DT e-Paper 21-02-17

SECOND EDITION 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 | Falgun 9, 1423, Jamadiul Awwal 23, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 295 | www.dhakatribune.com | 28 pages plus 8-page special supplement | Price: Tk10 

Where 

foreigners fall 

in love with 

Bangla › 3 

Abul Barkat 

museum keeps 

Language 

Movement 

going › 4 

Mastermind 

of blogger 

Rajib murder 

arrested › 5 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

Gopalganj, 

Kurigram 

schools want 

Shaheed Minar 

› 6 

EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR AND THE SPIRIT OF LANGUAGE MOVEMENT 

Frustrations overshadow 

achievements › 2 

Sixty-five years post Language Movement, the struggle to instil a pride in 

Bangla and promote proper use of the language by the masses continues and 

the younger generations remain unaware of its significance in our history 

Cabinet okays 

Animal Welfare 

Act › 24 

NOTICE 

The Dhaka Tribune offices will remain 

closed today on the occasion of Language 

Martyrs Day. However, the newspaper 

will be published tomorrow under special 

arrangements.

2 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 

DT 

News 

EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR AND THE SPIRIT OF LANGUAGE MOVEMENT 

Frustrations overshadow achievements 

• Tarek Mahmud 

Sixty-five years after the historic 

Language Movement that earned 

us the right to speak in our mother 

tongue, the spirit of that struggle 

has yet to gain a strong foothold in 

Amar Ekushey Book Fair, the annual 

month-long event that takes 

place in February in commemoration 

of the movement. 

The fair attracts a large crowd of 

both readers and curious visitors 

every year, but experts believe that 

its aim to instil the Ekushey spirit 

has hardly been achieved because 

of the improper use of Bangla language, 

lack of awareness of its history 

and poor knowledge of the 

local culture. 

“The [Ekushey] book fair has 

achieved its goal in representing the 

spirit of the Language Movement, 

but it is mostly lost on the new generation 

who are still unaware of its 

significance in our history,” said Dr 

AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice-chancellor 

of Dhaka University. 

He said the book fair had been 

successful in enriching Bangla literature 

by promoting and releasing 

new publications, but the usage of 

Bangla in those publications are 

still sub par. 

“Still in a sense, the book fair 

has managed to create a satisfactory 

number of readers,” he added. 

The DU vice-chancellor also suggested 

full use of Bangla in computer 

and all local websites so the new 

generation can learn Bangla. 

Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam, professor 

of English at Dhaka University 

and a Trustee Board member of 

Transparency International Bangladesh, 

said along with protecting 

Bangla, the ethnic languages and 

dialects of Bangladesh should also 

be nurtured in order to uphold the 

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pay their respects to the language martyrs of 1952 at the Central 

Shaheed Minar in the first hour today 

FOCUSBANGLA 

spirit of Language Movement. 

Both Prof Arefin and Prof Manzoorul 

expressed concern over the 

incorrect use of Bangla in books 

that are released in the fair “by 

some profit-making publishers 

and so-called writers” and blamed 

the use of foreign words in formal 

language as well as in the names of 

institutions around the country for 

the “usage disaster” of Bangla. 

“Bangla Academy has a dictionary 

which contains correct spelling 

rules. It should instruct the publishers 

and writers to follow those 

rules. Those who do not abide by 

them should not be allowed in the 

fair,” said Manzoorul. 

Poet Dr Mayukh Chowdhury, 

professor of Bangla at Chittagong 

University, blamed the “self-interested” 

book traders for the misuse 

of the language. 

He also said 65 years after the 

Language Movement, the state-run 

bodies had still failed to develop 

Bangla as a language. 

“The book fair has carried forward 

cultural values from one generation 

to another. It is also a good 

platform for both writers and readers 

to gain exposure to Bangla literature,” 

he told the Dhaka Tribune. 

Shamsuzzaman Khan, director 

general of Bangla Academy, said in 

terms of organisation, the book fair 

had been successful in spreading 

the spirit of the Language Movement. 

“Bangla Academy has increased 

publication of Bangla language research 

as well,” he added. 

How Ekushey Book Fair came to be 

The first Ekushey Book Fair was 

held in 1965, when Bangladesh was 

still East Pakistan. The fair was organised 

on the ground floor of Dhaka 

University Library and was initiated 

by Jatiya Grontho Kendra’s 

former director Sarder Jayenuddin 

when he was working in a Unesco 

project. 

Then, the fair was named 

Shishu Gronthomela, or Children’s 

Book Fair. In 1970, he introduced 

the book fair in Narayanganj. 

After the Liberation War, on the 

occasion of Unesco’s International 

Book Year 1972, Jayenuddin organised 

another book fair at Bangla 

Academy premises, but no book 

fair was held to observe Ekushey 

February. 

However, some publishers, including 

Muktodhara and Standard 

Publishers, started to sell books 

just outside the Bangla Academy. 

In February 1974, the academy 

organised a national literature 

conference where more book publishers 

participated, selling books 

at Bottola. This practice continued 

until 1978. 

In 1979, the book publishers, especially 

Muktodhara’s Chittaranjan 

Saha, Standard Publishers’ Ruhul 

Amin Nizami and Khan Brothers’ 

Feroz Khan, formally requested 

the then Bangla Academy director 

general Dr Ashraf Siddique to organise 

a book fair on the occasion 

of February 21. 

That year, Ekushey Book Fair 

was held from February 7 to February 

28, organised by Jatiya Grontho 

Kendra in collaboration with Bangla 

Academy and the publishers. 

In 1980, when Jatiya Grontho 

Kendra failed to organise the fair, 

the Bangla Academy took over with 

the assistance of the publishers. 

In 1983, the fair was named 

Amar Ekushey Grontho Mela 

(Amar Ekushey Book Fair), but had 

to be postponed when police ran 

over two students and killed them 

during a procession of students 

protesting the autocratic regime of 

HM Ershad. 

From 1984, the book fair was officially 

instated and has become an 

annual event. • 

Language hero reinstated as student after 62 years 

• Hanif Ullah Akash, 

Netrokona 

Azim Uddin was just an eighth 

grader at a local school when his 

studentship was cancelled by the 

then East Pakistan government 

for penning down a so called anti-state 

poem back in 1952. 

But, after 62 long years, the 

government in late 2014 reinstated 

his status as a student of the 

school. 

Hailing from Purbadhula 

upazila of Netrakona, language 

veteran Azim said he had moved 

to his maternal uncle’s home 

in Netrakona city’s Islampur for 

studies, after his father’s death. 

“I was enrolled in class VI at 

Anjuman School in 1950,” said 

Azim, who is in his early 80s now. 

Two years later, he had become 

a member of Chhatra League of 

Netrakona Mohkuma unit in 1952, 

the fifth year of the formation of 

the student front. 

Struggle for officially recognising 

Bangla as a state language of 

the then East Pakistan had gained 

ground in 1948 and gradually 

reached every nook and corner of 

the country, said the octogenarian. 

The movement over the demand 

gained momentum after 

the government forces opened 

fire on the February 21 rally in 

1952, killing many demonstrators 

and, spreading the agitation 

across the East Pakistan, he said, 

adding: “Since the movement 

went at its peak, I also took part 

in it from Netrakona. 

“The government expelled me 

from the school on charge of reciting 

a self-composed poem at a 

programme of Netrakona Mohkuma 

under greater Mymensingh in 

December the same year.” 

Afterwards, the authorities 

concerned sought explanation 

of and reason behind the poem 

called Ajab Bhuri (strange belly), 

which was satirical in its kind. 

“In my reply, I spoke my mind, 

calling a spade a spade. As they 

found my answer unsatisfactory, 

I was asked thrice later to explain 

the poem and the reason for writing 

it down. But, I remained rigid 

on my stance by replying the 

same all the time,” he recalled. 

“Finally, the school authorities 

sent an expulsion letter to me in 

1953, causing me to stop studying,” 

added the language veteran. 

Azim claimed that he, from the 

sixth grade, had been involved in 

rallies and cultural programmes to 

muster public support to help expedite 

the Language Movement. 

He said: “Two of my satirical 

poems titled ‘Pocket Bhari’ and 

‘Ghusher Tholi,’ mainly supporting 

the movement and criticising 

the then government, were published 

in school magazine in 1951 

and 1952 respectively.” 

More than six decades after 

the expulsion, the Anjuman Model 

Government High School authorities 

finally returned his studentship 

on December 26, 2014, 

marking the 100th founding anniversary 

of the school. 

“Regaining the studentship 

helped me get rid of a stigma I 

had long been carrying,” he said. 

Asked about what else he 

needs in his last days of life, the 

language hero said he applied for 

Ekushey Padak. 

“I urge the government to help 

me die with the honour of winning 

the priceless award,” he said. •

News 3 



Two foreigners performing a Bangla drama on stage organised by Learn Bangla. The photo was taken 

from Learn Bangla’s Facebook page 

Where foreigners fall 

in love with Bangla 

• Tarek Mahmud 

For anyone who is not familiar 

with the institution 

Learn Bangla, it may come as 

a shock to find so many foreigners 

in one place, speaking 

in Bangla with ease, fluency 

and enthusiasm. 

Learn Bangla is a Bangla 

language learning centre 

which started its journey on 

April 14, 2010. It provides 

Bangla training to foreign officials 

who are working in different 

diplomatic missions, international 

volunteer agencies, 

international aid agencies, 

donor agencies, university 

students and social workers. 

One such student is So-Kum 

Klin, a Chinese NGO official 

who teaches English to slum 

children in Dhaka. “I came 

here to study Bangla as my job 

requires it. Now I am in love 

with the language,” he said. 

Danielle Lalonde Maswood 

is a Canadian woman 

who married a Bangladeshi, 

Mohammad Maswood. She 

said: “I love Bangla, that’s 

why I got enrolled in Learn 

Bangla. I want to be able to 

converse with my in-laws in 

their language.” 

“Learn Bangla is the perfect 

place to know about 

Bangladesh’s history, culture 

and heritage,” said Napada 

Bihar, an Indonesian man 

who intends to expand his 

business in the country. 

Other students – British 

citizen Elizabeth Jem 

Simpson, Romanian citizen 

Octavian Retezan and 

American citizen Jefir Meier 

– echoed Bihar’s comment. 

Australian citizens Alyxandra 

and Kelib said: “We 

chose Learn Bangla because 

of its good teaching reputation. 

We appreciate the flexibility 

Learn Bangla offers and 

have been very impressed 

with the quality of teaching.” 

The Bangla 

language course 

is structured 

in such way 

that foreigners 

could easily 

read, write, 

understand and 

speak in Bangla 

“It is a matter of great 

pride for us that many of 

our students have come 

from different parts of the 

world only to learn Bangla 

language and culture,” said 

Mary Juliet Penheiro, founder 

and managing director of 

Learn Bangla. 

Learn Bangla has developed 

their own teaching 

modules and materials, 

keeping foreign learners in 

mind, said Lelin Penheiro, 

chairman of the institution. 

“Our Bangla language 

course methodology was 

structured in such way that the 

foreigners could easily read, 

write, understand and speak in 

Bangla. Our programme has already 

helped more than thousands 

of learners from more 

than 50 countries,” Lelin said. 

Sean D Boda, language 

officer at the US Embassy 

in Dhaka, said the embassy 

signed an agreement with 

Learn Bangla in 2012 to provide 

individual and group 

lessons to their officers. 

Dil Ara Leena, media and 

communication director of 

Learn Bangla, said: “As our 

students are all foreigners, 

we have designed our curriculum 

keeping the aspects 

of adult and cross-culture 

learning in mind.” 

To add to their achievements 

and show their love 

for Bangla language and culture, 

Learn Bangla students 

have recently performed 

the song “Amar bhai er rokte 

rangano Ekushey February” 

in 15 different languages – 

Bangla, Norwegian, English, 

Romanian, Japanese, Korean, 

Chinese, Indonesian, 

Dutch, Hindi, Ethiopian, 

Finnish, Cambodian, Russian 

and Moghamo. 

To create an effective and 

friendly learning environment, 

Learn Bangla teaches 

year-long courses to two to 

eight students in each of its 

10 classrooms. Learn Bangla 

currently has 15 skilled 

teachers who provide Bangla 

lessons to their students. 

Learn Bangla’s three-storey 

building is located in 

Banani. Address: House 57, 

Road 7A, Block H, Banani. • 

The writing on the wall 

that Pakistan missed 

• Afrose Jahan Chaity 

February 21, Language Martyrs’ Day and International 

Mother Language Day, is a source of 

national pride. 

The occurrences of this day in 1952 galvanised 

an entire nation to demand Bangla as one 

of the state languages. That movement eventually 

gave birth to Bangladesh. 

