DT e-Paper 27 February 2017

SECOND EDITION 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 | Falgun 15, 1423, Jamadiul Awwal 29, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 301 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 8-page world supplement | Price: Tk10 

Rohingya 

women: 

The face of 

unspeakable 

horror › 2 

SHAFIUR RAHMAN

2 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 

DT 

News 

Rohingya women: The face 

of unspeakable horror 

• Tribune Desk 

Some of these Rohingya women, all rape victims, are as young as 14. After the harrowing torture they went through in the 

hands of Myanmar army, there is no shame in taking off the veils, they say. They want the Myanmar government’s narrative 

unmasked in front of the world 

SHAFIUR RAHMAN 

More than a dozen young women, 

some as young as 14, took off their 

niqab declaring their dignity had 

been taken by the Myanmar Army 

while sharing their stories of murder 

and rape with Bangladesh-origin 

documentary film maker Shafiur 

Rahman. 

They also described to the UKbased 

film maker how they had 

been shamed and abused in front 

of their families and communities 

during the army’s four-month-long 

“clearance operations” in Rohingya-dominated 

Rakhine State. 

Many of the women had their 

family members, including babies 

and young children, butchered in 

front of them. 

They argued that they saw no 

reason now to hide their faces 

when it came to telling the world 

what happened to their homes and 

loved ones in Myanmar. 

Shafiur recorded the testimonies 

in December and January 

from registered and unregistered 

refugee settlements in 

Ukhiya and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar, 

where over 70,000 Rohingya 

Muslims have taken shelter since 

October. 

In a 9:53-minute video, the 

women disclose to the world the 

horrendous stories which Shafiur 

later uploaded in an online 

platform. 

In early January 2017, the Aung 

San Suu Kyi-led government surprisingly 

took action against soldiers 

who had been depicted on 

video beating up members of a 

Rohingya family. An investigation 

was announced regarding the 

specific case. 

No investigations had previously 

been announced to hold individual 

soldiers or officers to account 

despite scores of far more serious 

allegations of widespread murder, 

burnings and rape of the Rohingyas 

in Rakhine State. 

Tellingly, the government-appointed 

Rakhine State investigation 

commission has been labelled 

a “whitewash” by human rights organisations. 

“In this context, the testimonies 

of these Rohingya women who 

have come to Bangladesh point to 

continued sex crimes and killings 

in Rakhine State perpetrated by the 

Myanmar security forces,” Shafiur 

describes. 

In early February, a UN report 

detailed “devastating cruelty 

against Rohingya children, 

women and men.” Based on over 

200 interviews, the report was 

introduced thus in an OHCHR 

news bulletin: “Mass gang-rape, 

killings – including of babies and 

young children, brutal beatings, 

disappearances and other serious 

human rights violations by 

Myanmar’s security forces in a 

sealed-off area north of Maungdaw 

in northern Rakhine State have 

been detailed in a new UN report 

issued Friday based on interviews 

with victims across the border in 

Bangladesh.” 

The persecution of the Rohingyas 

in Myanmar is not a new development. 

As has been argued 

by many, most recently by Azeem 

Ibrahim in his book “The Rohingyas 

– Inside Myanmar’s Hidden 

Genocide” (2016), the reality the 

Rohingyas are facing is the threat 

of a genocide. 

As recent arrivals, these women 

and their families would not be 

registered by the Bangladesh government, 

Shafiur says. 

“They face an uncertain future 

like other unregistered Rohingyas. 

Begging, depending on aid and potentially 

becoming victims of trafficking. 

They will receive no psychological 

support for the traumas 

they experienced,” he adds. 

Already a virulent anti- 

Rohingya sentiment has taken 

hold in some parts in southern 

Bangladesh. Rohingyas, it is 

claimed, are involved in all forms 

of crime including theft, drugs and 

terrorism. 

Other allegations say Rohingyas 

apparently cause environmental 

destruction, and they run off with 

Bangladeshi women. The list of allegations 

is long. 

“Indeed I spoke to individuals 

who said the Rohingyas must 

have brought Burmese wrath 

upon themselves by engaging in 

disreputable behaviour,” the film 

maker says. 

Driving in the environs of Ukhiya, 

“one can’t help but notice the 

presence of women, infants, children 

and elderly men sitting by 

the roadside throughout the day 

and even late at night. The children 

sit obediently by their guardians 

and sometimes appear dazed 

or lethargic. 

“They stretch out their hands as 

cars and other vehicles drive past 

them. These are the recent arrivals 

to Bangladesh – driven out by the 

murderous mayhem initiated in 

Myanmar last year.” 

Their high visibility has sadly 

not engendered empathy and solidarity 

with the Rohingya people 

amongst the locals. “Instead, it 

has resulted in many Bangladeshis 

welcoming astonishing reports 

that the government of Bangladesh 

is considering moving the Rohingyas 

to a remote island called Hatia 

in Noakhali.” • 

Shajahan backs wildcat transport strike in 

Khulna division for convict’s release 

• Shohel Mamun 

With an indefinite transport strike 

expanded to ten districts of Khulna 

protesting bus driver Jamir 

Hossain’s jail term over Filmmaker 

Tareque Masud and Cinematographer 

Mishuk Muiner and three 

others’ death, the government until 

late yesterday night could not 

take any action to help stop it. 

However, Shipping Minister 

Shajahan Khan defended the strike 

saying: “They [transport workers] 

can do so [enforce strike].” 

Shajahan, also executive president 

of the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan 

Sramik Federation, made 

the statement at a press conference 

in Dhaka earlier the same day. 

“If anyone is aggrieved, he or 

she has the right to call a strike. 

Hence, transport workers just followed 

the method,” he said. 

When asked if the government 

will take any immediate action to 

resolve the crisis, he did not reply, 

but asked the transport workers 

not to violate laws while in strike. 

The regional committee of the 

transport workers’ platform first 

enforced the wildcat strike only 

in Chudanga on Wednesday, the 

same day when a Manikganj court 

sentenced bus driver Jamir to life 

in prison over the deaths in a fatal 

road crash in 2011. 

The strike, which already caused 

immense sufferings to commuters 

in Chuadanga, started adding to the 

woes of people from the nine other 

districts in the division. 

Meanwhile, Road Transport 

and Bridges Minister Obaidul 

Quader during a mobile court 

drive near the High Court admitted 

public sufferings due to the 

strike and termed the strike unacceptable. 

He suggested that transport 

leaders move the High Court instead 

of protesting against a verdict 

since a strike would not bring 

a solution to their demand of releasing 

the convict. 

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority 

yesterday held a meeting 

where they discussed the strike, 

but it failed to come up with any 

action in this regard, while transport 

leaders declared that they 

would spread the strike across the 

country if Jamir was not freed. 

It is worth mentioning that 

Wednesday’s verdict was the highest 

punishment for road accident 

in the country, which garnered 

much appreciation from experts 

since road mishaps claim hundreds 

of lives in Bangladesh annually. •

News 3 


Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer removed 

over party ‘reform’ 



ATAUR RAHMAN 

Claims to be a freedom fighter 

Former president of Islami Chhatra 

Shibir’s Rajshahi University unit 

Former ameer of Rajshahi city unit 

Jamaat 

Elected nayeb-e-ameer in 

December 2016 

Discharged on February 5, 2017 

Jamaat-e-Islami central committee 

leader Ataur Rahman has been 

discharged from the position of 

nayeb-e-ameer reportedly for his 

proposal to reform the party that 

courted immense controversies 

over its anti-liberation role in 1971. 

This was the latest among several 

other attempts to reform the 

party, which too went in vein. 

Sources of the Majlis-e-Shura, 

the highest policymaking body of 

Jamaat, confirmed this to our sister 

concern the Bangla Tribune. 

Ataur, who was elected nayebe-ameer 

in December last year, was 

discharged from the position on February 

5, only a few months after the 

party had elected Maqbul Ahmed 

new ameer (chief) of it and released 

its recently-amended constitution. 

Maqbul is now being probed by 

the International Crimes Tribunal 

as allegations surfaced in the media 

that he was involved in wartime 

atrocities as a collaborator of 

Pakistani occupation forces during 

the 1971 Liberation War. 

Ataur, former president of the 

Rajshahi University (RU) unit of 

pro-Jamaat student organisation 

Islami Chhatra Shibir, proposed 

handing Jamaat’s leadership over 

to the post-Liberation War generation 

with a view to purging the party 

of its wartime controversies, the 

sources added. 

Several other leaders – mostly 

former leaders of RU unit Chhatra 

Shibir – raised the same demand. 

They had Ataur introduce the proposal 

as is known to be a vibrant 

and dedicated leader among his 

party fellows. 

Also, they wanted to see Ataur 

as the party’s new ameer, according 

to party insiders. 

As the reform proposal did not 

mention the other leaders’ names, 

only Ataur had to step down from 

the post. 

What was he thinking? 

NEWS ANALYSIS 

Randomly parked vehicles are a 

nuisance that plague Dhaka’s streets. 

So much so, that sometimes only 

about a third of the street is available 

to traffic while the rest serve as parking 

lot. Some such unofficial pockets have 

been cleaned out by Dhaka North mayor 

Annisul Huq to his credit. The Shatrasta 

intersection and Gabtoli are two 

such places that used to be perennially 

clogged with vehicles. Today vehicles 

pass through them like a breeze. 

The city corporation’s endeavours 

to free up the streets filing cases 

against illegally parked by the side of 

main roads and streets have also been 

visible in recent times, all in a bid to 

make life on the streets easier. But the 

mayor’s latest pronouncement against 

those errant drivers sounds disturbing. 

The Dhaka North mayor said errant 

drivers should be tied to the trees 

and handed over to the police. While 

there is no doubt illegal parking is a 

scourge on the streets and adds to 

the seemingly endless hours of traffic 

congestion, the mayor’s suggestion 

of brings up images of brutal vigilante 

justice which too is a scourge. 

Anyone stuck on the streets for 

hours would perhaps want to mete out 

even worse punishments for errant 

drivers and it is all too evident with 

frequent road rage on display. But the 

BIO 

Born at Dagonbhuiyan 

upazila of Feni in August 

1939 

Started career as 

teacher at Feni Model 

High School in 1971 

Joined Jamaat-e-Islami 

in 1962 

Ameer of Feni town unit 

Jamaat from 1967-68 

Ameer of greater 

Noakhali district in 1970 

Jamaat’s central 

organising secretary 

from 1979-89 

Assistant secretary 

general from 1989-2001 

Contested in the 

1986 polls from Feni 2 

constituency 

Contested in the 

1991 polls from Feni 2 

constituency 

Nayeb-e-ameer in 2003 

Ameer in October 2016 

mayor is not just anyone. A leading garment 

exporter, Annisul Huq has been a 

public figure for a long time as BGMEA 

president and then as FBCCI president. 

People of course know him from even 

before that as a popular TV show host. 

And now, he is mayor of Dhaka North. 

When a mayor even hints at something 

that encourages people to take 

up the law in their hands, the results 

could very well be disastrous and not 

just for wrong parking. It also appears 

that the mayor’s rage is directed more 

towards the drivers than the owners of 

the cars who are essentially responsible 

for such behaviour on the part of 

the drivers. 

Given the proven penchant for 

mob justice in Dhaka, such pronouncements 

have the potential to nudge 

people in the wrong direction which 

is, more often than not, a dangerous 

downhill race. • 

MAQBUL AHMED 

WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS 

Razakar commander in Feni 

Killing of freedom fighter Maulana 

Waz Uddin 

Planning killing of 10 Hindus of 

Joylaskar union in Dagonbhuiyan 

Killing of freedom fighter Ahsan Ullah 

Allegations being probed by International 

Crimes Tribunal 

On Saturday, senior nayeb-eameer 

Mujibur Rahman said Ataur 

had only been removed from his 

post, not expelled from the party. 

When asked about different 

media reports on his expulsion, 

Mujibur brushed aside the reports, 

terming them “baseless”. 

Echoing Mujibur, Majlis-e-Shura 

member Moulana Habibur Rahman 

said: “What is being spread in 

the media about his ‘expulsion’ is 

nothing but a conspiracy.” 

However, a Dhaka city unit 

leader preferring to be anonymous 

said: “Ataur has immense contributions 

to the party. None will speak 

out against his ‘gaffes’.” 

The former ameer of Rajshahi 

city unit Jamaat, Ataur, who claims 

to be a freedom fighter, was integrated 

into the central committee 

as many of its central committee 

leaders were hanged or sentenced 

to different terms in prison on 

charges their wartime crimes. 

Jamaat too termed Ataur a “freedom 

fighter” in an October 2016 

press release protesting his arrest 

by detectives. 

