DT e-Paper 27 March 2017

SECOND EDITION 

MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 | Chaitra 13, 1423, Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 329 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 8-page world supplement | Price: Tk10 

Suspicious 

NID card led 

cops to Atia 

Mahal den › 2 

From 

Surjadighal 

Bari to Atia 

Mahal › 3 

Communal 

strife in Gujarat 

kills one, 14 

hurt › 8 

2 militants killed, more remain 

in Sylhet den › 2 

ISPR 

‘The Unfinished 

Memoirs’ 

published in 

French › 24 

WORLD SUPPLEMENT 

Politics and the press 

during 1971 › 2 

Mongla red tape leaves 

Tk445cr revenue 

uncollected › 11 

Miraz credits seniors 

for impressive ODI 

bow › 18 

Horrific genocides in 

history › 3 

Speeches that shaped 

history › 6

2 

MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 

DT 

News 

2 militants killed, more remain in Sylhet den 

• Tarek Mahmud from Sylhet, 

Mohammed Serajul Islam, 

Sylhet, Arifur Rahman Rabbi, 

Kamrul Hasan 

Two of the militants inside Atia 

Mahal, the militant den under raid 

in Shibbari, Sylhet have been shot 

dead by commandos, though more 

remain. 

Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan, the 

GoC of 17 Infantry Division, said at 

a press briefing yesterday evening 

that the para-commando operation 

in the building will continue until 

the militants were all “neutralised.” 

It cannot be said at this point 

when the operation will be 

complete, he said. 

The officer said it was the 

operation’s prime objective to 

retrieve the trapped residents 

without any harm and that had 

been achieved. 

The current goal is to “neutralise” 

the militants while avoiding 

harm to the para-commandos. The 

army was working cautiously to 

that end at this point, he added. 

Two militants engaged the 

commandos when they got down 

to the second floor. They were 

shot down, but one of them 

nevertheless managed to explode 

the bomb tied to his body. 

Both were male, the officer said. 

No military personnel has been 

injured in the operation so far. 

All the militants had small 

firearms, explosives and IEDs. 

All of them were wearing suicide 

vests. 

Brig Gen Fakhrul also provided 

details of the rescue operation on 

Saturday in which 78 residents of 

the building were extracted. 

Six dead, 28 blast victims still 

being treated 

Early yesterday, Inspector Monirul 

Islam, a bomb disposal unit 

member, died at Osmani Medical 

College Hospital from his injuries 

in the bomb explosions that took 

place in the perimeters of the 

police cordon around the den 

around 6:30pm. 

Another victim, Fahim, aged 18, 

also succumbed to his injuries, said 

Jalalabad police station OC Akter 

Hossain. 

Hours earlier, police said four had 

been killed in the attack. They were 

Inspecter Abu Kawser, local Chhatra 

League activist Wahidul Islam Opu, 

local businessman Shahidul Islam 

and the unidentified bomber. 

Yesertday afternoon at Osmani 

Hospital, Director Brig Gen Abdus 

Sabur Miah said at this point there 

were 28 victims of Saturday’s bomb 

blast being treated at the hospital. 

Five of them were in post-operative 

care. 

Neurosurgeons and surgeons 

there had been kept on alert for any 

possible emergencies. 

The director said hospital staff 

held 10 simultaneous surgeries 

on Saturday night and all staff 

including 100 interns had been on 

duty till early yesterday morning. 

All of the patients currently 

under treatment were stable. 

Inspector General of Police AKM 

Shahidul Haque issued a statement 

yesterday mourning the deaths of 

two police officials. 

“They have sacrificed their lives 

for the nation. Their sacrifices will 

stand forever as an ideal for the 

police force,” he said. 

RAB Intelligence Wing Director 

Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, also 

injured in the blast, was flown 

to Singapore for further medical 

treatment at 8pm yesterday, said 

RAB Media Wing Director Mufti 

Mahmud Khan. 

Namaz-e-janaza of Inspectors 

Kawser and Monirul was held at 

Sylhet Metropolitan Police grounds 

around 2pm. Their bodies were 

taken to their villages in Noakhali 

and Sunamganj. 

At Atia Mahal, explosions and 

gunshots that were heard the 

entire day stopped after 4:30pm. 

The gunshots began from 

9:15am, and at 10:00am two 

explosions were heard. 

At 11:45am a massive explosion 

shook the building and the 

surrounding area. At 1:20pm four 

explosions were heard from inside 

the building. 

At 2:15pm an elderly woman was 

evacuated from a building adjacent 

to Atia Mahal. She was left behind 

on Saturday. Fresh firing was heard 

from the militant hideout. 

Around 3:48pm, smoke was 

seen billowing out of western part 

of the building’s fourth floor and 

gunshots continued till 4:30pm. • 

PAGE 1 PHOTO CAPTION 

Para-commandos use an armoured 

personnel carrier to break down 

the boundary wall of Atia Mahal on 

Saturday 

ISPR 

KEY POINTS 

FROM THE PRESS 

BRIEFING 

• Primary objective of the 

operation was to rescue 

the civilians safely from 

the building. That has 

been accomplished, says 

Brig Gen Fakhrul. 

• Current goal is to “neutralise” 

the militants 

while avoiding harm to 

the para-commandos. 

• Two militants who engaged 

the commandos 

were shot down. One 

of them nevertheless 

managed to explode the 

bomb tied to his body. 

• No military personnel 

has been injured in the 

operation so far. 

• Brig Gen Fakhrul reiterated 

that the operation 

is being slowed down 

because the militants 

had laid out explosives 

around the building. 

• Militants have small 

firearms, explosives and 

IEDs. All of them are 

wearing suicide vests. 

• Extraction of residents 

of the building was done 

from top of the building 

and downwards. 

Para-commandos rescue civilians from the top floor of Atia Mahal during Operation Twilight in Sylhet on Saturday 

Suspicious NID card led cops to Atia Mahal den 

• Mohammed Serajul Islam, 

Sylhet 

Law enforcers yesterday said suspicion 

arising over a National Identity 

card of one Morjina drove them 

to hunt for militants at the Atia 

Mahal militant hideout in Shibbari 

area of Dakhsin Surma upazila in 

Sylhet. 

According to police sources, law 

enforcement agencies have been 

raiding different areas across the 

country after raiding two militant 

dens in at Sitakunda upazila of 

Chittagong, where four militants 

were killed on March 16. 

On Thursday, when conducting 

a drive at Shibbari, they suspected 

the Atia Mahal of being a militant 

den and asked its owner, Ustar Mia, 

to provide his tenants’ National 

Identity cards to them. 

The sources said when the police 

were scrutinising one of the 

cards, they became suspicious and 

apprised the higher authorities of 

the issue. 

Ustar Mia’s son Kausar Ahmed 

Ripon had told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“Showing this card, a man rented 

the third floor from us three 

months ago. He claimed to be an 

ISPR 

employee of a private company 

and had been staying here with his 

wife and a child.” 

Around 8am, sensing the presence 

of law enforcers, the militants 

began shouting “Allahu Akbar” and 

hurled grenades from inside the 

house. 

Police withdrew and cordoned 

off the house. The raid at the den is 

still underway. •

News 3 


From Surjadighal Bari to Atia Mahal 

• Tarek Mahmud, from Sylhet 

and Mohammad Serajul 

Islam, Sylhet 

Home minister brushes 

aside IS link to Sylhet blasts 

• Arifur Rahman Rabbi 

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan 

Kamal yesterday turned down the 

allegations of Islamic State being 

linked to the suicide blasts during a 

raid at a militant hideout in Sylhet 

that killed at least six people. 

Kamal has been reiterating that 

there was no organisational structure 

of the international terrorist group in 

Bangladesh since the July 1 Gulshan 

restaurant attack that had left 22 people, 

mostly foreigners, dead, the first 

such incident in Bangladesh. 

“We did not say that militancy 

has been rooted out from the country. 

We said it is under control,” he 

told reporters yesterday morning 

after paying tribute at the Martyrs 

Monument in Rajarbagh Police 

Lines marking the country’s 47th 

Independence Day. 

“We are conducting raids across 

the country but have not been 

Para-commando troops cautiously enter Atia Mahal for Operation Twilight in 

Pathanpara area of Shibbari, Sylhet on March 25, 2017 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

lucky enough to arrest any IS member 

here,” he claimed. 

Several hours after the blast in Sylhet, 

the IS took credit for it through 

its Arabic Amaq news agency. It was 

the 29th attack IS has claimed in 

Bangladesh since September 2015. 

The government has been denying 

the existence of IS in Bangladesh, 

and claims that these are 

members of a new faction of Jama’atul 

Mujahideen Bangladesh 

(known as New JMB). 

Asked if there is any militant 

leader hiding in the Sylhet den, the 

home minister said: “The operation 

is under way. We cannot say 

anything before it ends. It seems 

there may be a top militant leader 

inside, though. 

The minister was accompanied by 

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul 

Hoque, Dhaka Metropolitan 

Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman 

Mia and other senior officials. • 

For the residents of Sylhet, this is 

an all too familiar horror. 

The joint operation by military 

para-commandos and police rolled 

into its third day yesterday as the 

militants holed up in a building in 

Shibbari, Sylhet refused to yield. 

In the evening, an army spokesperson 

reported that two militants 

had been killed but possibly more 

than one were still alive and active 

inside Atia Mahal. 

Sylhet’s residents say they are 

being forced to recall the terror that 

gripped them 11 years ago when another 

terrorist den had been similarly 

besieged. 

Just14km from this den, in Sylhet 

city’s Shaplabagh, Jama’atul 

Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) 

chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman and 

his associates had been found by 

law enforcement in a house called 

Surjadighal Bari. 

However, the stand-off between 

Abdur Rahman, his two associates 

and his wife and children, and 

about 2,000 law enforcement officials, 

which went from February 28 

till March 2, 2006, had ended without 

bloodshed. 

Not so with the Shibbari situation. 

There, six lives have already 

been lost in a suicide attack, three 

of the victims, civilians. 

The resurgence of militancy in 


this conservative Muslim town 

with its rich Islamic heritage, has 

brought with it all the fear and 

trepidation felt in 2006. 

Official Independence Day 

events were carried out in Sylhet 

on Saturday, but the usually jubilant 

citizens were rather subdued 

this time around. 

“What Independence Day? We 

have no safety. Who is independent?” 

said Dara Mia, a local cosmetics 

vendor. 

Siddiq Ali, a restaurant owner 

in Pathanpara, said his regular customers 

had been absent for four 

days now. His was the only restaurant 

open in the neighbourhood; 

his only customers: journalists and 

law enforcers. • 

Cops across country on high alert 

• Arifur Rahman Rabbi and 

Kamrul Hasan 

Police headquarters have issued directives 

to law enforcement agencies 

across the country to maintain 

a high alert and ensure their own 

and public safety. 

The warning followed the recent 

suicide bombings and terror 

attacks, particularly the one on a 

crowd in Sylhet on Saturday, which 

left six people including two policemen 

killed and countless more 

wounded during a raid on terror 

den. 

The warning notice was sent to 

superintendents of police in all 64 

districts. 

Many of them confirmed that 

they had already received the notice 

from the headquarters. 

Sahely Ferdous, assistant inspector 

general of police (media), 

yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“The alert was issued to thwart any 

further attack. 

