’s $25m settlement 

agreement is a stunning reversal by 

Donald Trump and a major victory 

for the over 6,000 victims of his 

fraudulent university,” New York 

state attorney general Eric Schneiderman 

said. 

“I am pleased that under the 

terms of this settlement, every 

victim will receive restitution and 

that Donald Trump will pay up to 

$1m in penalties to the State of 

New York for violating state education 

laws.” 

A spokesperson for Schneiderman’s 

office said the settlement 

US attorney general 

Married, 

3 children 

Source: Congressional directory 

Aged 69 

Politician, lawyer Methodist 

Dec 24, 1946 

Born in Selma, Alabama 

1973 

Law degree from University 

of Alabama 

1975-1977 

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Alabama 

(Southern District) 

1981-1993 

U.S. Attorney, Alabama (Southern 

District) 

1985 

Judge, Alabama (Southern District) 

1986 

Nominated to be federal judge, 

Senate committee rejected him 

over allegedly racist comments 

1995-97 

Attorney General of Alabama 

1997-2016 

Senator for Alabama. Member of 

the senate judiciary committee. 

Feb 2016 

First sitting senator to endorse 

Donald Trump for president 

Nov 18 2016 

Trump’s nominee for post 

of US attorney general 

testimony that he had used racially 

derogatory remarks to describe 

blacks, that civil rights groups 

were “communist-inspired” and 

“un-American,” and joked that the 

only issue he had with the Ku Klux 

Klan was their drug use. 

covers all three class-action lawsuits 

against Trump University: two 

in California dating to 2010 and one 

in New York filed in 2013. 

MICHAEL FLYNN 

National security adviser 

Married, 

2 sons 

Aged 57 

Retired Army Lt General (3-star) 

Dec 1958 

Born in Rhode Island 

1981 

Joins Army as 2nd Lieutenant, 

military intelligence. Assigned 

to 82nd Airborne Division 

Army career 

Command and staff posts in US, 

Afghanistan and Iraq, focussing 

on military intelligence 

2012-14 

Director of the Defense 

Intelligence Agency. 

Fired after complaints about 

his leadership style 

“In 2014, I was fired ... after telling 

a congressional committee that 

we were not as safe as we had 

been a few years back.” (From 

his 2016 book, “The Field of Fight”) 

Since retirement 

Outspoken critic of Obama 

administration. Backed Donald 

Trump’s presidential candidacy 

Nov 18, 2016 

Named as Trump’s National 

Security Advisor 

Source: DIA, AFP / Photo AFP 

CIA director 

Married, 

1 son 

Aged 52 

Hawkish congressman focussed 

on intelligence issues 

Dec 1963 

Born Orange County, California 

1986 

Graduates top of his class from 

West Point military academy 

1986-91 

Army service as officer in the 

US and Europe 

1994 

Harvard Law School 

Editor, Harvard Law Review 

1994-1997 

Tax attorney at Williams 

& Connolly 

1997-2006 

Founder, Chief Executive, 

Thayer Aerospace 

2011- 

US congressman for Kansas. 

Since 2013 member of the 

House Intelligence Committee 

2014 

Sits on House Select Benghazi 

Committee that investigates 

deadly 2012 attack on the 

U.S. mission there 

Nov 18, 2016 

Trump picks him to lead the 

Central Intelligence Agency 

Source: Congressional directory / Photo AFP 

Sessions has also been a fiery opponent 

of immigration, waging war 

on efforts to pass comprehensive 

immigration reform through Congress 

in 2007 and 2013. 

SeNator Chuck Schumer, who 

will be the chamber’s top Democrat 

come January, warned that 

Sessions could have a confirmation 

fight on his hands. • 

This May 23, 2005 file photo shows real estate mogul Donald Trump holding a media conference to announce the establishment 

of Trump University in New York City 

AFP 

Robert Guillo, a 76-year-old New 

Yorker who spent nearly $40,000 

on tuition alongside his son, had 

previously told AFP that the program 

was an “absolute scam.” 

“I learned absolutely nothing,” 

Guillo said. “He fooled me for 

$35,000.” •

Obama faces tough questions on Trump during his last trip 

• AFP, Lima, Peru 

Photo AFP: Aris Messinis 

Barack Obama begins the final 

foreign visit of his eightyear 

presidency Saturday in 

Peru, facing tough questions 

from assembled Pacific leaders 

about Donald Trump’s 

election victory. 

Obama is in Lima for an 

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 

(Apec) summit that 

is likely to focus heavily on 

Trump’s shock victory. 

On Saturday, he will meet 

leaders of the 12-country 

Trans-Pacific Partnership, or 

TPP, which Trump has opposed 

and now faces an uncertain 

future. 

White House officials admit 

the chances of passing 

the deal are slim, but Obama 

will urge leaders to give the 

new president time to formulate 

policy. 

From Obama down, officials 

have stressed that US 

economic and strategic interests 

have not changed as 

a result of the election, and 

Trump may yet recalibrate 

his views. 

“It’s only been 10 days 

since the election,” said US 

Trade Representative Michael 

Froman. 

He warned of “serious” 

strategic and economic costs 

if the United States walks 

away from the deal, designed 

to be a cornerstone of US influence 

in the Asia-Pacific 

region. 

But there is little chance of 

Trump’s Republican allies in 

Congress ratifying TPP anytime 

soon. 

“I think that is a real blow 

to US interests, economically 

and strategically, in terms 

of our position in Asia, but 

I think that is the reality, 

that the US is not going to 

be participating,” said Matthew 

Goodman, an expert 

on Asian economics with the 

Centre for Strategic and International 

Studies. 

“But there are 11 other 

countries in TPP and I think 

that it is possible that they 

will agree to go ahead and 

pass TPP,” he said in an interview, 

adding that they could 

“tweak” the agreement to 

keep it alive without the US. 

Some allies are turning 

their attention to a rival 

Chinese-backed free trade 

agreement. 

Japanese leader Shinzo 

Abe, who took domestic political 

risks to back the US 

trade deal, visited Trump 

in New York on Thursday to 

hear from the president-elect 

himself. 

Trump has sparked concern 

in Japan and South 

Korea in particular by questioning 

decades-old mutual 

defense obligations that underpin 

their security. 

Ahead of Obama’s visit, 

National Security Advisor 

Susan Rice said allies should 

expect those obligations to 

hold. 

“It is manifestly in the 

United States’s interests for 

these alliances to endure and 

to be a source of confidence 

to our partners and for them 

to understand that they don’t 

need to come out from under 

the US umbrella,” she said. 

While stressing that she 

did not want to speculate 

about Trump’s foreign policy, 

she sought to reassure 

key US allies in Nato and the 

Pacific Rim that they will not 

be abandoned. 

Many Pacific nations are 

clamouring for deeper trade 

ties with the rest of the 

world. 

But in the United States 

and throughout the West, 

there is growing opposition 

to deals that many say have 

contributed to jobs being 

sent overseas. 

Obama is likely to make 

the case that globalization 

is a fact of life, and modern 

trade deals – with sturdy 

environmental and labour 

provisions – help shape that 

trend in the right direction. 

Nuclear Korea 

Obama is also slated to hold 

talks with Chinese President 

Xi Jinping on Saturday for a 

final meeting between the 

leaders of the world’s two 

economic powers. 

US officials say the sitdown 

will also deal with efforts 

to stop North Korea’s 

ballistic missile and nuclear 

programs. 

Obama is expected to 

press for an increase in the 

pace and severity of sanctions 

against North Korea, 

which is trying to develop 

a miniaturised nuclear warhead 

and a missile capable 

of delivering that deadly payload 

to the United States. 

World 

OBAMA’S DIPLOMACY IN 10 KEY DATES 

2009 2013 2015 

January 20 Dec 1 

Aug 31 Aug 20 

July 14 

Sworn 30,000 soldiers Refuses Call to eradicate Signs nuclear 

in as 

sent to back to intervene the ‘cancer’ accord with 

president up local troops in Syria of Islamic Iran 

in Afghanistan 

State 

June 4 

Reaches out 

to Muslims 

in Cairo speeches 


March 6 Dec 17 

Sanctions Restores 

against Russia relations 

over Ukraine with Cuba 

Beijing has long dragged 

its heels on sanctioning its 

allies in Pyongyang, fearing a 

flood of refugees if North Korea’s 

economy collapses. 

But earlier this year, Beijing 

moved to sanction a conglomerate 

based in China’s 

11 



May 27 

Visits 

Hiroshima 

Sept 3 

With China, signs 

up to climate 

agreement 

DT 

Nov 18 

Final meeting 

with European 

leaders 

frontier city of Dandong that 

had an estimated $530m in 

trade with North Korea between 

2011 and 2015. •

DT 

12 

Business 


Capital Market Snapshot: Past week 

DSE Broad Index 4,698.5 0.5% ▲ Index 1,122.7 0.0% ▲ 30 Index 1,758.5 0.0% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 0,906.4 4.9% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 878.4 20.8% ▲ 

CSE All Share Index 14,461.5 0.5% ▲ 30 Index 13,016.2 0.3% ▲ Selected Index 8,805.7 0.6% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 1,920.5 10.9% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 68.6 34.2% ▲ 

No response to loan 

rescheduling call 

ACM-ICPC 

programming contest 

to promote IT sector 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

Bangladesh Bank has not responded 

to the demand of a special facility 

from 42 large companies in 

rescheduling loans as they claimed 

their business incurred losses due 

to political unrest in 2014, said officials 

concerned. 

GP, Radhuni win top consumer 

brand awards 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

Grameenphone and spices brand 

Radhuni have been awarded the 

country’s top consumer brands for 

their “acceptance among consumers.” 

The 2016 awards were announced 

yesterday as Grameenphone, 

a leading mobile phone 

operator in Bangladesh, received 

the Best Overall Brand Award and 

Radhuni, the spice brand of Square 

Consumer Products, secured the 

Best Local Brands Award. 

Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF) 

awarded brands representing 22 

FMCG (fast-moving consumer 

goods) categories and 11 non-FM- 

CG categories at the eighth edition 

of the Best Brand Award at a function 

held in Dhaka. 

Launched in 2008, the BBF is 

being held every year to recognise 

country’s finest brands based on a 

consumer survey. 

Along with the top brands in 

each category, a list of overall top 10 

brands and top 10 local brands were 

also announced at the function. 

Bangladesh Brand Forum, in 

partnership with world’s leading 

brand research company Kantar 

Millward Brown, Bangladesh and 

in association with The Daily Star 

recognised the best brands award 

in the country. 

Three special awards - Best Newcomer 

Brand to Pran Frooto, Most 

Improved Brand to Super Fresh 

Fortified Soyabean Oil and Most 

Consistent Brand to Horlicks- were 

also awarded. 

BBF organised the event to 

honor leading brands in Bangladesh 

under 33 categories based on 

a nationwide survey consisting of 

4,800 respondents which was carried 

out by Kantar Millward Brown 

Bangladesh. 

BBF Director Nazia Andaleeb 

Preema, also president of Women 

in Leadership (WIL), gave the welcome 

speech at the award giving 

ceremony. 

In January 2015, a number of 15 big 

groups who have more than Tk500 

crore loans in default enjoyed the facility 

getting their loans rescheduled. 

A total amount of Tk16,410 crore 

loans were rescheduled at that time. 

Officials said the central bank 

has decided not reschedule loans 

below Tk500 crore though the defaulters 

filed a writ with the High 

Court in favour of their demand. 

Earlier in January, the court dismissed 

another petition regarding 

the matter. 

Later, the borrowers submitted 

an application to Bangladesh Bank 

not to disclose the list of loan defaulters. 

• 

Khandaker Samina Afrin, country 

manager of Kantar Milward 

Brown Bangladesh, and Tajdin 

Hassan, head of Marketing of The 

Three special awards - Best Newcomer 

Brand to Pran Frooto, Most Improved Brand 

to Super Fresh Fortified Soyabean Oil and 

Most Consistent Brand to Horlicks- were also 

awarded 

Daily Star, spoke on behalf of their 

respective organisations. 

Later, the Founder and Managing 

Director of Bangladesh Brand 

Forum (BBF) Shariful Islam inaugurated 

“Bangladesh Youth Hub,” 

an online platform designed to prepare 

the youth for the next phase 

of human development. 

The commence of “Bangladesh 

Youth Fest 2017” was also announced 

at the ceremony. 

A special recognition was also 

given to Bangladesh pacer sensation 

Mustafizur Rahman for his 

outstanding contribution to uphold 

Bangladesh in international 

cricket arena. • 

• SM Najmus Sakib 

The participants of ACM International 

Collegiate Programming 

Contest in Dhaka would be able to 

contribute much to the development 

of IT sector in the country, 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said 

yesterday. 

He said those who took part in 

the competition have shown their 

skill of solving critical problems in 

programming. 

The finance minister was addressing 

the prize-giving ceremony 

held on the concluding day of 

a two-day regional programming 

competition held at the University 

of Asia Pacific in the capital. 

Computer Science and Engineering 

Department of UAP hosted 

the two-day-long International 

Collegiate Programming Contest 

dubbed as Dhaka Regional Contest 

2016 on November 18-19 in association 

with the help of ICT Division 

and Bangladesh Computer Council. 

A pool of distinguished guests 

attended the programme and expressed 

their satisfaction over the 

way the programme was held. 

In their addresses, the discussants 

said through the ACM-ICPC 

event the country’s IT sector and 

IT business firms would reap the 

benefits. 

Besides enhancement of business 

opportunities, unemployment 

would also be kept at bay, 

they added. In his address, Prof 

CJ Hwang, director of ACM-ICPC 

Asia regional contest, said: “The 

next year’s ACM-ICPC event could 

be held in Bangladesh if necessary 

supports are provided.” 

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister 

for ICT Division, spoke at the 

programme as a special guest. 

He said: “A special computer 

lab will be set up on the UAP city 

campus as part of the government 

initiative.” 

The government has already 

established 3,000 computer laboratories 

and so far employed 2,000 

experts in the IT sector, added 

Palak. 

On the concluding day yesterday, 

the finalists took part in a fivehour-long 

programming contest. 

UAP Vice-Chancellor Prof Jamilur 

Reza Choudhury called for government 

support to flourish the IT 

sector. 

‘A special computer 

lab will be set up 

on the UAP city 

campus as part of 

the government 

initiative’ 

In his speech, Prof Jamilur lauded 

the performance of programme 

contestants. 

BUET’s Rayo and Omnitrix and 

DU_Censored came out as three 

winning teams that won trophy 

and cash while CUET’s Girlsare 

Pearl had the 1st position among 

the girl’s teams. 

Prof M Kaykobad, dean, faculty 

of EEE, BUET, announced the winners’ 

name at the competition. 

A total of 1,665 teams registered 

online for preliminary contest in 

which there were 129 girls’ teams 

from 81 institutes. 

Of them, a total of 125 teams had 

been selected for the key contest. 

The World ACM-ICPC Final 2017 

will be held in Rapid City, South 

Dakota, USA, on May 20-25. 