However, Rajshahi district unit 

Muktijoddha commander Farhad 

Ali said: “I did not see Ataur fight 

for the country. Also, his name is 

not on the list of the district’s freedom 

fighters who participated in 

the war against Pakistan.” 

Earlier attempts 

In 2010, Jamaat’s former assistant 

secretary general Muhammad 

Kamaruzzaman, who was executed 

in April 2015 for his crimes committed 

during the war, wrote from prison 

to his fellow party men, urging them 

to reform the party and reshuffle it 

with new faces. But the policymaking 

body took no heed of his proposal. 

Kamaruzzaman’s son Hassan 

Iqbal said: “Jamaat’s history could 

have changed had the proposal 

been accepted.” 

Former secretary general of Islami 

Chhatra Shibir Shishir Mohammad 

Manir and some other leaders 

were expelled from the organisation 

after he had proposed reforming 

Jamaat in 2010. 

In 1982, the then Chhatra Shibir 

president Ahmed Abdul Qauder 

and secretary general Farid Ahmed 

were too pushed out of the organisation 

for the same reason. • 

Saat Tola slum residents 

protest water crisis 

• Abu Hayat Mahmud 

Inhabitants of the Saat Tola slum in 

Mohakhali have staged a demo in front 

of the Dhaka Wasa Mods Zone-5 office, 

demanding an immediate solution to 

the ongoing water crisis in the area. 

Led by the Saat Tola slum Central 

Community Based Organisation (CBO) 

President Selina Begum, they held the 

protest around 11am, yesterday. 

A 10-member delegate of the slum 

people submitted a memorandum to 

the officials concerned of Wasa Mods 

Zone 5, said Israfil Hossain Akondo, chief 

engineer of Dhaka Wasa Mods Zone 5. 

Speaking to Wasa officials, Selina 

Begum said: “There are about 10,700 

families at the Saat Tola slum and only 

5,000 have access to the water lines.” 

“Letters sent to the Wasa managing 

director were ineffective. When we 

complained, the local Wasa pump operator 

merely asked us to open a water 

line in the slum area,” Selina added. 

“Each family pays a water bill of 

Tk300 per month. But water only 

runs from 12am till 6am. Not only is 

the supply of water low, it is also dirty 

because a major pipe has corroded,” 

Selina said. 

“The discontented people are 

threatening to reconnect the illegal 

lines if Wasa does not confirm legal 

lines immediately,” she explained. 

The Wasa officials have assured 

the protesters the problem will be 

resolved by next Sunday. 

Central CBO General Secretary 

Kohinur Begum and local leaders 

of the ruling Awami League were in 

attendance, among others.•

4 



News 

MP LITON MURDER 

Quader admits jealousy was motive 

• Kamrul Hasan and Tazul 

Islam Reza, Gaibandha 

Former Gaibandha lawmaker 

Jatiya Party leader Col (rtd) 

Abdul Quader Khan has told 

police he was overcome with 

jealousy and depression after 

his defeat against MP Manjurul 

Islam Liton, which led to 

him plotting the man’s murder. 

He was so blinded by the 

thirst of power that he even 

planned to kill Shamim Patwary, 

the man nominated 

by his party to contest the 

by-election. 

During interrogation, 

Quader, a physician by profession, 

told the police that he 

had become isolated and grew 

depressed since Liton was 

elected as the lawmaker of 

Gaibandha 1 in the 2013 polls. 

Quader, a native of Bogra, 

was elected from the seat in 

2008 but did not get the Grand 

Alliance’s ticket in ‘13. He ran 

independently but lost sorely 

to Liton. 

He told police he was 

convinced that his defeat was 

due to the four corruption 

cases filed against him by the 

Anti-corruption Commission, 

which he attributed to Liton’s 

conspiring. 

He was so depressed that 

homicidal and suicidal tendencies 

grew in him, he said 

in interrogation. 

The sources said police 

officials were tense while he 

was in custody because of his 

mood and the former MP was 

kept under close watch. 

On Saturday police asked 

him to make a confession. He 

was told that four of his associates 

had already given confessional 

statements. 

In the afternoon Quader 

agreed to confessing. Police 

sources said investigators 

were surprised by his docile 

attitude. 

Small error laid the case 

open 

Law enforcers are saying 

the investigation has gained 

momentum since the confessions 

of the mastermind and 

the assassins were obtained. 

they are expecting to gear 

up their investigation and the 

persons who reconnoitered 

Liton’s home and the vicinity 

along with the alleged informer 

Chandan Kumar Roy could 

be traced very soon. 

Police said Quader selected 

the three killers belonging 

from such a society who could 

do anything for money. 

In the confessional statement 

Quader claimed that he 

had been planning the murder 

for six months but did not succeed 

before. 

However, police said from 

the others’ confessional statements 

and their investigation 

they had learned that the plan 

had been cooking for not less 

than a year. 

Law enforcers said solving 

the case would have been 

more difficult if the three 

assassins did not make a 

mistake. In December, the 

three were roaming around 

together in Sundarganj where 

MP Liton was scheduled to 

go but he did not go there 

that day and stayed in Dhaka 

instead. 

After failing that attempt, 

they decided to do some 

mugging instead. They 

snatched the mobile phone of 

a young boy named Fahim, a 

neighbour of Liton. However, 

they left a magazine full of 

bullets there. 

This magazine was from 

a gun registered to Quader’s 

name. 

Police then tracked and 

tapped the boy’s phone and 

soon found Quader having 

conversations with the killers 

on it. 

An senior police official said 

the three were not acquainted 

with Quader personally. An 

associate of Quader took them 

to him. Police is currently in 

search of those associates and 

those who helped Chandan 

Kumar Roy and his associates. 

A source said Chandan was 

suspected to be hiding in India. 

The three killers - Mohammad 

Shahin, Mehedi Hasan 

and Anarul Islam Rana - after 

ensuring that MP Liton is 

staying home that day, started 

for Gaibandha from Bogra in 

Quader’s microbus. 

After reaching Sundarganj, 

they took a motorbike in 

Chaprahati. 

After 

reaching 

Dhoabadanga they loitered at 

the kitchen market in the area 

and when Chandan told them 

to come to the MP’s home 

they went there and shot MP 

Liton. 

Soon after the killing the 

three went back to Chaprahati 

immediately and after 

returning to Bogra, gave back 

the guns to Quader and left. 

They went to Dhaka through 

Bogra by bus that day. 

Liton stayed in India through Benapole 

landport on October 19 and 

stayed there till January 6, in order to 

have an alibi. But he came back and 

forth through the border secretly two 

or three times. He last came back in 

this manner on December 31, on the 

day of the murder, to ensure the success 

of the mission. •

HC questions legality 

of article 95, 116 

• Ashif Islam Shaon 

Four sentenced 

to 10-years for 

Jihad’s death 

• Ashif Islam Shaon 

Four Bangladesh Railway officials 

were found guilty of culpable 

homicide and sentenced to 10 

years of rigorous imprisonment 

in a case filed over the tragic 

death of the 4-year old Jihad, 

yesterday. 

Fifth Special Judges Court 

pronounced that it undoubtedly 

found Bangladesh Railway Senior 

Sub-Assistant Engineer Jahangir 

Alam and Assistant Engineers Md 

Nasir Uddin and Md Zafar Ahmed 

Shaki and SR House contractor and 

Proprietor Md Shafiqul Islam guilty 

under section 304 of penal code of 

culpable homicide and also fined 

them Tk2 lakh each. • 

The High Court in a ruling 

questioned the legality of 

article 95 that give the president 

the authority to appoint 

Supreme Court judges and 

article 116 that controls the 

appointment and posting of 

lower court judges, yesterday. 

The ruling was issued by 

High Court bench of Justice 

Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice 

Mohammad Ullah. 

The government, the secretaries 

to the cabinet division, 

law, president’s office 

and the registrar general of 

Supreme Court have been 

asked to explain within four 

weeks why the constitutional 

provisions should not be declared 

illegal. 

The ruling was made after 

a writ petition was filed on 

November 3, 2016 by a Supreme 

Court lawyer Eunus Ali 

Akond questioning the legality 

of articles 48(3), 95, 98, 115 

and 116. 

In the writ petition, 

he challenged the fourth 

amendment made in 1975 

and the fifteenth amendment 

to the articles 95(1) and B 

of 95(2), and 116 which was 

made in 2011. 

He said that the articles 

were not the same as the ones 

in constitution of 1972. The 

amendments were contradictory 

to the article 109. 

In article 116 of the 1972 

constitution, lower court 

judges’ appointment, posting 

and code of conduct were 

controlled by the Supreme 

Court. The fifteen amendment 

did not restore the 

power to the Supreme Court, 

though in 2011 through the 

Fifteenth amendment the 

Awami League restored the 

four fundamental principles 

of the constitution. 

The lawyer in the petition, 

also said according to article 

95 a law is supposed to govern 

how Supreme Court judges 

are appointed but that law 

was never formed. 

“In the 1972 constitution 

the Supreme Court had the 

whole control of the lower 

courts according to the 

article 116 which in the fourth 

amendment was given to the 

President. 

“There should be a law 

to appoint Supreme Court’s 

judges. But the law is yet 

to be framed. The whole 

judge appointment process 

is contradictory to the 

constitution,” Eunus Ali said. 

Last year in October Chief 

Justice Surendra Kumar 

Sinha in a message marking 

the ninth anniversary of the 

separation of the judiciary 

had said that the Article 116 

should be restored. • 

News 5 



TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

THUNDERSHOWER 

WITH RAIN 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27 

Dhaka 32 15 Chittagong 30 18 Rajshahi 32 12 Rangpur 30 14 Khulna 33 15 Barisal 33 16 Sylhet 30 13 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:00PM 

SUN RISES 6:23AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

32.0ºC 

10.0ºC 

Patuakhali 

Srimangal 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Cox’s Bazar 30 19 

Fajr: 5:50am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 4:45pm | Magrib: 6:10pm 

Esha: 8:00pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 



‘Video trial for sensitive 

prisoners in offing’ 

• Md Raihanul Islam Akand, Gazipur 

The government is moving ahead with a plan 

to facilitate the trial of sensitive inmates 

through video conferencing, the home minister 

has said. 

Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal made the comment 

while addressing a programme to mark 

the Prisons Week 2017 at Kashimpur Jail yesterday. 

“The prime minister’s good intention 

made it possible that prisoners will very soon 

be allowed to contact their families by phone. 

“Following her directives, video conferencing 

facility will be introduced in the prisons 

to conduct the trial procedures for ‘sensitive 

inmates,’” the minister said. 

He noted that the government had been 

News 

continuing its support for the development 

and modernisation of the Prisons Department. 

Once the prisons had been considered as a 

place for executing sentences, but “the present 

government has been working to turn the 

jails into rehabilitation centres,” he added. •

Khaleda fails to say 

anything new 

• Manik Miazee 

On Sunday night, BNP Chairperson 

Begum Khaleda Zia discussed 

the Election Commission, 

attacks on minorities, and 

international relations with the 

newly-elected Dhaka Bar Lawyer’s 

Association’s president, 

general secretary and other 

BNP-affiliated leaders. 

Khaleda opened by saying 

a neutral election would have 

seen BNP be an unstoppable 

force. She alleged that Awami 

League could not win in a fair 

election, and thus rigged the 

EC for subversive purposes. 

She called the election 

commissioner unqualified, a 

controversial figure and vigorously 

attacked the Election 

Commission. The BNP chairperson 

then said the ruling 

party had been assailing BNP 

by filing cases and attacking 

BNP leaders and activists. 

She also said the government 

has become autocratic 

and those in charge think of 

themselves as kings, since they 

were not elected by the people, 

rather took power by force. 

Khaleda further fumed, 

saying the government is 

maddened by power and is 

dehumanising everyone else, 

treating the people like serfs. 

She said Awami League’s 

atrocities had even deprived 

hawkers of their livelihoods. 

In addition, she said when 

BNP tried to peacefully protest, 

Awami League attacked 

people and torched vehicles 

and blamed it all on BNP. 

She alleged that Awami 

League was responsible for attacks 

on minorities, pointing 

out the attack on Santals in 

Gaibandha in particular. 

Begum Zia went on to say 

that BNP wants to be on good 

terms with all allied nations, but 

would never concede national 

interests to appease foreign 

powers. She reproached Awami 

League for not protesting the 

border killings by the BSF. 

She concluded by saying 

BNP does not cheat to win 

elections, rather swayed by 

the popular vote. Khaleda 

accused Awami League of 

cheating and rigging elections 

to win, claiming the general 

public did not support Awami 

League. • 

News 7 



Body of Jakir Khan arrives 

from New York 

• Mohammed Serajul 

Islam, Sylhet 

The body of Jakir Khan, a 

Bangladeshi real estate businessman 

who was stabbed to 

death by his landlord in New 

York, US, reached his hometown, 

Sylhet yesterday. 