“The police officials have also 

been asked to take additional security 

measures for public gatherings.” 

They were also asked to remain 

careful while conducting body 

search on any individual. 

Two police superintendents 

preferring to be anonymous said 

they had been instructed to remain 

alert round the clock and to tighten 

security of eminent personalities, 

foreign citizens and important establishments 

in the country. 

Militants are increasingly targeting 

security forces out of their 

grievances as the forces are stymieing 

them from achieving their 

goals, law enforcers involved in anti-militancy 

drives said. 

After gleaning information from 

suspected militant Ahmed Azwad 

Imtiaz Talukder alias Omi, they 

came to know that the militants’ 

had several dens in Dhaka, Chittagong, 

Sylhet and other district 

towns. 

Omi was arrested from Chandina 

in Comilla on March 7 when 

hurling grenades at a patrol team 

of highway police. • 

RAB Intelligence chief flown 

to Singapore for treatment 

• Kamrul Hasan 

RAB Intelligence Wing Director Lt 

Col Abul Kalam Azad was flown to 

Singapore for further medical treatment 

at 8pm on Sunday, according 

to RAB Media Wing Director Mufti 

Mahmud Khan. 

The RAB Media chief had confirmed 

the information, saying: “We 

are preparing to take Azad, who has 

yet to regain consciousness, to Singapore 

via air ambulance, in accordance 

with the physicians’ advice.” 

On March 25, while law enforcers 

were engaged in a raid on a suspected 

militant hideout in Shibbari, 

Sylhet, two bomb attacks took place 

down the street. 

The second blast, which came 

slightly after the first, injured various 

RAB and police personnel who 

had gone to the area to investigate 

the first blast. 

According to RAB Media Director 

Mufti, Azad was severely injured 

during the second blast and was 

rushed to Osmani Medical College 

Hospital in Sylhet city. 

After several surgeries, he was 

transferred to Dhaka’s Combined 

Military Hospital via helicopter. Dr 

Antar Dwip Nandi of Osmani Medical 

College Hospital confirmed this. 

Physicians at the Combined Military 

Hospital said Azad’s head and 

an artery were the most affected by 

the grenade splinters. • 

Following directives to maintain high alert throughout the country to ensure safety of both the public and law enforcement, 

policemen take up positions behind a check-post lined with sandbags in Kalshi, Dhaka yesterday 

DHAKA TRIBUNE

4 



News 

Fighting human trafficking, militancy 

major RAB successes 


Amid huge criticism over extrajudicial 

killings for long, Rapid Action 

Battalion just completed another 

year of its journey yesterday 

with better performance in combating 

crimes. 

Between March 2016 and March 

21 this year, the elite force saw a 

wave of success, especially against 

militants, human traffickers, forest 

bandits and pirates. 

In the latest success story to stop 

people-smuggling, RAB in association 

with Bangladesh Association 

of International Recruiting Agencies 

(Baira) organised a national 

conference in Dhaka on March 11. 

At the event, RAB for the first 

time ever managed to bring all the 

stakeholders, including other law 

enforcing agencies and several 

rights groups, working for safe migration 

in the country at under one 

roof. 

RAB then also set maiden example 

of helping compensate human 

trafficking victims, especially the 

females, from Baira. Ten victims 

got Tk1 lakh each. 

Tuhin Mohammad Masud, commanding 

officer of RAB-3, termed 

Baira realising its responsibility to 

compensate and rehabilitate the 

trafficking victims the best part of 

the programme. 

According to RAB, 128 people 

linked to the crime were arrested 

with 21 victims rescued in 2016. 

Ever since its inception, 327 people 

in total were booked in this act 

while the rescued women and girls 

numbered 220. 

Its role against forest robbery in 

the last one year also picks a significant 

spot on the success list. 

RAB has been carrying out an intensified 

clampdown on the crime 

rackets, forcing many a gang to 

surrender and that too along with 

arms over the same period. 

It also took an extreme hard line 

against militants, mainly after the 

July 1 Gulshan cafe attack that had 

left 20 people, mostly foreigners, 

dead. 

RAB sources said they intensified 

their raids against militants in 

the wake of the henious attack, the 

first of its kind in country. It also 

launched a mobile app “ Report 2 

RAB” to help contain militant acts. 

Until March 24, RAB arrested 

some 30 militants including 24 

JMB members, compared to 64 arrests 

a year ago. 

Some 1261 militants from 15 

banned groups including Jama’atul 

Mujahideen Bangladesh (674), 

Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh 

(104), Hizb ut-Tahrir (247) and 

Hizb-ut Tawhid(144) were arrested 

by RAB in its 13 years of operation. 

RAB Legal and Media Wing chief 

Mufti Mahmud Khan said they feel 

the success when people approach 

to them first looking for a solution 

of their problem. 

He said the force will continue 

its all-out efforts to prevent crimes 

and terrorism. 

Home Secretary Dr. Kamal Uddin 

Ahmed said RAB is doing its 

duty in the expected way, though 

it was formed as merely a strike 

force. 

“RAB is helping plug the loopholes 

of regular policing,” he observed. 

• 

Father handed over two 

sons to police, taken 

under CTTC custody 


Counter Terrorism and Transnational 

Crime unit (CTTC) 

of Dhaka Metropolitan Police 

yesterday received the two 

brothers who were handed 

over to police on Saturday by 

their father. 

The father handed over 

his two sons to Kafrul police 

suspecting their involvement 

with militant activities. 

Masud Ahmed, deputy 

commissioner (Mirpur division) 

of DMP, confirmed it. 

The two brothers are Deen 

Islam Dinu, 25, and Salman 

Sajed, 22. 

Masud said: “Police is primarily 

suspecting their involvement 

with militant activities. 

They were under police 

surveillance for few days. But 

Mirpur police could not confirm 

their involvement due to 

having a very short time to interrogate.” 

• 

BNP questions AL’s late 

realisation of Genocide Day 

• UNB 

Hitting out at Awami League 

General Secretary Obaidul 

Quader for criticising BNP 

for not chalking out any programme 

to mark Genocide 

Day March 25, BNP Secretary 

General Mirza Fakhrul Islam 

Alamgir yesterday questioned 

the ruling party’s late realisation 

about the day. 

“It is surely a genocide day. 

It has long been recognised 

that genocide took place on 

March 25, 1971. We have a 

counter question about why 

Awami League realised it as a 

Genocide Day after such a long 

time,” he said while speaking 

to reporters after paying 

homage to BNP founder Ziaur 

Rahman at his grave to mark 

Independence Day. 

The nation on Saturday observed 

Genocide Day for the 

first time, commemorating 

the cowardly attack on Bangalis 

and the mass killing in Dhaka 

by Pakistani occupation 

forces on March 25, 1971. 

On March 11 this year, parliament 

unanimously adopted 

a resolution to observe March 

25 as Genocide Day. 

At a programme on Saturday, 

Quader asked BNP to 

clear its position on the Liberation 

War as the party did not 

hold any programme to mark 

Genocide Day. 

As his attention was 

drawn to Obaidul’s comment, 

Fakhrul said their party had 

always observed March 25 as 

Genocide Day. 

“Since Awami League has 

now officially announced it as a 

Genocide Day, BNP will think of 

how to observe it,” he added. •

News 5 


Govt to offer Internet in 772 unions by 2018 

• Asif Showkat Kallol and 

Ishtiaq Husain 

The government has undertaken a 

project to provide Internet connectivity 

in 772 unions using optical 

fibre by end of 2018. 

The project titled ‘Establishment 

of ICT Network to Remote 

Areas (Connected Bangladesh),’ 

also aims to enhance the backbone 

network nationwide, ICT Division 

sources said. 

They claimed about 25-30% of 

the population will directly benefit 

from the project. 

The funds for the project will be 

sourced from a Social Obligation 

Fund (SOF). Bangladesh Telecommunication 

Regulatory Commission 

(BTRC) established the SOF where 

different mobile operators have been 

chipping in 1% of their gross revenue. 

Sources said the regulator has over 

Tk700cr in its fund presently. 

Bangladesh Computer Council 

(BCC) would execute the project in 

alignment with “Vision 2021: Digital 

Bangladesh” goals. 

Many industry insiders opine 

Nasa Int’l Space Apps 

Challenge 2017 on 

April 29-30 

that completion of the project 

would boost the scope of e-commerce 

and online services in remote 

areas of the country. 

The project can also add numerous 

new jobs, keeping up with 

the important goal of creating jobs 

through the use of ICT, as prioritised 

by National ICT Policy 2015 and Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs). 

The project could strengthen 

Union Digital Centres (UDCs), and 

connect offices, schools and colleges 

from rural areas. 

The project aims to offer affordable 

Internet connectivity to 

people in rural areas and shorten 

the gap between urban and suburban 

lifestyles. 

The government is investing in 

establishing a nationwide robust 

ICT infrastructure, an ICT official 

claimed. 

The government has already 

established a wide network that 

connects 18,434 government offices 

through Banglagovnet and Infosarker-2 

projects. 

Bangladesh Telecommunication 

Company Limited (BTCL) has 


already established Internet connectivity 

in 1213. 

This project was initially proposed 

by BTCL. The Domestic Network Coordination 

Committee (DNCC), in 

their 23rd meeting held on October 

24, instructed ICT Division to cover 

the unions through optical fiber connectivity 

instead of BTCL. 

This project is in line with the 

7th Five Year Plan, where government 

has emphasised on establishing 

high-capacity network 

connectivity in remote areas of the 

country. • 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

The Nasa International Space Apps 

Challenge 2017 will be held in 

Bangladesh on April 29-30, along 

with the rest of the world. 

Mustafa Jabbar, president of 

Bangladesh Association of Software 

and Information Services 

(BASIS), who is organising the 

event in the country, made the announcement 

at a press conference 

on Saturday. 

Any particular person or any 

team can participate in the hackathon 

competition to solve different 

problems, the organisers said at 

the press event, held at the BASIS 

office in Dhaka. 

This is the third time that the 

Space Apps hackathon will be held 

in Bangladesh. 

Speaking to reporters, Bangladesh 

Innovation Forum founder 

Ariful Hasan Opu said: “Last year, 

we achieved the third position. 

This year we are preparing to get to 

the top in people’s choice category. 

Every team will be formed with 

four to seven participants.” 

BASIS Director Riadh Hossain 

said they would arrange campaign 

programmes in around 100 universities. 

“At the initial stage, we will 

select a total of 50 teams. Out of 

those 50, five teams will be selected 

for the final event in Dhaka.” 

Organisers have requested interested 

individuals to register for 

the competition by April 5 at http:// 

studentsforum.basis.org.bd. 

Details of the competition can 

be found at http://spaceappschallenge.org. 

Asking everyone not to confuse 

the hackathon with mobile apps 

development, Ariful said the competition 

was a useful platform to 

find talented programmers. 

To encourage more women programmers 

to participate this year, 

teams with female participants will 

receive an extra 10% score, he added. 

Ariful also clarified that the 

judgement criteria had been set by 

Nasa. 

However, the American space 

reasearch programme is not funding 

the Bangladeshi instalment of 

the hackathon. 

“We are organising this event for 

our own interest. Our property will 

remain ours. We will build our capacity 

using Nasa’s platform,” said 

BASIS President Mustafa. 