Top 3-4 teams from ACM-ICPC 

Asia Dhaka Regional Contest 2016 

will get chance to attend the event. •

Business 13 

DT 


New Income Tax Week begins 

from November 24 

• Tribune Business Report 

National Board of Revenue (NBR) is 

going to organise an “Income Tax 

Week” for the first time from November 

24 to 30 with an aim to provide 

taxpayers with all tax-related 

services. 

Taxpayers will get all tax-related 

services if they bring necessary 

papers for filling up income tax returns. 

The Income Tax Week will be 

held at 649 field level circle offices 

under 31 NBR tax zones. The NBR 

will also observe the National Income 

Tax Day on November 30. 

“We have decided to hold Income 

Tax Week to provide services 

among the taxpayers for completing 

their all tax-related tasks within 

the stipulated time as there will 

be no scope for submission of tax 

return after November 30,” NBR 

Chairman M Nojibur Rahman said 

while talking to BSS. 

NBR officials will provide all 

sorts of tax-related supports including 

submission of income tax 

return and e-TIN and user ID and 

password for online return submission 

under a single roof as like 

income tax fair, he said. 

“Taxpayers will get all tax-related 

services if they bring necessary 

papers for filling up of income tax 

returns.” 

He expressed hope that the taxpayers 

will respond widely during 

the Income Tax Week as like as income 

tax fair. 

According to the NBR data, 

around 9,28,973 visitors received 

services during this year tax fair 

compared to 758,000 last year 

while 1,94,598 submitted their returns. 

The fair managed to collect 

Tk2,129.68 crore as income tax, 

compared to Tk2,035.32 crore in 

the previous year. • 

Delegates from West Virginia hold signs supporting coal on the second day of the Republican National Convention in 

Cleveland, Ohio 

REUTERS 

Can Trump make coal great again? 

• Reuters 

Most of the US coal industry doubts 

Donald Trump can fulfill his promise 

to make the ailing industry 

great again in a country awash in 

dirt-cheap natural gas, a competing 

fuel. 

But a small sub-section of the 

coal sector that mines metallurgical 

coal - a variety used by steel 

makers instead of power plants - is 

gearing up for a Trump-inspired 

boom. 

That’s because the Republican 

president-elect has promised a 

spending surge for roads, bridges 

and tunnels after he takes office on 

Jan 20, a push to upgrade America’s 

infrastructure with the support of 

leading Democrats that could jolt 

demand for metallurgical coal from 

American steel mills. Prices for met 

coal, as it is called, have already risen 

in recent months on lower supply 

from China. 

“This is the best news that Appalachia 

as a whole has had in about 

10 years,” said Jason Bostic, a vice 

president at the West Virginia Coal 

Association, referring to Trump’s 

infrastructure agenda. “Suddenly 

there’s a little bit of hope here.” 

Corsa Coal Corp, a producer of 

met coal based in Pennsylvania, 

was already encouraged by the 

China-driven price spike before 

Trump’s victory. Now it believes US 

politics are going its way too. 

“The thing that has got me the 

most excited is the potential for 

infrastructure spending,” said 

George Dethlefsen, Corsa’s chief 

executive. “All those things are 

very energy- and steel-intensive, 

and that’s good for our business.” 

The company plans to boost its 

production of met coal by 70% in 

2017 to around 1.2 million short 

tons. In the meantime, it is putting 

mines on a six-day-a-week 

schedule, up from four days, and 

it is looking at loading coal on its 

midnight shift, which it normally 

reserves for maintenance. 

Arch Coal Inc, which produces 

both met and steam coal used in 

power plants, said it was also optimistic 

about Trump, particularly 

his promise to roll back regulations. 

But other representatives of 

the steam coal industry have said 

regulation reversals may not overcome 

their main problem: plentiful 

and cheap natural gas following a 

decade-long hydraulic fracturing 

drilling boom. 

National production figures for 

met coal are unavailable, since the 

Xi pushes China-backed 

trade deals to fill US void 

• AFP, Lima 

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged 

Asia-Pacific leaders yesterday to 

get on board with Beijing-backed 

free trade agreements, after Donald 

Trump’s election win spelled 

the likely demise of a US-backed 

deal. 

Trump’s shock victory has cast 

uncertainty on the future of Washington’s 

key trade initiative in the 

Pacific Rim, the arduously negotiated, 

12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership, 

or TPP. 

The brash billionaire campaigned 

against the accord, which 

has not yet been ratified in Congress, 

as a “terrible deal” that 

would “rape” the United States by 

sending American jobs to countries 

with cheaper labor. 

In a Pacific region hungry for 

trade, that has left even longtime 

US allies like Australia and Japan 

looking to China to fill the void. 

Beijing, which was excluded 

from TPP, is pushing two alternatives: 

The 21-member Free Trade 

Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) 

and a 16-member Regional Comprehensive 

Economic Partnership 

(RCEP), which notably includes India 

but not the United States. 

Xi urged regional leaders to advance 

both deals at a summit in 

Lima, Peru, where the uncertainty 

unleashed on the world stage by 

Trump’s victory loomed large. 

government does not break the 

data out. But total US coal production 

has fallen to its lowest level 

since 1986, costing the industry 

thousands of jobs, as low natural 

gas prices and President Barack 

Obama’s emissions and water regulations 

took their toll. 

Met coal prices, however, reflect 

the coal sector’s only major sign 

of life this year. They have risen to 

above $270 a metric ton this month 

from lows of $70 a ton in February, 

driven in part by China reducing its 

output. 

Corsa and Arch are among a 

very small number of US met coal 

producers that are publicly traded, 

with most of the others small and 

privately owned. Alpha Natural 

Resources, which emerged from 

bankruptcy in July, declined to 

comment. 

“Building a Free Trade Area of 

the Asia-Pacific is a strategic initiative 

critical for the long-term prosperity 

of the Asia-Pacific,” Xi said 

in a keynote address to business 

leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation (APEC) group. 

“We should firmly pursue 

FTAAP,” he said. “Openness is vital 

Building a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific 

is a strategic initiative critical for the long-term 

prosperity of the Asia-Pacific 

for the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.” 

In the face of Trump’s protectionist 

rhetoric, he vowed China 

“will not shut its door to the outside 

world, but open it even wider.” 

“We will fully involve ourselves 

in economic globalization by supporting 

the multi-lateral trading 

regime, advancing the FTAAP and 

working for the early conclusion of 

the negotiations on the Regional 

Comprehensive Economic Partnership,” 

he said. 

China describes RCEP as a stepping 

stone toward FTAAP, a vast 

plan that would include all 21 APEC 

members and is expected to take 

years, if it happens at all. 

The meeting of APEC, which 

accounts for nearly 40% of the 

world’s population and nearly 60% 

of the global economy, is US President 

Barack Obama’s last foreign 

visit before handing over to Trump 

on January 20. 

Obama and Xi, the leaders of the 

world’s top two economies, were 

due to hold their last meeting later 

Saturday. • 

Infrastructure Bank 

Trump’s transition team is weighing 

an “infrastructure bank” to make 

investments in projects as part of an 

economic focus that also includes 

revamping taxes and regulation, a 

Trump adviser said this week. 

Democrats, including Senate 

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer 

and House Minority leader Nancy 

Pelosi, have indicated they hope 

to work quickly with Trump on 

infrastructure. But whether they 

will succeed is far from certain, as 

many Republicans oppose spending 

bills. 

Ramaco, a private company, announced 

in September it will open 

two met coal mines in West Virginia 

and Virginia next year, thanks 

to $90m in private equity investments 

that came in as global met 

coal prices swung upward. •

14 


DT 

Business 

US trade tsar warns scrapping 

TPP carries ‘serious costs’ 

• AFP, Lima 

US Trade Representative Michael Froman 

warned of “serious” strategic and economic 

costs from scrapping a major trans-Pacific 

trade deal Friday, as proponents lobbied 

hard to overcome president-elect Donald 

Trump’s opposition. 

Acknowledging that the fate of the 12-nation 

Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, 

or TPP, is now largely out of the Obama administration’s 

hands, Froman indicated he 

would continue to make the case that the 

deal is good for America. 

“We are obviously at a point in time 

where this is a legislative process to get TPP 

through and it’s really up to the Congressional 

leadership to determine if, when and 

how it’s going to move forward,” he said. 

“It’s a political decision for them to make.” 

“Our argument is that inaction poses serious 

costs” he added, citing a recent study 

suggesting failure would cost the US economy 

around $94bn in the first year alone. 

Trade deals such as TPP and the 1993 

North American Free Trade Agreement featured 

heavily in the brutal US election campaign 

and many see Trump’s victory as a 

repudiation of ever-deeper commercial ties. 

Neither Trump nor his Democratic rival 

Hillary Clinton supported TPP during the 

campaign. 

Free-trade supporters say the deals were 

made a scapegoat for the social and economic 

disruptions caused by automation 

and other far more potent trends. 

“Globalization is a factor in our life, it’s 

not going away,” Froman said. • 

CORPORATE NEWS 

Mercantile Bank Limited has recently donated Tk 2lakh to Shaheed Buddhijibi Smriti Pathagar, said a 

press release. The bank’s managing director, Kazi Masihur Rahman handed over the cheque to Ali Md 

Abu Nayeem, president of Shaheed Buddhijibi Smriti Pathagar 

Mutual Trust Bank Limited has recently opened its sixth and seventh agent banking centres at Chawdhury 

Bazar and Khironshal Bazar in Chauddagram, Comilla. The bank’s AMD, Md Hashem Chowdhury 

inaugurated the centres as chief guest 

NCC Bank Limited has recently signed a agreement with Biman Bangladesh Airlines on providing the 

bank’s credit cardholders with discounts on its airline tickets, said a press release. The bank’s head of 

cards, Khaled Afzal Rahim and Syed Ahsan Hossain Kazi, GM (marketing and sales) of Biman Bangladesh 

Airlines have signed the agreement 

Standard Bank Limited has recently held its town hall meeting, said a press release. The bank’s director, 

Gulzar Ahmed and its managing director, Mamun-Ur-Rashid was present at the meeting among others

Dhaka Lit Fest 

15 


DT 

‘We need to all be humans, not minorities’ 

A welcome focus on indigenous languages at the Dhaka Lit Fest 

• Features Desk 

At this year’s Dhaka Literary 

Festival, there was a greater 

emphasis on conducting panels 

on the Bangla language and 

in Bangla, instead of solely in 

English. However, the DLF went 

a step further and also organised 

a panel on indigenous language 

and cultures in Bangladesh on 

the third day of the festival. This 

panel, titled “Aadikotha O nari: 

jaatigoshtir itibritto”, featured 

poets Akbar Ahmed, Zafir Setu and 

Mithun Raksham, and was chaired 

by rights activist and journalist 

Muktasree Chakma. 

The discussion began with an 

interesting account by Mithun 

Raksham of the matriarchal 

structure of the Garo community in 

Bangladesh and the gender neutral 

and/or progressive laws that have 

resulted from this, as well as a brief 

overview of the oral nature of the 

majority of literature in the Garo 

community. Raksham lamented 

the absence of more written Garo 

literature, as well as the influence 

of Christianity on Garo traditions, 

saying “once upon a time, my 

grandfather was publicly flogged 

and humiliated by the padre for 

bringing his daama (traditional Garo 

instrument) into the church, which 

discouraged such ‘un-Christian’ 

practices. As a result, our traditions 

have been replaced by Christian 

Photo: Rajib Dhar 

ones, but more and more young 

indigenous people are attempting 

to bring our traditions back into 

their accepted religion as well.” 

Akbar, a writer from the Tripura 

kingdom in India, also spoke 

of the 19 ethnic groups that not 

only coexist in Tripura but are 

also able to read, write and get 

educated up to grade ten in their 

respective languages, saying, “the 

1945 struggle in Tripura and the 

demand for general education 

put into a place a left-wing 

government that held up the rights 

of the indigenous communities, 

and it is these state-sponsored 

initiatives that have focused 

on preserving our distinctive 

literature and cultures.” 

Setu shifted the conversation 

slightly to discuss the threats 

facing indigenous communities 

across the world, saying “there 

are around 8609 languages 

worldwide, and every 16 days 

we are losing one language, and 

it is always the language of an 

indigenous minority - and with 

that, their literature, history, 

culture and philosophy of life are 

being lost too.” 

He added that indigenous land 

and heritage is being threatened 

all over the world by the tides of 

modernisation, and that the fact 

that we in Bangladesh do not 

yet know how many indigenous 

minority groups exist, let alone 

have a separate institute that 

fosters indigenous languages, 

is proof that we are not making 

serious efforts to understand and 

preserve indigenous cultures. 

The lively debate was 

conducted mainly in Bangla, but 

was peppered with anecdotes of 

folktales from the represented 

communities, as well as insights 

into their diverse cultural 

practices. Muktasree Chakma did 

an excellent job in moderating 

the debate, and ended the 

conversation by thanking the 

DLF for hosting this panel and 

requesting others to not include 

indigenous populations in 

mainstream conversations simply 

as a form of tokenism, but to truly 

engage with their struggles and 

become their ally in the fight for 

their rights. • 

‘People are inherently against technology’ 

• Features Desk 

The last decade has witnessed 

the genetic modification of yeast 

to generate morphine from 

sugar water and have discovered 

human DNA mutation underlying 

everything from schizophrenia 

and bowel cancer, to smoking 

behaviour and violent criminality. 

Advances in genetics are leading 

us to a future where we can 

manipulate hereditary traits with 

the same ease with which we 

currently mold plastic or transmit 

electric current; we are truly living 

on the brink of a revolutionary 

moment. 

The panel, “Genetics: Life 

hacked” which featured panellists 

Professor Abed Chaudhury and 

Professor Sanjeev Jain, and 

moderated by Garga Chatterjee, 

saw the three experts dwelling 

on a wide ranging discussion on 

the long term ethical implications 

of biotechnology and genetic 

modification. 

A psychiatrist by profession, 

Professor Sanjeev Jain asserted, 

“Despite the many advancements, 

there are a lot of questions that are 

left unanswered. I cannot foretell 

what will happen in the future; no 

one can. It is not possible to decide 

on whether the change will be 

positive or not, or determine who 

is to control it.” 

When the controversial issue 

of genetic modification came 

up, Professor Abed Chaudhury 

complained, “The arguments 

regarding GMO tend to arise 

from ethical and religious beliefs 

and perspectives. A lot of these 

arguments do not even have any 

scientific reasoning behind. In 

order to work with genes, we 

should construct an acceptable 

viewpoint that is politically correct 

in terms of information.” • 

Photo: Dhaka Tribune

16 


DT 


Quotes of the day 

“Never have I ever cheered so 

hard for a team in a match 

against England!” 

- Alex Preston, on the 

Bangladeshi cricket team 

“Honestly, we are all Donald 

Trump” 

- Rasheda Rawnak Khan 

“Poetry is no better than cooking” 

- Steven Fowler 

“There is no such thing as 

biological racism. Everything 

stops at Homo sapiens” 

- Professor Sanjeev Jain 

“There are a lot more songs about 

lost love than found love. Maybe 

because you have other things on 

your mind when you’ve found it” 

- Simon Broughton 

“People are inherently against 

technology” 

-Professor Abed Chaudhury 

“There was no conflict between 

the Bengali and Muslim 

identity. It was concocted by few 

intellectuals who had agenda.” 