Every year, thousands gather at the Central 

Shaheed Minar to pay their respects to the 

language martyrs and lay wreaths as a sombre 

commemoration of all the lives that were lost 

that day. The area not only gets a yearly renovation, 

but the surrounding walls are painted with 

quotes from people who have inspired rebellion. 

While the country was in flux, Abul Fazal’s 

was the voice of calm rebellion saying: “The 

meaning of 21st is to never bow your head.” This 

is imprinted on the walls near the Shaheed Minar 

to remind people of the courage it took to stand 

up against autocratic rule. 

The words of others who guided the country 

such as Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

and Dhirendranath Dutta also adorn the walls. 

“Bravo Bangladesh, the world is in awe 

of you! You’ve been burned to ashes but you 

have held your head up high!” wrote Sukanta 

Bhattacharya, in a bid to build national pride 

after the war. 

These words were used to inspire people 

during the long road to freedom – a movement 

that Pakistan had deemed a peasant uprising 

unworthy of acknowledgment. 

Tanvir Hassan, a Dhaka University student, said: 

“These writings stir a deep sense of connection to 

that time. I get goosebumps thinking about it.” 

Kamal Uddin, a Fine Arts professor at Dhaka 

University who has been writing these quotes 

on the wall for 17 years, said: “This is not just a 

tribute to those who resisted oppression but 

also a lesson for the youth.” •

4 



News 

Abul Barkat museum keeps Language Movement going 

• Afrose Jahan Chaity 

A visit to the Abul Barkat Memorial 

Museum engraves the Language 

Movement and its aftermath on visitors’ 

minds in a way that school books, newspapers 

and documentaries cannot. 

Right at the entrance is a photograph 

of language martyr Abul Barkat, 

framed on a mosaic wall with a short 

biography of the man. 

The ground floor of the two-storey 

memorial complex is an open 

space showcasing photographs and 

documents ranging from 1947 to 1952: 

a complete, contextual history of the 

Language Movement. 

Photographs, painstakingly collected 

over the years, adorn much of 

the wall space. They tell the story of 

the Language Movement in a way that 

transports the viewer back to the days 

of the martyrs as they fought heart 

and soul for the right to speak in their 

mother tongue. 

A series of pictures depict the 

March 11, 1948 student procession, 

carrying placards, marching toward 

the secretariat as a barricade of armed 

policemen form to meet them. 

Other photos show male and 

UN envoy on Myanmar 

meets foreign minister 

RAJIB DHAR 

female students holding a rally in front 

of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital 

on February 4, 1952; a meeting held at 

the historic Amtala site beside the Department 

of Social Sciences at Dhaka 

University as students prepare to break 

the unlawful assembly and curfew 

under Section 144 on February 21, 

1952; and a copy of The Azad’s special 

February 22, 1952 edition. 

To the right of the entrance are photographs 

of Abul Barkat and his family. 

Photocopies of his university certificate 

and personal letters, a 1961 photograph 

of Barkat’s mother Hasina Begum inaugurating 

the Shaheed Minar, three of 

Barkat’s used tea cups and an Ekushey 

Padak make up the display of Barkat’s 

personal items. 

A digital information booth set 

beside the stairs is the final stop before 

visitors head to the top floor balcony-like 

library containing 450 books 

on the Language Movement and the 

Liberation War. 

A reading space invites visitors to 

read the available books and publications, 

which the museum also sells at a 

10% discount. 

While reading, visitors can look 

down into the main hall space and take 

in visual evidence of the aftermath: 

heartrending pictures of the nation in 

mourning as well as the uplifting declaration 

by Unesco on November 17, 1999 

marking February 21 as International 

Mother Language Day. 

Shamima and Anika, college friends 

on their first visit to the museum, said 

they had learnt much more here than 

from text books, but it would be even 

better if they could learn about the 

other martyrs as well. For them, the 

museum has made a lasting impact. 

The museum’s Administrative 

Officer Gulam Mustafa said: “Thirty 

interviews of Language Movement 

rebels and related documentaries are 

screened on special occasions. We 

could do even more if we received 

funding for renovations.” 

The memorial complex, located at 

the Polashi intersection, was inaugurated 

on March 25, 2012 and is free and 

open for all. • 

• Syed Zainul Abedin 

The United Nations Special Rapporteur 

on the situation of human 

rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, 

paid a courtesy visit to Foreign 

Minister AH Mahmood Ali in Dhaka 

yesterday. 

Yanghee arrived in Dhaka in 

the morning on a four-day tour. 

She will be visiting Cox’s Bazar for 

three days from today to interact 

with Rohingya refugees who came 

there fleeing their homes in the 

northern state of Rakhine in Myanmar, 

following recent military 

atrocities. 

The minister 

highlighted the 

endeavours to 

bolster regional 

connectivity 

involving Myanmar 

through BCIM and 

BIMSTEC 

During the meeting, held at State 

Guest House Padma, the minister 

apprised her of the measures that 

Bangladesh had taken vis-à-vis Myanmar 

refugees, both documented 

and undocumented, who entered 

Bangladesh over the years from Rakhine 

state. 

He informed her about the repatriation 

status of the refugees 

under an agreement negotiated by 

him back in 1992, adding that as 

many as 236,599 Rohingya Muslims 

had been sent back home under 

that agreement until it came to 

a halt in 2005. 

Mahmood Ali said the constant 

presence of the huge number of 

Myanmar nationals in Cox’s Bazar 

has caused a number of adverse 

impacts on the overall socio-economic, 

political, demographic, 

environmental, and humanitarian 

and security situations in the district 

and its adjacent areas. 

He also informed the envoy 

about the initiatives Bangladesh 

took to connect with Myanmar 

through setting up border liaison 

offices and introduction of dialogue 

on security cooperation. 

The minister also highlighted 

the endeavours to bolster regional 

connectivity involving Myanmar 

through BCIM and BIMSTEC, thus 

ensuring sustainable development 

in the region. 

Mahmood Ali emphasised on 

the peaceful resolution of the longstanding 

issue of the Rohingya influx, 

urging the international community 

to take steps to address its 

root causes. 

Meanwhile, the human rights 

expert thanked him for allowing 

her to undertake the visit, with 

Mahmood assuring her of all sorts 

of cooperation during her stay in 

Bangladesh. 

Upon completion of the mission, 

Yanghee will issue a statement on it 

and share her findings with the UN 

Human Rights Council, which will 

go online from March 13. • 

Bangladesh Cultural Activists Association brings out a procession in the Dhaka University Area yesterday to honour all 

languages on the occasion of International Mother Language Day 

RAJIB DHAR 

Norwegian FM: Middle-income 

status achievable for Bangladesh 

• Syed Zainul Abedin 

Foreign Minister of Norway, Børge 

Brende, arrived in Dhaka yesterday 

morning to experience the impressive 

development of Bangladesh 

over the last 45 years. 

He was received at Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport by Secretary 

(Bilateral & Consular, Foreign 

Ministry) Kamrul Ahsan and Bangladesh 

Ambassador to Norway Md 

Golam Sarwar, said a foreign ministry 

press release. 

During a round-table meeting 

with Young Global Leaders, 

Brende said Bangladesh’s aim to 

become a middle-income country 

is within reach, but to reach that 

goal, the country needs to ensure 

Børge Brende 

transparency in all sectors and curb 

corruption. 

The meeting was attended by 

more than 50 young leaders and 

moderated by Lutfey Siddiqi. 

Brende also held meetings with 

the staff of the Royal Norwegian 

Embassy in Dhaka and the Norwegian-Bangladeshi 

business community 

and witnessed the signing 

of a collaboration agreement between 

solar power producer Scatec 

Solar and the AK Khan Company. 

Today, Brende will place a floral 

wreath on the Central Shaheed 

Minar in order to pay homage to 

the Language Movement martyrs, 

making him the first ever foreign 

minister from a Nordic country to 

do so. 

He will leave Bangladesh on 

Thursday. •

News 5 



Recepients of the 2017 Ekushey Padak Awards take a picture with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium 

BSS 

Blogger Rajib murder mastermind arrested 

• Arifur Rahman Rabbi 

A fugitive convict, who was sentenced 

to death in the blogger Rajib 

Haider murder case, has been arrested 

from Uttara in Dhaka. 

The Counter-Terrorism and 

Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit 

arrested death row convict Redwanul 

Azad Rana and his associate 

Ashraf around 2pm yesterday. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s 

Deputy Commissioner Masudur 

Rahman confirmed the arrest to 

the Dhaka Tribune. 

Former North South University 

student Rana had fled Bangladesh 

before the trial and was convicted 

in absentia. 

CTTC chief and Additional 

Commissioner Monirul Islam told 

the Dhaka Tribune that Redwanul 

Azad Rana is a so called “big brother” 

and organiser of militant outfit 

Ansarullah Bangla Team and a 

mastermind of Rajib murder. 

Rana was first identified in 

2013 and fled to Malaysia in 2014. 

Though he hails from Feni, he 

made a fake passport with an address 

in Gazipur and left the country 

with a student visa, after his 

real passport had been flagged. 

The CTTC chief said: “We were in 

contact with Malaysian intelligence 

and informed them of Rana’s probable 

location and profile. After they 

identified him, Rana was deported 

to Dhaka. When he arrived, we followed 

him from the airport and arrested 

him, along with his associate 

Ashraf, in Uttara today [Monday]. 

Ashraf is also a militant.” 

Monirul added that Rana had 

been planning to join Islamic State 

(IS), as he had gained interest in the 

Syria-based militant organisation 

through association with runway 

terrorist Junun Shikdar. 

“We had arrested Junun earlier, 

but he fled Bangladesh to Malaysia 

after receiving bail from the court. 

We have learnt that he is now in 

Syria,” he said. 

The CTTC chief expanded that 

Rana had pledged to Junun that 

he would join the IS while the latter 

was still in Malaysia. Rana and 

Ashraf were both attempting to 

go to Syria, however, after their 

attempt failed they turned to receiving 

training from Abu Sayyaf, a 

violent militant group based in the 

Phillipines. Malaysian intelligence 

identified the duo and deported 

them before they could follow 

through with the plan. 

Monirul further said that Rana 

may have been involved in a number 

of militant incidents, with evidence 

linking him to at least three 

by early 2015. Subsequently, Rana 

may have dialed back his activities 

with Ansarullah Bangla Team as he 

sought to join IS. 

Police are as yet unaware of 

how Rana obtained the passport or 

if he had any relation with Major 

Zia. However, they do suspect that 

Rana may have been involved in 

militant activities while in Malaysia, 

and such details would emerge 

later in the investigation. 

On December 31, 2015, a special 

tribunal handed death penalty to 

Md Faisal Bin Nayem alias Dweep 

and former Islami Chhatra Shibir 

leader Rana for masterminding the 

murder of blogger Rajib. They were 

also fined Tk10,000 each. 

In addition, the tribunal sentenced 

six others to varying terms of 

imprisonment for the murder of Rajib 

on February 15, 2013, including a 

five-year sentence for Ansarullah 

chief Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani. 

On March 15, 2015, the DMP 

announced a bounty of Tk5 lakh 

for top Ansarullah leader Rana following 

the murder of Mukto-Mona 

blog founder Avijit Roy on February 

26 the same year. 

Rana, who had instructed to attack 

blogger Asif Mohiuddin, also 

made the plan to attack two teachers 

of Monipur High School, police said. 

A new case will be filed against 

Rana and Ashraf under the Anti-Terrorism 

Act and a 10 day remand will 

be demanded, said the CTTC chief. • 

War crimes evidence found against 11 Mymensingh Razakars 

• Ashif Islam Shaon 

The investigation agency of the International 

Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has 

found evidence against 11 people of 

Mymensingh for crimes against humanity 

committed in 1971. 

They were allegedly involved in 

crimes against humanity like murder, 

torture, confinement, abduction, looting 

and arson attacks at Sadhua and 

Rouha villages in Pagal and Niguyari 

upazilas respectively. 

Four charges have been brought 

against the 11 people in connection with 

the alleged crimes that include the killing 

of four people and confinement of 11 

others during the Liberation War. 

The agency’s coordinator Abdul 

Hannan revealed this at a press conference 

at their Dhanmondi office in the 

capital. 

Of the eleven alleged persons, the 

agency disclosed the names of five who 

are already in the jail. 

They are: Khalilur Rahman Mir alias 

Khalilur Rahman, 62, Mohammad 

Samsuzzaman alias Abul Kalam, 65, 

Mohammad Abdullah, 62, Mohammad 

Abdul Malek Akand alias Abul Hossain, 

68, and Md Rois Uddin Azadi alias Akkel 

Ali, 74. 

Khalilur is now a Jatiya Party supporter 

while Shamsuzzaman is a 

member of Atgharia upazila unit of 

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Malek 

involved with local BNP, Rois a Jamaat 

supporter and Abdullah has no political 

affiliation. 

The prosecution would plead the tribunal 

to issue arrest warrant to nab the 

rest of the alleged war criminals. 