Sabur Khan, chairman of Daffodils 

Group, spoke about the lack 

of initiative on the organisers’ part 

in implementing the projects that 

are developed in hackathons in the 

country. 

Bangladesh needs a result-oriented 

competition, he added. 

“We have set up a lab in Daffodils 

International University which 

the Nasa Space Apps winners will 

get the opportunity to work in. We 

will also set up a demo lab to provide 

the participants the real-life 

experience of working at Nasa,” 

Sabur said. 

Divine IT Ltd founder Iqbal Ahmed 

Fakhrul Hasan, Independent University 

faculty member M Ashraful 

Amin, and Daffodils International 

University department of software 

engineering head Dr Tauhid Bhuiya 

also spoke at the press event. • 

BDCyclists hold a cycle rally on the occasion of the nation’s Independence Day, and are joined by a massive crowd of cyclists. 

The photo was taken yesterday morning on Mirpur Road in Dhaka 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Cycle and motorcycle rally on 

Independence Day 

• Tribune Desk 

Dhaka city witnessed a colourful procession 

of people of different ages 

and areas moving in lines with their 

bicycles and motorcycles on the occasion 

of 47th Independence Day. 

BDCyclists, a community of 

cyclists, organised the road show 

in the morning while KB Riders, 

a motorcycle riders’ community, 

organised the motorcade in association 

with ACI Motors Ltd in the 

afternoon. 

The procession of bicycle riders 

returned to Manik Mia Avenue, 

from where it started, cycling 

through Mirpur road, Nilkhet and 

Kalabagan. On the other hand the 

motorcade started from Jatiya 

Sangsad and ended at 300 feet road 

at Purbachal sector 13. 

Muntaheen, a nine-year-old, 

who participated in BDCyclists’ 

procession said: “My father 

brought me here. I am having fun.” 

“I want my child to have a soft 

corner in his heart for this country 

and its people. He will mix up with 

different people here in this procession. 

It is a gathering of people 

who are celebrating Independence 

Day with warm hearts,” Muhammad 

Zahedul Islam, the nine-yearold 

kid’s father said. 

Rabiul Haque, marketing manager 

of ACI Motors Ltd, said they 

arranged the motorcade to increase 

the safety concerns among mass 

people as its tagline was “Use Helmet 

Ride Safe”. 

“We want to create a world record 

of 5000 bikers singing national 

anthem together on December 

16. At present Mexico holds the record 

with 4400 bikers singing their 

national anthem together,” Rabiul 

expresses his vision. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

Dhaka 34 23 Chittagong 30 24 Rajshahi 35 23 Rangpur 32 22 Khulna 37 24 Barisal 34 23 Sylhet 32 20 

Cox’s Bazar 31 23 

PARTLY CLOUDY 

MONDAY, MARCH 27 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:12PM 

SUN RISES 5:56AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

32.7ºC 

16.5ºC 

Maizdi Court 

Srimangal 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Fajr: 5:30am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:20pm 

Esha: 8:15pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 



News 

Rapist arrested after schoolgirl succumbs to injuries 

• Md Wali Newaz, Faridpur 

A 12-year-old schoolgirl, who was 

raped by a youth two months back 

in Bhanga of Faridpur, has succumbed 

to the injuries suffered in 

course of the rape. 

She died on Friday while undergoing 

treatment at Faridpur Medical 

College Hospital. 

Police arrested Liton Mattubar, 

22, the accused, on Saturday after 

the deceased’s family lodged a case. 

Hailing from the upazila’s Kawlibera 

village, Liton allegedly raped 

the girl of the same village after 

luring her to a deserted area when 

she was going to a neighbouring 

house to watch TV on the night of 

January 20. 

After the victim was found unconsciousness 

following the assault, 

she was taken to Sadarpur 

Upazila Health Complex and then to 

Faridpur Medical College Hospital. 

When they informed local leaders 

of the incident and asked them 

to resolve it through arbitration, 

Liton and his family began threatening 

them with dire consequences, 

the victim’s family members 

have claimed. 

Later, deceased’s uncle Kalam 

Sheikh filed the case with Bhanga 

police on March 23, a day before 

the girl died. 

Syed Abdullah, officer-in-charge 

of the police station, said that they 

would take legal action against the 

accused.•

News 7 


Independence Day observed across country 



Brahmanbaria drug 

dealer killed in gunfight 

• Ujjal Chakraborty, 

Brahmanbaria 

A drug dealer was killed in an alleged 

gunfight with the Detective 

Branch of the police in Bhatshala 

area of the district, amid an anti-narcotics 

crackdown that began 

two months ago. 

The dead is Kawsar Bhuiyan, 45, 

son of Abdul Razzak of the town’s 

Kandipara area. 

“He was carrying drugs in a pickup 

van and started firing on us after 

we asked to stop him, forcing us retaliate 

as well,” DB Officer-in-Charge 

Md Mafiz Uddin said in the evening. 

Two of his cohorts managed to 

escape. “We seized a pipe gun, four 

cartridges and 198 yaba tablets 

The nation observed the 47th Independence 

Day yesterday through 

different ceremonies and commemorating 

the sacrifice of the 

martyred freedom fighters in 1971. 

Thousands of people thronged 

the National Mausoleum in Savar 

where President Abdul Hamid and 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid 

their tributes first in the morning 

by placing wreaths and standing in 

solemn silence in front of the memorial 

plaque. 

A team of the armed forces gave 

a guard of honour on the occasion, 

which is also the National Day of 

Bangladesh. 

Leaders and activists of political 

parties, social, cultural organisations 

as well as people of all ages 

also joined in the commemorative 

celebration in other districts. 

In Narayanganj, several hundred 

activists of Islami Chhatra 

Shibir, the radical student wing of 

Jamaat-e-Islami that opposed the 

birth of Bangladesh, brought out 

processions in DIT Commercial area 

in several spells starting from 8am. 

They wore red and green T-shirts 

and carried the national flag. 

The processions created a huge 

traffic jam on Bangabandhu Road 

for about an hour. 

However, Narayanganj Sadar 

model police station Officer-in- 

Charge Asaduzzaman told the Dhaka 

Tribune that they had not been 

informed of any Shibir procession 

taking place in the city. 

“If it is really so, that might have 

been a flash procession,” said the OC. 

At the Hili border in Dinajpur, 

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 

officials conveyed greetings of the 

Independence Day to the Indian 

Border Security Forces (BSF) by 

distributing sweetmeats. 

from the spot,” Mafiz said. 

Kawsar had at least six cases 

filed against him, wife Rina Begum 

said. She said that two policemen 

had picked him up on Saturday 

evening. They found the body at 

Sadar hospital yesterday morning. 

The family was in dark about his 

death throughout the day as those 

who kept the body at the hospital 

did not inform the police. 

The anti-drug drives began in 

the district two months ago when 

Superintendent of Police Md Mizanur 

Rahman threatened the local 

drug peddlers of dire consequences 

if they had not stopped the crime. 

At least four people including Kawsar 

have been killed in gunfights 

with the law enforcers since then. • 

BGB’s Hili ICP Camp Commander 

Subedar Mahbub Alam gave the 

sweetmeats to BSF Camp Commander 

SI DP Dutt at the zero line 

around noon. 

Jessore district unit Awami 

League brought out a huge procession 

and paid tributes at the Independence 

Mausoleum of the district 

town. Later, they took an oath 

administered by Jessore 3 lawmaker 

Kazi Nabil Ahmed. 

The Awami League leader 

hoped that the country would be 

free from terrorism and militancy 

under the leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina, and the spirit 

of the 1971 Liberation War would be 

upheld. 

Independence Day processions 

and rallies were also reported from 

other districts including Bagerhat, 

Barisal, Bhola, Bogra, Comilla, Dinajpur, 

Feni, Jhalakathi, Rangamati 

and Satkhira.• PHOTOS: DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Road accidents kill 18 in 4 districts 


At least 18 people were killed and 

over four dozens injured in separate 

road accidents occurred across 

country yesterday. 

The deadliest accident took 

place in Damurhuda area of Chuadanga 

when a truck rammed into 

a human haulier around 6:30am, 

leaving eight people dead on the 

spot. 

Four injured people died at 

Chuadanga Sadar Hospital. 

Ten others were undergoing 

treatment at the hospital, our correspondent 

reported. 

The dead are human haulier 

driver Jaj Miah, 32, Shanta, 20, 

Rafiqul Islam, 50, Hafijul Islam, 27, 

Akubbar, 55, Lal Chand, 48, Nazir 

Ahmed, 52, Ijjat Ali, 47, Billal, 45, 

Abdar Pal, 43, Billal Hossain, 35 

and Shafiqul Islam, 42. They hailed 

from Boldia village of Damurhuda 

Upazila. 

Meanwhile, four people were 

killed and 18 sustained injuries on 

Khulna-Satkhira Highway when a 

bus carrying Hindu pilgrims drove 

into a wayside ditch in Dumuria 

area around 5pm yesterday, our 

Khulna correspondent said. 

The bus driver and his assistant 

fled the scene after the incident. 

Three passengers were killed on 

the spot while the other died after 

being taken to a local hospital, said 

Officer-in-Charge of Dumuria police 

Shubhash Saha. 

The bus was carrying a group of 

Hindu devotees returning to Satkhira 

after attending a religious event 

in Gopalganj. 

According to our Narsingdi correspondent, 

at least one person was 

killed and 10 others injured when a 

bus collided head-on with a human 

haulier Dogria area of Dhaka-Sylhet 

Highway in the afternoon. 

The dead is Md Faruk Mia, driver 

of the human haulier. 

Police say the Dhaka-bound bus 

fell into a roadside ditch while the 

human haulier was totally damaged 

in the clash. 

Four passengers received critical 

injuries and taken to Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital. Six others 

were sent to Narsingdi Sadar 

Hospital. 

In Dhaka, a teacher of Cambrian 

School and College was killed in a 

road accident in Badda’s Natun Bazar 

area. The dead is Tripti Shankar 

Talukder, a chemistry teacher at 

the college. 

Police seized the bus and detained 

the driver.•


8 

World 


SOUTH ASIA 

Pakistan arrests 100 

Indian fishermen 

Pakistan has arrested at least 100 

Indian fishermen for illegally 

fishing in its waters, officials said 

on Sunday. The Maritime Security 

Agency made the arrests Saturday 

night, and also impounded 19 

wooden boats, a security official 

said on condition of anonymity 

because he is not authorised to 

speak to the media. AFP 

INDIA 

Kerala minister quits over 

alleged lewd talk 

In a setback to the LDF government, 

Kerala transport minister A K 

Saseendran resigned from the post 

on Sunday, hours after a vernacular 

television channel aired an audio 

clip of the minister allegedly having 

lewd conversation with an unidentified 

women. Announcing his 

decision at a press conference, the 

71 year old minister who is a fivetime 

legislator belonging to the 

Nationalist Congress Party however 

denied the allegations. HT 

CHINA 

China lifts ban on meat 

imports in boost for Brazil 

China lifted a ban on imports of meat 

from Brazil on Saturday after Brazilian 

authorities clarified details of a 

police investigation into alleged bribery 

of health inspectors. The move 

by China bringing hope of an end to a 

crisis that saw one-fifth wiped off the 

value of Brazilian pork and poultry 

exports last week. REUTERS 

ASIA PACIFIC 

Australia braces for very 

destructive cyclone 

Australians are bracing for the 

worst cyclone in the country’s 

northeast in several years, with 

residents evacuated and schools 

closed amid forecasts of destructive 

winds and rain. Cyclone Debbie 

has been forming off the coast 

of Queensland state in recent days, 

the official Bureau of Meteorology 

said Sunday, with its “very destructive 

core” expected to hit land early 

Tuesday morning. AFP 

MIDDLE EAST 

Rebel court sentences 

Yemen president to death 

A rebel court in Yemen’s insurgent-held 

capital has sentenced 

President Abedrabbo Mansour 

Hadi to death for high treason in 

absentia, the rebel news agency has 

said. Yemen on Sunday marked the 

second anniversary of a Saudi-led 

coalition starting air strikes against 

the Huthi rebels in support of Hadi’s 

government, after the insurgents 

overran the capital Sanaa. AFP 

Communal strife in Gujarat kills 

one, 14 hurt 


One person was killed and about 

14 injured when violence erupted 

following a scuffle between Muslim 

and Hindu school students in Indian 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 

home state of Gujarat, a senior administrative 

official said on Sunday. 