His Namaz-e-Janaza was 

held on Fenchuganj Kasim 

Ali Model High School ground 

around 5pm. 

Protesters want demolition of 

Khandakar Mushtaq’s house 

• Mohiuddin Molla, Comilla 

Several hundred people from 

all walks of life formed a 

human chain yesterday on 

Dhaka-Chittagong Highway 

at Daudkandi in Comilla demanding 

immediate removing 

of the house of Khandakar 

Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the 

masterminds behind the assassination 

of Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibar Rahman and 

the four national leaders. 

Daudkandi Upazila Chairman 

Maj (retd) Mohammad 

Ali Swapan spoke at the event 

An Emirates flight carrying 

the body arrived at the Dhaka 

airport around 8am. Later, it was 

sent to Sylhet on an ambulance. 

Local lawmaker Mahmud Us 

Samad Chowdhury and UNO of 

Fenchuganj Hure Jannat went 

to Jakir’s home at Pathantila 

village to offer sympathy to the 

family of the deceased. 

A community leader in 

Bronx, Jakir was killed by his 

landlord on February 22. • 

among others. 

He said that the Awami 

League would always be 

with the people who were 

struggling for the removal of 

the house of Bangabandhu’s 

killer. 

By removing the house, the 

people of the district would be 

free from stigma, he added. 

Born in the village of 

Daspara in Daudkandi, Mushtaq 

became the commerce 

minister in Bangabandhu’s 

cabinet in 1975. He earlier 

served as the power, irrigation 

and flood control ministries. •

8 



News 

PM opens country’s first solar food silo 

FOCUSBANGLA 


Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated 

a modern multi-storey food 

warehouse – the first of its kind – at 

Santahar in Bogra yesterday. 

The warehouse has the capacity 

of storing 25,000 tonnes and will 

preserve food grains by using solar 

power round the year, reports BSS. 

The Department of Food constructed 

the air-conditioned warehouse 

at a cost of around Tk232.71 

crore, with Japan’s financial and 

technical support. 

The modernised and powerful 

internal air-coolers along with other 

machinery are capable of maintaining 

the food grain temperature 

and moisture for a long time. 

The premier said that the current 

government had persistently 

been working for the expansion of 

food stock. 

“By 2021, the food storage capacity 

is expected to grow up to 

100%,” she said. The newly-built 

warehouse would be extremely 

helpful in storing government food 

in the Rajshahi region, she hoped. 

Food Minister Qamrul Islam, 

Land Minister Shamsur Rahman 

Sharif, local parliament members 

and political leaders were present 

at the programme. 

The premier also planted a mango 

sapling on the Santahar warehouse 

premises and visited other 

sections of the compound. 

‘Reelect AL to keep up peace, uplift’ 

The premier later in the day attended 

a mammoth rally at Shantahar 

Stadium, organised by Adamdighi 

Upazila Awami League with its 

President Ansar Ali Mridha in the 

chair. 

She urged the people to reelect 

the Awami League to continue the 

country’s peace, progress and development, 

saying that all uplift 

activities would be halted if the 

BNP-Jamaat nexus came to power. 

Hasina said that if the Awami 

League was reelected, development 

of everybody would be made 

and their life would be beautiful. 

“They [BNP-Jamaat] will not 

give you anything, rather they will 

eat up everything,” she said. • 

MITU MURDER 

Father claims Babul’s family 

tortured Mitu 

• FM Mizanur Rahaman, 

Chittagong 

The former superintendent of 

police (SP) Babul Akter’s wife 

Mahmuda Khanam Mitu had allegedly 

tried to commit suicide by 

hanging herself from the ceiling at 

her residence as family members 

of Babul Akter tortured her physically 

and mentally, told Mitu’s father 

Mosharraf Hossain to Dhaka 

Tribune yesterday night. 

Mosharraf, a former police 

official, gave statement to the 

investigation officer (IO) of the 

gruesome murder case when Detective 

Branch’s Additional Deputy 

Commissioner (ADC) Mohammed 

Kamruzzaman of Chittagong 

Metropolitan Police (CMP) went 

to his home in the capital yesterday 

to talk to the family members 

of Mitu. 

“The IO came to my house 

and talked with us including my 

younger daughter Shayela Mosharraf 

Ninja. We told IO all the 

things we knew regarding Mitu’s 

life,” Mosharraf told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

“The IO asked Ninja about Mitu’s 

marital life,” he said. 

Mosharraf told the Dhaka 

Tribune he suspected that Babul 

might try to leave the country but 

he had not said this to the IO. 

“Ninja informed the IO that 

Mitu told her that Babul’s parents 

used to torture Mitu physically 

and mentally while Babul’s sister 

Labony had tried to marry off her 

brother again with Bonny. 

“The extramarital affair issue 

came to light but Mitu’s mother 

and sister did not tell me this,” 

Mosharraf added. 

He further said: “In our recent 

visit to Chittagong, we learned 

from the neighbours and Mitu’s 

maid that she had tried to come 

back to my house and later tried 

to commit suicide by hanging 

herself in her flat because of the 

torture by Babul’s family. 

“We asked Babul about this 

but he would not say anything.” 

Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, 

mother of two children, was 

stabbed and shot to death near 

her house by three motorbike 

riders in the GEC area on June 5, 

2016 while she was waiting with 

her son Akter Mahmud Maheer 

for his school bus. 

After the incident, Babul 

stayed in his father-in-law’s home 

in Dhaka for some time, but then 

left with his children after joining 

a hospital in the city. 

Police sources said ADC Kamruzzaman 

arrived at Mosharraf 

Hossain’s house around 12pm and 

stayed there until 3:45pm. The IO 

left the house at around 4pm said 

the sources. 

Contacted, ADC Kamruzzaman 

refused to comment on what 

Mitu’s family had said to him. • 

A get together of Godagari Upazila Samity 2017 was held at a resort near Dhaka recently. President of the 

association Alhaj Alfaz Uddin, general Secretary Rejwnul Islam Mukul, Vice-President Md Saidur Rahman 

and Md Abu Taher, Md Akhtaruzzaman Moni, Monirul Islam, Golam Kibria Rulu along with the other office 

executives were present on the occasion

World 

Wary of Trump unpredictability, 

China ramps up naval abilities 

• Reuters, Beijing 

The PLA Navy is likely to secure significant 

new funding in China’s upcoming 

defence budget as Beijing 

seeks to check US dominance of the 

high seas and step up its own projection 

of power around the globe. 

China’s navy has been taking an 

increasingly prominent role in recent 

months, with a rising star admiral 

taking command, its first aircraft 

carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan 

and new Chinese warships popping 

up in far-flung places. 

Now, with President Donald 

Trump promising a US shipbuilding 

spree and unnerving Beijing with 

his unpredictable approach on hot 

button issues including Taiwan 

and the South and East China Seas, 

China is pushing to narrow the gap 

with the US Navy. 

Beijing does not give a breakdown 

for how much it spends on 

the navy, and the overall official defence 

spending figures it gives $139b 

for 2016 - likely understates its investment, 

according to diplomats. 

China unveils the defence 

budget for this year at next month’s 

annual meeting of parliament, a 

closely watched figure around the 

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier with accompanying fleet conducts a drill in an area 

of South China Sea 

REUTERS 

region and in Washington, for clues 

to China’s intentions. 

China surprised last year with its 

lowest increase in six years, 7.6%, the 

first single-digit rise since 2010, following 

a nearly unbroken two-decade 

run of double-digit jumps. 

Rapid development 

The Chinese navy, once generally 

limited to coastal operations, has 

developed rapidly under President 

Xi Jinping’s ambitious military 

modernisation. 

It commissioned 18 ships in 

2016, including missile destroyers, 

corvettes and guided missile frigates, 

according to state media. 

Barely a week goes by without an 

announcement of some new piece 

of equipment, including an electronic 

reconnaissance ship put into 

service in January. 

Still, the PLA Navy significantly 

lags the United States, which operates 

10 aircraft carriers to China’s 

one, the Soviet-era Liaoning. 

Trump has vowed to increase 

the US Navy to 350 ships from 

the current 290 as part of “one of 

the “greatest military buildups in 

American history”, a move aides 

say is needed to counter China’s rise 

as a military power. 

Recent PLA Navy missions have 

included visits to Gulf states, where 

the United States has traditionally 

protected sea lanes, and to the South 

China Sea, Indian Ocean and Western 

Pacific, in what the state-run 

website StrongChina called Shen’s 

“first show of force against the United 

States, Japan and Taiwan”. 

Last month, a Chinese submarine 

docked at a port in Malaysia’s Sabah 

state, which lies on the South China 

Sea, only the second confirmed visit 

of a Chinese submarine to a foreign 

port, according to state media. 

The submarine had come from 

supporting anti-piracy operations 

off the coast of Somalia, where 

China has been learning valuable 

lessons about overseas naval operations 

since 2008. 

Chinese warships have also been 

calling at ports in Pakistan, Bangladesh 

and Myanmar, unnerving regional 

rival India. • 

9 


Iran holds naval 

war games amid 

rising tensions 

with US 

• Reuters, Dubai 

Iran launched naval drills at the mouth 

of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean on 

Sunday, a naval commander said, 

as tensions with the United States 

escalated after US President Donald 

Trump put Tehran “on notice”. 

Since taking office last month, 

Trump has pledged to get tough 

with Iran, warning the Islamic Republic 

after its ballistic missile test 

on January 29 that it was playing 

with fire and all US options were on 

the table. 

Iran’s annual exercises will be held 

in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of 

Oman, the Bab el-Mandab and northern 

parts of the Indian Ocean, to train 

in the fight against terrorism and piracy, 

Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari 

said, according to state media. 

Millions of barrels of oil are transported 

daily to Europe, the United 

States and Asia through the Bab 

el-Mandab and the Strait of Hormuz, 

waterways that run along the coasts 

of Yemen and Iran. 

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is 

based in the region and protects 

shipping lanes in the Gulf and nearby 

waters. • 


Trump to skip press 

dinner, a first in 36 years 

• AFP, Washington, DC 

US President Donald Trump has ratcheted 

up his feud with the US media by 

announcing he will skip the annual correspondents’ 

dinner, the first US president 

to do so in 36 years. 

By boycotting the event Trump 

breaks a tradition that began in 1921 in 

which journalists invite the US president 

for a light-hearted roast. 

“I will not be attending the White 

House Correspondents’ Association 

Dinner this year. Please wish everyone 

well and have a great evening!” Trump 

wrote Saturday on Twitter. 

The last time a president missed the 

event was in 1981, when Ronald Reagan 

was recovering after being shot in 

an assassination attempt. Reagan however 

phoned in with friendly remarks. 

Richard Nixon, who despised the 

media, skipped the event in 1972. 

Trump frequently blasted the mainstream 

US press during the election 

campaign, and as president has intensified 

his media-bashing. 

‘Nerd Prom’ 

Over the years the dinner organized 

by the White House Correspondents’ 

Association has evolved – or devolved, 

depending on one’s point of view – into 

the self-described “Nerd Prom” packed 

with Hollywood celebrities. 

The WHCA said it will proceed with 

this year’s dinner, set for April 29. 

The event “has been and will continue 

to be a celebration of the First Amendment 

(on freedom of the press) and the 

important role played by an independent 

news media in a healthy republic,” WHCA 

president Jeff Mason tweeted. 

Some news groups have already 

pulled out of events related to the dinner. 

Conde Nast, publisher of The New 

Yorker, Vanity Fair have all cancelled 

their exclusive before- and after-parties, 

and Bloomberg is reportedly pulling 

out as a party co-sponsor. 

According to Buzzfeed News, CNN 

is debating whether to also pull out. 

The New York Times has skipped the 

event for years to avoid charges that its reporters 

are too close to the White House. 

The dinner normally features a bigname 

comedian to rib the president, 

but this year a funny person has yet to 

be booked. 

Comedian Samantha Bee earlier announced 

a “Not the White House Correspondents’ 

Dinner” on the same night 

at a nearby hotel to raise money for the 

Committee to Protect Journalists. • 

Democratic National Chair candidate, Tom Perez, addresses the audience as the 

Democratic National Committee holds an election on February 25 

REUTERS 

Democrats pick Perez to 

lead party against Trump 

• AFP, Washington, DC 

Opposition Democrats on Saturday 

chose Tom Perez as their new leader, 

tapping an establishment figure 

to lead the fight against President 

Donald Trump and the Republican 

Congress. 

Perez, a labor secretary under 

former president Barack Obama 

and the party’s first Hispanic-American 

leader, immediately named 

the contest’s runner-up, leftist lawmaker 

Keith Ellison, as the party’s 

deputy chairman. 