Hannan Khan said all of the accused 

were involved with Razakar Bahini, an 

auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation 

army, during the war. 

The investigation into the alleged 

crimes was conducted from October 

16, 2014 to February 16, 2017. 

A total of 60 people gave witness 

accounts against them. 

The first charge brought against 

them says that on August 16, 1971 

Razakar men cordoned off the houses 

of local Liberation War organizer Sahabuddin 

alias Khoka Khan and his followers 

Hasem Khan, Anisur Rahman at 

Sadhua village. 

They tortured Hasem and Anisur, 

and then looted and torched their 

houses. Khoka was abducted and confined 

at the Razakar camp at Trimohini. 

Khoka was reportedly killed after 

seven days of torture and the body was 

dumped in a river. 

The second charge says on September 

22, the Razakar men abducted 

freedom fighter Nur Hossain Bepari and 

seven others from Rouha village. They 

were taken to the Razakar camp at Baroihati 

village and tortured there. 

Seven men were released after 3-4 

days on ransom, but Nur Hossain was 

shot dead on the Kalibana riverbank. 

The third charge describes that the 

accused Razakars abducted freedom 

fighter Abdul Majid’s father Joidhor 

Khan from their house at Sadhua village 

on September 24. 

After six days of confinement and 

torture, he was taken to the Sutiya riverbank 

and was shot dead. 

The final charge says that on September 

27, 1971 they cordoned off Tyeb 

Ali Sarkar’s house at Sadhua village and 

searched for his freedom fighter son. 

They looted and torched the house as 

the freedom fighter was not there. 

After two days they again went to 

that area and picked up Tyeb and two 

others. They freed two of them on ransom, 

but Tyeb was tortured on boat on 

the way to the local Razakar camp. 

His floating body was found three 

days later. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

DRY WEATHER 

LIKELY 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 

Dhaka 33 22 Chittagong 28 21 Rajshahi 34 19 Rangpur 32 18 Khulna 34 21 Barisal 33 21 Sylhet 25 18 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 5:57PM 

SUN RISES 6:27AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

31.4ºC 

16.2ºC 

Patuakhali 

Srimangal 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Cox’s Bazar 28 21 

Fajr: 5:55am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 4:45pm | Magrib: 6:07pm 

Esha: 8:00pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 



Patients suffer as 

interns continue 

strike at Zia Medical 

College Hospital 

News 

Gopalganj, Kurigram schools want Shaheed Minar 

• Manoj Kumar Saha, 

Gopalganj and Ariful Islam, 

Kurigram 

Most of the students of Gopalganj 

have been observing the International 

Mother Language Day at 

temporary Shaheed Minar for years 

as the schools don’t have any permanent 

Shaheed Minar on their 

campuses, found the Dhaka Tribune. 

The similar scenario is prevailing 

in Kurigram too. 

Around 90% schools in Gopalganj 

including Sheikh Hasina Government 

Girls’ School and College, 

Shornokoli High School and Shishu 

Kalyan Government Primary 

School do not have any permanent 

Shaheed Minar of their own. 

Gopalganj District Education 

Officer Masud Bhuiyan said: “We 

don’t have permanent Shaheed 

Minar at all the schools, causing 

the students to receive less knowledge 

about the history of language 

movement. Having memorials for 

language martyrs could help gather 

more knowledge more about 

them.” 

Admitting the fact, Gopalganj 

Deputy Commissioner Mokhlesur 

Rahman said: “Every school 

should have a Shaheed MInar. Unfortunately, 

it did not happen for 

space shortage and other reasons. 

We will take measures on this issue 

as soon as possible.” 

Meanwhile, out of 1,500 educational 

institutions in Kurigram, 

most of the schools do not have 

Shaheed Minar. 

Pratima Chowdhury, principal 

of Shishu Niketon in the district, 

said there is no alternative to Shaheed 

Minar in schools. 

“Though the school managing 

committee president promised us 

a memorial on our campus, but 

there is no visible effort in this regard 

yet.” 

Contacted, District Education 

Officer Moslem Uddin claimed that 

the government has already taken 

initiative to build permanent Shaheed 

Minar at every school. 

Students of the areas told 

the newspaper that they pay 

tribute to the martyrs at Shaheed 

Minar that are made of paper, clay, 

bamboo and other temporary materials. 

They requested the government 

to build permanent memorials 

soon. • 

• Tribune Desk 

Interns at Bogra’s Shaheed Ziaur 

Rahman Medical College Hospital 

are continuing their strike for the 

second consecutive day, ignoring 

the suffering of hundreds of patients. 

They went on an indefinite 

strike to press for demands, including 

taking action against a patient’s 

relatives for their alleged misconduct, 

the UNB reports. 

Sources at the hospital said that 

Alauddin Sarkar, 60, from Sirajganj 

was admitted to the hospital on 

Saturday midnight. There was an 

altercation between his son Rauf 

Sarkar and intern Najer Uddin 

around 11:30am on Sunday over 

switching on a fan at room 475. 

Najer beat up Rauf at one Stage. 

Several other inters later dragged 

Rauf to a room and beat him. 

They also locked the hospital’s 

emergency unit and went on an indefinite 

strike claiming that patients’ 

relatives ‘misbehaved’ with them. • 

Pahari Chhatra Parishad holds a human chain at Khagracchari town yesterday, calling for more indigenous language 

schoolbooks to be issued for primary school students in the hill districts 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Mother, son found dead 

• Noor Uddin, Habiganj 

Police recovered the bodies 

of a woman and her oneand-a-half 

year old son from 

Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj 

district yesterday. 

The deceased are Mila Deb, 

20, and her son Protik Deb. 

Mila’s husband Pintu Deb has 

absconded from the police. 

Madhabpur police station 

OC Moktadir Alam confirmed 

the matter and said: “Family 

members and neighbours 

broke into Mila’s house around 

10am and found the bodies 

hanging from the ceiling.” 

On information, Madhabpur 

SI Ashish Kumar Moitri 

went to the scene around 1pm 

the same day and recovered 

the bodies. 

OC Moktadir said: “We are 

presuming that the incident 

occurred due to a family row. 

“We are not sure whether 

this is a murder or a suicide,” 

the OC said. 

“However, as Pintu is a fugitive 

from us, we are assuming 

he might have killed his 

wife,” he said. 

According to the neighbours, 

the couple had been having a 

family dispute for a long time. • 

3 killed in Ctg road crash 

• Anwar, Chittagong 

Three people were killed as an 

unidentified vehicle ran over 

them in Shonapara area under 

Mirsarai upazila of Chittagong 

district yesterday. 

The deceased are Sajeda 

Begum, 65, Payara Akhter, 40 

and Payara Beghum, 36. 

Zorargonj highway police 

SI Md Farid Uddin said: “They 

died on the spot when the vehicle 

ran over them while they 

were crossing on Dhaka-Chittagong 

Highway around 1am.” 

He said: “On information, we 

went to the spot and recovered 

the bodies. No one has been detained 

in this connection. •

Construction of 6-lane express highway 

connecting to Padma Bridge begins 

Workers busy at the construction site of the express highway in Madaripur 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Two teachers beaten up 

over committee row 

• Moazzem Hossain, 

Lalmonirhat 

The headmaster and an assistant 

teacher of Khadorchara 

High School at Kaliganj upazila 

in the district were beaten up 

severely allegedly by the former 

president of the school managing 

committee yesterday. 

Local sources said, there has 

been a longstanding conflict 

between Abdul Latif, the 

headmaster, and Golzar Hossain 

Mintu, former president of the 

committee. 

According to the sources, 

since the tenure of the committee 

expired of late, a convening 

committee was formed with the 

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) 

Shaheen Alam as its head. 

The incident left Golzar 

furious as he could not retain 

the post. He out of his anger 

first attacked Latif on Sunday 

when he was on his way to the 

school. Luckily, the headmaster 

managed to escape the attack, 

the sources further said. 

Along with his hired goons, 

Golzar yet again swooped on 

News 7 


• Zahirul Islam Khan, 

Madaripur 

The upgrading of the highway connecting 

with the link roads of Padma 

Bridge into a six-lane express 

highway is underway. 

The 55km express highway – 

20km from Shibchar, Madaripur 

to Bhanga, Faridpur on one side of 

the bridge, and 35km from Bhanga 

to Jatrabari, Dhaka on the other – is 

going to be the first express highway 

of the country. 

Construction is in full swing on 

the stretch of the road between Jatrabari 

and Bhanga area, with an estimated 

cost of Tk6,700 crore. Construction 

work between Shibchar 

and Bhanga is in progress as well. 

The project includes 16 culverts, 

the school teacher and his 

colleague named Indrojit Kumar 

while on their way to the school, 

injuring the duo critically. 

Makbul Hossain, officer-in-charge 

of Kaliganj police 

station, local people rescued the 

teachers and whisked off them 

to hospital. 

The UNO said he received the 

news, adding that proper action 

would be taken soon against Golzar 

and his aides. However, police 

were yet to arrest anybody 

in this connection till the filing of 

the report at 9:25pm. • 

Kids Read launched with 

10,000 students expected 

to take part 

• Abu Hayat Mahmud 

British Council-Dhaka on 

Sunday launched Kids Read, 

an award-winning project to 

get kids to enjoy reading, and 

expects 10,000 students and 

200 teachers from 10 Dhaka 

schools to take part. 

Dhaka South City Corporation 

Mayor Mohammad 

Sayeed Khokon officially 

launched the project, which 

was attended by 150 students, 

as well as officials of 

both organisations. 

British Council, with supported 

grants from Hong Kong 

and Shanghai Banking Corporation 

Limited (HSBC), is the 

organiser behind Kids Read. 

Addressing the students, 

the mayor said, “You do not 

need to read all day. You can 

read when you wish to read. 

You can be relaxed and enjoy 

the reading experience. 

You can be the premier of the 

country in the future.” 

The DSCC mayor asked 

the students about the cleanliness 

of their school’s surroundings 

and requested 

them to keep their classrooms 

as neat and tidy as possible. 

To support the Ministry 

of Education’s work in English 

language and literacy 

development, Kids Read was 

implemented in Bangladesh 

in 2015 and, this year, the 

second edition of the project 

was launched successfully. 

Bangladesh is one of eight 

countries in Asia where the 

project was implemented. 

It is an initiative which also 

trains teachers from the selected 

schools to be more interactive 

and engaging with 

the students. • 

seven small bridges, two large 

bridges, two flyovers, and one railway 

over-bridge. 

Four of the six lanes are meant 

for fast-moving vehicles while the 

other two will be for slow-moving 

local vehicles, sources said. 

Locals believe that besides improving 

general communication 

and traffic flow, the highway will 

also help to bring down the rate of 

road accidents. 

Experts believe the express 

highway will improve connectivity 

and communication between 

the southern districts with the rest 

of the country and lead to its socio-economic 

development. 

“This highway will allow very 

fast transit between the capital 

and Mongla and Payra seaports, as 


well as better connect the comparatively 

disconnected southern part 

of Bangladesh with the rest of the 

country. As a result, the standard of 

living of locals in the area is likely 

to improve and there will be greater 

socio-economic development,” 

said Khan Md Shahid, a member of 

Transparency International Bangladesh’s 

Madaripur Citizens Awareness 

Committee. 

Lt Col Kabir Uddin Sikder, additional 

planning director of the 

Jatrabari-Bhanga part of the project, 

told reporters that a number 

of contractors were working on this 

project under the supervision of 

Bangladesh Army. The contractors 

include Abdul Monem Ltd, China 

Anhui Company, China Harbour 

and NDE, among others. •


8 

World 


European Union welcomes Pence 

assurance of Trump’s support 

• Reuters, Brussels 

US Vice President Mike Pence assured 

the EU in Brussels on Monday 

that the Trump administration 

will develop their cooperation in 

trade and security and backs the 

EU as a partner in its own right. 

A month after Donald Trump 

caused alarm by renewing his endorsement 

of Brexit and suggesting 

others may follow UK out of 

the EU, Pence told reporters that he 

had come to “the home of the EU” 

with a message from the president. 

Speaking of a “strong commitment.. 

to continue cooperation and 

partnership with the EU”, Pence added, 

“Whatever our differences, our 

two continents share the same heritage, 

the same values and above all, 

the same purpose to promote peace 

and prosperity through freedom, democracy 

and the rule of law.” 

Donald Tusk, who chairs the European 

Council of EU leaders, told reporters 

that Pence had given him affirmative 

answers to three questions 

US Vice-President Mike Pence, left, and Nato Secretray General Jens Stoltenberg AFP 

on Trump’s support for: the current 

system of international law, Nato and 

“the idea of a united Europe”. 

EU officials said they were encouraged 

by what they called 

Pence’s clear assurances, including 

on US backing for holding the EU 

together after Brexit, though they 

will watch closely to see how far 

Trump’s actions match his deputy’s 

words. 