- Faruk Wasif 

“Really happy to be here. More 

people should actively participate 

to introduce our ideas and 

literature to the world and present 

it on a global platform which, I 

believe, Dhaka Lit Fest aims to 

do.” 

- Zonayed Saki 


Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain 




Photo: Rajib Dhar


17 


DT 

| panel review | 

Of Googlies and Chinamen 

• Sabrina Fatma Ahmad 

The stereotypical image of the 

writer – or any intellectual, for 

that matter – is of the retiring, 

unathletic figure. This idea is not a 

new one, and it must have goaded 

enough writers into putting down 

their pens momentarily, to pick 

up their bats, balls and wicket 

stumps to form the Authors cricket 

team in 1891. The team had such 

luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, 

and PG Wodehouse, to name 

some. After the First World War, 

the original team evolved, losing 


some old players, picking up new 

ones, and so it has been since. 

At present, the torch is being 

proudly carried by Charlie 

Campbell, literary agent and 

captain of the Authors Cricket 

Club. He has led this team of 

writers in over 130 games, and 

they have faced the Rajasthan 

Royals, the Vatican and the 

national team of Japan along the 

way. Their book, The Authors 

XI: A Season of English Cricket 

from Hackney to Hambledon, was 

shortlisted for the Cricket Society 

MCC Book of the Year Award. 

Campbell was present, along with 

team-mates Anthony McGowan, 

Alex Preston, and Richard Beard 

in a light-hearted, interactive 

panel titled “Of Googlies and 

Chinaman”, moderated by 

Khademul Islam. 

The discussion kicked off with 

a general discussion about the 

recent cricket matches between 

England and Bangladesh, and Alex 

Preston garnered hoots and cheers 

when he declared “Never have I 

ever cheered as hard as I did for a 

team in a match against England.” 

To which Anthony McGowan, 

author of two literary thrillers and 

a slew of books for young adults, 

quipped “You’re such a suckup, 

Alex!” This of course prompted a 

series of digs about McGowan’s 

game, with Charlie Campbell and 

Richard Beard ganging up with 

Preston to provide anecdotes. 

The rest of the panel continued 

in a similar vein, peppered with 

hilarious anecdotes about the 

team’s travels around the world 

and their matches (and spectacular 

losses!) against the unlikeliest 

opponents. One such story worth 

mentioning was their match in the 

Vatican. “Two of our players met 

the Pope, who was minding his own 

business, expecting us to talk about 

religion, and suddenly he’s got two 

cricketers giving him a cricket cap” 

said Campbell. Apparently, the 

Authors lost that match. “It was the 

only game where we were beaten 

and then forced to pray with our 

conquerers. That hasn’t happened 

in a while” he added. 

Themes such as sports writing, 

and how the nature of the cricket 

– with its nail-biting moments 

and moments of mind-numbing 

boredom, is beneficial for the 

writers, were explored. Many of 

the questions from the audience 

centered around sledging, and the 

answers, mirthful as they were 

provided some insight on the 

egos, insecurities and emotions of 

the writers. There was also some 

musing on the role of cricket in 

alleviating political tension, and 

building communication between 

teams and nations. 

This wonderful, fun-filled 

session ended on a positive note, 

with the team expressing their 

wish to return to Bangladesh 

for an opportunity to play with 

our league teams, to explore 

places like Chittagong and the 

Sundarbans, and certainly to 

attend more literary festivals. • 

Panelists say a big no to ‘Ruddhosshor’ 

• Mahmood Sadi 

The four speakers who went up 

on the main stage of Dhaka Lit 

Fest at around 4:15 pm to take 

part in a panel discussion titled 

“Ruddhoshar: Bolte Keno Mana” 

yesterday had one opinion in 

common-“Voices have to be 

raised.” 

Moderator Harun Ur Rashid, 

Head of News of Bangla Tribune 

ignited the floor by simply 

explaining the title of the 

session which meant “why there 

are restrictions in expressing 

opinions.” 

And the four panelists- 

Blogger Arif Jebtik, Journalist 

Probash Amin, Columnist 

Rasheda Rawnak Khan and 

Educator Aireen Jaman 

vehemently went on expressing 

their views for the next one hour 

without any restriction. 

They had difference of 

opinions, observed freedom of 

expression and the right to speak 

from their own point of views 

and agreed upon one thing that 

“Without raising voices, changes 

for good don’t happen.” 

They also condemn the 

section 57 of ICT act and said 

that this should be abolished 

immediately. 

Probhash Amin said that 

our constitution guarantees 

our freedom of expression 

under the subject of reasonable 

restrictions. “This restriction 

doesn’t mean that we cannot 

express our views. This 

restriction is there for our selfcensorship 

so that we refrain 

ourselves from expressing views 

which hurt someone else.” 

Arif Jebtik however opposed 

Amin’s view. He said that 

self-censorship is the worst 

kind of censorship. “We are 

already under a lot of censorship 

including that which is imposed 

by the state. On the top of that if 

we censor our own views for fear 

of hurting someone, changes 

will not take place.” 

“If Galilieo stopped himself 

from saying that the world is not 

static with the thought in mind 

that the churches will be hurt by 

his statement, we wouldn’t have 

been able to learn the truth.” 

He said that truth has to be 

told for the sake of truth. “If you 

look at history, you will see that 

any positive change happened 

because someone raised his/her 

voice.” 

Aireen Jaman echoed Jebtik’s 

stance and said that in this era of 

communication and technology, 

it is hard to contain voices 

and opinions. “That’s why the 

governments want to impose 

rules and regulations to restrict 

the flow of information.” 

Terming the section 57 of ICT 

act a black one, she said that 

with that provision, someone 

can get jailed for 14 years for 

posting something on Facebook 

which someone else might find 

offensive. “This is just wrong. In 

India, there was a similar act but 

their Supreme Court nullified it 

over a writ petition.” 

Probhash Amin, Arif Jebtik 

Rasheda Rownak Khan also 

agreed with Aireen and said 

that this provision should be 

abolished immediately. 

Rasheda said that there are 

other ways of raising voices 

than raising voice. “The recent 

rejection of aid by the Santal 

population in Gaibandha is a 

good example of that. They 

raised their voice with their 

action.” • 

If Galilieo stopped 

himself from 

saying that the 

world is not static 

with the thought 

in mind that the 

churches will 

be hurt by his 

statement, we 

wouldn’t have 

been able to learn 

the truth

18 


DT 

Juddho Sheshe Juddho 

• Saqib Sarker 

Television journalist Nobonita 

Chowdhury is widely known as 

a talk show host and moderator. 

But she’s rarely known to have 

moderated her opinions during 

hosting debates. But that doesn’t 

have to be a bad thing. It certainly 

isn’t when you have a jam packed 

live audience that is engaged 

and clinging onto every word 

spoken by the speakers. Nobonita 

provided the fuel that lit the fire at 

the ‘Juddho Sheshe Juddho’ panel 

discussion on the third and final 

day at Dhaka Lit Fest 2016. 

Held on the main stage 

and moderated by Nobonita 

Chowdhury, the panel consisted 

of Akimun Rahman, Mahbub Aziz, 

Ahsan Akbar, and Faruk Wasif. 

The title of the discussion alludes 

to Bangladesh’s struggle after the 

country won independence from 

the brutal repression of its former 



West Pakistani rulers. 

The discussions invariably 

revolved around the idea of a 

secular state, minority rights, 

repression, Muslim identity, and 

the way forward for Bangladesh, 

among others. 

Host of primetime political 

talk show, Rajkahon on DBC 

News, Nobonita, the moderator, 

objected when Faruk Wasif said 

that secularism is better translated 

in Bengali as “humanitarianism” 

instead of “religion-neutral”. 

Wasif implied that the point of 

being secular is not espousing an 

anti-religious stance but it is to 

treat everyone equally. 

An assistant editor at Prothom 

Alo, Faruk Wasif also writes a 

weekly column on socio-political 

issues. He has published two 

books on politics and literature 

and two works of translation. 

Wasif said the divides among 

the people of the country is 

purposely kept alive to reap 

political benefit off of them. 

“There was no conflict between 

the Bengali and Muslim identities. 

It was concocted by few 

intellectuals who had agenda,” he 

said. 

Ahsan Akbar said the Dhaka 

Lit Fest is truly representative 

of Bangladeshi community 

because of its reach. “People 

asked me ‘why don’t you do this 

at Radison?’ But we rejected 

that idea. We wanted to it at 

the Bangla Academy, within 

the Dhaka University Campus, 

and free for the general public,” 

Akbar said as he was heartily 

applauded by the auditorium 

full of audience members. Ahsan 

Akbar is a poet and writer and 

has been a key organiser of the 

festival since its beginning in 

2011. His debut book, The Devil’s 

Thumbprint, is a collection of 

poems and it has been recently 

included in the English literature 

programme at SOAS, University 

of London. 

Poet, writer artist, and essayist 

Mahbub Aziz said that ‘Bengali 

Muslim’ is not an identity that we 

should endorse. He said that the 

conflict of identities is not over. 

“If it had been over then August 

15 could not have happened,” he 

asserted. Aziz won the Citi Anondo 

Shahitya Puroshkar In 2015. He is 

currently the feature editor at the 

Daily Samakal. 

Akimun Rahman’s calm and 

compose demeanor was only 

matched by her eloquent words. 

A teacher from Narayanganj, 

Akimun Rahman has a PhD 

from Dhaka University, and has 

taught at Independent University, 

Bangladesh. Her books include 

Purush Prithibite Ek Meye, Ei Shob 

Nibrito Kuhok and Bibi Theke 

Begom. 

“I have tried to inculcate 

the native philosophies and 

indigenous folk literature within 

my works in my own way. They are 

simplified and presented easily but 

folk literature like the Maymensigh 

Geetika is represented in in my 

work,” Akimun Rahman said while 

commenting on the importance of 

representing and preserving the 

folk literature. 

The audience that filled the 

large auditorium was heard 

murmuring excitedly to each other 

as the discussion ended. Some 

were flocking around Faruk Wasif 

to ask him further questions. 

The session apparently provoked 

further discussion and left the 

audience contemplating.• 

Words under siege 

• Farina Noireet 

On the last day of this year’s Dhaka 

Literary Festival, Uzbek journalist 

and writer Hamid Ismailov, Nepali 

publisher, editor and writer Kanak 

Mani Dixit, Thai screenwriter, 

novelist and artist Prabda Yoon 

and Professor of sociology and 

development Shapan Adnan, came 

together in a panel session titled 

‘Words under siege’. Moderated 

by Romana Cacchioli, Director of 

International Programs at PEN 

International, the engaging session 

revolved around the subject of 

‘freedom of speech’ and ‘selfcensorship’ 

and the many forms of 

‘powers’ that exist in the modern 

world, which suppress writers and 

activists who dare to think out of 

the box. 

The session opened with an 

introduction of the panellists and 

an open question from Cacchioli 

on what it was that got them into 

trouble in their respective countries. 

Ismailov, who was forced to flee 

his country in 1992 for his writings 

that antagonised the authoritarian 

government, and has been living 

in the UK ever since, said, “When 

you are writing about the reality as 

you see it, you are deconstructing 

this reality because you are 

becoming subversive, because 

you are showing this reality as 

you see it, not as the government 

sees it. The government sees it 

with lots of propaganda, which 

you are dismissing by recreating 

this reality. And in that sense, any 

good, honest writing is submersive 

by its nature.” 

Yoon commented on the 

state of mind of his own country 

and people when he said, “A 

majority of Thais live under a very 

strict, conservative outlook of 

themselves and to most, stability 

comes with three things – country, 

which basically means military, 

religion, which is Buddhism, and 

monarchy, which is the king – 

these three things sum up what 

it means to be Thai. And if you 

are a liberal who questions these 

things, not necessarily attacking or 

defaming any of these ideals, but 

if you criticise them, then you can 

get yourself in trouble.” 

In talking about the current 

situation in South Asia, Kanak 

stated that, “There is a particular 

power of ultra-populism from 

different sources – from religious 

fanatics, to ultra-nationalists – 

that are cowing down media and 

making media curl into a selfcencorship 

mode, and those who 

continue to speak out are the ones 

who need understanding and who 

need protection.” 

“While literary writings are at 

the centerpiece of censorship and 

pressures, even writings which 

are part of the social and political 

discourse of the country are 

also constrained. And these are 

also limitations on the freedom 

of speech,” stated Adnan when 

talking about the constraints he 

had to face in his line of work. 

The session ended with an 

enthusiastic round of questions 

from the audience. • 

Photo: Rajib Dhar

Autonomous 

cars – new oil or 

big brother? 

• AFP, Los Angeles 

Just like credit cards, smartphones 

or search engines, autonomous cars 

will carry a trove of information 

about their owners as they make 

driving more comfortable, raising 

new concerns about privacy. 

Automakers are engaged in 

a fierce race to develop the first 

driverless car, which experts say 

should hit the road by 2020. 

Apart from legal obstacles facing 

the industry as the technology 

evolves - such as who is responsible 

in the event of an accident - a 

digital battle is being waged over 

the huge amount of technical data 

that will be stored in such vehicles. 

“Data is the new oil,” Intel chief 

executive Brian Krzanich said this 

week during a speech at the Los Angeles 

auto show, AutoMobility LA. 

“If you have rich data, your car 

will be able to deal with complex 

route situations,” Krzanich said. “If 

not, the car will stop.” 

Sensors, radars and cameras on 

autonomous vehicles will be able 

to exchange data with other cars 

but also, perhaps, with “intelligent” 

roadways that can help set 

speed limits depending on weather 

and traffic conditions. 

The passenger behind the wheel, 

meanwhile, can send emails and text 

messages, listen to music, stream 

movies, hold a conference call or 

make a restaurant reservation. 

Even homes will be connected to 

vehicles. South Korean automaker 

Hyundai revealed at the auto show 

a partnership with Amazon’s Alexa 

voice service to allow customers to 

start their car, charge their battery 

or turn on the air conditioner via a 

quick voice request. • 

IMF: SL stabilising 

after bailout 

• AFP, Colombo 

Sri Lanka’s economy has begun to stabilise after securing a 

$1.5bn bailout earlier this year, but the island needs to build its 

dwindling foreign reserves, the IMF said yesterday. 

The Washington-based International Monetary Fund said it 

had just concluded its first review of Sri Lanka’s economy after 

announcing the bailout in June and labelled its performance 

“broadly satisfactory.” 

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka secured IMF help in June after suffering 

a balance of payments crisis earlier this year. 

“Sri Lanka’s performance under the Fund-supported program 

has been broadly satisfactory despite challenging circumstances,” 

IMF’s Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director, Tao 

Zhang, said in a statement. He said the IMF on Friday released 

$162.6m to Sri Lanka as the second tranche of its bailout that 

will be disbursed over three years. 

Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic and financial conditions had begun 

to stabilise, inflation has trended down, and the balance of 

payments had improved, he said. • 

Business 19 

Petronet bets on LNG-fuelled 

vehicles to drive up demand 

Trucks are seen parked in an open plot near a national highway on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India 

REUTERS 

• Reuters 

join India’s fleet a year could run on fuel tanks to go the same distance. 

LNG. 

India is increasing its capacity to 

India’s top gas importer Petronet 

LNG is betting on liquefied natural 

gas-powered ships and vehicles to 

drive up demand for the cleaner 

fuel, its managing director said, 

helping the world’s third most polluting 

nation to improve air quality. 

Prabhat Singh told reporters 

he expected a shift to LNG-driven 

vehicles to create “reasonable 

demand” for the fuel in a country 

where many industries are not yet 

linked to the pipe grid. India currently 

lags Asian rival China, where 

thousands of trucks and buses already 

run on LNG. 

“This is a big item and big market,” 

Singh said, adding many of 

the 200,000 trucks that on average 

New Delhi wants to raise the use 

of gas in its energy mix to 15% in 

three to four years from 6.5% now 

to curb emissions and cut its dependence 

on imported oil. 

To meet that goal, it is expanding 

the gas distribution network in 

cities linked to the grid and plans to 

run inland barges and trains on LNG. 

The government may issue an 

order in the coming week allowing 

the use of LNG as a transport fuel, 

Singh said, adding LNG stations 

were cheaper to build as the fuel is 

trucked in and so doesn’t require 

pipelines. 

LNG is also denser than diesel 

and compressed natural gas, meaning 

trucks and buses need smaller 

import LNG to 50 million tonnes a 

year (mtpa) by 2022 from 21.3 mtpa 

now. 

Earlier this month, the country 

tested its first LNG-driven bus. 

Petronet is in talks with Tata 

Motors and Ashok Leyland to introduce 

LNG-fuelled trucks and 

buses, Singh said. 

The company will unveil a detailed 

plan in January for selling 

LNG across the country for vehicles, 

ships and trains, he said, without 

elaborating. 

It is also talking to fuel retailers 

- Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum 

Corp and Hindustan Petroleum 

Corp - to install LNG dispensers at 

their retail stations. • 

DT 


Russia ‘optimistic’ 

over Opec oil 

output deal 

• AFP, Doha 

Russia’s energy minister said Friday 

he was “quite optimistic” the 

Opec oil cartel will reach an agreement 

later this month on a planned 

output cut to shore up prices. 

Alexander Novak was speaking 

af ter informal talks in Doha with 

some but not all of his OPEC counterparts 

ahead of the cartel’s meeting 

in Vienna on November 30. 

The cartel’s 14 members have 

been at odds over the details of the 

production cut agreed in Algiers in 

September, which is supposed to 

lead to a wider agreement with non- 

Opec producers including Russia. 

Iran has refused to join in until 

it has restored its market share following 

the lifting of international 

sanctions in January. 

Iraq has asked for an exemption, 

saying it needs the income to fund 

its war against the Islamic State jihadist 

group. 

Asked whether he thought Iraq 

would agree to a freeze or cut at 

the Vienna meeting, Novak said: “I 

would say that I am quite optimistic 

at this point. 

“Today’s discussions... do instil 

optimism in me. 

“And I believe that the consultations 

of technical experts, which 

are going to be held soon, and other 

consultations ahead of the 30th November 

meeting... would result in 

an agreement.” He also told reporters 

that Russia was willing to limit 

production to “certain levels”. 

“We believe that demand will 

continue to grow. 

“Even today we have discussed 

numbers that demand will grow by 

1.1, 1.2 million bpd (barrels per day) 

next year. •

DT 

20 

Editorial 


TODAY 

Unity after a 

divisive campaign 

It has been wise of Trump to strike a 

conciliatory tone in his first remarks 

after the election results, speaking 

about the need to ‘bind the wounds of 

division’ 

PAGE 21 

Broken barometers 

The white population is aging and 

decreasing, while minority communities 

are young and growing. They are also 

coalescing politically as well as gaining 

in income, education, and influence 

PAGE 22 

DLF brought us together 

RAJIB DHAR 

Tarshito: Remagining 

our world 

It has been this desire of mankind 

to divide -- to define what is mine 

and what is yours -- that has caused 

centuries of wars and strife. It is our 

artists who can plant the seeds of love, 

joy, and unity in our hearts 

PAGE 23 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

Send us your Op-Ed articles: 

opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com 

www.dhakatribune.com 

Join our Facebook community: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

DhakaTribune. 

The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

The three-day Dhaka Lit Fest is over, and has once again 

shown the power of the arts to bring people together. 

The Dhaka Tribune is proud to have been title 

sponsor for this event. 

At a time when the world stands divided over so many 

issues, DLF brings together writers and journalists of the 

highest caliber from all over the world in a celebration of that 

which unites us. 

Good literature cuts across political boundaries, across 

geographical barriers, across race and class. This was evident 

in the size of the crowds that turned out to attend the lively 

sessions on issues that ranged from women in power, to Brexit. 

It was an honour to have as a guest Sir VS Naipaul, not just 

a Nobel laureate, but one of the greatest novelists alive in the 

world today, and all of the other brilliant attendees who graced 

the event. 

The success of the event says great things about Bangladesh 

-- people’s interest in literature and the arts is alive and well, 

and the rest of the world is starting to look to Dhaka as a 

cultural hub. 

In recent times, extremist elements have tried to give 

Bangladesh a bad name to the world. But tragedies like the 

attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, and recent killings of bloggers 

and writers cannot and will not succeeding in killing the true 

spirit of Bangladesh. 

The arts lie at the centre of our beating heart, and DLF has 

shown that. 

We would like to thank all the people who came out to the 

event, and the wonderful people of this city for making DLF 

possible. 

We look forward to bringing this world class event to you 

again next year. 

We would like to thank 

all the people who came 

out to the event, and 

the wonderful people of 

this city for making DLF 

possible

Opinion 21 

DT 


Trump seeks unity after a divisive campaign 

Hopefully, the public will now move towards constructive solutions 

P O S T 

BREAKFAST 

• Muhammad Zamir 

The weeks before the US 

presidential elections 

had major media outlets 

stating that the election 

was over and that Hillary Clinton 

would coast into the Oval Office. 

Most polls also revealed that 

Clinton had a comfortable lead. 

Many felt free to vilify Trump as 

a hateful bigot, misogynist, and 

racist. 

Then, on election night, in 

an astonishing turn of events 

Trump went out and crushed 

Hillary Clinton. There was also 

the Republican Party preserving 

its majorities in the House and the 

Senate. This combination will cast 

its own shadow with regard to the 

new appointments to the Supreme 

Court. This in turn will help Trump 

to have a firmer grip on power. 

This development was a 

watershed moment in American 

political history. 

Trump’s success also reflected 

the anger of a large section of the 

rural white population and the 

working class towards a coastal 

elite establishment based in 

Washington, perceived as distant 

and corrupt. 

To this was added the Comey 

FBI factor in the final days of the 

campaign. The FBI announcement 

that they were reopening 

investigation into Hillary Clinton’s 

private email server created a 

confusion which affected public 

perception of Hillary, lowered her 

popularity, and enabled Trump 

to successfully bring wayward 

conservatives back into the fold 

and shred Clinton’s hopes of 

offering a compelling closing 

message to US voters. 

Through this measure Trump 

successfully mobilised a deep 

undercurrent in US politics that his 

opponents badly misunderstood 

and underestimated. He tapped 

into the politics of fear of losing 

jobs to foreigners and turned 

this factor into an avowedly 

nationalist, protectionist and, 

ultimately, a winning strategy. 

This recent dynamics has 

surfaced at a time of deep and 

growing polarisation in American 

politics, both between and within 

parties. Divides are now being 

recognised across different lines 

-- ethnic background, levels of 

education, income, or gender. 

Consequently, it has been wise 

of Trump to strike a conciliatory 

tone in his first remarks after the 

election results, congratulating 

Hillary Clinton and speaking about 

the need to “bind the wounds of 

division.” 

This approach has also been 

seen in his observations during 

his first meeting with President 

Obama in the White House. He 

was there to discuss aspects 

related to transition, that need to 

be completed, before his swearing 

in as the president in January next 

year. He even stressed on seeking 

further “counsel” from Obama in 

the future. 

Hopefully, such an approach 

will encourage the US general 

public to move away from 

demonstrations, remonstrations, 

and violence -- and instead 

concentrate on constructive 

solution of shared priority issues. 

Observers have noted that 

Trump, over the past few months, 

did not hesitate to challenge the 

fundamental assumptions of US 

foreign policy. He has stressed 

that US national interests will be 

the basis for determination of the 

US position. It will be “America 

first.” 

Analysts have however 

pointed out that this definition 

is very narrow and does not 

include national interests also 

being entrenched in alliances, 

commitments and multilateral 

structures. This ultra-nationalist 

narrative probably stems from his 

business background. 

On issues related to the 

economic arena, Trump has 

been advocating a protectionist 

agenda as opposed to free trade 

deals. This outlook is based on the 

view that the US needs to defend 

American jobs from the alleged 

unfair practices of others, such as 

China. 

Consequently, Trump’s trade 

policies would be the single 

biggest change in the way America 

does business with the rest of 

the world. He has threatened to 

scrap a number of existing free 

trade agreements, including 

the North American Free Trade 

Does Trump mean what he says? 

It has been wise of Trump to strike a 

conciliatory tone in his first remarks after the 

election results, speaking about the need to 

‘bind the wounds of division’ 

Agreement (NAFTA) and also the 

recently concluded Trans Pacific 

Partnership (TPP). 

The EU has also noted that 

the chance of a possible Trans 

Atlantic Partnership has shrunk. 

He also intends to revisit US 

membership in the WTO. He has 

also hinted that he is in favour of 

taxing imports, including possible 

imposition of tariffs of 45% on 

China and 35% on goods from 

Mexico (to prevent US companies 

moving jobs south of the border). 

Such an evolving dynamics 

would be a catastrophe for the rest 

of the world in general and the 

developing nations in particular. 

In this context, the possibility of 

GSP being retrieved by Bangladesh 

might also be affected. 

The basic formality of Chinese 

President Xi Jinping congratulating 

Trump has been completed but the 

wait and watch sign is on within 

the strategic paradigm. Trump’s 

protectionist views about tariffs, 

market access, and exchange rates 

are being monitored carefully 

as China considers access to 

US markets as vital. They also 

know that any increase in US 

isolationism will make Taiwan and 

the South China Sea vulnerable, 

and diminish American leadership 

in Asia at a time when states like 

the Philippines, Malaysia, and 

Thailand are all re-calculating 

where their strategic interests lie. 

Trump has also underscored 

that he has a transactional view of 

international and security affairs. 

He sees little value in the web of 

alliances that underpins US global 

power. He has instead accused 

partners of taking advantage 

of the American presence and 

commitments without paying 

for it. Analysts feel that such a 

nationalist approach to foreign 

policy will likely apply to the 

transatlantic partnership with the 

EU (not seen by him as a pivotal 

partner) and the NATO. He wants 

NATO allies to pay more for US 

protection and spend at least 2% of 

their GDP on defence. 

Trump supports a strong 

military to preserve America’s 

edge over adversaries but 

apparently objects to the idea of 

using the US military in crises or 

conflicts that do not directly affect 

US interests. All these elements 

appear to have persuaded the EU 

Commission and EU Council to 

invite Donald Trump to hold an 

EU-US summit in the near future. 

Trump also believes that he 

can ease tensions with Russian 

President Vladimir Putin and looks 

forward to a convergence point 

pertaining to current ongoing 

American military engagements 

and Russia’s foreign policy 

REUTERS 

imperatives in the Middle East as 

well as in Ukraine. 

Trump feels that US should not 

only get out of the war in Syria and 

avoid destabilising more Middle 

East countries but also work with 

Russia to defeat terrorist groups 

like the ISIL. This he feels would 

bring forth global stability. 

Two other issues are also 

being watched with anxiety -- 

financing and participating by 

the US in future mitigation and 

adaptation measures related to 

climate change. Trump has already 

hinted that he wants to divert 

funds meant for these measures 

to the building of infrastructures 

in the US -- a possible step 

towards increasing employment 

opportunities within that country. 

This would indeed be unfortunate. 

The second relates to the issue 

of Palestine. Trump’s open backing 

of right-wing Israeli Netanyahu 

has now made the Two-State 

theory even more unlikely. 

The post-election scenario in 

the US has seen remonstrations 

and demonstrations. However 

major terrorist acts have been 

averted. One can only hope that 

for the sake of stability, sensitive 

issues related to gender, race, 

and Obamacare will be resolved 

peacefully through constructive 

engagement. That should ease the 

transition. • 

Muhammad Zamir, a former 

Ambassador and Chief Information 

Commissioner, is an analyst specialised 

in foreign affairs, right to information, 

and good governance.

22 


DT 

Opinion 

Broken barometers 

America’s institutions will be sorely tested in the next five years 

The white population is dwindling 

• William Milam 

How did it happen? In an 

election characterised 

by outright lies, the 

biggest liars of all 

were the polls which predicted a 

reasonably comfortable victory for 

the less flawed candidate, Hillary 

Clinton. 

I thought of Benjamin Disraeli’s 

celebrated words “there are three 

kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, 

and statistics.” Since political polls 

make powerful (if often incorrect) 

use of statistics, the saying applies 

forcefully to this election. 

Why were the major predictive 

polls so far off? Exit polls offer 

some clues, but even they are 

not fully revealing, as they are 

conducted in so-called bellwether 

voting precincts considered 

historically predictive of the 

outcome of an election, and not 

selected randomly. 

What the exit polls seem to 

show are the divisions that were 

predicted all along. First, the US 

population is divided sharply by 

class, education, and income; by 

generational gaps, by urban vs 

rural residence, and by gender, 

although class, education, 

and race complicate gender 

differences. 

Overall, Trump won 53% of 

the male vote to Clinton’s 41%. 

Clinton won 54% of the female 

vote to Trump‘s 42%. But, a 

surprise to some of the pollsters, 

was that more white women voted 

for Trump (53%) than Clinton, 

which meant that fewer women 

overall voted for Clinton than for 

President Obama in 2012. 

This probably reflects that some 

white women stayed home in the 

Republican Party, which was, I 

think a late-developing trend that 

worried some of the pollsters. 

As a rule, younger voters 

favored Clinton while older voters 

liked Trump. Clinton took 55% 

of the millennial vote to Trump’s 

37%. 

This implies that 8% of the 

millennial vote went to thirdparty 

candidates as protest votes. 

Moreover, the real question is 

whether the young turned out 

in force as they did for Obama in 

2012. 

About 55% of the electorate 

voted. Turnout in 2012 was only a 

shade higher, just over 57%, But 

one wonders whether one percent 

of the voters, about 1.5 million 

more votes, would have made a 

difference in the outcome. 

Probably not if they broke 

as the actual votes cast did. 

REUTERS 

But clearly, a larger turnout of 

millennials breaking 55% to 37% 

might have. 