The fight over who would chair 

the Democratic National Committee 

(DNC) appeared at times to be 

a proxy battle between the supporters 

of defeated 2016 Democratic 

presidential candidate Hillary 

Clinton and her leftist primary rival 

Bernie Sanders. 

Perez, who won 235 votes 

against 200 for Ellison - a strong 

Sanders supporter - was seen as the 

establishment pick. 

A third candidate, South Bend, 

Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg – a 

gay, 35-year-old Rhodes Scholar 

and military veteran – dropped 

out of the race before the vote, 

which was held in Atlanta, 

Georgia. • 

Bombings, air 

strikes in Syria 

rattle Geneva 

peace talks 

• Reuters, Geneva 

A United Nations peace envoy said a 

militant attack in Syria on Saturday 

was a deliberate attempt to wreck 

peace talks in Geneva, while the warring 

sides traded blame and appeared 

no closer to actual negotiations. 

Suicide bombers stormed two 

Syrian security offices in Homs, killing 

dozens with gunfire and explosions 

including the head of military 

security, prompting airstrikes against 

the last rebel-held enclave in the 

western city. 

“Spoilers were always expected, 

and should continue to be expected, 

to try to influence the proceedings 

of the talks. It is in the interest of 

all parties who are against terrorism 

and are committed to a political 

process in Syria not to allow these 

attempts to succeed,” UN mediator 

Staffan de Mistura said. 

De Mistura has met the two sides 

separately in Geneva while he tries 

to get agreement on how talks to 

end the six-year-old conflict should 

be arranged. He has warned not to 

expect any quick breakthrough and 

to beware of letting the violence derail 

any fragile progress. •


10 

Business 


CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: SUNDAY 

DSE Broad Index 5,635.1 0.2% ▲ Index 1,312.1 0.2% ▲ 30 Index 2,037.3 0.1% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 13,931.9 4.5% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 375.0 10.2% ▲ 

CSE All Share Index 17,433.2 0.1% ▲ 30 Index 15,167.1 -0.3% ▼ Selected Index 10,574.9 0.1% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 909.3 8.4% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 28.5 23.6% ▲ 

RADP likely to 

be cut by 6% 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

The revised annual development 

programme is likely to be slashed 

by 5.87% this fiscal year. 

Planning Ministry sources said 

as ministries and divisions failed to 

disburse Tk7,000 crore project aids 

under the ADP, the cut of the outlay 

is likely. 

Finance Division, however, is not interested 

to meet the deficit of project 

aid of Tk7,000 crore from the government 

exchequer. But the planning 

ministry asked for the money, 

Finance Division sources said. 

Finance ministry advised the 

ministries and divisions to increase 

the capacity of disbursement of 

foreign assistance funds from development 

partners. 

Actual size of the RADP outlay 

will be finalised after the next 

meeting of the Executive Committee 

on National Economic Council. 

The Ecnec meeting is supposed 

to be held tomorrow at the Planning 

Commission’s NEC auditorium. 

According to the initial estimate 

of the Planning Ministry, the 

RADP is estimated to be reduced to 

Tk1,04,200 crore from the original 

Tk1,10,700 crore for reduction of 

demand of project assistance. 

Of the proposed revised outlay, 

Tk7,12,000 crore will be provided 

from the government exchequer 

while the remaining outlay 

of Tk33,000 crore will come from 

project assistance. 

Although, the total outlay of 

the RADP incorporated the self-financed 

projects of autonomous 

bodies and corporations will be 

Tk1,12,752 crore. 

Regarding the approval of RADP, 

the exact figure will be finalised at 

the meeting of the National Economic 

Council which is expected 

to be held in March. 

According to the data of the 

Implementation, Monitoring and 

Evaluation Division, the pace of 

implementation of the ADP remained 

sluggish as usual, with the 

ministries and divisions managing 

to spend only 32.41% of the total 

allocation for the entire fiscal year 

in the first seven months. 

The 54 ADP execution agencies 

will have to spend the remaining 

68% of the development budget in 

the next five months. 

The IMED data showed the implementation 

rates in July-January 

were 32%, 33%, and 38% in 

FY2014-15, FY2013-14 and FY2012- 

13 respectively. • 

Call to use modern know-how to 

meet demand for animal protein 

• Tribune Business Desk 

RADP is estimated 

to be reduced to 

Tk1,04,200 crore Poultry become a major source of protein in Bangladesh MEHEDI HASAN 

An effective use of science and 

modern technology can help Bangladesh’s 

poultry industry to meet 

the future demand for eggs and animal 

protein, sector people say. 

World’s Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh 

Branch (WPSA-BB) 

president Shamsul Arefin Khaled 

came up with the remarks at press 

conference ahead of the 10th International 

Poultry Show to be held on 

Thursday at International Convention 

City Bashundhara in Dhaka. 

The Bangladesh chapter of 

World’s Poultry Science Association 

will host the three-day mega 

event. 

“People of our country consume 

less protein than required. In Bangladesh, 

the lion’s share of protein 

is coming from the cereal while it 

should come from animal protein 

sources, said Shamsul Arefin Khaled. 

“We are far behind from the 

developed nations in terms of animal 

protein intake. To recover the 

deficit, we need poultry promotion 

and have to make it cheaper. It is 

only possible if we can cut the production 

costs by ensuring effective 

use of science and modern technology 

in the industry,” said Khaled. 

He said the price of chicken and 

eggs is much cheaper compared to 

beef, mutton and fish. 

“If we fail to adopt modern technology, 

the price of egg and chicken 

would go higher. Local entrepreneurs 

are working to make eggs 

and chicken affordable to all.” 

“Poultry is playing a vital role in 

cutting hunger and poverty in the 

country. The contribution will be 

increased in future as it is the only 

industry in livestock sector which 

can grow,” said Zahedul Islam, 

vice-president of WPSA-BB. 

The poultry industry has created 

direct jobs for 20-25 lakh people. 

By 2030, more than one crore people 

will be dependent on this sector, 

he added. 

The sector is also helping the 

women become self-reliant. By 

2021, the investment to this sector 

will cross Tk55,000 crore mark. 

Within a short period, this sector 

will enter the export market. 

According to Nazrul Islam, 

treasurer of WPSA-BB, organic fertiliser, 

biogas and electricity are 

also being produced from poultry 

waste following recycling method. 

The three-day event will remain 

open from 9:30am to 8:00pm every 

day which will end on March 4. 

Some 195 local and foreign companies 

will take part in the show with 

their products and technologies. 

There will be 490 stalls at the 

fair. Representatives from 20 different 

countries will attend the 

show. Some 104 technical papers 

will be presented by local and international 

poultry experts. 

To attract the visitors, drawing 

competitions for the children on 

March 3, and a day-long quiz completion 

from March 2 to 3 will be 

held. •

Business 11 



Compliance issue distances RMG retailers from govt 

• Nure Alam Durjoy 

Commerce Ministry and foreign 

buyers run counter to issues relating 

to ready-made garment industry, 

speakers said at a function. 

They said while foreign buyers 

stressed that the apparel industries 

need to be more compliant, the 

ministry raises the issue of level 

playing field in terms of compliance 

for RMG factories across the world. 

A host of speakers from different 

backgrounds came up with the 

views at a session on “Bangladesh 

Apparel Industry: Transformation 

and Road Ahead” held on the sidelines 

of Dhaka Apparel Summit on 

Saturday. 

In his speech, Johan Frisell, 

Swedish ambassador to Bangladesh, 

pointed out security issues in 

RMG sector. 

He emphasised the importance 

of holding dialogue among stakeholders 

and freedom of association 

among workers in the sector. 

According to Jochen Weikert, 

head of promotion of German Development 

Cooperation, the apparel 

industry needs home grown solution 

to ensure its sustainability. 

“Lets the market decide the 

price in this age of free market,” 

said Tim Worstall, senior fellow at 

Adam Smith Institute of London. 

Mahmud Hasan Khan, BGMEA 

vice-president said: “We do not 

want anymore Rana Plaza incident. 

It was a nightmare for us. We took 

lesson from it and have to prevent 

further incidents and make sure 

safety.” 

The Bangladesh High Commissioner 

to Sri Lanka, Riaz Hamidullah, 

focused on the responsibility 

and mutual understanding among 

the stakeholders while Pierre 

Mayaudon, ambassador and head 

of delegation of EU, stressed the 

compliance of apparel industry 

which is prerequisite to ensure sustainability. 

While talking about the future 

of apparel industry in the country, 

Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah 

Al Mamoon said achieving 50 billion 

dollars by 2021 is not a big deal. 

“The process we are in now 

is enough and we do not need 

extra effort.” 

“We are facing new parameters 

of compliance from the buyers 

every day and transforming every 

day accordingly,” said Mamoon. 

However, what is required is just 

a level playing field for all countries 

that manufacture garments, or else 

the export target set might be unachievable, 

he opined. 

Newage Group vice-chairman 

Asif Ibrahim moderated the session 

while ILO Country Director 

to Bangladesh Srinivas B Reddy, 

among others, spoke. • 

DSE ends on upbeat 

in seesaw trade 


DSEX, key index of Dhaka 

Stock Exchange (DSE), yesterday 

saw a seesaw ride and ended 

in the positive territory to 

sustain its level at 5,635 points. 

From the beginning of the 

trading session, index moved 

around 5,635 level while 

moving upward during the 

mid-session reaching ultimately 

5,655 points. 

The sudden upward movement 

was, however, immediately 

consolidated by sharp 

downward movement, with 

index closing at 5,635 points 

level. 

DSEX, the benchmark index, 

gained by 10 points to end 

at 5,635 points while DS30, the 

blue chip index, ended flat 

in the green at 2,037 points. 

While the DSE Shariah-based 

index gained by 3 points, ending 

at 1,312 points. 

Among the traded issues, 

126 advanced, 160 declined 

and 42 remained unchanged. 

The day’s turnover stood at 

Tk1,393 crore, which was 4.5% 

higher than the previous session’s 

value of Tk1,333 crore. 

Banks, IT Sector, and Life 

Insurance were the top gainers 

while Fuel and Power, Miscellaneous 

and Ceramic sectors 

were the top losers. 

During the trading hours, 

large cap sectors showed mixed 

performance. Among the major 

sectors, Bank and Food and Allied 

were in the positive territory 

by posting 1.81% and 0.28% 

rise respectively. 

Fuel down by 1.42% was 

the highest loser followed by 

Engineering 0.84%, NBFIs 

0.75% and Telecommunications 

0.68% while Pharmaceuticals 

ended flat. • 

Singer revenue grows 30% 


Singer Bangladesh achieved 

record high revenue growth 

of 30 .3% and 40.7% in gross 

profit in 2016 compared to a 

year ago. 

The company made profit 

of Tk54.63 crore after paying 

all taxes, with an increase of 

48.2% from the previous year. 

In addition, it made a 

gain on revaluation of property, 

plant and equipment 

amounting to Tk17.19 crore, 

according to an announcement 

issued by the company 

yesterday. 

The company also announced 

70% cash dividend 

maintaining its long history of 

robust dividend payments. • 

Huawei GR5 at Pickaboo.com 


The premium edition of Huawei 

GR5 cellphone device 

will be available at the e-commerce 

site – Pickaboo.com – 

from today. 

The exclusive online partner 

of Huawei GR5 2017 started 

taking pre-booking for the 

handset from February 22 and 

will start dispatching for delivery 

from today. 

The handset is equipped 

with 64GB ROM, along with 

a 5.5 inch full high definition 

display, lightning fast processor 

and 4GB RAM for speed 

and a smooth user experience 

and a long-lasting battery. •


12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

Protecting our 

animal friends 

I have seen how uncaring we are, not 

only when it comes to our pets, but 

animals in general. Children often hurl 

stones at stray dogs and cats, and we 

never discourage such behaviour 

PAGE 13 

The futility of a 

Mexico-US wall 

One might argue that previous border 

enforcement efforts haven’t been 

successful because they weren’t big 

enough 

PAGE 14 

Bangladesh is more than Dhaka 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

A problem 

washed away 

Climate change has had a severe impact 

on the frequency of floods. Their effects 

are embellished by other phenomena 

such as the construction of dams and 

barrages 

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. 

Dhaka has long suffered from a lack of planning. 

This is reflected in the continuous increase in the number of 

unplanned buildings in the city and the dreadful state of traffic 

congestion. 

These problems stifle our capital’s true economic potential. 

Lack of a proper infrastructural framework has continued to stunt 

Dhaka’s potential as an economic powerhouse and, as such, policymakers 

and stake-holders would do well to invest time and money into 

researching and developing a proper plan to let the city grow in a more 

organised manner. 

Too much of the development that takes place in Dhaka happens 

without purpose or long-term thinking. 