A crowd of about 5,000 people 

attacked Muslim residents and set 

dozens of homes and vehicles on fire 

at Vadavali village in Patan district on 

Saturday after Hindu students complained 

of misbehaviour by Muslim 

students, said K K Nirala, the district’s 

top administrative official. 

Tight security is in place to 

avoid any further clash, Patan Superintendent 

of Police A G Chauhan 

told PTI. 

An officer at Chanasma police 

station said the members of the 

two communities filed cross FIRs 

against 45 persons. 

He said 31 persons have been 

booked under various IPC sections, 

including 302 (murder), 147, 

148, 149 (rioting armed with deadly 

weapons, unlawful assembly), 

395, 397 (robbery), 435 and 436 

(mischief by fire). 

Besides, 14 persons have been 

booked under all the above sections 

except that for murder, the 

official said. One person had Saturday 

succumbed to injuries sustained 

during the clash while six 

others were injured. 

The violence started following a 

minor fight between two students of 

different communities, an official of 

Chanasana police station said. 

Soon the dispute escalated and 

the members of the two communities 

attacked each other with 

sticks, iron rods. 

Police fired seven rounds in the 

air and lobbed teargas shells to disperse 

the mob who torched vehicles 

and some houses. The injured 

persons have been admitted to a 

hospital, police said. 

Four killed in three separate cases of 

‘honour killings’ in Pakistan’s Sindh 


Three women and one man lost their 

lives in three separate cases of alleged 

honour killing in Sukkur and Matiari 

districts. 

A woman was shot dead early Sunday 

in Khuram village near Rohri, Sukkur 

by her husband, Akram Jagerani, 

who suspected her of having illicit relations 

with a man in their village, police 

said. Jagerani also shot and killed another 

man in the incident, police added. 

After committing the murders, 

Jagerani fled the village to avoid arrest. 

Police said they were conducting 

raids across Sukkur to find and arrest 

the accused. 

The bodies of the victims were shifted 

to a local hospital for postmortem. 

In another incident, a mother of 

three was gunned down by her brother 

in Baloch Khan Jamali, Matiari within 

the limits of the New Saeedabad 

police station. 

Madam Chandio was killed because 

her brother ‘suspected her character’, 

police said. 

After committing the murder, the 

accused surrendered to the police and 

confessed his crime. 

A First Information Report (FIR) 

had not been registered in the case as 

of Sunday morning. Madam Chandio’s 

body was handed over to her mother, 

police said. 

In the third such case, Ursana 

Lashari , another mother of three, was 

shot dead by two cousins in Bahram 

within the limits of the Tamachani police 

station on Friday night. 

The accused, Mohammad Lashari 

and Nazal Khan Lashari, killed their 

cousin because they suspected her of 

having illicit relations with her brotherin-law 

while her husband, Feroze, was 

out of the house, police said. 

The body of the victim was brought 

to the Tamachani police station the 

postmortem. An FIR is expected to be 

registered later in the day. • 

Maldives exiled leader Nasheed vows to 

take parliament 

• AFP, Colombo 

The exiled former leader of the 

Maldives Sunday announced 

plans to take control of the national 

parliament after hammering out 

a rare unity pact with his politically 

influential erstwhile enemies. 

Mohamed Nasheed said he entered 

into a pact with three other 

parties to wrest control of the 

85-member national parliament 

currently held by President Abdulla 

Yameen’s Progressive Party 

of Maldives (PPM). 

Mohamed Nasheed 

This file photo shows, a group of Hindus wave swords at an opposing Muslims 

during street battles in Bapunagr 01 March 2002 in Ahmedabad 

AFP 

Nasheed said former president 

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half 

brother of Yameen, signed an agreement 

at the weekend vowing to 

work together to secure, among other 

things, freedom for those convicted 

of politically motivated charges. 

He said the objective was to 

strengthen democratic institutions 

and ensure that 2018 elections 

are free and fair. 

Last month, Nasheed said he 

would return to run for election as 

president, despite facing jail after 

a controversial conviction on terror-related 

charges. 

He became the Maldives’ first 

democratically elected president 

in 2008, but was narrowly defeated 

in 2013 elections by Yameen. • 

Police said the situation had 

been brought under control and 

three companies of the State Reserve 

Police have been asked to 

stay in. • 

Shooting at Ohio 

nightclub kills 1, 

injures several 


Gunfire erupted early Sunday inside 

a crowded nightclub with a 

history of violence, killing one 

person and wounding more than a 

dozen others, authorities said. No 

suspect is in custody, but there is 

no indication the shooting at the 

Cameo club was terrorism related, 

officials said. 

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate 

said in a tweet that there was 

only one reported shooter but that 

police were investigating whether 

others were involved. Police had 

earlier said “at least a couple of 

shooters” were involved. 

Authorities believe a conflict began 

earlier in the day that led to the 

shooting, city manager Harry Black 

said in a news release. Authorities 

were interviewing witnesses and 

planned a news conference later in 

the morning. 

Fifteen people were shot, police 

said. Some drove themselves to 

hospitals, and others were taken by 

ambulance. 

Cameo has a history of gun violence, 

including a shooting inside 

the club on New Year’s Day in 2015 

and one in the parking lot that September, 

Black said. 

Several officers were working 

security at the club; some performed 

first aid and tried to revive 

the person who died, police 

said. •

World 

Opposition leader arrested as Russians 

defy protest bans 

• AFP, Moscow 

Thousands of Russians demonstrated 

across the country on Sunday 

to protest against corruption, 

defying bans on the rallies called 

by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei 

Navalny, who was arrested along 

with scores of others. 

Navalny called for the protests 

after publishing a detailed report 

this month accusing Prime Minister 

Dmitry Medvedev of controlling 

a property empire through 

a shadowy network of nonprofit 

organisations. 

The report has been viewed 

over 11million times on YouTube, 

but so far Medvedev has made no 

comment on the claims. 

Navalny, who has announced 

plans to run for president in next 

year’s election, has been rallying 

supporters in major Russian cities 

in recent weeks. 

In Moscow, Navalny called on 

supporters to walk along the main 

Tverskaya street, and people congregated 

on the nearby squares 

lined with dozens of police vans 

Merkel’s party wins German state 

vote by large margin 

• AFP, Saarbrucken 

Hong Kong chooses China-backed leader amid political tension 

• Reuters, Hong Kong 

A Beijing-backed civil servant, Carrie 

Lam, was chosen to be Hong Kong’s 

next leader on Sunday amid accusations 

that Beijing is meddling and denying 

the financial hub a more populist 

leader perhaps better able to defuse 

political tension. 

The majority of the China-ruled 

city’s 7.3m people have no say in deciding 

their leader, who is chosen 

from among several candidates by a 

1,200-person “election committee” 

Police officers detain a man during an unauthorised anti-corruption rally in 

central Moscow on March 26 

AFP 

and rows of riot officers as a police 

helicopter hovered overhead. 

Thousands of people filled Pushkin 

Square, with some shouting 

“Russia without Putin”, referring 

to President Vladimir Putin. Some 

climbed on lamp posts and monument 

to poet Alexander Pushkin, 

shouting “impeachment!” 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 

party won a regional election Sunday 

by a wide margin, dealing a 

blow to hopes of the centre-left 

to end her more than decade-long 

reign this year. 

In the Saarland state vote being 

held six months before a general 

election, Merkel’s Christian Democrats 

(CDU) won 40% against 30% 

for the centre-left Social Democrats 

(SPD), according to early results reported 

by public broadcaster ZDF. 

Broadcaster ARD estimated a 

slightly bigger lead for the CDU of 

41% against 29.5 for the SPD. 

A survey by pollster Emnid published 

in Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag 

newspaper showed national support 

for the SPD had risen slightly 

from a week ago and the centre-left 

party was tied with Merkel’s conservative 

bloc on 33%. 

With the Linke and Greens both 

on 8% nationally, the poll suggested 

the three left-leaning parties 

could form a federal coalition government 

after September’s election. 

Under Merkel, Germany has enjoyed 

economic growth and high 

employment, but the gap between 

rich and poor has grown. 

Schulz is trying to win over dissatisfied 

working class voters with 

a message of social justice. • 

Carrie Lam 

AFP 

stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-establishment 

loyalists. 

Lam, who will become Hong Kong’s 

Moscow police estimated the 

protest turnout at seven or eight 

thousand people, making it one 

of the biggest non-authorised 

demonstrations in recent years. 

The group had said earlier that 

its website had been shut down by 

a distributed denial of service, or 

DDoS, attack. 

Spanish Socialist heavyweight 

Diaz to run in divisive primaries 

• Reuters, Madrid 

first female chief executive when she 

takes office on July 1, won 777 votes 

compared with 365 for her closest 

rival, former financial secretary John 

Tsang, who polls show is more popular. 

There were several invalid protest 

ballots including one that carried an 

obscenity. 

Lam also pledged to follow through 

on election promises including introducing 

a “two-tier” profits tax, reducing 

tax to spur research and development, 

tackling the high cost of housing 

by increasing land supply and boosting 

‘99 cities’ 

Elsewhere in the country, about 

2,000 gathered in the Siberian city 

of Novosibirsk, carrying signs such 

as “No to corruption,” according to 

local news website Sib.fm. 

In Saint Petersburg, about 

4,000 people gathered in the city 

centre. 

The Russian constitution allows 

public gatherings, but recent laws 

have criminalised protests unauthorised 

by city authorities, who 

frequently refuse to grant permission 

for rallies by Kremlin critics. 

Navalny said on his website 

that 99 Russian cities planned 

to protest, but that in 72 of them 

the local authorities did not give 

permission, citing reasons such 

as street cleaning, a bell-ringing 

concert and rival events by various 

pro-Kremlin groups. 

Navalny has been the subject of 

several legal prosecutions in recent 

years, and in February he was found 

guilty of embezzlement and given 

a five-year suspended sentence 

which could make him ineligible to 

run in next year’s election. • 

An influential regional leader in 

Spain’s Socialist party, Susana 

Diaz, threw her hat in the ring 

on Sunday to lead the centre-left 

force before a primary that could 

hold the key for the country’s political 

stability. 