Education and income 

underscore the deep divisions in 

American society. Trump earned 

51% of the votes of those without 

a college degree, eight percentage 

points more than Clinton. College 

graduates voted 52% to 43% for 

Clinton. 

When parsed by race and 

income, however, the figures take 

on a different look: Trump won 

whites without college degrees 

67% to 28%, while Clinton won 

non-whites with or without 

degrees by over 70%. 

Incomes also show disparity 

but with some wrinkles: Lower 

income voters gave Clinton large 

majorities, while middle and 

higher income voters broke almost 

evenly but with Trump getting 

small majorities. 

It is with the whites without 

college degrees that Trump made 

his major gain. His success with 

that group enabled him to win the 

white vote overall by a whopping 

31 percentage points. 

In 2012, Romney had won 

the White vote by 20 percentage 

points over Obama, which was 

obviously not enough to win that 

election. 

Clearly portions of the white 

working class vote that had been 

traditionally Democratic went to 

Trump in this election. 

It seems that he either 

motivated voters who had 

dropped out of the political 

process some time ago to return 

with his vision of a return to a 

“golden age,” or he simply tore 

voters in this class away from their 

Democratic roots. 

Probably both were a factor, but 

there is no agreement yet among 

the various expert pollsters, still 

trying to figure out how they went 

so wrong. 

If it is the former, that would 

explain some of their error given 

the reappearance of voters who 

had slipped off the radar screens 

as likely voters years ago. 

There was more to it, however, 

than just a surge of uneducated 

white voters looking to return to 

their golden age of the 50s and 

The white population is aging and decreasing, while minority 

communities are young and growing. They are also coalescing politically 

as well as gaining in income, education, and influence 

60s. There were surges predicted 

which were supposed to offset 

this generally understood, if 

underestimated surge of white 

working-class voters. 

Where was the surge of 

women voters to Clinton that 

was predicted, particularly after 

Trump’s vulgar talk about his 

sexual predations in the tape that 

was revealed a week before the 

third debate, and which Clinton 

made much of in that debate. 

She won the women’s vote by 

about 12 percentage points over 

Trump, but President Obama won 

women by 11 points in 2012. No 

surge there. 

Where was the Hispanic surge 

we all expected after all the 

pejorative comments Trump had 

made about Hispanics? 

While the exit polls are 

probably wrong in their conclusion 

that Hispanics supported Trump 

more than expected, clearly, if 

there were an increase in support 

for Clinton, it was not enough. 

So, Clinton’s problematic 

candidacy and/or campaign 

probably was a larger factor than it 

was thought to be at the time. 

I think that there are two 

exit poll results that are most 

important in judging this election. 

First: The most important is 

candidate quality. 

Clinton won three out of four 

on this one very decidedly. This 

is about which candidate has the 

needed experience; which cares 

most about me; and which has 

good judgement. 

Trump won only one big time: 

Which candidate can bring change. 

But in the election booth, change 

trumped experience, judgement, 

and caring. 

Second, I find the answers 

to the last question on the exit 

poll list astounding -- that a 

great number of voters say they 

had made up their minds in 

September or even earlier; thus 

it is possible that nothing in the 

rest of the campaign, the debates 

the revelations on Trump’s sexual 

predations, or the continuing 

email scandal made any difference 

to the result. 

That leads us to demographics. 

The White vote, which was 

84% of the total electorate in 

1984, has shrunk to 70% this 

year (it was 72% in 2012). This 

shrinking majority of whites has 

made pollsters and forecasters 

believe that it will soon be outvoted 

by the growing minority 

communities. In my home state of 

California, the population is now 

about evenly split. 

The white population is aging 

and decreasing, while minority 

communities are young and 

growing. They are also coalescing 

politically as well as gaining in 

income, education, and influence. 

The writing is on the wall for 

the white majority. The question 

we have to ask is will the Trump 

administration try to stop this 

inevitable demographic wave? 

It would take an authoritarian 

government and extraconstitutional 

measures. But if 

change is what the voters want, 

authoritarianism and extraconstitutional 

measures may not 

be as far-fetched as they seem 

right now. 

The US is the world’s leading 

and bellwether liberal democracy. 

Our institutions and political 

resiliency may be sorely tested in 

the coming four years. • 

William Milam is a Senior Scholar 

at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 

Washington DC, and a former US 

diplomat who was Ambassador to 

Pakistan and Bangladesh. This article 

was previously published in The Friday 

Times.

Special 

23 


DT 

Tarshito: Re-magining our world 

Art can transcend geography or language 

Tarshito’s work marries Bengali tradition with Italian design 

It has been this desire of mankind to divide -- to define what is mine 

and what is yours -- that has caused centuries of wars and strife. It is our 

artists who can plant the seeds of love, joy, and unity in our hearts 

• Maya Barolo-Rizvi and 

Gowher Rizvi 

We had the good 

fortune of meeting 

Tarshito many years 

ago in Delhi, when 

he was an artist-in-residence at 

Sanskriti Kendra. 

Our two families forged a close 

relationship, and since then, we 

have admired him and his work 

from afar and followed his artistic 

progress with great pride, even 

though we did not see him as 

often. Maya’s wedding gave us 

the opportunity to reconnect and 

invite Tarshito and his wife, Emma 

Silvestris to Bangladesh. 

Tarshito is, happily for all of us, 

a frequent visitor to Bangladesh 

and has developed a following 

for his collaborations with nakshi 

kantha artisans in Jessore. His 

exhibition at the Bengal Gallery in 

2015 was an outstanding success 

and took the art community by 

storm. His ability to fuse European 

and Bengali stylistic forms and 

engage local artists in joint artistic 

creation are truly inspiring and 

path-breaking. 

Tarshito has now turned his 

eyes to the brass workers in 

Dhamrai village in the outskirts of 

Dhaka, and is working alongside 

some of our finest sculptors to 

create statues that -- like the 

nakshi kantha tapestries -- marry 

Bengali traditional handicraft with 

Italian design. 

All of Tarshito’s work -- though 

the pieces vary from architecture, 

sculpture, painting, and even 

COURTESY 

musical instruments -- relate to 

one simple theme: The oneness 

of the universe. His art is a 

meditation on the divine love 

that unites us all and transcends 

earthly notions of race or religion; 

geography or language; culture 

or ethnicity. The central message 

of his work struck a chord with 

the Bengalis with our syncretic 

culture and our deep and abiding 

commitment to a secular, plural, 

and multicultural society -- the 

consciousness that inspired and 

informed our War of Liberation. 

These lessons of unity in 

diversity are more important now 

than ever. 

On the evening of July 1, we 

were dining, along with Tarshito, 

at the home of our friend Mario 

Palma, the Italian Ambassador to 

Bangladesh. On that night, just a 

few roads away from where we 

were sitting, Dhaka witnessed 

unimaginable violence when 

a group of misguided bigots 

uncomfortable with our secular 

and plural society stormed Holey 

Artisan Bakery and killed innocent 

people, including several of our 

dear friends, supposedly in the 

name of religion. 

The attackers saw our world 

divided along religious lines, and 

according to their skewed and 

perverted understanding of their 

religion they sought to drive a 

wedge between us all. 

The mindless brutality was so 

completely alien to our culture 

and experience that many of us 

were left wondering if we had been 

invaded by aliens. In a moment of 

shock and horror, many wondered 

if we were witnessing the loss of 

our cherished cultural values of 

tolerance and pluralism. 

But despite the gruesome 

experience of that tragic night, 

the people of Bangladesh rose to 

a person against the terrorists. We 

did not lose faith in our values of 

tolerance, diversity, and a plural 

society. We found hope and solace 

in our inclusive and open culture, 

long cherished and nurtured in our 

lands, and instead of despairing, it 

made us even more determined to 

preserve our heritage of syncretic 

culture and society. 

Tarshito’s work reminds those 

of us who believe that diversity 

enriches us, who cherish plurality 

and find strength and beauty in 

all cultural practices -- that there 

is a divine force that unites us all, 

regardless of creed or colour. 

Through his art, Tarshito 

dismantles barriers and redraws 

maps through an imagined human 

geography where the borders 

we are used to seeing and living 

cease to exist. In Tarshito’s work, 

borders are places were people and 

countries meet and not separate. 

Tarshito mixes the continents and 

the seas to create a planet without 

boundaries, thereby restoring 

unity to the Earth as it emerged 

millennia ago, before man divided 

it. 

It has been this desire of 

mankind to divide -- to define 

what is mine and what is yours -- 

that has caused centuries of wars 

and strife. It is our artists who can 

plant the seeds of love, joy, and 

unity in our hearts. 

What inspires Tarshito and in 

turn what he inspires in others is 

an “artistic prayer” through his 

work to see past these boundaries 

and evoke the fundamental unity 

of our planet, which echoes the 

unity of our humanity. Tarshito 

has spent the large part of his 

life traveling around the world, 

seeking to bridge people across. In 

his work, national, cultural, and 

religious divides disappear and we 

realise our unity. • 

Maya Barolo-Rizvi is an international 

consultant at UNDP. Gowher Rizvi is a 

historian and scholar.

DT 

24 

Sport 


TOP STORIES 

Sixth time lucky for 

Comilla Victorians 

Defending champions Comilla 

Victorians finally managed to win 

their first game in the Bangladesh 

Premier League Twenty20’s fourth 

edition when they beat Rajshahi 

Kings by 32 runs in the port city 

yesterday. PAGE 25 

Kiwi seamers 

shatter Pakistan 

Neil Wagner and Trent Boult left 

Pakistan’s second innings in tatters 

yesterday to put New Zealand in 

sight of a comprehensive first Test 

victory at the end of the third day in 

Christchurch. The tourists lost six 

wickets in the final session. PAGE 26 

Murray sweeps into 

semi-finals 

Andy Murray swept into the 

semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals 

with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stan 

Wawrinka on Friday as the world 

number one remained on course 

for a final showdown against 

Novak Djokovic. PAGE 27 

Khulna Titans captain Mahmudullah plays a shot during their BPL 4 match against Dhaka Dynamites at Zahur Ahmed 

Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday 

MD MANIK 

SCORECARD 

KHULNA TITANS R B 

Fletcher c Nasir b Sanjamul 20 16 

Hasanuzzaman run out (Sanjamul) 0 0 

Shuvagata b Bravo 24 20 

Mahmudullah c Bravo b Shahid 62 44 

Pooran c Sangakkara b Bravo 16 16 

Taibur not out 21 22 

Cooper not out 1 2 

Extras (lb 2, w 11) 13 

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 157 

Fall Of Wickets 

1-3, 2-23, 3-67, 4-96, 5-153 

Bowling 

Shakib 3-0-17-0, Sanjamul 3-0-22-1, Coles 

4-0-32-0, Prasanna 1-0-11-0, Bravo 4-0- 

27-2, Shahid 4-0-38-1, Nasir 1-0-8-0 

DHAKA DYNAMITES R B 

Maruf lbw b Cooper 6 6 

Sangakkara c Mahmudullah b Junaid 2 6 

Coles b Shafiul 11 9 

Nasir c Shafiul b Cooper 7 8 

Mosaddek c Shuvagata b Mosharraf 35 28 

Shakib b Mosharraf 8 13 

Bravo c Junaid b Taibur 4 6 

Sanjamul c Taibur b Mosharraf 12 15 

Prasanna c Ariful b Cooper 53 22 

Shuvo run out (Junaid) 2 3 

Shahid not out 1 1 

Extras (lb 3, w 2, nb 2) 7 

Total (all out; 19.1 overs) 148 


1-10, 2-14, 3-22, 4-30, 5-68, 6-73, 7-83, 

8-139, 9-145, 10-148 

Bowling 

Junaid 4-0-18-1, Cooper 3.1-0-35-3, Shafiul 

4-0-21-1, Ariful 2-0-20-0, Shuvagata 1-0- 

15-0, Mosharraf 4-0-31-3, Taibur 1-0-5-1 

The Titans won by nine runs 

MoM: Mosharraf Hossain (KT) 

Khulna defend successfully against sloppy Dhaka 

• Mazhar Uddin from 

Chittagong 

Seekkuge Prasanna’s whirlwind 

fifty was not enough for Dhaka 

Dynamites as Khulna Titans 

once again defended their total 

successfully, this time by nine 

runs, in the Bangladesh Premier 

League’s fourth edition at Zahur 

Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in 

the port city yesterday. 

Sri Lankan Prasanna almost 

took Dhaka near the finishing 

line as he smashed the fastest 

half-century of BPL 4 - in just 18 

balls. But he was eventually dismissed 

by Kevon Cooper off the 

first ball of the final over as Dhaka 

were dismissed for 148 after Khulna 

posted 157/5. 

Some poor catching and 

ground fielding by Dhaka hurt 

the star-studded side. And the 

loss of wickets at regular intervals 

only compounded their misery as 

Khulna registered their fourth win 

in five attempts. 

On the other hand, Dhaka are 

still at the top of the points table 

with the same number of points 

(eight) as Khulna. However, the 

capital city outfit have played a 

game more than Khulna. 

Chasing 158, Dhaka kept losing 

wickets right from the start with Mehedi 

Maruf (six), Kumar Sangakkara 

(two), Matt Coles (11) and Nasir Hossain 

(seven) all departing cheaply. 

With Dhaka struggling on 30/4 

inside the sixth over, youngster 

Mosaddek Hossain arrived to the 

middle. The right-hander tried to 

hang around at the crease, scoring 

35 off 28 balls with two sixes and 

as many fours. But skipper Shakib 

al Hasan (eight) and West Indies 

batsman Dwayne Bravo (four) 

failed to score big, making things 

further difficult for Dhaka. 

However, Prasanna almost single-handedly 

took Dhaka to the 

winning line, smashing seven sixes 

in his hurricane knock. But his departure 

in the last over sparked wild 

celebrations in the Khulna dug-out. 

Player of the match, left-arm 

spinner Mosharraf Hossain was 

the pick of the Khulna bowlers 

as he bagged 3/31 from his four 

overs while West Indian pacer 

Kevon Cooper also notched three 

wickets. And despite picking up 

only one wicket each, Pakistan 

paceman Junaid Khan and rightarm 

pacer Shafiul Islam bowled 

economically and did not allow 

Dhaka to run away with the game. 

Earlier, Khulna elected to bat 

and were unable to get off to a 

good start as Andre Fletcher was 

dismissed after scoring 20 off 16 

balls while Hasanuzzaman was 

caught short of the crease without 

troubling the scorers. 

Shuvagata Hom added 24 

but once again it was their skipper 

Mahmudullah who took the 

charge and went on to score the 

highest 62 runs off 44 balls, including 

four sixes and equal number 

of boundaries. Left-hander 

Taibur Parvez remained not out 

on 21. • 

Red-hot Falcao 

scores again 

Rejuvenated Colombian striker 

Radamel Falcao bagged his fifth 

goal in five Ligue 1 appearances as 

Monaco swept past bottom club 

Lorient 3-0 to march to the top of 

the table on Friday. The visitors 

went ahead through Falcao in the 

64th minute. PAGE 28 

WHAT THEY SAID 

Dhaka captain Shakib al Hasan 

We lost early wickets. In the first six 

overs, we couldn’t use the powerplay. 