This needs to change. 

Dhaka is a great connector for the rest of the country, but the 

government needs to look at the country as a whole. 

The city is of little use if it remains overburdened by the influx of a 

majority of the country’s industrial headquarters and its people. 

Instead of nurturing an increased dependence on Dhaka, authorities 

should strive to push away from the “Dhaka is Bangladesh” mentality 

that has plagued our national policies for so long. 

It is important that the administration understand the economic makeup 

of the city so that we can work towards decentralising the flow, both of 

people and capital, that has been funnelled into Dhaka for so long. 

For the nation to achieve middle-income status, focus should be 

broadened from Dhaka to include the rest of the country, and to let our 

capital city be a connector rather than the sole figure that carries the 

country’s economy on its back. 

It is the only way to give the economy and its people the much-needed 

breathing room it so desperately needs, and to move forward towards a 

stable and more fluid economy. 

Dhaka is a great 

connector for the rest 

of the country, but the 

government needs to look 

at the country as a whole

Opinion 13 

Protecting our animal friends 

Animal welfare in Bangladesh is no longer a pipe dream 



Can we be kinder to our furry friends with this new law? 

I have seen how uncaring we are, not only when it comes to our pets, but 

animals in general. Children often hurl stones at stray dogs and cats, and 

we never discourage such behaviour 

• Nadeem Qadir 

There was a time when 

animal lovers would 

demand punishment 

for those who commit 

cruelty towards animals, and we 

would say how it was a pipe dream 

because we needed to enforce laws 

to protect people first. 

But Bangladesh is changing and 

so are many of its indicators. 

From GDP to FDI, we’ve 

received recognition in the world 

comity as a country that matters. 

A country that has, in the past 

several years, become a role model 

in many sectors, even compared to 

our big neighbour India. 

Nowadays I often find people in 

the West talking positively about 

Bangladesh. Now that we have 

reached a point of relative political 

stability, normal for a democratic 

country, and we’re well on our 

way to making good on our Visions 

2021 and 2041, we can deal with 

laws like the Animal Welfare Act. 

The cabinet recently approved 

the law, much to the relief of 

animal lovers. Needless to 

say, I want its full and prompt 

enforcement. 

The law is to protect animals, 

including pets and domesticated 

animals. The draft proposes 

maximum punishment of two 

years in jail and a Tk50,000 

fine for any person who kills an 

animal protected under the law. It 

also proposes a maximum of six 

months’ jail term and a Tk10,000 

fine for those accused of cruelty 

towards animals or using them for 

excessive toil. 

I have seen how uncaring we 

are, not only when it comes to 

our pets, but animals in general. 

Children often hurl stones at 

stray dogs and cats, and we never 

discourage such behaviour. 

We forget that they are smarter 

BIGSTOCK 

than humans in many ways, and 

have the capacity to feel love, 

anger, and more, just like us. 

I say from my experience. I 

grew up with pets farm animals, 

after all. There were parrots, 

smaller birds, dogs, rabbits, even 

guinea pigs which we had to give 

away because of their proclivity 

towards excessive reproduction. 

My father had two four-legged 

“daughters” -- Rusty and Paxy 

-- one for indoors and other to 

guard the house. Rusty went mad 

crying for him after he was killed 

in 1971. He had to be put down, 

unfortunately. Paxy remained for 

many years, protecting us in our 

house. She left behind Champagne 

and her two siblings, who we gave 

away to friends. 

Champagne died after she 

was stabbed while protecting our 

empty house when my mother 

was in the hospital. The day she 

died, we saw she was in tears and 

as if speaking to her children. We 

buried her in our garden. To our 

utter surprise, the two puppies 

she left behind immediately took 

charge of guarding the house. 

Paxy was killed when a couple 

of miscreants gravely injured 

her while protecting the garden 

flowers before one year’s Ekushey 

February celebrations. Why did 

she do this at the cost of her life? 

It was her honesty, commitment 

to her master or father, and 

above all, the great love we fail to 

understand. 

I have a “son” called Chase. 

People laugh when I say he is my 

son, but he understands that I 

am his papa. He becomes sad and 

clings to me when I prepare to go 

to work or pack my luggage. His 

face says he is sad, that is, if you 

care to understand that. When 

I return home, he first rubs his 

cold nose against mine and then 

gets on my lap. After hugging 

and playing for a while, my son is 

happy. 

He makes gestures and sounds, 

and I understand what he is asking 

for. So we communicate in our 

special papa-son way. The love I 

get from him is unconditional and 

the truest in the world. 

As the country moves towards 

prosperity, we need to take care 

of our ignored fellow denizens 

like dogs and cats. We must 

see to those who do businesses 

by keeping animals caged in 

inhumane conditions. 

Chase came to me from 

Katabon, packed inside a small 

cage with his siblings. I do not 

know where they are. I hope they 

are also treated the way I treat my 

son. I love you Chase. You are my 

heart. You are my special little guy. 

The media and all who love 

animals must make use of the law 

to stop cruelty against animals. 

No, not animals. Special, loved 

members of our families. • 

Nadeem Qadir is the Press Minister 

of Bangladesh High Commission in 

London.

14 



Opinion 

The futility of a Mexico-US wall 

Immigration cannot be turned off like a tap 

A better symbol than policy? 

• Filiz Garip 

Building a wall to control 

immigration from Mexico 

is hardly a new idea. In 

October 2006, President 

George W Bush signed the Secure 

Fence Act to authorise and 

partially fund the construction 

of 700 miles of steel fences and 

other hurdles along the Mexican 

border. 

“This bill will help protect the 

American people,” Bush said at 

the time. “This bill will make our 

borders more secure.” 

A wall has an obvious appeal. It 

represents a concrete and visible 

effort to keep immigrants out; it 

carries great symbolic power. It 

is a perfect policy for allaying the 

concerns of an electorate who 

might see immigrants as a source 

of their economic misfortune or a 

threat to national security. 

But would it really keep 

immigrants from illegally entering 

the United States? 

From 1965 to 2010, the United 

States spent over $40 billion to 

securing the border. These funds 

supported not just the fence and 

technology to prevent clandestine 

crossing, but also the number 

of officers patrolling the border, 

which increased from 1,500 in 1965 

to over 20,000 in 2010. 

Spending on the border first 

spiked after the 1986 Immigration 

Reform and Control Act (IRCA) 

-- major legislation that increased 

border enforcement and imposed 

sanctions on employers hiring 

undocumented workers, and also 

opened the path to legalisation 

for 2.3 million Mexicans already in 

the US. 

At first, the investment 

seemed to work. The number of 

undocumented migrants caught 

along the Mexico-US border 

dipped after IRCA, from 1.6 

million in 1986 to less than 

900,000 in 1989. 

But this drop had more to 

do with legalisation than to 

enforcement. Indeed, by 1993, 

the number of apprehensions on 

the border had climbed back to 

1.2 million. From 1990 to 2010, 

the number of undocumented 

migrants from Mexico tripled, 

even though the amount spent on 

border control increased by more 

than tenfold during this same 

period. 

Today, the tide has turned 

again. Since the end of the 

Great Recession, more Mexican 

immigrants have left the US than 

have entered, according to the 

Pew Research Centre’s analysis 

of government data from both 

countries. 

This recent shift is not without 

precedent: Migration rates 

after IRCA responded not just 

to immigration policy, but also 

to relative wage and employment 

levels in Mexico and the US, 

reminding us of the limits of this 

policy. Even major legislation 

such as IRCA cannot turn off 

immigration like a tap. 

It is difficult for the US to 

develop an effective policy when 

the factors producing immigration 

are largely transnational or global, 

that is, beyond the control of any 

single nation. 

It is also hard for the country to 

settle on an immigration policy 

when there are interest groups 

with divergent views, such as 

employers or human rights 

groups, who favour migration, and 

workers, who oppose it. 

These challenges often lead 

to policies that are not only 

mostly symbolic, but also carry 

unintended consequences. 

Building a wall is one such policy. 

So are the location-specific 

crackdowns that Border Patrol 

launched in the 1990s to deter 

undocumented migrants: 

Operation Hold the Line in the 

El Paso area in 1993; Operation 

Gatekeeper in San Diego in 1994; 

Operation Safeguard in Nogales, 

Arizona in 1995, and Operation Rio 

Grande in South Texas in 1997. 

Each operation reduced 

the number of apprehensions 

in its respective sector. But 

the heightened security in 

particular areas ended up pushing 

undocumented migrants to less 

guarded and more dangerous 

routes along the border. It also 

moved migrant smuggling 

activities -- once the work of 

former migrants themselves -- into 

the domain of organised crime. 

The border became a much riskier 

One might argue that previous border enforcement efforts haven’t been 

successful because they weren’t big enough. But historical evidence 

suggests that increasing enforcement is not always an effective deterrent 

of undocumented migration; it can keep migrants in rather than out 

place for not just for migrants, but 

also for Border Patrol officers. 

As migrants moved to more 

remote regions of the border, 

the rate of apprehensions also 

dropped. Consequently, the cost to 

US taxpayers of making one arrest 

along the border increased by 

more than fivefold, from $300 in 

1992 to $1,700 in 2002. 

Border enforcement also turned 

a mostly circular migrant flow into 

a system where migrants settled 

permanently. 

As it became costlier to cross 

the border (both in terms of 

physical danger and fees paid 

to smugglers), migrants started 

making fewer trips and staying 

in the US for longer periods to 

recover the costs they incurred. 

One might argue that previous 

border enforcement efforts 

haven’t been successful because 

they weren’t big enough. But 

REUTERS 

historical evidence suggests that 

increasing enforcement is not 

always an effective deterrent 

of undocumented migration; it 

can introduce new threats to the 

border (more deaths for migrants 

and more involvement by criminal 

organisations), and can keep 

migrants in rather than out. 

Improvements in enforcement 

do not come easy. Let’s take the 

“virtual fence” project. In 2006, 

the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) started investing 

in a suite of cameras and radars 

to enhance surveillance along the 

border. 

In 2011, then-DHS Secretary 

Janet Napolitano cancelled the 

project, stating that it “does 

not meet current standards for 

viability and cost effectiveness,” 

-- after $1 billion had already 

been spent. 

Before the country makes 

the leap to spending billions 

(about $8billion according 

to Trump but as much as 

$25bn according to some 

estimates) on building a wall, 

some questions rise: What is the 

policy trying to achieve? How will 

we know if it is effective? And 

under what circumstances will we 

abandon the effort? 

The president’s signature plan 

to build a wall may work as a 

symbol, but there is little evidence 

to suggest it will make for effective 

policy. • 

Filiz Garip, a professor of sociology at 

Cornell University and a Public Voices 

fellow with the OpEd Project, is the 

author of “On the Move: Changing 

Mechanisms of Mexico-US Migration.” 

This article previously appeared on 

Reuters.

A problem washed away 

Floods are a sub-continental issue, but are never treated as such 

Opinion 15 



• Shashanka Saadi 

Floods in South Asian 

countries is the most 

common hazard, which 

turn to disaster in regular 

intervals, and end up affecting 

regional and state economies. 

According to the CRED/OFDA 

database, total loss due to the 

floods in the last 50 years has 

been $34 billion in India, Pakistan, 

Nepal, and Bangladesh, and, on 

average, $601.54m per year. More 

than 130,000 people have died 

and the number of those rendered 

homeless being 60 million. 

Floods in South Asia have 

impacted our MDG ambitions. The 

pecuniary value of damage and 

loss has been estimated, but did 

not count the loss of affordability 

of the poor, the excluded, and the 

marginalised. 

Even now, when we’ve moved 

away from MDGs to SDGs, flood 

remains a major threat to us. Just 

a few large-scale floods in South 

Asia, like the ones seen in 2004 

and 2007, will be enough to trigger 

famine. 

Unfortunately, floods are 

inevitable in our sub-continent, 

and evidence shows that public 

structural actions such as building 

dams, protection walls and 

embankment, and linking rivers 

have only increased flood-related 

vulnerabilities. 

But floods have never been 

treated as a regional issue, 

despite the main rivers of South 

Asia flowing over more than 

two countries. South Asian 

state authorities tend to view 

floods from petty nationalistic 

perspectives. They are used as a 

weak argument in negotiations or 

trade-offs in bilateral discussions 

and treaties. Nothing more. 

Needless to say, climate 

change has had a severe impact 

on the frequency of floods. 

Their effects are embellished 

by other phenomena such as 

the construction of dams and 

barrages on the common rivers, 

and collapse of embankments 

and reservoirs, while lack of 

comprehensive information 

among the states on common 

rivers and arbitrary blockage or 

release of water by the barrage 

during the monsoon period don’t 

help matters either. 

The numbers of people living 

in the vulnerable and risk-prone 

areas increased significantly in the 

last 50 years due to the population 

boom. 