Pence noted the building of common 

European institutions after 

World War II and said, “With this union 

and in cooperation with the US, 

history will attest that when the US 

and Europe are peaceful and prosperous, 

we do advance the peace 

and prosperity of all the world.” 

Cold war history 

Echoing comments he made over 

the weekend in Germany, Pence 

also addressed worries in Europe 

over Trump’s suggestion that the 

Nato defence pact was “obsolete”; 

Washington, he said, was committed 

to defending the sovereignty 

and territory of European states 

and holding Russia to account for 

its actions in Ukraine. 

Pence also repeated Trump’s belief 

that “common ground” could 

be established with Russia after 

years of confrontation. 

Tusk, a former Polish premier 

who was jailed in the 1980s for opposing 

Soviet control, seized on 

Pence’s personal memories of a 

youthful visit to divided Berlin to remind 

the new administration of the 

value that Europeans attach to Cold 

War support from an earlier Republican 

president, Ronald Reagan. 

Europeans are concerned that 

Trump may prefer bilateral ties 

with European powers rather than 

working with the Union. Pence 

spoke of cooperation, including 

against Islamist violence: “The 

safety and security of your union 

and our people depends on that increased 

collaboration on the global 

fight against terrorism.” • 

Trump aides in 

back-door Ukraine 

peace plan 

• Reuters, New York 

US President Donald Trump’s personal 

lawyer, a business associate and a 

Ukrainian lawmaker have drawn up 

a peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine 

conflict, presenting the proposal to 

the administration’s former national 

security advisor, the New York Times 

reported Sunday. 

According to the report, Trump’s 

lawyer Michael Cohen hand-delivered 

the proposal to the office of Michael 

Flynn, who resigned in disgrace a 

week later due to a separate incident 

involving contacts with Moscow’s ambassador 

in Washington. 

The report underscored stubborn 

allegations of improper Russian influence 

on the Trump administration, 

with US intelligence agencies saying 

Moscow meddled in the American 

election in November to tip the outcome 

in the Republican’s favour. 

According to the Times, the amateur 

diplomats behind the proposal are Cohen; 

Felix Sater, a business associate who 

helped Trump scout deals in Russia. • 

Bosnians pray in front of coffins to mark 21 years since the Srebrenica massacre 

Bosnia to appeal UN court ruling 

clearing Serbia of genocide 

• AFP, Sarajevo 

Bosnia will ask the United Nations’ 

top court to review its 2007 ruling 

which cleared Serbia of genocide 

during the country’s civil war, 

Bosnia’s Muslim leader said Friday. 

The move announced by Bakir 

Izetbegovic, the Muslim member 

of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, 

could spark a new political crisis in 

the Balkans country which remains 

deeply divided along ethnic lines 

since the 1992-1995 war. 

Serb presidency member Mladen 

Ivanic said Tuesday that such 

a decision by Muslim officials 

would “threaten peace and stability 

in Bosnia.” Izetbegovic said 

the request for revision would be 

forwarded to the Hague-based International 

Court of Justice (ICJ) 

next week, just a few days before a 

10-year deadline expires. 

AP 

‘New arguments’ 

Bosnian Serb officials say such a request 

cannot be made without consensus 

within the tripartite presidency. 

But Izetbegovic insists it can and 

said it would be done by a lawyer the 

presidency appointed in 2002. 

Bosnia’s legal team has “new 

arguments,” notably those presented 

during the trial of Bosnian Serb 

wartime army chief Ratko Mladic 

who is awaiting judgement at a UN 

tribunal, Izetbegovic said. 

In Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister 

Aleksandar Vucic labelled the 

decision “difficult and bad” for ties 

between the two neighbouring countries. 

In the original case launched in 

1993 by Bosnia’s then Muslim-dominated 

government, Sarajevo accused 

Belgrade of masterminding a genocide 

through widespread “ethnic 

cleansing” during the war which 

killed more than 100,000. • 

Myanmar soldiers 

injured in clash 

with militants in 

Rakhine State 

• Reuters, Yangon 

Two members of Myanmar’s security 

forces were injured in a clash with militants 

on the troubled Rakhine State 

border with Bangladesh, Myanmar 

state counselor’s office said. 

The government last week said the 

situation in northern Rakhine had 

stabilised and that it had ended a 

four-month security crackdown on 

Rohingya Muslims. 

The security operation had been 

under way since nine policemen were 

killed in attacks on security posts near 

the Bangladesh border on October 9. 

Almost 69,000 Rohingyas have since 

fled to Bangladesh, according to UN 

estimates. 

Two soldiers were wounded in a 

five-minute clash with an armed group 

on the border with Bangladesh on Friday 

afternoon, the State Counselor’s 

said in a statement late on Saturday. 

“The forces providing security forces 

to workers preparing border fence 

between the Mile Post 56 and 57 in 

Buthidaung township were attacked 

by about 30 unidentified armed men 

in black uniforms positioned on hills 

on Bangladeshi side,” the statement 

said, adding the armed men withdrew 

after security forces returned fire. • 

North Korea, Malaysia row as 

Kim killing footage emerges 

• AFP, Kuala Lumpur 

North Korea and Malaysia on Monday 

locked horns over the investigation 

into the killing of leader Kim Jong- 

Un’s brother, as footage emerged of 

the moment he was fatally attacked 

in a Kuala Lumpur airport. 

Malaysia’s probe has put five 

North Koreans in the frame for the 

airport assassination of Kim Jong- 

Nam, but Pyongyang said it had 

no faith in the investigation and 

claimed Kuala Lumpur was in cahoots 

with “hostile forces”. 

The diplomatic confrontation 

gathered pace Monday when Malaysia 

recalled its envoy to North Korea 

and summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador 

Kang Chol for a dressing down. 

The Malaysian response to the 

ambassador’s press conference was 

equally blunt, with Foreign Minister 

Anifah Aman saying North Korea’s 

complaints were based on 

“delusions, lies and half-truths”. 

Any suggestion that the investigation 

had a political motive was 

“deeply insulting to Malaysia”, he 

said. 

Pyongyang has also criticised Malaysia 

for carrying out a post-mortem 

examination without North Korean 

permission – a complaint Kuala 

Lumpur said was groundless. 

“The ministry emphasised that 

Kim Jong Nam 

REUTERS 

as the death occurred on Malaysian 

soil under mysterious circumstances, 

it is the responsibility of the Malaysian 

government to conduct an 

investigation to identify the cause 

of death,” the foreign ministry said. 

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib 

Razak backed those running the 

probe, saying it was “very professional”. 

“I have absolute confidence that 

they are very objective in whatever 

they do,” he said, in his first comments 

since news of the killing broke. 

“We have no reason why we 

want to do something that would 

paint the North Koreans in a bad 

light. But we would be objective 

and we expect them to understand 

that we apply the rule of law in 

Malaysia.” •

Advertisement 

9 


DT


10 

Business 


CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: MONDAY 

DSE Broad Index 5,605.0 0.4% ▲ Index 1,313.2 0.3% ▲ 30 Index 2,026.0 0.3% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 12,979.4 5.3% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 347.4 3.4% ▲ 

CSE All Share Index 17,384.8 0.4% ▲ 30 Index 15,124.5 0.2% ▲ Selected Index 10,539.2 0.4% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 631.7 -4.0% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 20.4 -6.3% ▼ 

Garment exporters seek duty-free 

access to US, Brazil markets 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi 

As the US and Brazil need not to 

pay any duty on cotton exports to 

Bangladesh for its clothing industry, 

they also should offer duty-free 

access of Bangladeshi finished 

clothing products to their markets, 

said manufacturers. 

Bangladeshi RMG products currently 

do not have duty-free access to 

these markets, even though the two 

countries enjoy duty-free access in 

Bangladesh for their cotton exports. 

Moreover, the US suspended 

their Generalised System of Preferences 

(GSP) facilities for Bangladesh 

on June 27, 2013. 

In a letter sent to the US ambassador 

to Bangladesh on February 

16, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers 

and Exporters Association 

Grameenphone 

submits Tk30cr 

bank guarantee 

to BTRC 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

Mobile phone operator Grameenphone 

has submitted a bank guarantee 

of Tk30 crore to Bangladesh 

Telecommunication Regulatory 

Commission. 

Supreme Court Lawyer Barrister 

Sayed Mahsib Hossain said the guarantee 

was submitted as per the High 

Court order made on 9 February. 

The money was submitted on 

Sunday 19. BTRC will now deposit 

the bank guarantee to the Registrar 

of the High Court Division. 

Earlier, Grameenphone also 

filed a writ petition at the High 

Court Division against the imposition 

of Tk30 crore fine. 

BTRC fined Grameenphone 

Tk30 crore last year for providing 

“Go Broadband” services illegally, 

violating Telecommunication Act 

2001. 

Sayed Talat Kamal, head of 

External Communications of 

Grameenphone, said: “Since the 

matter is currently under adjudication 

we cannot comment any further 

on the issue.” 

Go Broadband is a coordinated 

Wi-MAX service provider by Agni 

Systems Limited and ADN Telecom 

Limited in partnership with 

Grameenphone Ltd. They are supposed 

to provide Wi-Max services 

only. • 

(BGMEA) President Siddiqur Rahman 

asked to have duty-free access 

to the US for Bangladeshi RMG 

products made from the cotton 

that is exported from the US. 

A similar proposal was sent to the 

Brazilian government via the Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. 

“Bangladesh has long been importing 

cotton from the US to make 

apparel for export... We firmly believe 

that cotton import from the US 

will grow significantly if the apparel 

products made of the US cotton receive 

favorable treatment in terms of 

tariff in accessing the US market,” the 

BGMEA president said in the letter. 

Bangladesh is the second largest 

cotton importer in the world; the 

country imported 6.1 million bales 

of cotton last year. There are 430 

textile mills in Bangladesh with 

Stress on easing cost 

of doing business 

• Tribune Business Desk 

Noted economist Debapriya Bhattacharya 

emphasised the need to reduce cost of 

doing business so Bangladesh can achieve 

competitiveness in global market. 

He was speaking at a function titled 

“World Economic Forum 2017 (Responsive 

and Responsible Leadership) – Post 

Summit ‘Food for Thought’ for Bangladesh” 

in Dhaka yesterday. 

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh 

(ULAB) School of Business organised the 

event at the university auditorium. 

ULAB Vice-Chancellor Prof Imran Rahman 

was also present. ULAB teachers, officials 

and students attended the function. 

Debapriya, also a distinguished fellow 

of the think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue, 

said the consumer behaviour and 

trends are rapidly changing with diverse 

tastes and demands. 

Consumers are now more aware of the 

origins of products and concerned about 

goods and service being environmentally 

friendly, business must strive to be more 

competitive. 

He said: “As Saarc is in atrophy, we have 

moved for sub-regional cooperation like 

BBIN, BCIM and Bimstec. Connectivity is 

more important in the global world. Considering 

it, Bangladesh has focused on it.” 

Criticising the current global leadership 

he said only “responsible leadership 

can address the global crisis.” 

He said: “If we couldn’t bring any reform 

in market, marginalisation will continue, 

not only in Bangladesh, but in developed 

countries also, widening the gap 

further between rich and poor.” 

But Debapriya emphasised that the 

emergence of a multipolar world can’t 

become an excuse for indecision and inaction, 

“which is why it is imperative that 

leaders respond collectively with credible 

actions to improve the state of the world.” 

The World Economic Forum listed 

down five key challenges for business and 

technology leaders in 2017, like coming to 

grips with the fourth industrial revolution, 

building multi-stakeholder global-governance 

system, restoring global economic 

growth, reforming market capitalism and 

addressing pervasive crisis in identity. 

Presenting significance of Davos he 

said it places economic and business excellence 

on the same platform, disregarding 

the country of origin. 

Thus the Annual Meeting at Davos has 

been responsible for initiating high-level 

networking and new partnerships across 

the world. 

Terming Davos meeting “The Money 

Oscars Meeting,” the economist said the 

WEF meeting 2017 was special in many 

accounts as the richest people getting together 

to discuss inequality in the world. 

The purpose of the meeting was to 

have a discussion on Global Management 

Practices, to bring together key players in 

from the business, academia, arts and political 

realms. 

In Global Economic Outlook in 2016, the 

International Monetary Fund stated that 

global growth was sub par at 3.1% in 2016, 

with slight increase to 3.4% next year. • 

11.50 million spindle capacity. 

Siddiqur said if the US government 

extended duty-free market 

access for Bangladeshi RMG products 

made from cotton produced in 

the US, it would create a win-win 

situation for the bilateral trade between 

two countries. 