Diaz, seen as more amenable to 

striking deals with the government, 

will face a more leftist rival, Pedro 

Sanchez, who tried to block Rajoy’s 

return to power last year when he 

was leader of the Socialists. 

The Socialist party suffered an 

electoral rout last June but has 

enough seats in parliament to 

make life difficult for conservative 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s 

minority government and 

will play a key role in passing or 

blocking reforms. 

The outcome of the Socialist 

primary in May could determine 

whether Rajoy will be able to see 

out his four year term as he tries 

to gain backing from the opposition. 

He has yet to pass a budget 

for 2017, for instance. 

Sanchez was ousted by the party 

in October after 10 months of political 

stalemate, paving the way for 

Rajoy to be re-instated for a second 

term when the Socialists abstained 

in a parliamentary vote. The Socialists, 

known as PSOE, have been under 

interim management since. • 

education spending. 

Some scuffles broke out outside the 

voting centre between protesters and 

police, who used metal barricades to 

keep the demonstrations well away. 

The activists denounced Beijing’s 

“interference” amid widespread reports 

of lobbying of voters to back 

Lam, rather than Tsang. 

Some protesters chanted “I want 

universal suffrage” and unfurled yellow 

umbrellas, a symbol of the civil disobedience 

“umbrella movement”, when 

the result was announced. • 

9 



USA 

Trump ally Stone offers 

to testify in Russian 

meddling probe 

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of 

President Donald Trump, said on 

Sunday he has offered to testify 

before a congressional committee 

investigating possible Russian 

meddling in the 2016 presidential 

election. Stone, an informal adviser 

to Trump, told ABC’s “This Week” 

he had not received a reply from 

the House of Representatives intelligence 

committee on his offer of 

public testimony. REUTERS 

THE AMERICAS 

Venezuela defence 

minister denies troops 

entered Colombia 

Venezuelan defence minister 

Vladimir Padrino Lopez denied 

Saturday that troops from his 

country had intruded on Colombian 

territory. Colombian president Juan 

Manuel Santos had complained to 

his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas 

Maduro about the “totally unacceptable” 

move by Venezuelan troops 

who had camped out for more than 

48 hours near the Colombian border 

town of Arauquita. AFP 

UK 

UK targets WhatsApp 

encryption after London 

attack 

The British government said Sunday 

that its security services must 

have access to encrypted messaging 

applications such as WhatsApp, 

revealing it was used by the killer 

behind the parliament attack. 

Home Secretary Amber Rudd told 

Sky News it was “completely unacceptable” 

that police and security 

services had not been able to crack 

the heavily encrypted service. AFP 

EUROPE 

Bulgarians vote may tilt 

nation toward Russia 

Bulgarians voted Sunday for the 

third time in four years in an early 

election that could tilt the EU’s poorest 

member closer to Russia. The 

election campaign focused on the 

future of the EU and the influence 

of Russia and Turkey on domestic 

politics, as well as on the increased 

number of migrants coming into this 

southeastern European nation. AP 

AFRICA 

Sudan, Saudi to hold first 

joint air force drill 

Sudan said Sunday it will begin this 

week a joint air force drill with Saudi 

Arabia, the first such manoeuvres 

since Khartoum allied with Riyadh 

after breaking ties with Tehran in 

2015. The exercises will be held from 

March 29 until April 12 in Meroe, 

north of Khartoum, and will involve 

hundreds of air force personnel 

from both countries. AFP


10 

Business 


BPC plans to import 

octane as ERL set 

for renovation 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation 

said the country will 

need to import 15,000 tonne 

of octane during the upcoming 

renovation of its lone refinery. 

As per a BPC proposal, the 

fuel oil will be bought from 

Indonesian company PT Bumi 

Siak Pusako Zapin at a cost of 

Tk72.43 crore. 

The proposal, signed by 

Energy and Mineral Resources 

Division Secretary Nazimuddin 

Chowdhury, is likely to 

be placed at a meeting of the 

Cabinet Committee on Public 

Purchase tomorrow. 

Bangladesh Eastern Refinery 

will be out of operation 

for one and a half months for 

renovation. 

The country usually has 

13 days of octane reserve although 

the National Energy 

Policy is for keeping 60 days 

reserve. BPC said if octane is 

not imported during the renovation, 

the country will face 

fuel crisis. 

According to the BPC, 

Bangladesh has an annual estimated 

demand of octane is 

1,65,000 tonne with monthly 

demand 13,560 tonne and a 

projected daily demand 452 

tonne. 

It said the demand has in 

recent time increased by 2,730 

tonne. The state-run Eastern 

Refinery produces 25,000 

tonne of octane. 

but ERL is now out of operation 

so there may a crisis of 

octane in the country if the government 

is not imported octane 

in due time, proposal said. 

Proposal said a premium 

of the imported of Octane is 

$4.55 per barrel with a cost 

of Tk72.43 crore for import of 

15,000 MT. • 

Biman introduces 

new in-flight meals on 

Dhaka-London flight 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 

yesterday introduced new 

meals and entertainment 

packages for business class 

passengers on Dhaka-London-Dhaka 

route. 

Diabetic and kid meals 

were also served from the day. 

On March 23, Biman Managing 

Director and CEO 

Mosaddek Ahmed, inaugurated 

the new in-flight meals as 

part of “Special Service Week.” 

Biman has decided to bring 

diversity to foods and services 

every three months so that 

passengers can enjoy their 

flights, according to the airlines. 

Currently, Biman Flight Catering 

Centre ( BFCC) is providing 

foods to Malaysia Airlines, 

Cathey Pacific, Turkish Airlines 

and Dragon Air. 

It also supplies foods to 14 

more airlines on casual basis. 

BFCC prepares around 

8,500 meals a day. The number 

reaches up to 12,000 during 

operation of hajj flights. • 

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Dhaka Tribune

Business 11 



Tk445.41cr revenue remains uncollected 

due to Mongla customs red tape 

• Shariful Islam, Back from 

Mongla 

Opec, non-Opec mull extending oil-output cut by six months 

• Reuters 

Imported cars remain stuck in Mongla Port, awaiting customs formalities. The photo was taken recently 

Complex customs formalities prevent 

the government from obtaining 

Tk445.41 crore revenue from a total 

of 4,728 cars stuck in Mongla Port. 

Due to red tape importers are reluctant 

to obtain the release of the 

stranded vehicles. 

Sources said around 200 companies 

are involved in importing cars 

through Mongla Port. Haq’s Bay 

Automobiles imported the lion’s 

share of them. 

Contacted, Managing Director of 

Haq’s Bay, also former president of 

Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicle 

Importers and Dealers Association, 

Abdul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune 

that the importers can’t release 

import-restricted cars due to high 

taxation and port rent. 

“Moreover, sometimes the importers 

do not release the cars due 

to lower market price.” 

According to Mongla Customs 

House (MCH) data, of the cars, 61 

were imported in 2010-12, 455 import-restricted 

and 4,212 under 

regular category. 

Revenue of around Tk445.41 

crore also remains uncollected, according 

to the data. 

Mongla Customs Clearing and 

Forwarding Agents Association 

president Sultan Hossain Khan told 

Dhaka Tribune, “The cars remain 

stranded due to valuation complexities 

created by MCH officials 

and unwillingness of the importer.” 

He also alleged that customs officials 

are not business friendly and 

they are creating various problems 

to businesses. 

Mongla Customs Commissioner 

Al Amin Pramanik, However, said 

they are going by the NBR rules and 

release of the cars is underway. 

Of the cars stuck in the port 

vicinity, 61 are under auction process, 

valuation of 455 cars in processing 

according to the Commerce 

A joint committee of ministers from 

Opec and non-Opec oil producers has 

agreed to review whether a global pact 

to limit supplies should be extended 

by six months, it said in a statement 

yesterday. 

An earlier draft of the statement 

said the committee “reports high level 

of conformity and recommends sixmonth 

extension”. 

But the final statement said only 

that the committee had requested a 

technical group and the Opec Secretariat 

“review the oil market conditions and 

revert ... in April, 2017 regarding the 

extension of the voluntary production 

adjustments”. 

It was not immediately clear why 

the wording had been changed, 

although a senior industry source said 

the committee lacked the legal mandate 

to recommend an extension. 

The Organization of the Petroleum 

Exporting Countries and rival oil-producing 

nations were meeting in Kuwait 

to review progress with their global 

pact to cut supplies. 

Opec and 11 other leading producers 

including Russia agreed in December 

to cut their combined output by almost 

1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 

first half of the year. 

The original deal was to last six 

months, with the possibility of a sixmonth 

extension. 

“Any country has the freedom to say 

whether they do or they don’t support 

(an extension). Unless we have conformity 

with everybody, we cannot go 

ahead with the extension of the deal,” 

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq 

said, adding that he hoped a decision 

would come by the end of April. 

The oil ministerial committee 

“expressed its satisfaction with the progress 

made toward full conformity with 

the voluntary production adjustments 

and encouraged all participating countries 

to press on toward 100 percent 

conformity,” the statement said. 

Ministry’s statutory regulatory order, 

he added. 

“The rest of the cars will be released 

and sold at auction after 

physical test and valuations.” 

Mongla Port Authority Chairman 

Commodore AKM Faruque 

Hasan requested the NBR for quick 

disposal of the cars from the port. 

The National Board of Revenue 

Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman also 

The December accord, aimed at 

supporting the oil market, has lifted 

crude LCOc1 to more than $50 a barrel. 

But the price gain has encouraged U.S. 

shale oil producers, which are not part 

of the pact, to boost output. 

The committee said it took note that 

certain factors, such as low seasonal 

demand, refinery maintenance and 

rising non-Opec supply had led to an 

increase in crude oil stocks. It also 

observed the liquidation of positions by 

financial players. 

“However, the end of the refinery 

maintenance season and noticeable 

slowdown in U.S. stock build as well as 

the reduction in floating storage will 

support the positive efforts undertaken 

to achieve stability in the market,” it said. 

It asked the Opec Secretariat to 

review oil market conditions and come 

back with recommendations in April regarding 

an extension of the agreement. 

“This reaffirms the commitment 

of Opec and participating non-Opec 

countries to continue to cooperate,” 

UNRELEASED CARS AT MONGLA PORT 

Subject Number of vehicle Revenue involved (In crore) 

Imported in 2010 to 2012 61 Tk25.38 

Import-restricted car 455 Tk40.95 

Regular taxable car 4,212 Tk379.08 

Grand Total 4,728 Tk445.41 

Source: Mongla Customs House 

instructed the customs authorities 

to quickly dispose of the motor vehicles 

at the port. 

He also instructed the authorities 

concerned to make concerted 

efforts in this regard. 

According to NBR member Farid 

Uddin, the importance of Mongla Port 

will increase after implementation of 

Padma Bridge, Rampal Power Plant 

and other development projects. 

the statement said. 

Russian Energy Minister Alexander 

Novak said it was too early to say 

whether there would be an extension, 

although the agreement was working 

well and all countries were committed 

to 100 percent compliance. 

Olivier Jakob, of oil consultancy 

Petromatrix, said that with the revision 

of the ministerial committee’s statement, 

it was becoming more difficult to know 

who was responsible for what in Opec. 

“That is not the best option to 

provide clarity to the oil markets,” 

Jakob said. 

Ellen Wald, a consultant on the 

global energy industry, said: “I think 

the market will react negatively to the 

lack of a clear direction on a rollover for 

the deal.” 