Secondly, we lost many wickets. 

The momentum was never with us. 

Overall our batting has some lackings. 

We haven’t been able to score, apart 

from Mosaddek and Maruf bhai. We 

have to improve strongly in this area. 

We still have time. Losing wickets 

early was the key. If we were a bit 

more sensible, maybe it would have 

been possible to score the runs. We 

know that when two teams get on 

the field, both sides are the same. 

And the team that plays well will win. 

Everyone wants to win but sometimes 

one does, sometimes one doesn’t. 

Khulna’s Mosharraf Hossain 

We thought that the we lost the 

match but Junaid’s over was crucial. If 

we could have taken those chances, 

we could have won the game earlier. 

Yeah, things are going in our favour. 

We want to win by good margins, not 

closely. Hopefully, next match will 

work out well for us and we will win 

by a good margin. We have limited 

bowlers, in other teams there are 

many bowlers. Yes, in the middle 

overs, if we had a good big-hitter, 

then we could have scored 10-15 runs 

more. We are starting well everyday 

but we are restricted to 150 at the 

end. Others are scoring 180. So, we 

have a good bowling unit. If we can 

add 10-15 runs more, then it will 

become easier for the bowlers.

Sport 25 

DT 


Plays of the 

day 

Dhaka v Khulna 

Dhaka fielders’ butter fingers 

Dhaka fielders displayed some 

poor catching and ground fielding 

against the Khulna which eventually 

proved to be costly for Shakib 

al Hasan’s side. The Dhaka fielders 

dropped West Indies opening 

batsman Andre Fletcher and skipper 

Mahmudullah twice. Khulna’s 

highest scorer Mahmudullah, who 

was dropped on 34 and 36, went 

on to score 62 off 44 balls with four 

sixes and as many fours to help his 

side post a fighting total. 

Prasanna’s fastest BPL 4 fifty 

goes in vain 

Khulna were on top of the game 

at one stage with Dhaka struggling 

on 83/7 when Sri Lankan Seekkuge 

Prasanna walked in to the middle. 

At that stage, Dhaka required 74 

runs off 38 balls with three wickets 

in hand. The right-hander struck 

some lusty blows, smashing seven 

sixes to register the fastest fifty of 

the BPL 4 in just 18 balls. This was 

also the second fastest fifty in the 

history of the BPL after Ahmed 

Shehzad’s 16-ball half-century for 

Barisal Burners against Duronto 

Rajshahi in the first edition of the 

tournament. However, the 31-year 

old was unable to take Dhaka 

through to the winning line as he 

was dismissed for 53 off 22 balls. 

As it were, Dhaka fell short by nine 

runs. 

Comilla v Rajshahi 

Comilla fail to hit single six 

There were no sixes hit by the 

Comilla batsmen during their 

innings against Rajshahi. Mashrafe 

bin Mortaza and his troop posted 

152/5 after being asked to bat 

first. But surprisingly, none of the 

Comilla batsmen struck any six in 

their innings. Lack of confidence 

might have been a factor as they 

previously lost all their first five 

matches. However, they finally beat 

Rajshahi to seal their maiden win 

of the competition. On the other 

hand, Rajshahi struck just one six, 

courtesy Mominul Haque. It clearly 

points to a lack of excitement in 

the second match of the day. And it 

midst of it all, Comilla finally opened 

their account. 

- Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong 

Comilla Victorians captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza briefs Imrul Kayes (L) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto during their BPL 4 match 

against Rajshahi Kings in Chittagong yesterday 

MD MANIK 

Sixth time lucky for Comilla 

• Mazhar Uddin from 

Chittagong 

Defending champions Comilla 

Victorians finally managed to win 

their first game in the Bangladesh 

Premier League’s fourth edition 

when they beat Rajshahi Kings by 

32 runs at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury 

Stadium in the port city yesterday. 

Rajshahi were dismissed for 

120 after Comilla posted 152/5 in 

their twenty overs. In the process, 

Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his troop 

finally got the much-needed win 

after a series of disappointments. 

There was no excitement 

throughout the game as Comilla 

were asked to bat first. Opening 

batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto 

top-scored with 41 off 40 balls with 

four boundaries while the other 

opener Imrul Kayes added 34 off 25 

deliveries with five fours. 

Ryan ten Doeschate remained 

not out on 21 and Sohail Tanvir was 

unbeaten on 15 as Comilla posted 

a fighting total at the end without 

hitting a single six in their innings. 

Rajshahi skipper Darren Sammy 

picked up two wickets while Farhad 

Reza and Mehedi Hasan Miraz 

took one piece. 

Chasing 153, Rajshahi never 

looked settled and apart from Mominul 

Haque’s 43-ball 53, featuring 

five fours and a six, none of the 

other batsman were able to score 

significantly. They were eventually 

bundled out with six balls to spare. 

English cricketer Samit Patel’s 

12 was the second highest score for 

Rajshahi in what was probably one 

of the most boring and uninspiring 

games of the tournament so far. 

Pakistan left-arm paceman Sohail 

Tanvir picked up 4/18 from his 

three overs while medium pacer 

Mohammad Saifuddin took three 

wickets. 

Skipper Mashrafe and Ten Doeschate 

bagged one apiece. 

Despite the victory, Comilla are 

still mired at the bottom with one 

win from six games while Rajshahi 

are second from bottom with the 

same number of wins. Rajshahi 

though have played a game less. 

Dhaka Dynamites are joint top 

with eight points from six matches, 

alongside Rangpur Riders and 

Khulna Titans, who have both 

played a game less. 

Barisal Bulls are fourth with six 

points from five matches while 

SCORECARD 

COMILLA VICTORIANS R B 

Shanto c Miraz b Sammy 41 40 

Latif c Siddique b Farhad 6 9 

Shehzad c Siddique b Miraz 11 7 

Kayes run out (sub Salman) 34 25 

Mashrafe c Nurul b Sammy 10 10 

Ten Doeschate not out 21 15 

Tanvir not out 15 15 

Extras (lb 5, w 8, nb 1) 14 

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 152 


1-12 (Latif), 2-41 (Shehzad), 3-84 (Shanto), 

4-103 (Kayes), 5-111 (Mashrafe) 

Bowling 

Miraz 4-0-29-1, Sami 4-0-26-0, Farhad 

4-0-26-1, Abul 4-0-32-0, Sammy 4-0-34-2 

RAJSHAHI KINGS R B 

Mominul c Latif b Ten Doeschate 53 43 

Siddique b Tanvir 10 13 

Sabbir c Latif b Tanvir 0 1 

Umar c Kayes b Saifuddin 3 12 

Nurul c Shanto b Saifuddin 8 9 

Patel b Mashrafe 12 14 

Sammy run out (Latif) 0 1 

Miraz c Liton b Tanvir 5 10 

Farhad c Liton b Tanvir 1 3 

Abul not out 6 3 

Sami not out 7 4 

Extras (lb 4, w 11) 15 

Total (9 wickets; 18.5 overs) 120 


1-27 (Siddique), 2-27 (Sabbir), 3-40 

(Umar), 4-66 (Nurul), 5-91 (Mominul), 6-91 

(Sammy), 7-105 (Patel), 8-105 (Miraz), 

9-107 (Farhad) 

Bowling 

Shanto 3-0-13-0, Mashrafe 4-0-15-1, Tanvir 

3-0-18-4, Saifuddin 3.5-0-27-2, Sharif 4-0- 

24-0, Ten Doeschate 1-0-19-1 

The Victorians won by 32 runs 

MoM: Sohail Tanvir (CV) 

TODAY’S MATCHES 

Barisal Bulls v Khulna Titans, 5:45pm 

To be held at ZACS, Chittagong 

POINTS TABLE 

TEAMS M W L PTS 

Dhaka 6 4 2 8 

Rangpur 5 4 1 8 

Khulna 5 4 1 8 

Barisal 5 3 2 6 

Chittagong 6 2 4 4 

Rajshahi 5 1 4 2 

Comilla 6 1 5 2 

Chittagong Vikings are third from 

bottom with four points from six 

matches. •

26 


DT 

1ST TEST, DAY 3 

Pakistan 1st innings 133: (Misbah 31, C. de 

Grandhomme 6-41, T. Southee 2-20) 

New Zealand 1st innings: (overnight 104- 

3; J. Raval 55 not out, H. Nicholls 29 not out) 

NEW ZEALAND R B 

J. Raval c Aslam b Amir 55 121 

H. Nicholls lbw Sohail 30 61 

C. Grandhomme c Rahat b Sohail 29 37 

B. Watling c Younis b Rahat 18 40 

T. Astle c Shafiq b Rahat 0 5 

T. Southee c Ahmed b Amir 22 19 

N. Wagner c Shafiq by Rahat 21 18 

T. Boult not out 3 8 

Extras: (lb1, w1, nb4) 6 

Total: (all out; 59.5 overs) 200 

Fall of wickets 

1-6 (Latham), 2-15 (Williamson), 3-40 (Taylor), 

4-105 (Nicholls), 5-109 (Raval), 6-146 

(de Grandhomme) 7-146 (Astle), 8-171 (Watling), 

9-177 (Southee), 10-200 (Wagner) 

Bowling 

Amir 18-4-43-3 (1w, 4nb), Sohail 22-5-78- 

3, Rahat 15.5-2-62-4, Shah 4-0-16-0 

PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS R B 

Sami c Watling b Grandhomme 7 57 

Azhar Ali b Boult 31 173 

Babar c Watling b Wagner 29 66 

Younis c Watling b Wagner 1 8 

Misban c Bould b Southee 13 47 

Asad Shafiq not out 6 18 

Sarfraz Ahmed b Boult 2 5 

Mohammad Amir c Astle b Boult 6 4 

Sohail Khan not out 22 18 

Extras: (b5, lb7) 12 

Total: (7 wkts; 66 overs) 129 


1-21 (Aslam), 2-58 (Azam), 3-64 (Younis), 

4-93 (Misbah), 5-93 (Azhar), 6-95 

(Ahmed), 7-105 (Amir) 

Bowling 

Boult 15-5-18-3, Southee 19-10-43-1, de 

Grandhomme 14-4-23-1, Wagner 14-6-21-2, 

Astle 4-0-12-0 

Toss: New Zealand 

2ND TEST, DAY 3 

India 1st innings: 455 (V. Kohli 167, C. Pujara 

119; J. Anderson 3-62, M. Ali 3-98) 

England 1st innings: (overnight 103/5; B. 

Stokes 12 not out, J. Bairstow 12 not out) 

ENGLAND R B 

B. Stokes lbw b Ashwin 70 157 

J. Bairstow b U. Yadav 53 152 

A. Rashid not out 32 73 

Z. Ansari lbw b Jadeja 4 9 

S. Broad lbw b Ashwin 13 26 

J. Anderson lbw b Ashwin 0 1 

Extras (b6, lb3) 9 

Total (all out; 102.5 overs) 255 


1-4 (Cook), 2-51 (Hameed), 3-72 (Duckett), 

4-79 (Root), 5-80 (Ali), 6-190 (Bairstow), 

7-225 (Stokes), 8-234 (Ansari), 9-255 

(Broad), 10-255 (Anderson) 

Bowling 

Shami 14-5-28-1, Yadav 18-2-56-1, Jadeja 29- 

10-57-1, Ashwin 29.5-6-67-5, Yadav 12-3-38-1 

INDIA 2ND INNINGS R B 

M. Vijay c Root b Broad 3 25 

L. Rahul c Bairstow b Broad 10 31 

C. Pujara b Anderson 1 24 

V. Kohli not out 56 70 

A. Rahane not out 22 54 

Extras (lb 5, b 1) 6 

Total (3 wickets; 34 overs) 98 


1-16 (Vijay), 2-17 (Rahul), 3-40 (Anderson) 

Bowling 

Anderson 8-1-16-1, Broad 6-5-6-2, Rashid 

12-1-37-0, Stokes 5-0-25-0, Ali 3-1-9-0 

Sport 

Pakistan batsman Younis Khan hits the ball straight to New Zealand wicket-keeper BJ Watling to be caught behind during day 

three of their first Test at Hagley Park in Christchurch yesterday 

AFP 

Kohli fifty puts India in driving seat 

• AFP, Visakhapatnam 

Skipper Virat Kohli struck a dominant 

half-century Saturday to help 

India tighten their grip on the second 

Test after England’s pacers 

rattled the Indian top order on the 

third day of a thrilling game. 

India, who dismissed England 

for 255 in the first innings, were 

98 for three at stumps with Kohli 

(56) and Ajinkya Rahane (22) at the 

crease. 

With the hosts having stretched 

their second innings lead to a formidable 

298, it will be an uphill 

battle for England from here on. 

It was off-spinner Ravichandran 

Ashwin’s five-wicket haul 

that helped India bowl out England 

shortly before tea and gain a crucial 

200-run lead. 

England seamers came back 

roaring as Stuart Broad, who underwent 

a scan on his right foot 

after Friday’s play, sent the Indian 

openers trudging back to the pavilion 

early in their second essay. 

England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow watches as India captain Virat Kohli plays a 

shot during day three of their second Test in Visakhapatnam yesterday 

AFP 

Murali Vijay (3) was caught at 

gully while Lokesh Rahul (10) was 

plucked behind as England successfully 

used the review system 

on both occasions after the on-field 

umpire had adjudged the batsmen 

not out. 

Senior pacer James Anderson 

also swung into action to clean up 

first innings centurion Cheteshwar 

Pujara for one, reducing the hosts 

to 40 for three. 

Kohli and Rahane then got together 

to put up an unbeaten 58- 

run stand and thwart the persistent 

bowling attack in the final hour 

of play. Kohli, who led from the 

front with a sparkling 167 in the 

first innings, recorded his 13th Test 

half-century as he raised his bat to 

an applauding home crowd. 

Rahane played the supporting 

role to perfection with his patient 

54-ball knock. 

England skipper Alastair Cook 

juggled with his seam and spin options 

but failed to make any more 

headway into the Indian batting. 

Earlier Ben Stokes, who topscored 

with 70, and Jonny Bairstow 

struck gritty half-centuries to 

revive England after they resumed 

on the overnight 103 for five. • 

Kiwis in charge 

as seamers 

shatter Pakistan 

• AFP, Christchurch 

Neil Wagner and Trent Boult left 

Pakistan’s second innings in tatters 

yesterday to put New Zealand in 

sight of a comprehensive first Test 

victory at the end of the third day 

in Christchurch. 

The tourists lost six wickets in 

the final session at Hagley Oval to 

be 129-7 at stumps, ahead by only 

62 runs with two days remaining. 

Boult had three for 18 off 15 

overs while Wagner, who started 

the wicket spree, had two for 21. 

“We’ve been out-played so far,” 

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said, 

but he refused to concede defeat 

saying they would not need many 

more runs to set up a tight finish. 

“We feel that 150-170, we could 

have a real chance because there’s 

still enough in the wicket.” 