The US is the single largest export 

destination for Bangladeshi products, 

especially apparel. According 

to BGMEA data, in July-December 

of 2016-17 fiscal year, Bangladesh 

earned $2.56 billion, a 9.11% decline 

from the $2.81 billion earnings during 

the same period in 2015-16. 

However, in the 2015-16 fiscal 

year, export to the US saw a 6.36% 

growth, amounting to $5.62 billion, 

compared to the $5.28 billion earnings 

in 2014-15 fiscal year. 

Brazil has high potential for Bangladeshi 

apparel products, but the import 

duty is high, ranging from 30% 

to 35%, said the BGMEA letter sent to 

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Bangladesh needs to find a way 

to secure duty-free access to the 

Brazilian market and the Brazilian 

government should consider providing 

duty-free access for Bangladeshi 

apparel products made from 

the cotton that Bangladesh imports 

from Brazil, the letter said. 

This arrangement would prove 

profitable for both Bangladesh and 

Brazil in terms of trade, the BGMEA 

argued. 

In July-December of 2016-17 fiscal 

year, Bangladesh earned $41m 

from garment exports to Brazil compared 

to $75m in the same period a 

year earlier. In FY2015-16, total RMG 

exports to Brazil reached $120m. • 

German growth 

to pick up in first 

quarter 

• AFP, Frankfurt 

Germany will see growth pick up in 

the first quarter of 2017, powered 

by industry and consumer spending, 

the country’s central bank said 

yesterday. 

“Powerful momentum can be 

expected from industrial activity 

above all,” the Bundesbank wrote 

in its monthly report for February. 

An unexpected jump in industrial 

orders in December points to 

increased exports, while firms will 

need to invest more in production 

equipment to meet the fresh demand, 

the report said. 

“German car manufacturers 

stand out” with the key industry 

taking on “considerably more” orders 

at home, from eurozone neighbours 

and from non-euro countries, 

the central bankers wrote. •

Stocks end in 

the black 


Dhaka Stock Exchange ended 

in the black yesterday as investors 

were on buying spree 

ahead of year-end dividend 

declaration. 

DSEX, the key index of the 

premier bourse, gained 0.39% 

or 22 points closing at 5,605 

points. 

DS30, the blue chip index, 

also advanced 0.27% or 5.5 

points end at 2,026 while the 

DSE Shariah-based index added 

4 points finishing the session 

at 1,313. 

Among the traded issues, 

115 advanced, 164 declined 

and 51 remained unchanged. 

During the trading session, 

all the large cap sectors 

showed negative performance 

except banks, which went up 

1.98% and Power 0.89%. 

Non-Banking Financial Institutions 

lost 1.05%, the highest 

loser of the day. 

Engineering sector declined 

by 0.27%. Food and allied and 

Pharmaceuticals experienced 

loss of 0.17% and 0.15% respectively. 

Telecommunication, the 

heavy weight stocks in terms 

of market capitalisation, 

closed flat. 

The single-day turnover 

stood at Tk1,298 crore which 

was 5.3% higher than the 

previous session’s value of 

Tk1,233 crore. 

Posting a slight gain, Baraka 

Power Limited was the highest 

traded share with a turnover of 

Tk44.66 crore. 

Trading at the both stock 

markets - Dhaka and Chittagong 

- will remain closed 

today marking the Shaheed 

Dibosh (Martyrs’ Day) and the 

International Language Day. • 

Business 11 



Walton sets 57% AC sales 

growth target for 2017 


Local electronics brand Walton 

has set a target to achieve 57% 

sales growth for air conditioners 

in local market this year. 

In achieving the sales 

growth, the Walton has already 

taken initiatives including 

in marketing strategies and 

increasing production capacity, 

said a statement yesterday. 

The authorities claimed that 

producing world-class AC with 

the assurance of perfect BTU 

(British Thermal Unit) through 

most advanced machines and 

modern technologies. 

Walton expects the demands 

for ACs would increase 

largely in the coming days. 

It has already increased the 

SIBL declares 20% cash 

dividend 


Social Islami Bank Limited has 

recommended 20% cash dividend 

for share holders for the 

year ended on December 31, 

2016. 

The recommendation was 

made at the SIBL’s 387th board 

meeting held yesterday. 

Reviewing the financial 

statements of the last year, the 

board recommended 20% cash 

production of AC to ensure 

smooth supplies during the 

summer. 

Abdul Bari, AC marketing 

head of Walton Group, said: 

“Walton is manufacturing ACs 

following the weather standards 

at home and abroad.” 

“Now, Walton is marketing 

1 Ton AC at Tk35,000, 1.5 

Ton at Tk43,900 and 2 Ton at 

Tk54,600 in the local market,” 

he said adding they were also 

going to introduce intelligent 

inverter AC of 1.5 Ton at 

Tk65,000 in this month. 

Walton Research and Development 

Head Engr Tapash 

Kumer Majumder said: “Walton 

is providing sort of free home 

service after sale under the twoyear 

free service warranty.” • 

dividend for the year ended 

on December 31, 2016, said a 

statement of the bank. 

SIBL Chairman Major 

((retd) Dr Md Rezaul Haque 

presided over the meeting attended 

by directors, managing 

director and other senior executives. 

For the year 2015, the board 

recommended 15% cash dividend 

and 5% stock dividend 

for share holders. •


12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

Speak no evil 

Bloggers and writers get killed for 

writing things that are deemed 

objectionable, and the government 

rarely makes justice a priority, often 

blaming the victim 

PAGE 13 

The legacy of 

Ekushey 

Sadly, today Bangla is not as triumphant 

anymore. It has become contaminated, 

abused, and mutated 

PAGE 14 

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 

The sound 

and the fury 

And let’s not even get started on the 

government holiday mixtape featuring 

a medley of Ekushey and Victory Day 

songs and the March 7 speech, blaring 

at full volume at your favourite fried 

chicken outlets 

PAGE 15 

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. 

All that Ekushey stands for 

Amar Ekushey represents something beyond just the fight 

for language. 

Its spirit lives at the core of the dreams and 

aspirations of the people of Bangladesh. 

Sixty-five years ago, a group of students and activists gathered 

around the Dhaka University premises to voice their right to speak 

their own language. 

It was a historic movement that eventually gave Bangla the 

official recognition the people demanded. 

Almost half a century later, February 21 was officially 

proclaimed by UNESCO as the International Mother Language 

Day. 

It is, then, a matter of great regret that our country is still 

plagued by high rates of illiteracy, both in adults and the youth. 

The problem is not an insurmountable one. It is heartening 

that initiatives like Teach for Bangladesh have been stepping up to 

help the country on the education and literacy frontier so we may 

move forward. 

It is also important to remember that our country thrives on 

the diversity of its languages. Bangla may be the official language, 

but many linguistic minorities exist in our land, and they cannot 

be ignored. 

We must do more to preserve and promote these languages -- 

the government has taken a few laudable steps in this regard, such 

as the publication of textbooks in several indigenous languages. 

We owe it to the language martyrs to uphold the spirit of Amar 

Ekushey, by preserving and respecting the sanctity of Bangla, and 

all other languages spoken in the country, and fostering a culture 

of learning, acceptance, and harmony. 

We owe it to the language 

martyrs to uphold the 

spirit of Amar Ekushey, by 

preserving and respecting 

the sanctity of Bangla, 

and all other languages 

spoken in the country

Opinion 13 



Speak no evil 

We have forgotten what Ekushey was about 

Just keep acting like everything is fine 

HARD TARGET 

• Abak Hussain 

Once upon a time, 

Bangladeshis decided 

language mattered. 

Our right to speak, 

write, and think freely in the 

language of our choice was sacred. 

It was worth fighting for, and it 

was worth dying for. 

We Bangladeshis can be an 

impulsive and emotional bunch, 

and sometimes we make wrong 

decisions. But on February 21, 

1952, we got it right. 

We fought for our language and 

we won. 

The price was steep -- bright 

young men at the prime of their 

lives, most of them not yet 30, 

were shot dead by the police. 

Their sacrifice became not just a 

constant reminder of the hardearned 

right to speak in our 

mother-tongue Bangla, but also 

part of the very foundation of 

what it means to be Bangladeshi. 

With good reason, today, 

Ekushey February is one of the 

three most important dates for 

Bangladesh -- the other two being 

March 26 and December 16. 

Some will, no doubt, point 

out the irony of commemorating 

Ekushey with a piece written in 

English. Indeed, there are those 

who think the existence of an 

English language newspaper itself 

is something of a betrayal. 

And then there are those who 

still side with Ershad’s Banglafor-everything 

policy, for turning 

our back on English and other 

languages, as though narrowing 

and limiting ourselves was 

somehow patriotic. 

As though, somehow, a forced 

monolingualism honoured Salam, 

Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar. 

But all that is just blowing 

smoke to distract us from the real 

work to be done to truly uphold a 

culture of literacy, progress, and 

open-mindedness. 

The truth is -- Ekushey was 

never about hating on English. 

Ekushey was never about violently 

repressing the many indigenous 

languages which have existed 

within the borders of Bangladesh 

for ages. In fact, it was not even 

about hating on Urdu, a language 

which has given the world some of 

the most sublime poetry. 

It was about standing up to an 

oppressive regime which told its 

people how to speak. It was about 

hitting back at the brutal Pakistani 

government that tried to use Urdu 

as a weapon to slowly destroy our 

speech, our heritage, and our very 

conception of who we are. 

We pledged never to forget 

that day, and never to take our 

linguistic freedoms for granted. 

But here we stand, 65 years 

later. 

Publishers, authors, and 

organisers at the Amar Ekushey 

Book Fair are on edge. They have 

been warned that books will be 

scrutinised for offensive content. 

No one is surprised by these 

warnings. 

In recent years, arrests and stall 

closures have marred the spirit of 

the book fair. 

The stall of Rodela Prokashani 

was shut down by the authorities 

in 2015 after Hefazat-e-Islam 

objected to a book they were 

selling. 

Last year, Shahbagh police 

raided the stall of Badwip 

Prakashan at the book fair and 

shut it down abruptly. Police 

Bloggers and writers get killed for writing things that are deemed 

objectionable, and the government rarely makes justice a priority, 

often blaming the victim 

seized copies of several books 

including one that was deemed 

offensive. Three people in 

connection to that book, including 

writer-editor Shamsuzzoha Manik, 

were detained by the police. 

Surely Bangladesh cried out 

against this injustice? 

Sadly, no. 

No less an authority than 

Bangla Academy Director General 

Shamsuzzaman Khan defended 

Manik’s arrest and the stall 

closure, claiming the book was 

indeed “obscene.” 

It never occurred to the DG that 

the real obscenity was putting 

BIGSTOCK 

someone in jail just because the 

words they put on a page offended 

someone’s sensibilities. 

What would the martyrs of 

Ekushey say about this, if they 

were alive to see it? 

Once upon a time, young men 

stood in front of police rifles, 

willing to be shot. 

Now, our own government 

sends in policemen to the Ekushey 

book fair, armed, uniformed, and 

ready to bully and intimidate 

writers. Bloggers and writers get 

killed for writing things that are 

deemed objectionable, and the 

government rarely makes justice a 

priority, often blaming the victim. 

We have twisted and perverted 

the message of Ekushey, and 

dishonoured the sacrifice of those 

who valued, above all, freedom. 

A country that fought for 

language has transformed 

into a country where writers, 

bloggers, publishers, journalists, 

and academics live in fear, and 

fundamentalists live with their 

heads held high. 

The government acts like 

everything is just fine. 

The message to the new 

generation is clear: Speak no evil 

-- it will get you into a world of 

trouble. • 

Abak Hussain is Editor, Editorial and Op-Ed, 

Dhaka Tribune.

14 



Opinion 

The legacy of Ekushey 

It is up to us to preserve the rich heritage of the Bangla language 

Bangla triumphed in 1952 

BIGSTOCK 

• Nafisa Kazi Iqbal 

Dhono dhanne pushpe bhora, 

Amader ei bashundhara, 

Tahar majhe achhe desh ek shokol 

desher shera, 

O she shopno diye toiri she je sriti 

diye ghera 

Bangladesh is perhaps 

the only country in the 

world whose nationhood 

is so closely tied with 

the struggle for the right to speak 

Bangla. 

Yet, one needs to keep in mind 

that this struggle was catapulted 

eons before the eventful speech of 

1948 took place, in which Jinnah 

declared that “Urdu, and only 

Urdu, shall be the state language of 

Pakistan.” 

As Bangladeshis, we have 

happened to reside in historically 

disputed grey areas, in terms of 

identity. 

We practiced Islam, yet we 

spoke Bangla. When Bangladesh 

was known as East Bengal, 

opportunities were taken away 

from us by our wealthier and more 

literate West Bengal counterparts, 

on the basis of religion to some 

extent. 

Eventually, after 1947, people 

thought things would finally 

Sadly, today Bangla is not as triumphant anymore. It has become 

contaminated, abused, and mutated 

change -- they would not be 

discriminated on the virtue of 

their religion. 