‘ENCOURAGING ELEMENTS’ 

Before the meeting, Iraqi Oil Minister 

Jabar Ali al-Luaibi told reporters 

there were some encouraging elements 

that suggested the oil market was improving, 

and that if all OPEC members 

SHARIFUL ISLAM 

He also suggested keeping a provision 

that would allow importing 

vehicles only through Mongla Port. 

Mentionable, car is the most-imported 

goods through Mongla Port 

now. 

In the first eight months of the 

current fiscal year 2016-17, cars 

worth Tk1588.71 crore were imported 

through the port, adding 

Tk1450.12 crore in revenue. • 

agreed measures to help price stability, 

Iraq would support such steps. 

“Any decisions taken unanimously 

by members of OPEC ... Iraq will be part 

of the decision and will not be deviating 

from this,” Luaibi said. 

Iraq’s oil production is running at 

4.312 million bpd this month, Luaibi 

said, adding that his country had cut its 

oil exports by 187,000 bpd so far and 

would reach 210,000 bpd in a few days. 

Compliance with the supply-cut 

deal was 94 percent in February among 

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers 

combined, Russia’s Novak said. 

Russia is committed to cuts of 

300,000 bpd by the end of April, 

Novak said. 

Novak said he expects global oil 

stockpiles to decrease in the second 

quarter of this year. 

“The dynamics are positive here, 

I believe,” Novak said, adding that 

inventories in the United States and 

other industrialized countries had risen 

by less than in the past. •


12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

What tragedy do you 

sympathise with? 

We have had similar raids carried out 

before, but this unprecedented number 

of suicide bombers coming out is a 

reason to worry 

PAGE 13 

A new geography 

One can think of no military dictator 

who was removed by an order of the 

Supreme Court. But then, as Stalin once 

cruelly reminded the Pope, how many 

legions does the Supreme Court have at 

its command? 

PAGE 14 

No longer at ease 

The threat to this country’s history, its 

secular fabric, and its democratic polity, 

is a real one 

PAGE 15 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

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opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com 

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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. 

A very real threat 

Saturday’s suicide bomb attack in Sylhet speaks volumes of the 

current state of terrorism in Bangladesh, while also pointing to 

a worrying trend in how terrorists are planning their attacks. 

We have mentioned this before but it bears repeating: When 

it comes to terrorism, we cannot afford to let our guard down or leave 

any stones unturned. 

With this being the third in a series of suicide bombings in the 

country, it’s become evident that these militants are using more 

extreme methods in pursuit of their political agenda. 

The Sylhet attack, which has left six dead and dozens injured, 

was also the first of its kind to target a crowd instead of government 

defense forces, and is further indicative of how militants are 

becoming increasingly emboldened. 

The work our law enforcement agencies have conducted is 

commendable to that end, with many having lost their lives in the 

fight against terrorism. The nation owes these brave souls much. 

But we must work together to ensure that attacks such as these are 

prevented to begin with. 

This requires some hard questions to be asked: How have we let 

this trend of Islamic militancy and extremism to persist? Who are 

their leaders? How are they being funded? Do they have international 

connections? 

That the terrorists have resorted to suicide bombings points 

to a trend of escalation on their part. But this specific tactic is 

especially worrying because the perpetrators require no exit plan. 

Unfortunately, we the citizens do, and must escape the increasingly 

frequent and extensive reach that Islamic militancy is imposing on 

our nation. 

Though we trust the efficacy of our law enforcement agencies to 

control such attacks when they arise -- what we need is prevention. 

For prevention, the government needs to understand the 

psychological and cultural factors that lead to so many people in our 

country -- both and women -- joining the causes of Islamic extremism. 

Until then, we must consider the threat of terrorism a very real one 

indeed. 

For prevention, the 

government needs 

to understand the 

psychological and 

cultural factors that 

lead to extremism 

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Opinion 13 



What tragedy do 

you sympathise 

with? 

Is an attack in Sylhet any less 

important than one in London? 

• Nusmila Lohani 

People die every day. But 

death becomes much more 

stark when the cause is a 

terrorist attack. 

Truth of the matter is, the Paris 

attacks in November 2015 made 

us view the world through a new 

lens. 

The outpour of sympathy and 

love was overwhelming … and 

viral. 

This newfound (or re-found?) 

truth led many to question how 

the contrast in the mainstream 

media’s reaction to terrorist 

attacks between those in the 

Middle East and in Europe was too 

stark to ignore. 

There was outrage, there was 

hatred, there was anger, and 

social media had to take it all in 

via custom Facebook French flag 

filters, posts, and rants. 

But truth of the matter is, the 

Paris attack was big news. So was 

the Brussels attack that followed, 

and terrorist attacks in the Middle 

East do not hold a candle to 

us to editorialise on or to write 

1200-word articles of outrage and 

disgust over, and as usual, Africa 

rarely makes the cut. 

This is not to say that we should 

accept the way of the world and 

condone terrorist attacks based on 

region, but there are constraints to 

our shock value. 

The latest attack near 

the Houses of Parliament in 

Westminster still has a certain 

degree of shock value for the 

world at large. 

And it does not help the current 

state of geo-political affairs, 

xenophobia, and Trump that affect 

us all in one way or the other. Be 

it at the airport, or at immigration 

centre, or how it reshapes your 

mind to perceive the world, accept 

terrorism in faraway lands (and at 

home), and then manage to get on 

with the day. 

It all comes down to shock 

value. We are conditioned in a way 

that makes us capable of accepting 

even the ugliest of truths, 

reoccurring tragedies, and deaths. 

If something keeps happening on 

No less a tragedy 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

We have had similar raids carried out before, but this unprecedented 

number of suicide bombers coming out is a reason to worry 

tragedy that strikes Europe or 

North America. 

There is no reason to feel guilty 

if you happen to be residing in this 

country and felt more affected by 

the Paris attacks than you did/do 

by chemical agents unleashed in 

Aleppo. 

In the grand scheme of things, I 

think, the world has been designed 

in such a war-mongering, greedy, 

and selfish way that by now 

we understand that empathy is 

limited in stock and that we allow 

ourselves to become empathetic 

when the occasion really asks for 

it. 

To put things into perspective, 

suicide bombers and terrorist 

attacks in the Middle East have 

become far too common for 

a daily basis, we are conditioned 

in a way to accept that with 

bitter hearts and in thick skins. 

We become indifferent, unless 

something like the picture of “that 

Syrian boy in the ambulance” goes 

viral for a few days. 

Being realistic, what are we to 

do but understand the cruel ways 

of the world and carry on with our 

day? 

We are helpless and irrelevant 

when it comes to decisions being 

made by politicians and policymakers 

behind closed doors, 

where handshakes take place 

between those who are sworn 

to protect people and those who 

seek to harm them, when the 

ones who can lead nations and 

change the world are fixated on 

trivial matters -- we are just pawns 

accommodated to a certain space 

to write articles about the end 

of the world (or about the world 

unmasked) or do whatever we 

must to pay the bills. 

And what about the Sylhet 

attack which is less than 48 hours 

old? Are we outraged? Are we 

afraid, and confused? No matter 

what we are, the deafening silence 

in social media about it is what is 

disturbing. 

Is Sylhet that far from our 

metropolitan city to take notice 

of? 

The people who died (six, so 

far) and those who were injured 

are no less deserving of our 

outrage and sympathy than other 

news stories that grapple your 

heart and take you to social media 

to express your angst. 

This may sound as though I’m 

speaking from atop a moral high 

horse, but the argument is that, 

when a terrorist attack takes place 

in a country which is considered 

to be generally more “secure,” it 

shouldn’t take precedence over 

what happens, for example, in our 

country. 

Yes, they are all bad. Yes, 

people die everyday. But our 

audacity to put up posts with a 

neat little #prayforLondon and 

don Facebook profile picture filters 

and not feel a little affected, if not 

just as much, by atrocities carried 

out by disillusioned mad men in 

our own country, is a little too 

confusing. 

What happened at the Atia 

Mahal raid is not to be taken 

lightly. We have had similar 

raids carried out before, but the 

unprecedented number of suicide 

bombers coming out is a reason 

to worry -- this further confirms 

concerns over the country’s 

security post-Holey. 

It is not fear that should be 

allowed in, but awareness and 

solidarity in the face of terrorism 

and ugly politics. 

When security is breached in 

first world countries, it makes 

headlines and the news ticker 

scrolls on forever because it 

signals to the world that the best of 

the world are not safe from terror 

attacks, and have failed to secure 

what they have toiled for centuries 

to build through the exploitation 

of the rest of the world. 

I believe that fact is what 

shapes our shock value, and so we 

react accordingly when something 

as tragic as what happened in 

London happens. 

We may take a moment and ask 

ourselves: If they are not safe, how 

can we be? 

But then again, at the same 

time, such a question should not 

engulf our consciousness and 

allow us to priortise our empathy 

based on geopolitics and class. • 

Nusmila Lohani is an Editorial Assistant 

at the Dhaka Tribune.

14 



Opinion 

A new geography 

Politics on this side of the map that could affect a lifetime 

Water is why India and Pakistan have no choice but to co-exist 

REUTERS 

• FS Aijazuddin 

Over 10,000 years ago, 

it would have been 

possible to walk from 

the plains of primitive 

France to primeval England. All 

one needed was a pair of well-shod 

feet. 

Then, 6,100 years ago, a 

tsunami created by snow melting 

in Norway swept southwards, 

creating the channel and 

detaching the British Isles from the 

mainland of Europe. 

Last year, a different sort of 

tsunami engulfed Britain. Britons 

decided to let politics imitate 

nature. They voted in the Brexit 

referendum to become an island 

again. Some Europhiles believe 

it is a decision taken in haste. 

Two years from now, Europhobe 

Britons can repent at leisure. 

If it was an accident of 

nature that gave rise to Britain’s 

insularity, it was an accident of 

birth that united the kingdoms 

of Scotland and England. In 

1603, King James VI of Scotland 

succeeded his cousin Queen 

Elizabeth I of England and became 

simultaneously King James I of 

England and Ireland. 

Since then, no British monarch 

has needed to remind the Scots 

that they share a sovereign 

with their southern kinsmen, 

until, during the recent Scottish 

referendum for independence. 

Queen Elizabeth II let it be known 

that it should not be forgotten that 

she is also Queen of Scotland. 

The feisty Scottish First 

Minister Nicola Sturgeon, smarting 

at Westminster’s determination 

to sign Article 50, which UK prime 

minister Theresa May proposes 

to do on 29 March, has re-opened 

the possibility of a second Scottish 

referendum. 

Theresa May has two options: She 

can either accommodate Scottish 

demands in her negotiating 

strategy with the EU, or she can 

ignore Scotland’s expectations and 

watch Scotland drift away, as the 

British Isles once did 6,000 years 

ago. 

Should, hypothetically 

speaking, Scotland break away, 

will the Queen then be obliged 

to wear two separate crowns? Or 

will she revert, in Scotland, to her 

marital status and become the 

Duchess of Edinburgh? 

Such constitutional convulsions 

can be debilitating for the body 

politic of a country. No wonder 

less mature countries, even papier 

maché democracies, prefer the 

swift precision of a coup. 