Not out for Pakistan were Sohail 

Khan on 22 and Asad Shafiq on six 

with the Test likely to be all over in 

three playing days after the scheduled 

first day was washed out. 

Until Wagner struck, Pakistan 

were clawing their way back into 

the Test having started the day on 

the back foot. 

They ripped out the last seven 

New Zealand wickets for only 96 

runs and Azhar Ali and Babar Azam 

were painstakingly building their 

second innings - accumulating 37 

runs in 23 overs. • 

Zimbabwe tie 

with Windies 

in ODI 

• AFP, Bulawayo 

Shai Hope hit his maiden one-day 

international century but the West 

Indies could only stutter to a dramatic 

tie in yesterday’s triangular 

series clash with Zimbabwe at 

Queen Sports Club. 

BRIEF SCORE 

WEST INDIES 257/8 (Hope 101, 

Brathwaite 78, Tiripano 2/26) tied with 

ZIMBABWE 257 (Ervine 92, Raza 77, 

Brathwaite 4/48) 

With Hope scoring 101 in just his 

second ODI, the West Indies were 

well on track to overhaul Zimbabwe’s 

257 as they went into the final 

six overs on 217 for two. 

But Hope’s dismissal sparked a 

late collapse, which included three 

wickets in the final over. 

The tourists needed just four 

runs off Donald Tiripano’s last over 

with five wickets in hand, but instead 

finished on 257 for eight to 

share the points. •

Sport 27 

DT 


STANDINGS 

P W L F A Pts 

Group John McEnroe 

1. Andy Murray 3 3 0 6 1 6 

2. Kei Nishikori 3 1 2 4 4 2 

3. Stanislas Wawrinka 3 1 2 2 4 2 

4. Marin Cilic 3 1 2 2 5 2 

Group Ivan Lendl 

1. Novak Djokovic 3 3 0 6 1 6 

2. Milos Raonic 3 2 1 4 2 4 

3. Dominic Thiem 3 1 2 3 5 2 

4. Gael Monfils 2 0 2 1 4 0 

5. David Goffin 1 0 1 0 2 0 

DAY’S WATCH 

CRICKET 

CHANNEL 9, SONY SIX 

5:45 PM 

Bangladesh Premier League 

Khulna Titans v Barisal Bulls 

9:50 AM 

England Tour of India 2016 

2nd Test, Day 4 

SONY ESPN 

2:00 PM 

CSA T20 Challenge 2016 

Titans v Sunfoil Dolphins 

6:30 PM 

VKB Knights v Warriors 

FOOTBALL 

STAR SPORTS 1 

7:20 PM 

Indian Super League 2016 

Chennai v Kolkata 

STAR SPORTS HD 1 

9:50 PM 

Premier League 2016/17 

Middlesbrough v Chelsea 

STAR SPORTS HD 2 

8:16 PM 

Bundesliga 2016/17 

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim v Hamburger SV 

10:16 PM 

SV Werder Bremen v Eintracht Frankfurt 

TEN 1 

7:15 PM 

Sky Bet EFL 2016/17 

Leeds United v Newcastle United 

TEN 2 

10:00 PM 

French Ligue 1 2016/17 

Olympique De Marseille v Caen 

1:35 AM 

Saint-Etienne v Nice 

TEN 3 

12:00 PM 

A-League 2016/17 

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners 

SONY SIX 

5:00 PM 

La Liga Santander 2016/17 

Alaves v Espanyol 

11:30 PM 

Sporting Gijon v Real Sociedad 

2:00 AM 

Serie A TIM 2016/17 

AC Milan v Inter Milan 

SONY SIX HD 

9:00 PM 

La Liga Santander 2016/17 

Valencia v Granada 

TENNIS 

SONY ESPN 

12:00 AM 

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2016 

Final 

Majestic Murray sweeps into semi-finals 

• AFP, London 

Andy Murray swept into the 

semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals 

with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stan 

Wawrinka on Friday as the world 

number one remained on course 

for a final showdown against Novak 

Djokovic. 

Abahani extend lead at the top 

• Tribune Report 

English midfielder Lee Andrew 

Tuck scored a brilliant hattrick 

as Abahani Limited took a seven-point 

lead at the top of the 

Bangladesh Premier League points 

table after thrashing Muktijoddha 

SKC 6-1 at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong 

yesterday. 

The Sky Blues are still the only 

side in the 12-team standings who 

are unbeaten. It was the their sixth 

straight league victory. 

Abahani now have 35 points 

from 15 matches while second 

placed Chittagong Abahani and 

holders Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi 

Club, who are third, have 27 and 25 

points respectively. 

Muktijoddha, in contrast, remained 

at fifth position with 20 

points. 

After Bipul put the All Reds 

ahead in the 21st minute, Tuck, 

who has been in tremendous form 

in his debut season, brought parity 

just two minutes later. 

New signing, young Welsh forward 

Jonathan Brown gave Abahani 

the lead in the 33rd minute. Tuck 

then scored his eighth league goal 

in the 64th minute to make it 3-1. 

Tuck netted again in the 86th minute 

to complete his treble while 

Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba 

grabbed his 16th league goal a minute 

away from the final whistle. 

Brown completed the rout in injury 

time. 

Meanwhile in the day’s first 

match at the same venue, an injury-time 

goal by Nigerian midfielder 

Samson Iliasu helped Team BJMC 

salvage a 2-2 draw against Mohammedan 

Sporting Club. 

After the hour-mark crossed 

without a single goal, Towhidul 

Alam Sabuj put the Black and 

Whites ahead in the 69th minute 

before Guinean striker Ismael 

Bangoura doubled the lead from a 

penalty in the 75th minute. 

BJMC staged a brilliant comeback 

with Nigerian forward Eleta 

Kingsley pulling one back in the 

84th minute but it was the in-form 

Samson who scored a brilliant 

header to equalise the margin two 

minutes into injury time. It was 

Samson’s 10th goal in the league 

this season. • 

Murray brushed aside Wawrinka 

in 86 minutes at London’s O2 Arena 

to ensure he finished top of his 

group and avoided a last four clash 

with Djokovic. Instead, the 29-yearold 

will face Canada’s Milos Raonic 

in yesterday’s semi-finals. 

Wawrinka’s defeat means Japan’s 

Kei Nishikori qualifies as runner-up 

to Murray and he takes on 

defending champion Djokovic in 

the other semi-final. Nishikori lost 

to Djokovic on his previous appearance 

in the semi-finals in 2014. 

The 26-year-old suffered a 

frustrating warm-up for his latest 

meeting with Djokovic as the world 

number five was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 

Bangladesh beat Hong 

Kong in Asian Cup Hockey 

• Tribune Report 

Bangladesh began their Fifth Men’s 

Asian Hockey Federation Cup campaign 

with a comfortable 4-2 victory 

over hosts Hong Kong in the 

opening match of Pool A at King’s 

Park Stadium yesterday. 

RESULT 

Bangladesh 4-2 Hong Kong 

Chayan 22, 25, Jimmy 33, 52 Kan 35, Ming 42 

Drag-and-flick specialist Mamunur 

Rahman Chayan and experienced 

forward Russel Mahmud 

Jimmy netted two apiece to guide 

the men in red and green to a confident 

start. 

Chayan opened the scoring in 

the 22nd minute before doubling 

the lead just three minutes later. 

Both the goals came from penalty 

corners. 

Bangladesh, who are the reigning 

champions having won the last 

two AHF Cup titles in 2012 in Thailand 

and 2008 in Singapore, went 

to the break with a 3-1 lead after 

RESULTS 

Group John McEnroe 

7-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat 5-Kei Nishikori 

(Japan) 3-6 6-2 6-3 

1-Andy Murray (Britain) beat 3-Stanislas 

Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-4 6-2 

Britain’s Andy Murray returns 

against Switzerland’s Stan 

Wawrinka during their round robin 

stage men’s singles match on day 

six of the ATP World Tour Finals in 

London on Friday 

AFP 

6-3 by Marin Cilic in the evening 

session to leave him with two defeats 

in his three group matches. 

Murray ended Djokovic’s 122- 

week reign at the top of the rankings 

two weeks ago, but to guarantee 

finishing 2016 in pole position, 

he must win the Tour Finals for the 

first time. • 

Jimmy scored his first goal in the 

33rd minute from a penalty stroke. 

Tsang Kin Kan pulled one back 

for the home side only two minutes 

later. 

Hong Kong captain Siu Chung 

Ming reduced the margin in the 42nd 

minute but Bangladesh captain Jimmy 

scored again in the 52nd minute 

from a field goal to seal victory. 

Bangladesh are in Pool A along 

with Chinese Taipei, Macau and 

Hong Kong while Group B comprises 

Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore 

and Uzbekistan. 

Bangladesh will face Chinese 

Taipei tomorrow before taking on 

Macau in their last group stage 

match this Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, prior to the tournament, 

Bangladesh spent around a 

fortnight in Europe playing a total 

of eight warm-up matches, including 

five against Poland and three 

against Austria. 

If Bangladesh do seal third 

straight crown in the tournament 

then they would get direct entry 

into next year’s Asia Cup. •

28 


DT 

Barca held at 

home by nineman 

Malaga 

• Reuters, Barcelona 

Barcelona dearly missed Lionel 

Messi and Luis Suarez as the La Liga 

champions were held to a goalless 

draw at home to nine-man Malaga 

yesterday, missing the chance to go 

top of the standings. 

Messi was taken ill before the 

game while Suarez, joint-top scorer 

in La Liga along with the Argentine, 

was suspended. Captain Andres Iniesta 

was also injured and Luis Enrique’s 

side were incapable of prising 

open a Malaga side happy to sit 

back and soak up pressure for the 

majority of the game. 

Despite dominating possession 

Barca struggled to carve out many 

opportunities and on the rare occasion 

they created a chance, Malaga 

goalkeeper Carlos Kameni was 

there to frustrate them. 

Malaga had defender Diego Llorente 

dismissed in the 69th minute 

for a straight red card following a 

lunge on Neymar, but Barca still 

could not find a way through, although 

Pique had what looked a 

clear penalty appeal turned down 

after his shirt was tugged in the 

area by Mikel Villanueva. 

Neymar was one of few Barca 

players who looked capable of finding 

a winner but found few willing 

partners, with stand-in striker Paco 

Alcacer produced an anonymous 

display and defender Pique looking 

far more threatening in attack. 

They frustrated the Catalans 

again by employing a conservative 

5-4-1 formation and defending 

deep for most of the game, although 

they created one clear-cut 

chance, midfielder Juankar firing 

wide of the near post after rounding 

Marc-Andre ter Stegen. 

Malaga’s Juankar was shown a 

straight red card in stoppage time 

for dissent. • 

Monaco’s Colombian forward Radamel 

Falcao celebrates after scoring against 

Lorient at Moustoir Stadium 

AFP 

Sport 

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud heads to score the equaliser against Manchester United during their Premier League match at Old Trafford yesterday 

Arsenal frustrate Mourinho 

• AFP, London 

Jose Mourinho was left frustrated 

as Arsenal rescued a late 1-1 draw 

at Manchester United, while Yaya 

Toure was back in Pep Guardiola’s 

good books with a brace in 

Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Crystal 

Palace yesterday. 

Olivier Giroud converted 

Arsenal’s first effort on target in 

the 89th minute to salvage a point 

for Arsene Wenger’s side after Juan 

Mata’s 69th-minute strike looked 

to have earned United a muchneeded 

win. 

Out-of-favour Toure’s only 

previous appearance since 

Guardiola’s appointment as City 

Red-hot Falcao 

scores again 

• Reuters, Paris 

Rejuvenated Colombian striker 

Radamel Falcao bagged his fifth 

goal in five Ligue 1 appearances as 

Monaco swept past bottom club 

Lorient 3-0 to march to the top of 

the table on Friday. 

The visitors went ahead through 

Falcao in the 64th minute before 

Thomas Lemar and Gabriel Boschilia 

made sure of victory. • 

RESULTS 

Lorient 0-3 Monaco 

Falcao 64, Lemar 67, Boschilia 90+3 

Lille 0-1 Lyon 

Cornet 3 

manager came in a Champions 

League qualifier against Steaua 

Bucharest in August. 

But he was given a first Premier 

League start this term after he 

apologised to Guardiola for 

“misunderstandings of the past” 

and the Ivory Coast midfielder 

made up for lost time as he put City 

ahead with a powerful strike from 

inside the penalty area in the 39th 

minute. 

City, who lost injury-prone 

defender Vincent Kompany with 

a first-half head injury, conceded 

a 66th-minute equaliser when 

Palace striker Connor Wickham 

beat a weak attempted save by 

Claudio Bravo. 

Milan derby back in spotlight 

• Reuters, Milan 

AC Milan’s revival and the debut of 

yet another coach at neighbours Inter 

should add much needed spice 

to a clash that has fallen out of the 

limelight in the last few seasons. 

The Milan derby used to be one 

of the world’s great fixtures and a 

centre-piece of the Serie A season 

but the indifferent form of both 

teams have stripped it of its gloss. 

Recently, with neither side in 

the Champions League or in the 

running for the Serie A title, it has 

struggled to be billed as the top 

match of the weekend, let alone 

the season. When the teams meet 

today, however, all eyes will be on 

San Siro. 

Milan, enjoying an unexpected 

EPL RESULTS 

Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester City 

Wickham 66 Toure 39, 83 

Everton 1-1 Swansea 

Coleman 89 Sigurdsson 41-P 

Man United 1-1 Arsenal 

Mata 69 Giroud 89 

Southampton 0-0 Liverpool 

Stoke 0-1 Bournemouth 

Ake 26 

Sunderland 3-0 Hull 

Defoe 34, Anichebe 62, 84 

Watford 2-1 Leicester 

Capoue 1, Pereyra 12 Mahrez 15-P 

revival under new coach Vincenzo 

Montella, are third in Serie A and 

five points behind leaders Juventus. 

FIXTURES 

Sampdoria v Sassuolo 

Atalanta v Roma 

Bologna v Palermo 

Crotone v Torino 

Empoli v Fiorentina 

Lazio v Genoa 

AC Milan v Inter Milan 

The seven-times European 

champions appear to have finally 

come good on a promise they made 

years ago to use locally-raised 

players more, with 18-year-old 

midfielder Manuel Locatelli and 

17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi 

REUTERS 

Guardiola’s men hit back 

to grab the winner in the 83rd 

minute as Toure slotted home 

following confusion in the Palace 

defence. 

Liverpool had made their best 

start for eight years, sparking talk 

of a first title since 1990, but Jurgen 

Klopp’s side were unable to convert 

a host of chances. 

Swansea were denied a first win 

under boss Bob Bradley as Everton 

left it late to earn a 1-1 draw at 

Goodison Park. 

Sunderland maintained their 

recent revival with a 3-0 victory 

over fellow strugglers Hull in a 

match interrupted by floodlight 

failure. • 

Donnarumma the pick of the crop. 

It is a very different story at Inter 

who are eight points behind their 

neighbours in ninth place after a 

miserable start which led to Dutchman 

Frank de Boer being fired after 

85 days in charge. Replacement 

Stefano Pioli will make his debut 

on the Inter bench where he has become 

the ninth occupant of the hot 

seat since Jose Mourinho’s departure 

little more than six years ago. 