Sadly, that was not true, 

because by then the people of then 

East Pakistan came to be shunned 

and denied their basic rights solely 

for differences in culture, mainly 

facing much disagreement in the 

spoken mother tongue to be. 

However, the morning of 

February 21, 1952 changed the 

course of history forever for her 

people; and with much blood 

and lives lost, on February 29, 

1956, Bangla eventually became 

officially recognised as the second 

official state language of Pakistan. 

Through the sheer 

determination of individuals, 

young and old alike -- adamant 

and determined in keeping their 

roots and traditions alive -- Bangla 

triumphed. 

Almost 20 years later, this same 

fervent passion would eventually 

lead up to Bangladesh’s inevitable 

victory against Pakistan in the 

Liberation War of 1971. 

Yet, sadly, today Bangla is not 

as triumphant anymore. 

It has become contaminated, 

abused, and mutated by most, 

even bikrito to put it more bluntly. 

Nowadays, people barely speak 

Bangla properly or give it as much 

stake and importance in their 

lives. 

True, Bangla is not as essential 

in this day and age of globalisation, 

for languages like English and 

Mandarin are the forerunners of 

the future, as countries where they 

are spoken are the leaders of the 

New World Order. 

In spite of this truth, it is of 

utmost importance to conserve 

the beauty of Bangla and to uphold 

the legacy of it. 

Fathers, mothers, sons, 

daughters, brothers, and sisters 

fought for the right to speak it, and 

consequently lost their lives in the 

process. 

Now that we have the right to 

do so, we misuse it, casting it aside 

in favour of countless others. From 

chic, a la mode rooms of lounges 

to dingy, poorly lit alleys of slums, 

loud, thumping bhangra songs 

and/or electronic dance music can 

be heard playing deafeningly. 

Yet, all is not lost. 

From the evergreen Ekushey 

Boi Mela, to singers like Arnob and 

shows like Winds of Change, the 

fight to keep Bangla alive will not 

be hapless and futile. 

For years to come, people will 

hopefully still hear the tunes 

of Tagore while reading Bangla 

novels on a pleasant midsummer’s 

day. 

It is up to us to maintain our 

heritage and to preserve our roots. 

Bangladesh needs her legacy to 

be kept alive -- it is a travesty if a 

mother cannot expect that much 

from her children. • 

Nafisa Kazi Iqbal is currently 

pursuing her MSc in Early Childhood 

Development at BRAC Institute of 

Educational Development (BIED).

The sound and the fury 

Opinion 15 

The message of February 21 is at risk of being drowned out by the noise 



• Sabrina Fatma Ahmad 

There’s a sign planted on 

the road divider in front 

of Square Hospital on 

Panthapath that implores 

commuters to refrain from 

honking out of consideration for 

the patients admitted there. 

At any given hour on most days, 

standing on that very same road 

divider, one is witness to vehicles 

of every size and shape, leaning on 

their horns as if their lives depend 

on it, all in the name of progressing 

a few inches forward in the terrible 

jams that continue to plague the 

city. A similar situation prevails 

in front of the other hospitals 

located on Panthapath, near 

BIRDEM at Shahbagh, or any of 

the roads leading to any of the 

many hospitals scattered all over 

Dhanmondi. 

If you happen to live near a 

And let’s not even 

get started on the 

government holiday 

mixtape featuring a 

medley of Ekushey 

and Victory Day 

songs and the March 

7 speech, blaring 

at full volume at 

your favourite fried 

chicken outlets 

We’re good at making noise, but bad at listening 

BIGSTOCK 

public school, then you’re sure 

to be familiar with the dreaded 

morning assemblies that involve 

the national anthem being 

butchered over the microphone 

by groggy-eyed students who 

probably didn’t get enough sleep 

the previous night, thanks to 

construction work carried out 

into the wee hours, all over this 

bustling city of ours. 

And let’s not even get started on 

the government holiday mixtape 

featuring a medley of Ekushey and 

Victory Day songs and the March 

7 speech, blaring at full volume 

at your favourite fried chicken 

outlets on each of these holidays 

(pick one, any one) and all over 

the national university campuses 

from February through to the 

end of March, exams and sleep be 

damned. 

We’ve certainly proven we’re 

good at creating noise to the 

detriment of others around us, 

at being loud when it comes to 

ridicule and shaming, because 

who doesn’t love a good joke, 

especially at someone else’s 

expense? Among the many effects 

of long-term exposure to high 

levels of noise include irritability, 

permanent deafness, and heart 

problems. 

This might explain why we 

can’t stand to listen to opinions 

that differ from our own, why we 

must ban books lest they hurt our 

political or “religious” sentiments. 

It’s the irritability, you see. 

This is why we’re deaf to the 

plight of minorities whose rights 

continue to be violated on a daily 

basis, to the abuse doled out to 

journalists, to the danger posed 

to writers, and bloggers. We can’t 

help ourselves; it’s the hearing 

loss. 

When it comes to making some 

noise and raising our voices to 

effect a positive change, to help 

others, we lack the heart. It’s much 

easier to make memes and ridicule 

“CGPA5” students who think 

Neptune is the capital of Nepal, 

than to band together and demand 

a higher standard of education. 

Ditto for jokes about errors 

in the school textbooks, but 

silence on the subject of insidious 

indoctrination being slipped into 

the curriculum, in line with the 

demands put forward by extremist 

groups. 

That damned heart trouble 

again. 

Our failing ears may fail to 

note that the present generation 

of students, regardless of the 

medium of instruction in their 

respective institutions, can’t hold 

a full conversation in their mother 

tongue or English, leaning instead, 

on the crutch of a bastardised 

amalgamation of the two to get 

their meaning across. 

Our feeble hearts are burdened 

enough with the worry of what’s 

happening in distant shores, 

without needing to pause and 

consider that our bookstores are 

dwindling and the reading habit is 

on its deathbed. 

One could point out 

that February 21 is meant to be a 

celebration of literacy, of intellect, 

of diversity of language, and 

freedom of expression. 

But that, like so much else, will 

probably be drowned out by the 

noise. • 

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad is Features Editor, 

Dhaka Tribune.

16 



Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

1 One who captures (6) 

5 Female deer (3) 

7 Well-founded (5) 

8 Seemingly mocked 

by fate (6) 

10 Vigour (3) 

12 Sunny (4) 

13 Frozen formation (3) 

14 Male deer (4) 

16 Silent (4) 

17 Knight's title (3) 

18 Destiny (4) 

20 Corded cloth (3) 

23 Take vengeance (6) 

24 Measure of length (5) 

25 Enjoyment (3) 

26 American inventor (6) 

DOWN 

1 Piece of money (4) 

2 Gain (6) 

3 Sheeplike (5) 

4 Speed contest (4) 

5 Immerse (3) 

6 Lyric poem (3) 

9 Agreeable (4) 

11 Laundry item (3) 

14 Location (4) 

15 Tendencies (6) 

16 Spoil (3) 

17 Rescued (5) 

18 Get on (4) 

19 Decorative plant (4) 

21 Flightless bird (3) 

22 Female (3) 

CODE-CRACKER 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 16 represents S so fill S 

every time the figure 16 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

Feature 

17 



A few things you may not know about Ekushey 

PHOTO: MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 

• Tasneem Chow 

As every one of you know (and 

if you don’t you should), today 

is Bhasha Dibash, which is now 

internationally recognised as 

Mother Language Day. We all know 

of the sacrifice of the language 

martyrs who were brutally shot by 

the Pakistani police on this fateful 

day in 1952. Possibly the first and 

only time in the world that a race 

has laid down their lives for the 

right to speak their own language, 

Mother Language Day is proof of 

the importance of language as a 

powerful medium for expressing 

one’s national and cultural 

identity. However, other than the 

brutal massacre of February 21, 

how much do we actually know 

of the Language Movement of 

Bangladesh? Here are a few facts 

related to Ekushey February that 

many of the younger generation 

might not actually be aware of. 

• The Language Movement began 

long before 1952. On September 

15, 1947, Principal Abul Kashem 

published the first booklet 

containing the demand for 

Bangla as a state language. 

• In 1948, the Pakistani 

government declared Urdu 

as the sole national language 

of both West Pakistan and 

Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). 

This sparked mass protests 

amongst the Bengali population, 

leading to public meetings and 

rallies being outlawed. 

• Dhirendranath Datta, a member 

of the East Pakistan Congress 

PHOTO: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

Party who played a crucial 

role in drafting the legislative 

framework of the newly-formed 

Pakistan, was the first person to 

demand the inclusion of Bangla 

as one of the languages of the 

Pakistan Constituent Assembly 

in Karachi in 1948. 

• While the Pakistani government 

attempted to ban Bangla in 

the 1940s and failed, their 

disdain for Bangla and Bengali 

culture continued throughout 

their oppressive reign. In 1961, 

they even banned songs of 

Rabindranath Tagore. 

• There is a Language Movement 

Museum on the first floor of 

the Burdwan House at Bangla 

Academy, which was opened 

in 2010. The museum holds 

extensive documentation on 

the movement, especially 

through photography, and is a 

great place to learn the history 

of the struggle from its very 

inception. 

• For International Mother 

Language Day 2017, UNESCO 

is focusing on the potential of 

multilingual education, not 

only in systems of education 

and administration, but in 

the potential for cultural 

expressions in media, 

cyberspace and trade. • 

PHOTO: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN


18 

Sports 


2017 ROLL BALL 

WORLD CUP 

Women crash 

out in prequarters 

• Tribune Report 

Bangladesh women's team crashed 

out of the fourth Roll Ball World 

Cup after conceding a 6-1 defeat 

against Senegal in the pre-quarterfinals 

at Shaheed Sohrawardi Indoor 

Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. 

Bangladesh women finished as 

Group B champion but failed to 

maintain the momentum against 

Senegal, who ended below Uganda. 

Uganda defeated Nepal 4-0 to 

reach the quarter-finals. 

“We started our preparation two 

and a half months ago and had a 

one and a half month long camp. 

We had enough preparation but 

lost the game due to physical difference. 

They (Senegal) have better 

height and strength than our 

players,” said Bangladesh women's 

team coach Ashraful Alam Masum 

after the game. 

Among other matches in the 

knockout stage, Iran women's 

team outplayed Uruguay 6-0 at 

M Mansur Ali National Handball 

Stadium to reach the last 16, along 

with Latvia, who defeated Pakistan 

5-4 through golden ball after the 

stipulated and extra time ended 

4-4 at Sheikh Russel Roller Skating 

Complex. 

Favourite India thrashed Denmark 

women's team 8-2 at Mirpur 

Indoor Stadium to confirm their 

berth in the quarters while Argentina 

defeated Slovenia 6-1 at Roller 

Skating Complex to reach the last 

eight. • 

Joshi decision after 

Sri Lanka series 

• Ali Shahriyar Amin 

BCB cricket operations committee 

chairman Akram Khan informed 

that former India spinner Sunil 

Joshi will not be part of Bangladesh's 

coaching staff in their upcoming 

tour of Sri Lanka. 

During the recent India tour, it 

was learnt that Joshi was on the 

verge of becoming the Tigers' spin 

bowling consultant for the Sri Lanka 

series. But Akram confirmed 

that Joshi’s inclusion in the coaching 

staff will only be decided after 

the Sri Lanka series. 

“We talked with him (Joshi) during 

the India tour. He had informed 

us that he might join us for the 

Sri Lanka series. But now, he has 

Action from the 2017 Roll Ball World Cup pre-quarterfinal between host Bangladesh and Senegal in Dhaka yesterday 

pushed back the time, due to some 

ongoing negotiation regarding his 

contract. So we will not consider him 

for the Sri Lanka series,” Akram told 

the media in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla 

National Cricket Stadium yesterday. 

“We will decide after the series 

as to how we will use him. He can 

work for the academy or the High 

Performance Unit or for the national 

team,” said Akram. 

Joshi has played 60 ODIs and 

15 Tests for India. The slow bowler 

was a key part of India’s win in 

Bangladesh’s inaugural Test match, 

back in 2000. 

Bangladesh are scheduled to 

leave Dhaka for Sri Lanka this Monday 

for two Tests, three ODIs and 

two T20Is. • 

MD MANIK 

Brilliant Tushar blasts double ton 


Veteran cricketer Tushar Imran 

struck a brilliant double hundred 

as South Zone posted 501 runs losing 

all of their wickets in their first 

innings against North Zone. 

In the other match of the day, 

East Zone are in a spot of bother 

against Central Zone, having made 

114/6 at stumps on day two in the 

Bangladesh Cricket League yesterday. 

South v North, BKSP 4 

Tushar, who resumed yesterday 

on 127, went on to smash 220 

off 369 balls, featuring 22 fours and 

three sixes. Shahriar Nafees scored 

74 and Mosaddek Hossain added 

57 as South eventually registered a 

huge total. 