In Pakistan, the convulsions 

expected in Islamabad have not 

yielded the swift decapitation of 

Nawaz Sharif that Imran Khan’s 

PTI had hoped. His attempt to 

remove an elected sitting prime 

minister is a novel use of the 

Supreme Court. 

Usually, certainly after military 

coups, it was the new dictator who 

demanded to be anointed by the 

Supreme Court. One can think of 

no military dictator -- Generals 

Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul 

Haq, Pervez Musharraf -- who 

was removed by an order of the 

Supreme Court. But then, as Stalin 

once cruelly reminded the Pope 

during the Second World War, how 

many legions does the Supreme 

Court have at its command? 

It is a sign of the maturity of 

our judiciary that it is taken as 

seriously as it is. It is a sign of its 

wisened caution that it is taking 

so long to arrive at what everyone 

hopes will be a unanimous 

decision in the Panamagate case. 

In this particular case, justice 

delayed is not justice denied. 

Should, however, there be a 

dissenting note by one or more 

judges adjudicating the case, 

justice delayed will be interpreted 

by the common man as justice 

divided. The law is expected to 

provide clarity. If there are to be 

One can think of no military dictator who was removed by an order of 

the Supreme Court. But then, as Stalin once cruelly reminded the Pope, 

how many legions does the Supreme Court have at its command? 

conflicting interpretations by 

judges, then why, some may ask, 

does one need lawyers? It is simply 

a repetition of conflict, at another 

level. 

While the political pugilists 

attack each other with insults that 

masquerade as cogent arguments, 

two recent events have occurred 

that hold significance for both 

Pakistan and India. The first is the 

arrival in Islamabad of the Indian 

Indus Waters Commissioners and 

the resumption of talks between 

our two countries on the Indus 

Waters Treaty. 

Riparian countries as 

dependent as India and Pakistan 

are on a common water sources 

are like Siamese twins sharing 

one set of organs. Coexistence is 

not a choice: It is an imperative 

for survival. The BJP victory in 

Uttar Pradesh is the second. From 

the UP electorate, Mr Modi has 

received the same clamorous 

endorsement that Pandit Nehru’s 

Congress received two generations 

ago in 1937. Then Congress sat in 

government, and Muslims in the 

opposition. 

Today, BJP with Muslim 

support has secured 325 seats out 

of 403. Nehru’s great-grandson 

Rahul Gandhi might as well opt for 

Pakistan where dynastic politics 

still has a future. Modi’s selection 

of a hardliner RSS apparatchik Yogi 

Adityanath as Chief Minister UP 

is a clear indication of his vision 

of India. He is as far from Nehru’s 

perception of “secularism” as the 

present Pakistani leadership is 

from the Quaid’s. 

If in geography, 6,000 years is a 

blip, in politics, the next two years 

-- whether in Brexit or in elections 

on either side of Wagah -- could 

affect our lifetime. • 

FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a 

columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main 

English-language newspaper. This article 

was previously published in Dawn.

No longer at ease 

We cannot afford to lose our country to extremist forces 

Opinion 15 



A lost, aimless generation is an easy prey for extremists 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

• Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury 

March 25 is no 

longer just a day of 

commemoration of 

the victims of the first 

onslaught of Pakistani military in 

1971. Known as “Kaalratri,” the 

night of March 25 is now officially 

“National Genocide Day.” 

Bangladesh Awami League, 

being the party at the forefront 

of our Liberation War, feels that 

this day has to be institutionalised 

with a parliamentary approval. 

One might ask, considering wide 

awareness of Kaalratri, whether 

this was necessary. 

It was indeed necessary, if not 

vital, to the survival of our history. 

Our past experience with 

keeping history as it is is a bitter 

one. 

Due to the manner in which 

this nation was ruled from 1975 

till 1991, and again from 2001 to 

2006, a parliamentary motion for 

recognition of the day was much 

needed. 

Looking back, not even too far 

back, we have seen people like 

Nizami-Mujahid-Saka awarded 

cabinet ministry between 2001 to 

2006 and even before. 

These individuals had always 

been known as collaborators. They 

were self-confessed war criminals, 

having taken part actively in the 

massacre of 1971. 

Shamelessly they defied the 

spirit of our War of Independence, 

our constitution, our institutions, 

our civil society, and enjoyed 

everything this nation had to 

offer to its rulers, despite not 

believing in its very right to selfdetermination 

and freedom. 

Openly they have mocked our 

history, our sacrifice, and our 

struggle. And yet, a political party 

accommodated these individuals, 

rewarded them, and made them 

not only powerful policy-makers 

but also gave them key executive 

powers. 

That party is none other than 

the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, 

which now and then mentions 

its founders’ involvement in our 

Liberation War, but that’s where 

its commitment to the spirit of our 

independence ends. 

Awami League, therefore, 

cannot just end its commitment 

to merely trying, convicting, and 

punishing these war criminals. 

It has an obligation to 

institutionalise the history of the 

brutal genocide for awareness 

of the generations to come. The 

threat to this country’s history, its 

secular fabric, and its democratic 

polity, is a real one. 

If not pro-actively institutionalised, 

we will not be surprised if, 

in the very near future, BNP and 

its allies write this day off from 

our very history, as they had done 

with many historic facts. 

The manner with which they 

have conducted themselves in 

the past, and even now, we have 

reason to fear the worst. They are 

able to do anything and everything 

for petty political gain. 

Looking at their response to 

the recent counter-terrorism 

operations and the government’s 

tough response to religious 

extremists, we have reason to 

worry. 

They are calling the 

government response “staged 

drama.” Setting aside the political 

rhetoric, or even the reality of 

“opposition politics,” the tone 

they are speaking in is a tone of 

appeasement, and of tacit moral 

support to extremists. 

And for this we have reason to 

be worried. 

This political party, for their 

gain, have compromised so much 

in the past, even contributing to 

the rise of religion-based politics, 

an ultra-right fanatic mainstream 

that now dares to call for a 

Taliban-style state. 

The threat to this country’s history, its secular 

fabric, and its democratic polity, is a real one 

For this very reason, we, as a 

political party, feel the need to 

institutionalise the history of our 

long road to freedom from which 

our new generation can take 

inspiration. 

Absence of a secular political 

history, loss of memory of our 

past national glory, and the 

history of oppression at the hands 

of the Pakistani army and its 

collaborators would lead our new 

generation into disillusionment. 

And a lost, aimless generation is 

an easy prey for extremists. 

So we have the responsibility 

to retain and protect our national 

history of sacrifice. 

BNP’s recent remarks and 

political stances do not give us 

any reason to believe they have 

changed. 

In their last stint in powe,r 

they empowered religious 

conservatives, rewarded 

war criminals, colluded with 

international crime syndicates, 

persecuted progressive forces, and 

destroyed our institutions. 

Today’s Hefazat is a result of 

their past sins. Today’s JMB is the 

product of their past appeasement. 

Let us not forget that. 

In addition to their past 

misdeeds, if we look into what 

they are saying and doing now, we 

have every reason to worry. 

As the political party that led 

this nation into freedom, we have 

a responsibility, and we will do 

everything within our capacity 

to stop our country from falling 

into the hands of the powerhungry 

elite that would trade 

everything without thinking of the 

consequences. 

We cannot take the risk of 

our country turning into another 

Pakistan. • 

Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury is 

an Organising Secretary of Central 

Executive Committee of Bangladesh 

Awami League. A graduate of London 

School of Economics, Mohibul is also 

an Advocate of the Supreme Court of 

Bangladesh. He is a partner of Dhakabased 

law firm The Legal Circle.

16 



Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

DOWN 

1 Steep rugged rock (4) 1 Long-leaved lettuce (3) 

4 Fanatical (5) 

2 Talisman (6) 

8 Very small (6) 

3 Bands’ engagements (4) 

9 Self-satisfied (4) 4 Spirit (3) 

11 Mannequin (5) 5 Coral isle (5) 

12 Otherwise (4) 

6 Resting place (3) 

14 Golf mound (3) 7 Pleasing (6) 

15 Assert without proof (6) 10 Assemble (4) 

19 Garb (6) 

13 Corn spike (3) 

21 Decay (3) 

14 Goal (6) 

22 Implement (4) 16 Permit (3) 

24 One revelling in 17 Worn away (6) 

things revolting (5) 18 Precious metal (4) 

27 Probability (4) 20 Come into use (5) 

29 Light wind (6) 23 Percolate (4) 

30 Attempted (5) 25 Kimono sash (3) 

31 Whirlpool (4) 

26 Was ahead (3) 

28 Bashful (3) 

CODE-CRACKER 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 23 represents R so fill R 

every time the figure 23 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

What’s on 

17 

M0NDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 


EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY 

WORKSHOP 

MOVIE 

EXHIBITION 

STAR CINEPLEX 

Where Bashundhara City, Dhaka 

What Movie showtime (March 27) 

BIZ FEST 2017 

When 9am-5pm 

Where Eastern University, House 26, Road 5, Dhanmondi 

R/A, Dhaka. 

What A contest organised for HSC/A-level students. Preregistration 

is required. 

ENGLISH SPEAKING CLUB (WEEKLY) 

When 4pm-5:30pm 

Where EMK Center, Midas Center Building (9th Floor) House 

5, Road 16, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 

What The English Speaking Club makes speaking and 

learning English fun, with games, debates, and group 

activities. 

UPCOMING 

MARCH 31 

FOOD MARATHON MARCH 2017 

Beauty and the Beast (3D): 

10:50am, 1:40pm, 4:10pm, 

4:40pm, 6:50pm, 7:30pm 

Bhuban Majhi (2D): 11am, 1:30pm, 

4pm, 6:40pm 

Power Rangers (2D): 11:20am, 

2:00pm, 4:30pm, 7:10pm 

Logan (2D): 10:50am, 1:50pm, 

4:30pm, 7:20pm 

Tomake Chai (2D): 11:10am, 

2:10pm 

Kong: Skull Island (3D): 11am, 

1:40pm, 4:50pm, 7:20pm 

BLOCKBUSTER CINEMAS 

Where Jamuna Future Park, 

Dhaka 

LONDON 1971: UNSUNG HEROES OF BANGLADESH’S 

LIBERATION WAR 

When 10am-5pm 

Where British Council Bangladesh, 5 Fuller Road, Dhaka 

What Photo exhibition featuring more than 40 rare 

photographs brought together by Ujjal Das. The exhibitions 

and events are all open and free to the public and will 

continue throughout this month. 

AN ABSTRACT AFFAIR 

When 10am – 8pm 

Where Edge, The Foundation, Bay’s Edgewater, Ground 

Floor, North Avenue, Gulshan, Dhaka 

What A solo exhibition of the renown Bangladeshi artist 

Mohammed Eunus. 

VICTORY 

When 9am-11pm 

Where International Convention City Bashundhara – ICCB, 

Dhaka 

What Food Marathon will take place on March 9 and 10, 

with more than 25 amazing food brands, music, one minute 

games, recipe classes, the classic food contests, and much 

more. 

SHREYA GHOSHAL MELODY NIGHT LIVE IN DHAKA 

When 4pm-11pm 

Where International Convention City Bashundhara – ICCB, 

Dhaka 

What Indian melody legend Shreya Ghoshal is coming to 

Bangladesh to entertain her fans with the rhythm of music. 

For tickets, call 01632067238. 