To exacerbate matters, 

failure of proper public action in 

mitigating risk of flood, combined 

Bangladesh isn’t the only country that experiences devastating floods 

Climate change has had a severe impact on the frequency of floods. 

Their effects are embellished by other phenomena such as the 

construction of dams and barrages, while lack of comprehensive 

information among the states on common rivers don’t help matters 

either 

with a lack of access to essential 

higher services, have only 

increased vulnerability, pushing 

the poor to even worse conditions 

in terms of food security. 

Socio-political organisations 

within South Asia maintain a 

distant focus on the flood issue 

due to their ignorance and 

stereotypical views on such 

disasters. Most duty-bearers, 

elected parliamentarians, 

private sector representatives, 

and NGOs exhaust their energy 

on relief distribution and 

immediate response. But they 

aren’t interested in addressing 

the causes behind the high-level 

impacts of floods on the poor and 

marginalised. 

Public action on floods tends 

to focus almost exclusively on 

control while response planning is 

dominated by homogenous ideas. 

The following action points can 

be considered by policy-makers: 

1. Develop a regional strategic 

plan of action to build flood 

resilience in South Asia. 

2. Mobilise socio-political 

organisations and the corporate 

sector to develop Regional 

Economic Zones for the poor and 

vulnerable people. 

3. Invest more in propping up 

various development sectors, eg 

agriculture, health, education, 

water resource management, 

small industries, trading, social 

enterprises, etc. 

4. Initiate a Memorandum 

of Economic Cooperation 

with ASEAN to facilitate a Safe 

Migration Corridor for the flood 

affected communities within the 

sub-continent. 

South Asian states should 

recognise flood as a regional 

threat, a threat that encompasses 

more than just money and 

livelihoods. Our countries are 

inextricably tied to water bodies, 

and just as these rivers lakes have 

contributed to our countries’ 

prosperity, they can also be our 

undoing. 

We need to take floods more 

seriously. • 

Shashanka Saadi, an Eisenhower 

Fellow, is currently working as Head of 

Emergency Response Program at BRAC 

International. 

REUTERS

16 



Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

CODE-CRACKER 

ACROSS 

1 Recluse (6) 

4 Distant (3) 

7 Banishment (5) 

8 Gallery of shops (6) 

11 Indicate ascent (3) 

12 Soft sheepskin 

leather (4) 

13 Fashion (4) 

15 Looks after (5) 

16 Stoppers (5) 

20 Harbour town (4) 

23 Plunder (4) 

24 Spirit (3) 

25 Carry too far (6) 

26 Vast sea (5) 

27 Lair (3) 

28 Praises highly (6) 

DOWN 

1 Vital organ (5) 

2 Wander aimlessly (7) 

3 Swarm (4) 

4 Discover (4) 

5 Drug-yielding plant (4) 

6 Colour (3) 

9 Fish eggs (3) 

10 Is able (3) 

14 Wealthy (7) 

17 And not (3) 

18 Deity (3) 

19 Halts (5) 

20 Purplish brown (4) 

21 Augury (4) 

22 Vocal sound (4) 

24 Fishing pole (3) 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 1 represents I so fill I 

every time the figure 1 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

Health 

17 



7 pre- and post-workout meals 

under 5 minutes 

• Khan N Moushumi 

Whether you’re focusing on 

muscle building or weight loss, 

you need to be paying attention 

to what you’re putting into your 

body before and after you work 

out. We are indeed what we eat. 

But that being said, when we are 

on about pre- or post-workout 

meals, we don’t mean big meals 

that will make you bloated and 

give you tummy aches during your 

gym sessions. We are talking about 

small snacks that will give you an 

instant boost of energy and help 

repair those damaged tissues. 

A lot of gym enthusiasts believe 

that working out on an empty is 

the best way to go about it. But 

it’s time to bust that myth. To fuel 

your workout, your body converts 

your muscle tissues into glucose 

to provide the energy you need, 

which leaves your tissues damaged 

and may even lead to injuries. 

PRE-WORKOUT MEALS 

With the right balance of protein, 

carbohydrates and fats, preworkout 

snacks give you that extra 

kick of energy without breaking 

down your muscle tissues. Time it 

right, preferably 40 to 60 minutes 

before working out, so that your 

body has comfortably digested the 

meal and prepared you to burn 

those calories at the gym. 

Peanut butter and apples 

This one’s a classic. Slice half an 

apple and add a little bit of peanut 

butter on top. Other optional 

ingredients can be a few raisins 

and a sprinkling of chia seeds. 

Packed with vitamins, minerals 

and antioxidants, this snack helps 

satiate your hunger and amps up 

your energy levels. 

Peanut butter and banana 

Toast two slices of bread and add 

a layer of peanut butter on top. 

Slice a banana and place it on the 

toasted bread and sprinkle chia 

seeds. You have a great snack to 

munch on that’s rich in vitamin 

B-6, vitamin C and potassium. 

Bananas aid in lifting your 

potassium levels that drop when 

you sweat a lot. 

Egg on toast 

Boil an egg for eight minutes 

and cut it in half. Toast a slice of 

bread and split it in two equal 

portions. Pair the two together 

and sprinkle some salt and 

pepper on top for a super-healthy 

pre-workout snack. 

POST-WORKOUT MEALS 

Post workout meals are ideally rich 

in proteins and vitamins; they’ll 

help repair the tissues damaged 

from your workout 

sessions, and fuel your 

muscle growth. 

Protein shake 

Protein shake made from storebought 

protein powder is a good 

option, but you can also make one 

right at home. Throw in a peeled 

and sliced banana, 150g of low-fat 

natural yoghurt, one tablespoon of 

peanut butter, one and a half cups 

of water with a sprinkling of chia 

seeds and cinnamon in a blender 

and whiz them all together for a 

delicious drink high in protein. 

Apple cheese crackers 

Stack a slice of cheddar on your 

crackers and top it off with sliced 

apples. Adding any fruit to your 

pre- or post-workout meals will 

increase the fluid content and keep 

you hydrated. 

Veggie omelet 

Whisk two egg whites with onefourth 

cup of spinach and make a 

high protein snack out of it. 

Carrots, eggs and nuts 

Don’t deprive your body of 

healthy fats. Hard boil two eggs 

and accompany them with carrot 

sticks and nuts for an energising 

post-workout meal. •


18 

Sports 


Bangladesh head 

coach Chandika 

Hathurusingha 

imparts batting 

instructions to 

Sabbir Rahman 

during a training 

session in Mirpur’s 

Sher-e-Bangla 

National Cricket 

Stadium yesterday 

MD MANIK 

'Even the best keepers 

make mistakes’ 

• Minhaz Uddin Khan 

It has now become a regular feature 

for Bangladesh Test captain 

Musfiqur Rahim to face questions 

on his multiple roles in the national 

team. 

Mushfiq’s ability with the bat 

is never questioned but doubts always 

remain as to whether his batting 

is being hampered by his wicket-keeping 

and captaincy duties. 

The one-off Test match against 

India in Hyderabad earlier this 

month was the latest occasion 

when Mushfiq found himself in the 

firing line for both his wicket-keeping 

and captaincy roles. Missing a 

straightforward stumping chance 

of India batsman Wriddhiman Saha 

was yet another occasion when 

Mushfiq had let his team down as a 

wicket-keeper. 

Following the India Test, Mushfiq 

said he has no problems playing 

all three roles and that the onus lies 

on the national team think-tank. 

And with the Tigers departing 

for Sri Lanka today, it looks like 

Mushfiq is all set to continue with 

the three roles for yet another series 

at least. 

“There is hardly any wicket-keeper 

in the world who does 

not make a mistake. Saha is one of 

the best keepers I have seen. I try 

to follow him but there are times 

when he also does mistakes behind 

the stumps. He missed a catch (of 

Mahmudullah in the second innings 

of the Test). The situation 

could have been different for him if 

Mahmudullah had stayed and drew 

the game,” Mushfiq explained to 

the media yesterday. 

“We always try to be on our toes. 

But still we make mistakes. Cricket 

is bread and butter for us so there is 

no chance for us to be disloyal. We 

always make effort to do our best. 

“There is the coach, the management 

and the board to decide 

my role in the team. I was not a 

keeper in the Asia Cup T20 last year 

and had played a few matches as 

a batsman. It was decided by the 

management. But if you ask for my 

personal opinion, I believe I will 

serve the team best as a wicketkeeper-batsman,” 

he said. 

There is also a debate that Bangladesh 

do not get the best possible 

service from Mushfiq as a batsman 

more often than not, given that he 

usually bats at No 5 and 6. 

He added, “We have a good 

team combination at the moment. 

It depends on the management if I 

bat at the top or not. The top order 

is not into regular runs, maybe that 

is why questions are being asked. 

I can bat at the top in future. I am 

ready for it if the team need,” said 

Mushfiq. • 

Mushfiq: Possible to win Test in Sri Lanka 

• Minhaz Uddin Khan 

Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur 

Rahim believes they will have a fair 

chance in the two-match Test series 

against host Sri Lanka, a side 

currently in transition. 

Sri Lanka have been in transition 

for quite some time now with 

many of their experienced cricketers 

like Mahela Jayawardene 

and Kumar Sangakkara going into 

retirement. As the captain, Angelo 

Mathews was supposed to shepherd 

the inexperienced and young 

side, but the all-rounder was ruled 

out of the Bangladesh Tests due to 

a hamstring injury while a few key 

players are out of touch. 

Mushfiq however, did not agree 

when asked if this would be the “best 

time” to take on the island nation. 

But he did express hope of winning 

an away Test, and if possible, 

the series. 

“It is a god opportunity for 

us, given that they (Sri Lanka) do 

not have many of their key players 

now. Regular captain Angelo 

Mathews is also out. But we should 

not forget that we are playing at 

their backyard. They will be under 

pressure as Bangladesh have been 

playing good cricket for quite some 

time now,” said Mushfiq yesterday. 

Mushfiq is fully aware of the fact 

that they are yet to be consistent in 

the longer version of the game. Out 

of the 98 matches played so far, 

the Tigers have won only eight, the 

We always try to be 

on our toes. But still 

we make mistakes. 

Cricket is bread and 

butter for us so there 

is no chance for us 

to be disloyal. We 

always make effort 

to do our best 

latest coming against England at 

home in October last year. 

He continued, “We are not at the 

stage where we can openly challenge 

a side in Test cricket. We are 

still inexperienced in this format. 

We can learn more when we create 

match-winning situations. We have 

to play well throughout the five days, 

and not only in the first three,” the 

wicketkeeper-batsman explained. 

In their 45-day long tour, Bangladesh 

will have the advantage of 

having former Sri Lanka cricketers 

in the coaching staff – head coach 

Chandika Hathurusingha, batting 

coach Thilan Samaraweera and 

trainer Mario Villavarayan. 

Mushfiq added, “We have been 

able to gather information from our 

coaching staff but it all depends on 

how we execute in the middle. We 

have got the ability but the job has 

to be done on the field. We have to 

think more about the job we need 

to do. We have the ability to win 

against Sri Lanka but will need out 

best performance to do that.” •

Sports 19 



2ND SHEIKH KAMAL INTERNATIONAL CLUB CUP 

TC Sports face Manang in first semi 

• Shishir Hoque 

TC Sports Club of Maldives will take 

on Nepalese outfit Manang Marshyangdi 

Club in the first semi-final of 

the second Sheikh Kamal International 

Club Cup Football, scheduled 

to kick off at MA Aziz Stadium in 

Chittagong today at 6:30pm. 

TC Sports, who got promoted to 

the top flight, the Dhivehi Premier 

League, for the first time in 2015 

after winning the second division 

crown the previous year, are confident 

of their title-winning prospects. 

“It won’t be an easy game. It will 

be the toughest game and we are prepared 

to show the same consistency 

that we had put up in the last three 

matches. Our target is to win the 

match,” said TC Sports head coach 

Nizam Mohamed during the prematch 

press conference yesterday. 

TC Sports might be a new addition 

in the Maldives top tier, but 

they have strengthened the squad 

over the last few years. They began 

their Club Cup campaign with 

a surprising win over Bangladesh 

Premier League champion Dhaka 

Abahani Limited on the opening 

day. They finished top of Group A 

with seven points. 

“When we got confirmation 

of our participation, I have been 

teaching the players. I am lucky 

to have some experienced players 

who played at national level. They 

also played AFC Championship. 

There are some young players and 

they are up for the semi-finals. I am 

really happy that they are ready for 

the semi,” added Nizam. 

Manang Marshyangdi, on the 

other hand, are one of the most successful 

clubs in Nepal's domestic 

football scene, winning a record seven 

Nepal A-Division League titles. 