Sohrawardi Shuvo picked up 

four wickets while Sanjamul Islam 

and Nasir Hossain took two each 

for North. 

In reply, North finished the 

day on 107/4 with Farhad Hossain 

5TH BCL, RD 4, DAY 2 

SOUTH ZONE 501 in 144.4 overs 

(Tushar 220, Shahriar 74) lead NORTH 

ZONE 107/4 in 29 overs (Farhad 56, 

Nahidul 3/40) by 394 runs 

CENTRAL ZONE 328 all-out in 115.1 

overs (Sharif 70, Nurul 65) lead EAST 

ZONE 114/6 in 39.4 overs (Imtiaz 36, 

Sharif 4/24) by 214 runs 

top-scoring with 56. Nasir Hossain 

(five not out) and Dhiman Ghosh 

(eight not out) will resume the 

third day. 

Nahidul Islam picked up three 

wickets while experienced campaigner 

Abdur Razzak took one for 

South. 

East v Central, Fatullah 

Central were dismissed for 328 

after resuming the day on 232/7. 

Mohammad Sharif was the highest 

scorer with 70, studded with five 

fours and four sixes. 

Abu Jayed bagged a five-wicket 

haul while Saqlain Sajib and Afif 

Hossain took two apiece for East. 

Sharif was instrumental with 

the ball as well, picking up 4/24 as 

East Zone trail by 214. 

Imtiaz Hossain scored 36 while 

Mominul Haque was dismissed after 

making 24. •

2ND SHEIKH KAMAL INTERNATIONAL CLUB CUP 

Abahani on brink of 

shocking exit 


Dhaka Abahani Limited are on the 

brink of elimination in the group 

stage of the second Sheikh Kamal 

International Club Cup after being 

held to a goalless draw against 

South Korean club Pocheon Citizen 

FC in their second game at MA Aziz 

Stadium in port city Chittagong 

yesterday. 

Following their shocking 1-0 

defeat against Maldives outfit TC 

Sports Club in their opening game, 

yesterday's draw means the Sky 

Blues earned only a single point 

out of possible six. 

The Bangladesh Premier League 

champion must now beat Kyrgyzstan 

club FC Alga Bishkek in 

their last Group A match and depend 

on other results in order to 

make it out of the group. Bishkek 

lost to Pocheon 3-0 in the opening 

game. 

Dhaka Abahani, the five-time 

professional league winner, squandered 

a series of chances and by 

the end of the day, it seemed like 

their new forward line-up need 

more time to adapt to the new formation, 

deployed by recently appointed 

Croatian head coach Drago 

Mamic. 

Nigerian striker Emeka Darlington, 

who joined Abahani after 

spending a couple of seasons at 

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, was 

unlucky not to get into the scoresheet 

when his close-range header 

from a precise cross by young English 

forward Jonathan Davis from 

the right flank was blocked by the 

Pocheon goalkeeper. 

Pocheon midfielder Lee Syun Yu 

hit the woodwork in the 78th minute. 

The best chance of the game 

came two minutes before the end 

of stipulated time when Nabib 

Newaj Jibon missed a sitter inside 

the six-yard box. 

Meanwhile in the day’s other 

match at the same venue, TC 

Sports beat Bishkek 2-1 in what was 

an enterprising encounter. 

Pocheon, South Korea's lower 

division club, currently top Group 

A with four points. 

Abahani will face Bishkek in 

their last group match this Thursday. 

• 

Bangladesh quartet remain unsold, 

Tamim, Taskin not even called 


Bangladesh cricketers Mehedi 

Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, 

Mahmudullah and Anamul Haque 

went unsold in the IPL 10 auction. 

And interestingly, Tamim Iqbal 

and Taskin Ahmed were not even 

called in the auction, much to 

the surprise of many. As a result, 

Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur 

Rahman will be the only Bangladesh 

representatives in the upcoming 

IPL, scheduled to be held from 

April 5 – May 21, 2017. 

The biggest benefactors were 

England players who attracted 

megabucks bids, with all-rounder 

Ben Stokes setting a new record 

for a foreigner by joining the Rising 

Pune Supergiants for more than 

$2m. 

England pace bowler Tymal 

Mills was the big surprise as he 

went to the Royal Challengers Bangalore 

for $1.8m, even though he 

has only played four T20Is. 

The winning bids for Stokes and 

Mills dwarfed the $300,000 shelled 

out by the Kings XI Punjab to secure 

the services of England's limited-overs 

captain Eoin Morgan for 

the T20 tournament, which begins 

in April. 

The winning bid shattered the 

previous record paid for a foreign 

player, which was set in 2014 when 

the Delhi Daredevils shelled out 

90m rupees for former England 

captain Kevin Pietersen. 

But it is still short of the 160m 

rupees that Bangalore paid for the 

Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh in 

2015. 

While a percentage of the auction 

fee goes to the player's national 

board, Stokes, England's newly 

anointed Test vice-captain, is now 

in line to make more in just seven 

weeks than he would in a whole 

year of cricket for the England 

team. 

It was not immediately clear 

whether Stokes will play the whole 

tournament or leave towards the 

end, which would result in a reduced 

pay cheque, as England 

are due to play two ODI matches 

against Ireland in May. 

Pune coach Stephen Fleming 

admitted it was something of a 

"gamble" to pay so much for a player 

with a history of injury problems, 

but that Stokes will add extra 

flair to a team that already has 

Australia captain Steve Smith and 

ex-Indian skipper Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni in its ranks. 

Stokes has had his share of verbal 

run-ins with Australia in Ashes 

Sports 19 



Action from the 2017 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup group stage game between Dhaka Abahani Limited and Pocheon 

Citizen FC in Chittagong yesterday 

RABIN CHOWDHURY 

Test matches but Smith welcomed 

him with open arms and joked that 

he expected his new team-mate to 

buy him a drink now he was flush 

with cash. 

"Welcome to Pune @benstokes38 

first round is on you!" 

Smith wrote on Twitter. 

While Stokes had been expected 

to attract big bids, the fee for Mills 

was unexpected but underlines his 

form on England's recent tour of 

India, when he was his side's most 

economical fast bowler. 

Bangalore have no shortage of 

batting talent with Indian skipper 

Virat Kohli and South Africa's AB 

de Villiers already on board. 

But Mills' signing should address 

the lack of a top-quality fast 

bowler for last year's beaten finalists. 

Other players to hit the jackpot 

included New Zealand seamer 

Trent Boult and South Africa's 

Kagiso Rabda who were both sold 

for around 50m rupees each for 

Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi 

respectively. 

The auction also saw the first 

Afghan players to be signed up to 

the tournament, with Rashid Khan 

and Mohammad Nabi going to Sunrisers 

Hyderabad for 40m and three 

million respectively. • 

'Boom Boom' Afridi ends 

international career 

• AFP, Sharjah 

Legendary Pakistan all-rounder 

Shahid Afridi on Sunday announced 

his retirement from 

international cricket, ending an 

illustrious and sometimes controversial 

21-year career. 

The 36-year-old star had already 

quit Tests in 2010 and ODI cricket 

after the 2015 World Cup but still 

skippered the Pakistan Twenty20 

team at the 2016 world championships 

in India. 

He stepped down as captain 

after the tournament although he 

retained slender hopes of continuing 

his career in the sport's shortest 

format as a player. 

"I have said goodbye to international 

cricket," said Afridi after 

smashing a 28-ball 54 in a Pakistan 

Super League match for Peshawar 

Zalmi in Sharjah. 

"I am playing for my fans and 

will continue to play this league for 

another two years but it's goodbye 

from international cricket. 

"Now my foundation is important 

for me. I have played with seriousness 

and in a professional way 

for my country." 

Nicknamed “Boom Boom”, Afridi 

had been a fan favourite since 

he burst onto the scene in 1996, 

striking a 37-ball one-day century 

against Sri Lanka in only his second 

match to set a world record that 

was unbeaten for 18 years. 

Afridi finishes his international 

career having played just 27 Test 

matches which yielded 1,176 runs 

with a highest score of 156 and 48 

wickets. 

He played 398 one-day internationals 

with 8,064 runs, a highest 

score of 124 while taking 395 wickets 

with his leg spin. 

His Twenty20 international 

CV saw him play 98 matches with 

1,405 runs and a career-leading 97 

wickets. •

20 



Sports 

Last-gasp Messi penalty rescues poor Barcelona 

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi scores a penalty against Leganes during their La Liga 

match at Camp Nou on Sunday 

REUTERS 

• AFP, Madrid 

Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel 

Messi penalty to see off lowly 

Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the 

Spanish champions continued on 

Sunday. 

Barca were thrashed 4-0 by 

Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday 

to leave their Champions League 

hopes hanging by a thread and had 

to rely on Messi for snatching all 

three points from another below 

par display. 

The Argentine opened the scoring 

after just four minutes, but 

Leganes enjoyed the better of the 

chances and levelled 19 minutes 

from time through Unai Lopez. 

However, Messi ensured Barca 

did move back up to second in La 

Liga and close to within a point of 

leaders Real Madrid, who have two 

games in hand, from the spot after 

Neymar had been chopped down 

inside the area. 

Leganes remain just two points 

above the relegation zone as their 

winless run extends to 13 games. 

LA LIGA 

Real Sociedad 0-1 Villarreal 

Castillejo 90+3 

Valencia 2-0 Athletic Bilbao 

Nani 13, Zaza 45 

Celta Vigo 3-0 Osasuna 

Sisto 23, Jozabed 87, Aspas 89 

Barcelona 2-1 Leganes 

Messi 4, 89-P Lopez 71 

POINTS TABLE 

Teams P W D L GD Pts 

Real Madrid 21 16 4 1 38 52 

Barcelona 23 15 6 2 44 51 

Sevilla 23 15 4 4 18 49 

Atletico Madrid 23 13 6 4 24 45 

Real Sociedad 23 13 2 8 4 41 

Barca looked set for an easy 

night when Luis Suarez found 

space in behind the Leganes defence 

and his pinpoint cross with 

the outside of his right foot picked 

out Messi to tap home early on. 

Instead, Barca were thankful 

to a series of brilliant saves by 

Marc-Andre ter Stegen for keeping 

Leganes at bay. 

The German denied former 

Liverpool winger Nabil El Zhar in 

a one-on-one before flying low to 

his left to parry El Zhar's follow-up 

effort. 

El Zhar came close again with 

the last action of the first-half as 

this time his shot from the edge of 

the area was deflected and forced 

Ter Stegen into a fine reflex stop. 

However, for all his good work, 

Ter Stegen was at fault when Leganes 

did deservedly level as 

Lopez's effort from the edge of the 

area flew in between his legs. 

The equaliser was met with a 

chorus of boos by the lowest La 

Liga attendance at the Camp Nou 

this season. 

And there was an even angrier 

reception for the much maligned 

Andre Gomes when he was replaced 

by Andres Iniesta moments 

later. 

Ter Stegen called for unity 

among the Barcelona faithful. • 

Ibrahimovic fires United 

into FA Cup quarters 

• Reuters 

Manchester United's Zlatan 

Ibrahimovic came off the 

bench to score the winner as 

they recovered from an early 

deficit to beat Championship 

strugglers Blackburn Rovers 2-1 

away in the FA Cup fifth round 

on Sunday. 

The Swedish hitman entered 

the fray just part the 

hour mark at a murky Ewood 

Park and produced a typically 

silky finish in the 75th minute 

to spare holders United an unwanted 

replay. 

It was his first goal in the FA 

Cup and 24th in all competitions 

and sent 12-times winners 

United into the quarter-finals 

where they will play at Premier 

League leaders Chelsea. 

United's passage was far 

from smooth, though, against 

the former Premier League 

champions who are now struggling 

to retain their second-tier 

status. 

Until United manager Jose 

Mourinho sent on Ibrahimovic 

and world record signing Paul 

Pogba in the 62nd minute the 

visitors were finding Blackburn 

a tough nut to crack. 

Danny Graham had put the 

hosts ahead before United forward 

Marcus Rashford equalised 

just before the half-hour 

mark. 

Then, in a moment of supreme 

quality, Pogba's flighted 

pass found Ibrahimovic running 

in behind the Rovers rearguard 

and the veteran striker 

took his time before guiding 

a shot past goalkeeper Jason 

Steele. 

Mourinho even graciously 

applauded as Rovers took the 

lead with a goal of real quality 

in the 17th minute. • 

Man Utd’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring against Blackburn 

during their FA Cup fifth round tie at Ewood Park on Sunday REUTERS

Sports 

21 



AS Roma’s Mohamed Salah drives the ball during their Serie A match 

against Torino on Sunday in Rome’s Olympic Stadium 

AFP 

Napoli, Roma win to 

keep title hopes alive 

• Reuters 

Zia clinches Language 

Day chess title 


Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of 

Sheikh Russel Memorial Sporting 

Club emerged as the unbeaten 

champion in the Mother Language 

Day International Rating 

Chess Tournament that concluded 

at the Sonargaon Upazila 

Parishad auditorium yesterday. 