There is extra motivation for 

Inter’s captain and leading scorer 

Mauro Icardi who has yet to find 

the target in a Milan derby. 

The match is widely expected 

to Milan’s last derby under the 

30-year reign of Silvio Berlusconi 

and his chief executive Adriano 

Galliani. •

Downtime 

29 


DT 

CROSSWORD 

CODE-CRACKER 

ACROSS 

1 Visage (4) 

3 Of the cheek (5) 

8 Dreadful (4) 

9 Burden (4) 

11 Flowers (5) 

12 Nominate (4) 

14 Light blow (3) 

15 Common ailments 

(5) 

18 Tree (5) 

19 Flightless bird (3) 

21 Way out (4) 

24 Discharges (5) 

26 Chess piece (4) 

27 Celtic tongue (4) 

28 Staggers (5) 

29 Joke (4) 

DOWN 

1 Tumble (4) 

2 Tribe (4) 

4 Bustle (3) 

5 Speech defects (5) 

6 Region (4) 

7 Reposes (5) 

10 Fish (4) 

11 Become less intense 

(5) 

13 Fashions (5) 

16 Fall in drops (4) 

17 Postpone (4) 

18 Wish evil upon (5) 

20 Deep mud (4) 

22 Docile (4) 

23 Insect (4) 

25 Snakelike fish (3) 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 12 represents M so fill M 

every time the figure 12 appears. 

You have two letters in the control 

grid to start you off. Enter them in the 

appropriate squares in the main grid, then 

use your knowledge of words to work out 

which letters go in the missing squares. 

Some letters of the alphabet may not be 

used. 

As you get the letters, fill in the other 

squares with the same number in the 

main grid, and the control grid. Check 

off the list of alphabetical letters as you 

identify them. 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

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

30 


DT 

Showtime 

The Story Of Celluloid: 

Masihuddin Shaker shares his 

struggle in filmmaking 

• Hasan Mansoor Chatak 

On the concluding day of Dhaka 

Lit Fest, a panel discussion was 

held at the KK Stage, which 

featured a speaker who has credit 

under his belt of co-directing 

a Bangladeshi cult film - Surja 

Dighal Bari. Masihuddin Shaker 

developed the film, from screen 

writing to directing, along with 

fellow filmmaker Sheikh Niamat 

Ali in late 70s, which depicts the 

social context of Bangladesh and 

struggle of it’s grassroot people 

immaculately. 

In the discussion, Masihuddin 

Shaker, shared his story of 

struggle in making the film, 

which was moderated by 

Mohammad Shazzad Hossain, a 

faculty of ULAB. 

In his childhood, literature 

played a large part in building 

his enthusiasm into films. 

While reading Bibhutibhushan 

Bandyopadhyay’s Pather 

Panchali, Shaker even envisaged 

a film based on the novel, as back 

then he was completely unaware 

of the fact that Satyajit Ray had 

already made a magnum opus 

out of it. 

Later, he was mesmerised by 

Abu Ishaque’s 1955 novel Surja 

Dighal Bari, and planned to make 

it his second feature film. 

While studying Architecture 

at BUET, he became more serious 

about films and eventually met 

Mohammad Khasru, a legendary 

figure who influenced many 

through his writings on films 

and the film society movement. 

Shaker then learned some 

filmmaking traits, after joining 

the film society movement. 

Years later, he approached 

the writer, seeking permission 

to make the film. Though, Abu 

Ishaque initially did not give 

permission as he already gave it 

to Badal Rahman. 

During filming, the production 

saw huge drawbacks, as they had 

to drop the lead actress for her 

non-cooperation with the way 

how it had been filming. After a 

couple of years of struggle, they 

somehow completed the film with 

another actress, Dolly Anwar as 

Jaigun, who eventually ended up 

winning the National Film Award 

for the film. The film also clinched 

the “Best Film” and the “Best 

Director” in the national award. 

Since he belongs to old school of 

thought, as he admitted, Shaker 

believes that there are distinctive 

differences between film and 

literature. In his words, a film 

serves one purpose of literature 

-- to connect people with it’s 

content.• 

Thornton on Jolie: 

‘If she needs anything, I’m here’ 

• Showtime Desk 


It seems after thirteen years of intriguing 

romance between Billy Bob Thornton and 

Angelina Jolie, their amicable understanding 

has survived with time. Recently, the Oscar 

winning actor told The Huffington Post, that 

despite their differences, the duo is still close. 

The duo came close together while filming 

Pushing Tin in 1999, and married the next 

year. 

The Sling Blade actor said, “When you 

have a great friendship with somebody and 

you truly love each other, I don’t think that 

goes away just because you have different 

ideas of how you’re going to live your life.” 

Thornton also said to another press that 

the actress “seems OK” after her recent 

headline-making split from husband Brad 

Pitt. 

“If she needs anything, I’m here. And vice 

versa. And we both know that,” Thornton 

said who is currently married to actress 

Connie Angland. • 

WHAT TO WATCH 

Ant-Man 

Star Movies, 4:15pm 

Armed with a super-suit with 

the astonishing ability to 

shrink in scale but increase 

in strength, cat burglar Scott 

Lang must embrace his inner 

hero and help his mentor, Dr. 

Hank Pym, plan and pull off a 

heist that will save the world. 

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline 

Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby 

Cannavale, Michael Pena, 

Anthony Mackie 

Snow White and the 

Huntsman 

Sony PIX, 4:00pm 

Eric and fellow warrior Sara, 

raised as members of ice 

Queen Freya’s army, try to 

conceal their forbidden love 

as they fight to survive the 

wicked intentions of both 

Freya and her sister Ravenna. 

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Chris 

Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, 

Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell 

Charlie and the Chocolate 

Factory 

WB, 4:10pm 

A young boy wins a tour 

through the most magnificent 

chocolate factory in the 

world, led by the world’s most 

unusual candy maker. 

Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie 

Highmore, David Kelly, 

Helena Bonham Carter, Noah 

Taylor 

Transformers: Dark of the 

Moon 

Zee Studio, 4:10pm 

The Autobots learn of a 

Cybertronian spacecraft 

hidden on the moon, and 

race against the Decepticons 

to reach it and to learn its 

secrets. 

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie 

Huntington-Whiteley

Showtime 

31 


DT 

Curtain calls for Dhaka Lit Fest 2016 

• Rayan Quddus 

Dhaka Lit Fest 2016 ended with a captivating 

show by the baul group, Shikor Bangladesh 

All Stars. They paid a tribute to their guru, 

Rob Fakir, who passed away recently. It took 

place in the lawn of Bangla Academy, under 

the vibrant canopy and colourful stage 

lights. 

All eyes were on the performers onstage, 

attired in the signature white garments 

favoured by bauls, as they took position with 

their instruments. The group leader, dhol 

player Nazrul Islam, engaged the audience in 

conversation between the sets. The conversational 

style holds true to the tradition of 

baul performances, as dialogue is part of the 

seat. The vocalist, Nupur, hit the high notes, 

which, along with the beat of the dhol and 

the melody of the flute was a treat to the ears 

After an hour, the group performed 

several songs- Moner manush chinlam na re, 

Chatok bache kemone, Jaath gelo bhule and 

a regional ballad from Brahmonbaria, are to 

name a few. The performance was unfortunately 

cut short by a power outage, but 

powerful enough to leave an impression that 

is sure to last as a fond memory. 

This sort of performances merit greater 

exposure as they keep the spirit of the 

mystical bauls alive. As Simon Broughton 

said, “They are exemplary” And those 

lucky enough to have heard them that night 

wouldn’t disagree. It is rare to see youngsters 

enjoying traditional music, and this was one 

of those rare cases. • 


Shotter Shondhane: 

Truth has a long history 


• Hasan Dabir Uddin 

In Bangladesh, Bauls have a lot of 

contribution in shaping our individual 

philosophies, and their practices of secular 

culture tend to hold the flag of mankind, 

the speakers of the Dhaka Lit Fest, agreed 

on the notion at a session held at Bangla 

Academy’s Bottola, yesterday noon. Folk 

singers Arup Rahee, Mehedi Hasan Nill, 

and Shofi Mondol served as panelists at 

the session. 

Arup Rahee said, “We see various types 

of truth existing due to the colonial rule 

which culminated the colonial mindset. 

For this reason, we have lost our own 

truth.” 

He also said the philosophies of our 

sub-continent are divided into seven 

schools like Shongho, Buddist, Joyeno, 

and so on. 

Mehedi Hasan Nill said, “Consciousness 

is the main reason which proves that we 

are alive. Castes differ from country to 

country but a man’s heart is his own.” 

“We lost our folk culture and traditions 

because of colonial ruling,” he added. 

Shofi Mondol talked about the notion of 

semblance of truth in religion, “Every 

religion has similar kind of truth of being 

humankind.”•

32 


DT 

NO RESPONSE TO LOAN 

RESCHEDULING CALL PAGE 12 

Back Page 

KHULNA DEFEND SUCCESSFULLY 

AGAINST SLOPPY DHAKA PAGE 24 

DLF ends on a high note of hope 

• Nure Alam Durjoy 

The curtain fell on the Dhaka Literary 

Festival 2016 yesterday with 

high hopes that love and passion 

for knowledge, culture and literature 

would always live on. 

“This has been such a fabulous 

celebration of knowledge, literature, 

sharing of ideas… it’s a chance 

to celebrate Bangladesh today 

through our culture and literature,” 

said Sadaf Saaz, co-director of the 

festival, at the closing ceremony at 

Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharod auditorium 

of Bangla Academy. 

She said that the three-day 

event – the largest English literary 

event in Bangladesh – hosted more 

than 100 sessions which were visited 

by over 20,000 people. 

“What an amazing three days it 

has been… the participation of the 

audiences was incredible,” she said. 

Thanking the guests and visitors, 

she said, “We want the DLF to 

be a festival for all.” 

Zafar Sobhan, editor of the Dhaka 

Tribune, thanked the DLF directors 

for successfully organising a 

marvellous event. 

“In a time when the world 

stands divided over so many issues, 

the DLF brings together writers 

and journalists of the highest 

calibre from all over the world in a 

celebration,” he said. 

The event was also a bridge between 

Bangladesh and the rest of 

the world, he added. 

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of 

Brac, was present at the ceremony 

as chief guest. 

Addressing the ceremony, he 

said: “Although I have not been 

able to come to many of the sessions, 

I understand that it is the 

best festival in the past six years. It 

is the largest and most exciting festival 

that happened in Dhaka in the 

last three days.” 

He also remembered Syed 

Shamsul Haq, a celebrated Bengali 

poet and lyricist who passed away 

in September. 

The esteemed foreign guests 

who attended the festival this year 

were also happy to see a vibrant literary 

scene in Bangladesh. 

“My face has been hurting because 

in the past three days I have 

smiled too much. I smiled at my fellow 

authors, my incredible organisers, 

and I smiled while meeting the 

Gemcon Literary Award given at Dhaka Lit Fest 

• Nure Alam Durjoy 

The Gemcon Sahitya Puroshkar 

(Literary Award) has been given at 

Dhaka Lit Fest for the first time. 

Writer Moinul Ahsan Saber won this 

year’s Award for his novel “Abdul Jalil 

Je Karone Mara Gelo” and young writer 

Mustafiz Karigor won the Tarun Literary 

Award for his novel “Bostuborgo”. 

Moinul Ahsan Saber has been given 

Tk8,00000 and Mustafiz Karigor has 

been given Tk2,00000 in prize money 

while each has also been given a crest. 

Mustafiz Karigor expressed his joy 

by saying: “The award is a recognition, 

for me, it will inspire me to work more.” 

Moinul Ahsan Saber said: “feeling 

happy to be awarded. If I am awarded I 

feel happy, if not I am not unhappy.” 

The award ceremony was 

moderated by poet Shamim Reza. The 

Award was given at the Dhaka Lit Fest’s 

Main Stage at 5.30pm yesterday. 

DLF directors Ahsan Akbar, K Anis Ahmed and Sadaf Saaz with Brac founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed and Dhaka Tribune Editor 

Zafar Sobhan after the closing ceremony of Dhaka Lit Fest 2016 yesterday 

RAJIB DHAR 

Winners of Gemcon Literature Award 2016 with guests at Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangla Academy yesterday 

Writer and professor Syed Manzoorul 

Islam, Writer Jharna Rahman, Poet 

Akbar Ahmed from Tripura, and Jahar 

Sen Majumdar from Kolkata were on the 

jury board of the awards. 

After the ceremony, the members of 

the jury board held a discussion on the 

awards around the world very briefly. 

Before the award ceremony, K Anis 

Ahmed, Director of Gemcon Group 

and also Dhaka Lit Fest, thanked 

all the participants who sent their 

manuscripts for the award. 

The award was given to inspire 

writers. Initially the award was named 

as the Kagoj Tarun Sahitya Puroskar, 

and it was renamed as the Best Book 

Award in 2003. It became the Gemcon 

Sahitya Puroskar in 2007. 

The section of new titles that 

come in every year, from January 

to December, are divided into three 

phases on the basis of creativity and the 

originality of the publication. The Jury 

board make decisions independently. 

Last year, Salma Bani won the award 

for her “Immigration” while Rubayet 

ordinary Bangladeshi people,” said 

Catalan writer Carles Torner. 

“I have to say, as an author, my 

life has been in the sitting room. 

But to be here is a complete revolution 

for me. I am delighted to be 

here and I love it.” 

Charlie Campbell, captain of 

the Authors Cricket Club, an Edwardian 

cricket club of writers that 

had PG Wodehouse and Sir Arthur 

Conan Doyle as regular members, 

said: “We need to exchange our 

ideas more than ever. It has been a 

wonderful experience to be here.” 

British writer Anthony Mc- 

Gowan, who spoke at the panel 

“Hitchhiker’s Guide to Children’s 

Literature” along with Daniel Hahn, 

said: “I want to say it’s been a real 

pleasure to see what has been taking 

place in here these days. It is the 

spirit of joy in the sharing of ideas.” 

The third and last day of the 

festival began with spiritual songs 

by Neda Shakiba and ended with a 

tribute to Baul Rob Fakir. 

There were panel discussions 

on novels, poetry, cinema, Arab fiction, 

translations, genetics, Muslin, 

women in sports and many more. 

This year’s literary congregation 

witnessed a stellar list of speakers 

from 18 countries, including Nobel 

Laureate VS Naipaul, one of the 

greatest living writers, who attended 

the festival as the guest of honour. 

• 

RAJIB DHAR 

Ahmed was awarded with the Tarun 

Katha Sahitya Puroskhkar. The Gemcon 

Sahitya Puroshkar’s 2014 recipient was 

Hasan Azizul Haq. 

Ahmed Mostofa Kamal, Zakir 

Talukder, Selim Al Deen, Syed Shamsul 

Haq and Shahidul Zahir, Nirmalendu 

Goon were past recipients of the 

Gemcon Sahitya Puroshkar. • 

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 

8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

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