However, their journey to the 

last four has been anything but 

easy as they narrowly finished second 

in Group B with four points. 

“Every coach hope to win a 

semi-final. I think we will give 

them (opposition) a good fight. 

Both teams are favourite to win the 

match. The team will come out who 

create more chances and avail them 

in the match because two teams 

have same strength,” said Manang 

coach Chiring Lopsang Gurung. 

He added, “We are not physically 

equal with the Maldivian club and 

everything depends on how the 

tactics work. So we will do our best 

to capitalise the opportunities. We 

have watched them and are mulling 

a strategy to destroy their plan.” 

Meanwhile, the second semi-final 

between Ctg Abahani and South Korea’s 

Pocheon FC will be held at the 

same venue tomorrow evening. • 

TC Sports Club of Maldives put the finishing touch to their preparation yesterday 

in Chittagong 

COURTESY 

Imrul blasts ton, Sanjamul bags five in BCL 

• Tribune Report 

2nd BTI Open Golf tees off today 


A total of 126 golfers, including some 

top names from south Asia, will be taking 

part in the second edition of the BTI 

Open that tees off at Kurmitola Golf Club 

in Dhaka today. 

Bangladesh golfing icon Siddikur Rahman, 

who won the inaugural edition 

last year, is not participating this time 

around. In his absence, Mohammad Zamal 

Hossain Mollah will lead the charge on 

behalf of the host nation. 

Indian golfer Rashid Khan is one of the 

favourites this year but there are some 

other names from the neighbouring country 

like Ajeetesh Sandhu, Shamim Khan, 

Khalin Joshi and Udayan Mane who can 

exhibit a strong display. Sri Lanka will 

also be well represented in the form of 

Mithun Perera and Anura Rohana. 

A press conference was held at Kurmitola 

Gold Club yesterday where the details 

of the tournament were announced. 

It was informed that the tournament will 

be the Professional Golf Tour of India's 

Imrul Kayes struck a hundred as 

South Zone were all out for 296 

against East Zone in the first day of 

the fifth round of the BCL yesterday. 

In the other match, left-arm 

spinner Sanjamul Islam bagged 

five wickets as Central Zone were 

dismissed for 181. 

South v East, Chittagong 

National cricketer Imrul, who is 

recovering from thigh injury and 

had to sit out the Sri Lanka tour, 

smashed a brilliant century after 

highest prize-money event in Bangladesh, 

carrying a prize purse of Tk4.8m. 

“The PGTI, the BPGA and BTI are 

working towards a common goal of promoting 

professional golf in the south 

Asian region. The second edition of the 

South elected to bat at Zahur Ahmed 

Chowdhury Stadium in the port city. 

The left-hander blasted 18 sweetly 

timed fours and two sixes in his 

294-ball 136. Anamul Haque was the 

second highest scorer with 58 but 

none of the batsmen were able to put 

up a significant score as South were 

eventually bundled out for 296. 

Medium pacer Mohammad 

Saifuddin and left-arm spinner 

Saqlain Sajib picked up three wickets 

each. East finished the day on 

four without loss. They trail the 

opposition by 292 runs. Opening 

batsmen Imtiaz Hossain (four not 

The details of the second BTI Open Golf were announced in a press conference yesterday at 

Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka 

COURTESY 

BTI Open is a reflection of this shared 

vision. Tournaments such as the BTI 

Open will further contribute towards the 

strengthening of golfing ties between India 

and Bangladesh,” said PGTI director 

Uttam Singh Mundy. • 

out) and Afif Hossain (nought not 

out) will resume the second day's 

proceedings today. 

North v Central, Sylhet 

Central continued their poor run 

with the bat as they were skittled 

out for 181. North spinner Sanjamul 

bagged 5/45 in 24.5 overs. Opener 

Saif Hasan was the top-scorer with 

63 while Taibur Rahman remained 

not out on 40. Seamer Farhad Reza 

provided valuable support to Sanjamul, 

picking up three wickets. 

In reply, North Zone lost three 

wickets and ended the day on 63 

5TH BCL, RD 5, DAY 1 

CENTRAL ZONE 181 in 63.5 overs (Saif 

63, Sanjamul 5/45) lead NORTH ZONE 

63/3 in 21 overs (Jahurul 35, Sharifullah 

1/5) by 118 runs 

SOUTH ZONE 296 in 80 overs (Imrul 

136, Saqlain 3/17) lead EAST ZONE 4/0 

in eight overs (Imtiaz four not out, Afif 

zero not out) by 292 runs 

with skipper Jahurul Islam scoring 

35. Junaid Siddique (17 not out) and 

Naeem Islam (four not out) will resume 

their innings today. • 

BGB, Army claim inaugural 

Oriental Wrestling titles 


Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Army 

emerged as champions in the Walton 1st Oriental Wrestling 

Championship in the men's and women's category 

respectively as the event concluded at Paltan Maidan 

yesterday. 

BGB bagged a total of three golds, three silvers and two 

bronze medals to finish top in the men's category while 

Bangladesh Army became runners-up with three golds, 

two silvers and as many bronzes. Bangladesh Ansar & 

VDP ended third. 

Bangladesh Army retained their title in the women's 

event, winning six golds and two silvers while Bangladesh 

Ansar & VDP claimed one gold and five silvers to 

finish runners-up. Bangladesh Police emerged third. 

In the men's category, Uzzal Mia, Sheikh Jamal, Dipu, 

Mehedi, Mahfuz, Kazi Bahar, Mokarram and Mangnu 

clinched golds in 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg 

and 125kg respectively. In the women's event, Rumi, 

Runa, Mukti, Nipa, Sharmin, Rina, Mariom and Aklima 

grabbed golds in 48kg, 53kg, 55kg, 58kg, 60kg, 63kg, 69kg 

and 75kg respectively. A total of 128 male and female 

wrestlers from four service teams took part in 16 weight 

category events in the two-day long tournament. •


20 


Sports 

Afghans raze 

Zimbabwe for 54 

• Cricinfo 

Afghanistan’s bowlers combined to 

roll Zimbabwe over for 54, helping 

the visiting side seal a 3-2 series 

win with a 106-run D/L victory in 

the final ODI in Harare yesterday. 

5TH ODI 

ZIMBABWE 54 in 13.5 overs (Nabi 

3/14, Hamza 3/20, Rashid 2/8) lost to 

AFGHANISTAN 253/9 (Rahmat 50, 

Nabi 48, Mpofu 3/46) by 106 runs (D/L 

method) 

Afghanistan elected to bat and 

were provided a brisk start thanks 

to opening batsman Noor Ali Zadran’s 

49-ball 46. Noor Ali eventually 

fell at the end of the 15th over, 

a wicket that put the brakes on Afghanistan’s 

momentum as captain 

Asghar Stanikzai and Rahmat Shah 

tried to steady the innings from 

85 for three. The pair put on 39 off 

64 balls, which was followed by a 

fifth-wicket stand of 35 between 

Shah and Samiullah Shenwari. 

Mohammad Nabi then batted 

with the lower order to lift them to 

253 for nine. 

Zimbabwe’s response was delayed 

by rain and a wet outfield, 

leaving them with a revised target 

of 161 off 22 overs. They suffered an 

early blow, losing Peter Moor in the 

second over. Three balls later, leftarm 

spinner Amir Hamza removed 

Solomon Mire, before returning 

two more wickets off four balls in 

his next over to reduce Zimbabwe 

to 13 for four. 

There was to be no recovery, 

with only two batsmen getting into 

double-figures. 

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi nets the winner against Atletico Madrid during their La Liga match at Vicente Calderon Stadium yesterday 

Messi haunts Atletico once more 

• AFP, Madrid 

Lionel Messi struck the winner four 

minutes from time as Barcelona 

sealed a crucial 2-1 win at Atletico 

Madrid yesterday. 

All the goals came in the final 

half hour as Rafinha Alcantara put 

Barca in front before Diego Godin’s 

header quickly restored parity. 

However, so often the thorn in 

Atletico’s side, Messi registered his 

27th career goal against Los Rojiblancos 

to ease the pressure on under 

fire Barca coach Luis Enrique. 

Defeat leaves fourth-placed Atletico 

just one point clear of Real 

Sociedad in the battle for the final 

Champions League slot. 

Following their Champions 

League thrashing at the hands of 

Paris Saint-Germain and struggles 

at home to Leganes last weekend, 

Luis Enrique switched from the 

Catalans habitual 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 

with Messi forced into an advanced 

midfield role. 

However, the change in tactics 

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in action against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during their Dubai Open women’s singles final in 

Dubai, UAE on Saturday 

REUTERS 

did little to stem Barca’s slump in 

form early on as Atletico dominated 

the opening half hour. 

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and 

Godin blasted wildly off target when 

well placed inside the area early on. 

Antoine Griezmann then saw a 

goalbound effort blocked by French 

international teammate Samuel 

Umtiti. Atletico’s best effort of the 

opening half came from long range, 

though, as Griezmann’s driven effort 

on his weaker right foot forced a brilliant 

flying save from Marc-Andre ter 

Svitolina gatecrashes 

top 10 after Dubai title 

• Reuters 

Seventh seed Elina Svitolina overpowered 

former world number one 

Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-2 to claim 

the Dubai Open on Saturday, the 

sixth, and biggest, title of her career. 

Ukrainian Svitolina, who 

stopped Angelique Kerber from returning 

to the top of the rankings 

by beating the German in Friday's 

semi-finals, triumphed in one hour 

28 minutes. 

Svitolina converted one of her 

four break points against the Dane, 

winner in 2011, in the opening set 

to move ahead and dominated 

thereafter. 

The 22-year-old, who dropped 

only one set throughout the week, 

will move into the WTA's top 10 

for the first time after starting the 

week ranked 13th. 

AFP 

Stegen. Barcelona thought they had 

gone in front against the run of play 

on the half hour mark when Luis Suarez 

headed in from close range after 

a goalmouth scramble. 

However, the Uruguayan was penalised 

for a handball after Jan Oblak 

had parried Messi’s initial effort. 

Oblak was making his first appearance 

since December 12, but the 

Slovenian showed no signs of rustiness 

to once again prove his credentials 

as one of the finest goalkeepers 

in the world. • 

"I dreamed all my life to be in 

the top 10, so it's an amazing feeling 

to enter the top 10 by winning 

the tournament," she said in a 

court-side interview. "I am very excited 

for the season. 

"I played some amazing tennis 

this week. It's a first trophy for me 

in such a big tournament." 

Tenth seed Wozniacki had been 

hoping to become only the third 

player to win multiple titles in 

Dubai, joining Justine Henin and 

Venus Williams who won the title 

four and three times respectively. 

Instead, for the second week 

running she fell at the final hurdle, 

having lost to Karolina Pliskova in 

Doha last week, as she continues her 

comeback after an injury-hit 2016. 

"It has been a good two weeks 

- two finals, lots of matches. I'm 

already excited to be back," said 

Wozniacki. •

Sports 

21 



Mandzukic 

inspires Juve to 

easy Empoli win 

• AFP, Milan 

Mario Mandzukic overcame a 

wasteful first half to inspire Juventus 

to a 2-0 home win over Empoli 

that edged the Turin giants closer 

to a record sixth straight Serie A 

title. 

Juventus, claiming their 22nd 

win in 26 games, moved 10 points 

clear of closest challengers Roma 

ahead of their visit to Inter Milan 

later yesterday. 

Napoli remain third but are now 

12 points off the pace after a shock 

2-0 defeat at home to Atalanta virtually 

ended their hopes of challenging 

for a long-awaited scudetto. 

SERIE A 

Napoli 0-2 Atalanta 

Caldara 28, 70 

Juventus 2-0 Empoli 

Skorupski 52-og, Sandro 65 

A Roma defeat at the San Siro 

would deliver a significant blow to 

their scudetto hopes, but Juventus 

coach Massimiliano Allegri said 

nothing is won yet. 

"Absolutely not," he said when 

asked if Juve had one hand on the 

title. "Roma could be seven points 

behind us by tomorrow, we still 

have a lot of games to play, Napoli 

could get to 90 points and Roma 95. 

"We need to win a lot of games 

and tonight, against Empoli, wasn't 

so simple. It took us until the second 

half to break the deadlock." 

Juventus are also challenging 

for a third consecutive league and 

cup double and Allegri underlined 

those ambitions by resting several 

players for tomorrow’s semi-final 

first leg with Napoli. 