Champion Zia won eight and 

drew one out of nine matches 

FOOTBALL 

TEN 1 

UEFA Champions League 

1:45AM 

Leverkusen v Atletico 

DAY’S WATCH 

AS Roma beat visitors Torino 

4-1 and Napoli, who are third, 

eased to a 3-1 victory at Chievo 

on Sunday to keep alive their 

faint title hopes and maintain 

some pressure on Juventus. 

Inter Milan reclaimed fourth 

place after Brazilian striker Gabriel 

Barbosa - nicknamed Gabigol 

- came on to score his first 

league goal as they snatched a 

1-0 win at Bologna. 

Roma's win keeps them second 

on 56 points, seven behind 

Juve and two clear of Napoli, 

who bounced back from their 

midweek Champions League 

defeat at Real Madrid and extended 

their unbeaten league 

streak to 14 games with the 

Chievo win. 

After Juve's 4-1 victory at 

home to Palermo on Friday, the 

chasing duo knew they had to 

pick up three points to retain 

any semblance of pressure on 

the champions. 

Both teams obliged, with 

Roma's irresistible attack establishing 

a 2-0 lead over Torino 

inside 20 minutes following 

Edin Dzeko's low 10th minute 

strike and Mohamed Salah's 

volley seven minutes later. 

Leandro Paredes produced 

a sublime strike from distance 

in the 63rd minute and Maxi 

Lopez got a consolation goal 

for Torino six minutes from the 

end before Radja Nainggolan 

thundered home a long-range 

effort in the first minute of 

stoppage time. 

At Chievo, Lorenzo Insigne 

opened the scoring for Napoli 

in the 31st minute with a delicious 

effort, cutting in from 

the left and curling a right-foot 

strike into the far corner. 

Marek Hamsik then scored 

from close range after hesitant 

defending seven minutes before 

the break with Piotr Zielinski 

adding a third in the 58th 

with a calm finish from the 

edge of the box. 

Riccardo Meggiorini pulled 

a goal back for the hosts but it 

could not stop Napoli moving 

on to 54 points. • 

to earn 8.5 points. Three players 

earned 7.5 points each and 

after the tie-breaking system, 

Fide Masters Syed Mahfuzur 

Rahman became runners-up, 

Mehedi Hasan Parag sealed 

third spot while Candidate 

Master Nikhil Magizhnan of India 

ended fourth. 

A total of 162 players from 

Bangladesh and India took part 

in the five-day long event. • 

TEN 2 

1:45AM 

Man City v Monaco

22 



Showtime 

Bangladesh joins Khajuraho Dance Festival 

• Showtime Desk 

Bangladesh is participating as the 

guest country in the 43rd edition 

of the Khajuraho Dance Festival. 

Prominent Bangladeshi dance 

school Shadhona has been invited 

to represent Bangladesh as a 

theme region for the prestigious 

event. The week long festival is 

taking place against the backdrop 

of the Khajuraho temples in 

Chhatarpur district of Madhya 

Pradesh state in central India. 

The festival is organised by the 

Department of Culture of Madhya 

Pradesh and commenced on 

February 20. 

Rahul Rastogi, assistant director 

at Ustad Allaudin Khan Academy, 

Bhopal, said, “We are introducing 

Atithi Devo Bhav this year to 

introduce their (Bangladesh) 

cultural practices. This year, we 

are inviting Bangladesh to 

showcase their culture and 

celebrate the spirit of dance 

in musical extravaganza of 

Khajuraho.” 

Different forms of Indian 

classical dances like Kathak, 

Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Chhau, 

Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and 

Kathakali will be performed 

at the festival by the artists 

selected by National Selection 

Committee. Khajuraho Dance 

Festival is not just a platform 

for musicals, as several other 

activities have been undertaken 

by the authorities to give the 

audience a holistic experience. 

“The festival will also 

have programs like Art Mart, 

Naipathya, and International 

Film Festival. The audience 

will not only enjoying the 

musical extravaganza, but will 

also be educating themselves by 

attending discussions,” Rastogi 

said in this regard. 

Team Bangladesh will be on an 

open-air stage before each day’s 

main performance throughout 

the week. Raibeshe, Baul, Poddar 

Nachon and other folk dances, 

Badolo Borishone (a dance-drama 

based on Nazrul’s story and songs), 

Manipuri from Srimangal, Aye 

Amader Ongone (a dance drama 

based on Tagore’s Brikkhoropon) 

and patriotic dances from the 

Language Movement are on the list 

of their performances. 

Shabbir Ahmed Khan (Biju), 

Sweety Das Chowdhury and Amit 

Chowdhury are the choreographers 

for the presentations. Renowned 

Baul Singer Shafi Mondol will 

accompany the troupe, which 

also consists of dancers, Dhulis, 

Lathiyals and Manipuri performers 

from Sylhet. 

21 other countries aside 

from Bangladesh and India, 

including Canada, Bahrain, 

France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, 

Malaysia, Nepal, Romania, Russia, 

Singapore, Korea and Turkey, are 

participating in the grand event. 

Bangladesh’s participation in 

the event will be supported by 

the Bangladesh Tourism Board 

of the Ministry of Civil Aviation 

and Tourism, Government of 

Bangladesh. •

Showtime 

23 



Razzak, Amjad and Suchonda to be honoured 

for Jibon Theke Neya 

Day celebration committee, has 

informed that the reunion is part 

of the special programs that have 

been arranged to celebrate the 

glorious International Mother 

Language Day at FDC. 

According to Tutul, a discussion 

on Jibon Theke Neya will take 

place at 11am today. Celebrated 

actors Razzak, Amjad Hossain 

and Suchonda will be discussing 

the movie. Information Minister 

Hasanul Haque Enu will be the 

chief guest of the program. The 

classic movie will be screened at 

Zahir Raihan VIP Projection Hall of 

FDC after the discussion. 

President of the host 


Jibon Theke Neya, the remarkable 

political satire, was released in the 

year 1970. After all these years, 

three living stars of the Zahir 

Raihan masterpiece are going 

to be reunited in a program to 

be honoured by the Cholochitro 

Porichalok Samiti for their roles in 

the movie. 

Shahin Kabir Tutul, convenor 

of International Mother Language 

organisation Mushfiqur Rahman 

Gulzar said, “Jibon Theke Neya 

showed how much a movie can 

contribute in the Liberation War 

movement! Most of the stars from 

the movie have died. But we want 

to honour the three lead actors 

who are still alive.” 

Actor Amjad Hossain said, “It's 

high time for us to arrange a big 

festival to celebrate the movie, 

which involves people from all 

walks of life.” 

Jibon Theke Neya is a work of 

legendary director Zahir Raihan. 

The film is a political satire 

based on the Bengali Language 

Movement under the rule of 

Pakistan, where an autocratic 

woman in one family symbolises 

the political dictatorship of Ayub 

Khan in East Pakistan. Shaukat 

Akbar, Anwar Hossain, Khan 

Ataur Rahman and Rosy Samad 

starred in the movie. The movie 

has been described as an example 

of ‘national cinema’, using 

discrete local traditions to build a 

representation of the Bangladeshi 

national identity. • 

Shaon holds press conference on Doob 


Meher Afroz Shaon, producer, 

actress and wife of late author 

Humayun Ahmed, held a 

press conference yesterday at 

her residence in Dhanmondi 

to address the recent events 

relating to Mostofa Sarwar 

Farooki’s upcoming film Doob, 

which recently had its ‘no 

objection certificate’ revoked. 

This essentially stops, at least 

temporarily, the release of 

Farooki’s film. 

In the wake of claims that 

Shaon’s letter to Bangladesh 

Film Censor Board (BFDC) on 

February 13 led the withdrawal 

of the no objection certificate, 

Shaon called a press conference 

at her residence ‘Dakhin Hawa’ at 

Dhanmondi 3/A. 

Shaon, in her written 

statement at the press 

conference, said that the story 

for Doob has been clearly derived 

from Humayun Ahmed’s life. 

She said that she came to know 

about the film and the story after 

Indian newspaper Ananda Bazaar 

published a feature on it. She said 

she also came to know that the 

story for the film was taken from 

a number of sensitive events of 

the author’s life, as published in 

a number of follow up reports 

in prominent newspapers in 

Bangladesh and India. 

She also came to know from 

these reports that the lead 

actor Irrfan Khan watched a 

lot of footage of the late author 

Humayun Ahmed to prepare for 

the role. Another actor in the film 

Parno Mittra posted on Facebook 

that her character’s name had 

been ‘Meher Afroz Shaon’ but it 

was changed later, Shaon said to 

the journalists. 

“I was naturally worried 

because the film maker never 

acknowledged that the story is 

connected to Humayun Ahmed,” 

she said. She also said that her 

suspicion was confirmed when 

actress Rokeya Prachee clearly 

said in an interview that Doob is 

based on Ahmed’s life. 

Mentioning that the 

protagonist has two distinct 

chapters in his life and died 

of cancer, Shaon said that it 

leaves little doubt as to who 

the character is based on. She 

said it is “unethical” to mix true 

facts with fiction and present a 

misleading film to the public. 

“I did write a letter to the 

censor board from these concerns 

on February 13,” Shaon said. 

She asked the board to carefully 

consider her concerns before 

reaching their conclusions. 

“I never asked for a ban. But 

as his wife, as well as his fan 

and reader, I cannot support 

misrepresenting Humayun 

Ahmed, that’s only normal,” 

Shaon said. • 

Tauquir, Bipasha pair up for 

Ekushey February TV drama 


After a long time, Tauquir Ahmed 

and Bipasha Hayat have teamed 

up to act in a TV drama that will be 

aired on February 21 at 12:20pm on 

NTV marking International Mother 

Language Day. 

The drama, Laal Ranger 

Manush, revolves around a 

man named Jamil who seeks 

answers to some unconventional 

questions. He wants to meet a 

centenarian philosopher for the 

answers who is in a kind of selfexile 

throughout the year, except 

during the month of February. 

On the other hand, Jamil’s wife 

Lily is struggling everyday with 

depression from her husband’s 

absence. Lily decides to do 

something to alleviate the family’s 

financial crisis. However, at one 

point she realises that whatever 

she does goes against her beliefs. 

Leaving behind everything, she 

also starts seeking answers to 

her husband’s unconventioal 

questions. 

Written and directed by 

Mahmud Didar, the drama also 

casts Bipasha Anwar, Monir 

Zaman, Sharmin Aktar, Khandkar 

Himel, Kabya and others. •

24 



Back Page 

Cabinet okays 

Animal Welfare Act 

• Shohel Mamun 

The Cabinet approved the draft of the Animal 

Welfare Act which aims to stop cruelty 

toward animals and ensure responsibility for 

their welfare. 

The draft proposes a maximum of twoyears 

imprisonment and a Tk50,000 fine for 

any person who kills an animal. The draft 

also proposes a maximum of six-month 

imprisonment and Tk10,000 fine for those 

accused of cruelty toward animals or using 

them for excessive toil. 

The approval was given in the regular 

cabinet meeting held yesterday at the 

Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina in the chair. 

Cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul 

Alam told reporters: “The director general 

of the Department of Livestock Services, 

authorised officials under that department, 

or police personnel holding a rank of sub-inspector 

or above can file a case against anyone 

who commits such offences.” 

The draft of this act, which is more inclusive, 

comes on the back of a 2014 High 

Court rule banning dog culling. Obhoyaronno-Bangladesh 

Animal Welfare Foundation 

in 2014 had filed a writ petition with the 

High Court, which later issued the rule. 

The abuse and slaughter goes unabated and 

the HC rule is ignored in cities like Chittagong. 

On January 28, residents of Chittagong took to 

the streets to criticise the cruelty and blatant 

disregard by the Chittagong City Corporation 

in culling the city’s stray dogs. 

Rakibul Hoque Amil, coordinator of the 

human chain, told the Dhaka tribune: “The 

HC rule delivered in 2014 clearly states that 

“unnecessary killing or injuring of an animal 

in brutal way are punishable.” 

In the week preceding the protest, 150 dogs 

were said to have been slaughtered and left to 

rot on the streets. Photos of the dogs went viral 

on social media, giving rise to the protests. 

Every few days, posters of Facebook 

groups such as Dog Lovers of Bangladesh 

and Cat Society of Bangladesh share stories 

of pets being tortured and killed. 

On February 18, a user shared a post about 

an injured dog lying on the side of a road at 

Tolarbagh. The dog, hit by a passing vehicle, 

could not walk, and pedestrians were reluctant 

to come to its aid. • 

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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