The 'keeper's gloves went to 

Brazilian Norberto Neto after Gianluigi 

Buffon was rested, while 

Dani Alves and Daniele Rugani 

stepped in for veteran defenders 

Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini, 

both on the bench. • 

DAY’S WATCH 

FOOTBALL 

STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 1 

2:00 AM 

Premier League 2016/17 

Leicester City v Liverpool 

SONY ESPN 

2:00 AM 

Serie A TIM 2016/17 

Fiorentina v Torino 

TENNIS 

SONY ESPN 

4:00 PM 

ATP World Tour 500 2017 

Dubai Open Day 1, Session 1 

9:00 PM 

Dubai Open Day 1, Session 2 

Chelsea striker Diego Costa scores their third goal against Swansea during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London on Saturday 

Chelsea's title pedigree key for Conte 

• AFP, London 

Antonio Conte believes Chelsea's 

experience of winning the Premier 

League two years ago will prove decisive 

as they attempt to maintain 

their stranglehold on the title race. 

A 3-1 victory over Swansea on 

Saturday gave Conte's side an 

11-point lead as they head into the 

final third of the season, with the 

pressure resting firmly on the chasing 

pack. 

The Premier League trophy 

will be heading back to Stamford 

Bridge if the Blues avoid any major 

slips during the final weeks and 

the Chelsea boss is convinced his 

players have shown they can hold 

their nerve after lifting the trophy 

during Jose Mourinho's reign. 

"It's not easy to keep the concentration 

for the whole championship. 

But I have a lot of players 

who played and won in the past," 

Conte said. 

"They know very well the way 

that we must continue to try to 

keep at the top of the table, to try 

and win the title. 

"For this reason, I'm lucky. I'm 

lucky to have a lot of players who, 

in the past, won a lot. 

"If, sometimes, I can see some 

of them relaxing, it's right for me 

to try and help them be focused for 

every moment. 

"But honestly, it wasn't necessary 

for me to keep the concentration 

and focus of the players." 

Chelsea appeared in danger of 

dropping points when Fernando 

Llorente cancelled out Cesc Fabregas's 

19th minute opening goal, 

but Pedro and Diego Costa scored 

in the final 18 minutes to secure 

the win. 

Conte was pleased with the way 

his side stuck to their task and added: 

"I have a team that until now 

has deserved to stay at the top of 

the table. This is right to say now. 

"We are playing good football, 

with good intensity, scoring a lot of 

goals. 

"Trust me, I'm very happy above 

all for my players. They are deserving 

of this. Every day I see them 

during the training sessions, the 

commitment and behaviour." • 

Lewandowski treble lifts Bayern 

• AFP, Berlin 

Robert Lewandowski netted a hattrick 

as Bundesliga leaders Bayern 

Munich handed Hamburg an 

8-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena 

on Saturday in Carlo Ancelotti's 

1000th match as a coach. 

Kingsley Coman came off the 

bench to score twice while Arturo 

Vidal, David Alaba and Arjen Robben 

were also on target as Bayern 

got back to winning ways after last 

weekend's 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin. 

They stay five points clear of second-placed 

RB Leipzig, who were 

3-1 winners at home to Cologne. 

For struggling Hamburg there 

was a depressing predictability 

about the outcome of their trip to 

BUNDESLIGA 

Bayern Munich 8-0 Hamburg 

Vidal 17, Lewandowski 24-P, 

42, 54, Alaba 56, Coman 65, 

69, Robben 87 

Leverkusen 0-2 Mainz 05 

Bell 3, Öztunali 11 

SV Darmstadt 98 1-2 FC Augsburg 

Heller 47 Verhaegh 55-P, Bobadilla 85 

SC Freiburg 0-3 Dortmund 

Papastathopoulos 13, 

Aubameyang 55, 70 

RB Leipzig 3-1 Cologne 

Forsberg 5, Maroh 34-og, 

Werner 65 Osako 53 

Hertha Berlin 2-0 Frankfurt 

Ibisevic 52, Daria 83 

Chelsea 3-1 Swansea 

Fabregas 19, Pedro 72, Costa 84 Llorente 45 

Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough 

Van Aanholt 34 

Everton 2-0 Sunderland 

Gueye 40, Lukaku 80 

EPL 

AFP 

Hull 1-1 Burnley 

Huddlestone 72-P Keane 76 

Watford 1-1 West Ham 

Deeney 3-P Ayew 73 

West Brom 2-1 Bournemouth 

Dawson 10, McAuley 22 King 5-P 

Bavaria - they had conceded 36 

goals in losing their previous six 

away league meetings with Bayern. 

That run included two 5-0 defeats, 

a 6-0 loss, one 8-0 drubbing 

and a 9-2 humiliation in March 

2013. Vidal opened the scoring and a 

Lewandowski penalty doubled Bayern's 

lead just past the midway point 

in the first half, with the Pole making 

it 3-0 just before the break after a 

Douglas Costa shot had been saved. 

Lewandowski completed his 

fifth hat-trick since the start of 

last season by finishing from a 

Robben assist early in the second 

half for his 19th league goal of the 

campaign. He then combined with 

Thomas Mueller to set up Alaba for 

the fifth goal. •

22 



Showtime 

Khaled Khan remembered 

• Hasan Mansoor Chatak 

performing various Tagore 

personality Lucky Inam, Kazi Anis 

numbers, including “Kobey aami Ahmed, vice president, board of 

Marking the 60th birth 

anniversary of Khaled Khan, his 

family, peers, and colleagues 

remembered the late actor through 

a commemorative programme 

last Saturday, at the Bangladesh 

Shilpakala Academy (BSA). 

The first half of the programme 

began with renditions of Tagore 

songs performed by Surteertha, 

at the lobby of National Theatre 

Hall of BSA. Mita Haque, widow 

of the late actor, led the chorus 

bahir holem tomari gaan geye,” 

“Aamare bandhbi tora sei bandhon 

ki toder achey,” “Tumi je surer 

aagun laagiye dile mor prane,” and 

others. 

The second half of the 

programme was shifted to the 

stage of National Theatre Hall, 

BSA. Nrityanandan, a dance 

troupe, performed a dance piece in 

the backdrop of Tagore’s “Aamar 

mukti aloy aloy.” 

Later, actor and theatre 

trustees of University of Liberal 

Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), and 

Mita Haque joined in a discussion 

recalling their memories with 

Khaled Khan, popularly known as 

Juboraj. 

Lucky Inam recalled a memory 

of meeting Khaled Khan for the 

first time in a rehearsal room, 

where Khaled Khan was called 

to play Panchak in Acholayatan. 

“Khaled Khan was a versatile 

man, a covetable stage actor. His 

presence on stage itself was a 

spectacular thing,” she expressed. 

Kazi Anis Ahmed reminisced 

about the memory of working 

with Khaled Khan, and how 

“serendipitously” they started 

working in ULAB. 

Ahmed mentioned that after 

working with Khaled Khan, 

two kinds of positive changes 

happened at the university. He 

said, “The stage productions 

Khan brought out at ULAB were 

nonpareil in a way, as he had to 

come up with those productions 

with students. Secondly, we are 

still benefiting from the work 

cultures Khaled Khan adopted 

during his work at the university 

through his honesty and resolute 

determination.” 

Khaled Khan served as the 

registrar of ULAB, after he was 

appointed in March, 2009. 

Mita Haque talked about an 

unfulfilled dream project of the 

late actor. She said that Khaled 

Khan dreamt of building a preschool 

where children would 

be able to learn about different 

things, from food habit to 

minutiae of life-style that would 

not be detrimental to human kind 

and nature in any way. Mita Haq 

revealed that she has already 

started Khan’s dream project on a 

small scale. 

In-between the discussions, 

a recitation by Khaled Khan 

was played. Tropa Majumdar 

conducted the discussion. 

Following the discussion, there 

were shortened shows of theatre 

productions like Putul Khela, 

which Khaled Khan directed, 

a reading from Syed Shamsul 

Haque’s play Irsha where Khaled 

Khan acted as the lead role. 

Khaled Khan, a theatre stalwart 

who debuted on stage in the 

PHOTOS: DHAKA TRIBUNE 

80s, performed in more than 30 

plays with the troupe Nagorik 

Natya Sampradaya. He will be 

remembered for his roles in 

popular plays, including Dewan 

Gazir Kissa, Nurul Din er Sara Jibon, 

and Darpan, and TV productions, 

including Humayun Ahmed’s Eisob 

Dinratri and Imdadul Haq Milon’s 

Rupnagar. He directed more than 

10 theatrical productions. The actor 

an untimely death, at the age of 55 

in December 2013. • 

‘Krishnopokkho’ 

screened at AAA 

• Showtime Desk 

Recently, American Alumni Association 

organised a screening of 

the film Krishnopokkho for their 

members at EMK Center Dhanmondi. 

It is written by popular 

writer Late Humayun Ahmed, and 

directed by Meher Afroz Shaon. 

Movie Director Meher Afroz 

Shaon along with the assistant 

directors of the film were present 

at the screening. Shaon shared 

that since Dr Humayun Ahmed 

was a recipient of the AAA Awards 

for his contribution in Art and 

Culture, she also feels that she is 

a part of the AAA family and was 

happy to present the film to the 

members of AAA. 

President, secretary, EC 

members, and many members and 

guests enjoyed the movie. Light 

refreshments were served after the 

movie ended. •

Showtime 

23 



Female centric film refused by Indian 

Censor Board 


Lipstick Under My Burkha is 

directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, 

and tells the story of the secret 

lives of four women — including 

a college student who wears a 

burkha (veil), and a 55-year-old 

who rediscovers a sex life after the 

death of her husband. 

It won an award at the Tokyo 

International Film Festival last 

year, and was also aired at the 

MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 

October. But when it came to 

the Indian Censor Board, the 

authorities refused to certify a film 

it describes as “lady-oriented,” 

sparking a furious 

response from the 

director, in the latest 

case to highlight fears 

over creative freedom in 

the country. 

In a letter, the 

Central Board of Film 

Certification (CBFC) told 

the makers of Lipstick 

Under My Burkha that 

it would not clear the 

Hindi film for general 

release. 

Shrivastava described 

the CBFC’s ruling as an 

“assault on women’s 

rights.” 

CBFC’s Chairperson 

Pahlaj Nihalani 

didn’t comment on the matter, 

but Prakash Jha came out 

and slammed them. He told a 

magazine, “As a country we must 

encourage freedom of expression 

but the CBFC refusing to certify 

Ranbir’s drastic 

transformation 

films that tell uncomfortable 

stories discourages filmmakers 

from pushing the envelope.” 

The letter was sent last month 

and came to light this week, after 

Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar 

tweeted about it. A copy of the 

letter was seen by AFP on Friday. 

Lipstick Under My Burkha (titled 

as Lipstick Waale Sapne) is an 

Indian Hindi film. The film is 

directed by Alankrita Shrivastava 

and produced by Prakash Jha. The 

film stars Konkona Sen Sharma, 

Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra, 

and Plabita Borthakur in lead 

roles, along with Sushant Singh, 

Vikrant Massey, Shashank Arora, 

Vaibbhav Tatwawdi, and Jagat 

Singh Solanki. The film's trailer 

was released on October 14, 2016. 

The film premiered at the Tokyo 

and Mumbai Film Festivals, where 

it won the Spirit of Asia Prize and 

the Oxfam Award for Best Film on 

Gender Equality • 

Performances from the fourth day of Bengal Shangskriti Uthshob 2017, Sylhet 

PHOTOS: BENGAL FOUNDATION 


Ranbir Kapoor may have 

pulled off Bollywood’s biggest 

‘transformation’ for Rajkumar 

Hirani’s biopic on Sanjay Dutt. 

Latest pictures from the sets of 

the film have surfaced online, and 

Ranbir looks exactly like young 

Sanjay Dutt. 

As part of his preparation for 

the role, Ranbir had to gain more 

than 13 kilos, which comprises 

of muscle and no fat to match up 

with the muscular physique of 

Sanjay Dutt. The untitled biopic 

will be the first one to be made on 

a Bollywood star. 

Sanjay has given around 200 

hours of recording as basic matter 

for the biopic. Sanjay even spoke 

about watching Ranbir Kapoor 

transform into Sanjay Dutt in front 

PHOTO: INDIATODAY 

of his eyes. “It feels good to see 

Ranbir and know that a biopic 

is being made on me. I think it’s 

been an interesting life,” he told a 

magazine. 

Ranbir Kapoor will be seen 

portraying three phases of Sanjay 

Dutt’s life in which he will be seen 

in three avatars with a beefy body, 

and then a lean look from the 90’s, 

and the third avatar will showcase 

his phase in drug rehab. 

In this biopic, Paresh Rawal is 

playing Sunil Dutt’s role, Sonam 

Kapoor plays Sanjay’s earlier 

love interest. Vicky Kaushal is 

his friend from the US, Anushka 

Sharma essays the role of a 

journalist and Manisha Koirala 

plays Nargis - Sanjay’s mother 

- whose death in 1981 from 

pancreatic cancer, affected him 

deeply. •


24 


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