What Movie showtime (March 27) 

Power Rangers (2D): 11:40am, 

2:20pm, 4:50pm, 5:00pm, 

7:30pm, 7:45pm 

Rings: 2:50pm 

La La Land: 2:15pm 

Logan (2D): 11:30am, 4:55pm, 

7:25pm 

Bhuban Majhi (2D): 2:25pm, 

7:30pm 

Kong: Skull Island (3D): 2:15pm 

Beauty and the Beast (3D): 

11:40am, 4:45pm 

Tomake Chai (2D): 11:50am, 

4:55pm 

The Shack (2D): 12:10pm, 7:35pm 

When 10am-9pm 

Where Red Shift Coffee Lounge, Radius Centre, 5th Floor, 

Bay’s Galleria, 57 Gulshan Avenue, Dhaka 

What Art exhibition by Mini Karim and Shama Shaiom. The 

exhibition is open everyday till March 30, 10am-9pm.


18 

Sports 


Miraz credits seniors for 

impressive ODI bow 

• Ali Shahriyar Amin from Dambulla 

Bangladesh debutant Mehedi Hasan Miraz 

credited the seniors players for his impressive 

performance in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. 

And like opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, 

Miraz too praised team effort for their comprehensive 

90-win last Saturday. 

“I will give credit to the seniors players. 

Seniors players supported me very much 

on the field. Honestly, I felt nervous at the 

beginning. Because in a Test match, a player 

has plenty of time to bounce back from a 

bad spell or a player can plan about his gameplay,” 

Miraz told the media yesterday at Aliya 

Resorts in Dambulla. 

Mashrafe bhai inspired me 

and told me that if I can bowl 

in good areas then it will be 

difficult for the batsmen 

“But in ODIs, there are less time available for a 

player to prepare himself. So I want to thank my 

senior players, particularly Shakib [al Hasan] bhai, 

Tamim bhai, Mushfiqur [Rahim] bhai, [Mahmudullah] 

Riyad bhai and Mashrafe [bin Mortaza] 

bhai, who supported me from the beginning. 

“Our captain Mashrafe bhai inspired me and 

told me that if I can bowl in good areas then it 

will be difficult for the batsmen to play. I felt 

very relaxed and confident due to their support 

and I felt no pressure,” he said. 

The off-spinner returned home following 

the two-match Test series but was surprisingly 

called up the ODI squad days later. With the 

Lankans boasting several left-handed batsmen 

in their line-up, the Tigers team management 

thought it best to include him in the 

starting XI for the first ODI. 

It paid off in some style as Miraz bagged 

the important wickets of Kusal Mendis and 

Dinesh Chandimal, conceding 43 runs in his 

quota of 10 overs. 

“I really enjoyed the moment. When the 

BCB president (Nazmul Hasan) informed me 

about going to Sri Lanka, I felt really good. I 

decided after the call that if I get the chance in 

the best XI then I will try do my best. I think 

my debut went well but the most important 

matter is Bangladesh won the match. I felt very 

good overall,” he said. 

The Tigers were in a relaxed mood yesterday. 

Miraz informed that the players are happy 

after winning the first ODI but added that 

the series is not over yet. 

“We felt good after winning the first ODI. 

But there is still two more games left. If we 

celebrate too much at the moment, then our 

development could be hampered. So, we will 

celebrate after winning the series,” he said. 

Miraz had a blistering Test debut, taking 19 

wickets in his first two matches against England 

at home last year. And despite his impressive 

debut in ODIs, Miraz thinks he has to 

keep on improving his game. 

“International cricket is pretty tough. To 

survive here, I have to improve myself continuously. 

Because everyone is watching how 

I play, people will do research and analyse my 

video footage. So if I stick to the same plan 

then it will not work. I have to improve myself 

every day. Then I can survive in international 

cricket. So I need to work hard and do more 

for my country,” he said. • 

Tamim: This new attitude will take us a long way 

• Ali Shahriyar Amin 

from Dambulla 

Bangladesh produced a clinical 

performance against host Sri Lanka 

in the first ODI at Rangiri Dambulla 

International Cricket Stadium on 

Saturday. 

But what matters most is the 

mentality and hunger for victory 

which Bangladesh exhibited to the 

full extent. 

The Tigers have emerged as a 

formidable ODI outfit in the last 

couple of years and the dominating 

display against the Lankans was a 

case in point. 

There are still two games left 

in the ODI series. The home side 

might yet script a comeback, which 

they are quite capable of, but the 

way the Tigers dominated the opposition 

on Saturday was a pleasure 

to watch for everyone associated 

with Bangladesh cricket. 

And centurion Tamim Iqbal believes 

if Bangladesh can maintain 

this mentality and attitude, then 

they can achieve more success in 

future. 

“We did outstandingly in the 

field. Mashrafe [bin Mortaza] 

bhai’s fielding effort was fantastic. 

We probably won’t win games all 

the time but this attitude will make 

things easier. This new attitude of 

being involved in everything and 

supporting each other will take us 

a long way,” said Tamim in his reaction 

to the 90-run win. 

“We have some talented youngsters, 

along with some experienced 

cricketers. The best feeling comes 

when the team are winning. We 

also know that there will be a time 

when things won’t go our way. We 

have to remember our good times 

and when the time comes, we will 

handle it better,” he said. 

Over the past few months, Bangladesh 

created lots of chances only 

to come up agonisingly short. The 

Tigers were in the driving seat in two 

ODIs against host New Zealand in December 

last year. However, they were 

unable to make use of the opportunities 

and lost both the matches. 

In the Test series, Bangladesh 

lost the first game even after going 

close to scoring 600 in the first 

innings. In the solitary Test match 

against India, the Tigers had the 

golden chance of drawing the 

match. It was a tough proposition 

but not an impossible one, considering 

the batting line-up Bangladesh 

possess. But, the Tigers still 

went on to lose. 

Even in the first Test against 

Sri Lanka in Galle, horrible batting 

in the fifth and final day cost the 

visiting side the match. But the 

way Bangladesh turned around in 

the second Test at P Sara Oval in 

Colombo is a glaring positive for 

Bangladesh cricket. 

In the Dambulla ODI, there was a 

time when Bangladesh were going 

strongly, thanks to Sabbir Rahman 

and Tamim’s presence at the crease. 

Suddenly, two wickets fell in quick 

succession and Bangladesh were on 

the verge of a mini-collapse. 

In the past, Bangladesh would 

have lost their way from such situations. 

But the way Tamim and Shakib 

al Hasan, the two senior cricketers of 

the side, handled the situation certainly 

boosted the whole team. 

“When I was batting in the forties, 

I thought I was struggling. But 

if I had got out during that period, 

we wouldn’t have been able to put 

up such a big score. There was a 

massage form the dressing room to 

bat as long as I can. Mashrafe bhai 

came outside and told me to play 

long,” said Tamim. 

“Not everything will go according 

to plan when you’re playing a 

long innings. You can go through 

a difficult patch but you have to 

overcome it. Shakib played a superb 

innings; if he got one or two 

more overs, he would have reached 

the hundred too. 

“In the last few matches, we 

played good cricket but it didn’t show 

in the results. So it is more pleasing to 

win matches. Our progress is shown 

in the small things that we are doing 

properly,” he added. 

Not only the seniors but the 

Bangladesh youngsters in the form 

of Mosaddek Hossain and Mehedi 

Hasan Miraz are also chipping in 

with vital contributions in recent 

times, which goes to show the Tigers’ 

strength in depth. 

“I think Miraz made a fantastic 

debut. He bowled very well. It 

didn’t seem like he was playing his 

first ODI. I think he is a confident 

guy with the right attitude. He will 

go a long way,” said Tamim. 

Winning is important, but winning 

with the right approach is also 

important in order to build a world 

class side. 

All the Tigers have to do now is 

play in the same manner in future. 

Perhaps then they can shed the tag 

of “competitive team” and in the 

process, transform themselves into 

a “world class team”. •

Sports 

19 



2017 EMERGING TEAMS ASIA CUP 

Bangladesh face Hong Kong today 

• Tribune Report 

Host Bangladesh will take on Hong 

Kong in a Group B encounter in the 

opening day of the Max Emerging 

Teams Asia Cup in Cox’s Bazar's 

Sheikh Kamal International Cricket 

Stadium today. 

Pakistan and Nepal will lock 

horns with each other at ground 

two of the same venue. 

Meanwhile in Chittagong, India 

will face Sri Lanka at Zahur 

Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium while 

Afghanistan will battle Malaysia at 

MA Aziz Stadium. 

Bangladesh will be led by national 

top-order batsman Mominul 

Haque while all-rounder Nasir Hossain 

will be his deputy. 

The four Test-playing nations 

– Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and 

Sri Lanka - are allowed to play four 

national team cricketers while the 

rest of the members have to be U-23 

players. 

In contrast, the four Associate 

nations will be eligible to field their 

national teams. 

However, some of the Associates 

are following a different path 

in that many of the national cricketers 

from Afghanistan and Nepal 

have pulled out their names citing 

personal reasons. 

Alongside Mominul and Nasir, 

the men in red and green have 

wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad 

Mithun and pacer Abul Hasan 

Raju who previously appeared for 

Bangladesh. 

Rising star, off-spinner Mehedi 

Hasan Miraz, who falls under the 

U-23 category, was also named in 

the Bangladesh squad for the tournament 

but flew to Sri Lanka at the 

last moment after getting a call-up 

to the Tigers set-up for the three 

ODIs. 

Miraz returned home following 

the two-match Test series against 

the Lankans and was on a short 

break before he joined the Emerging 

squad in Cox’s Bazar. But a sudden 

call by the national selection 

committee saw the youngster catch 

the earliest flight to Colombo. 

He made his ODI bow in the 

Dambulla ODI which the Tigers 

won by 90 runs. Miraz picked up 

two wickets, that of Kusal Mendis 

and Dinesh Chandimal. 

Miraz was replaced by another 

off-spinner, Naeem Hasan. Besides 

the senior members in the team, all 

eyes will also be on top-order batsman 

Azmir Ahmed. Azmir came 

into spotlight after emerging as the 

first Bangladesh batsman to score a 

double hundred in a 50-over game, 

in the Dhaka First Division League. 

Meanwhile, Max Group was 

named the sponsor of the tournament 

in a press conference at Shere-Bangla 

National Stadium in Mirpur 

yesterday. • 

Bangladesh 

Mominul Haque (C), Nasir Hossain (VC), 

Mohammed Saif Hasan, Nazmul Hossain 

Shanto, Mohammad Mithun, Yasir Ali 

Chowdhury, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Saif 

Uddin, Abul Hasan Raju, Abu Haider 

Rony, Azmir Ahmed, Rahatul Ferdous 

Javed, Afif Hossain, Salman Hossain and 

Nasum Ahmed 

Street cricket in Dhaka: Pickup, setup and play 

• Fazlur Rahman Raju 

It was a gloomy day of March with 

drizzling in Dhaka. A group of teenagers 

seemed restless while playing cricket 

in the capital city’s Sonargaon road (Bir 

Uttam CR Dutta road), that too under 

the street lights amid heavy rainfall. 

Most of the players are teenagers and 

work in shops in the Hatirpool neighbourhood. 

In spite of the huge pressure of traffic, 

these guys have adopted the road 

as cricket ground. With the progression 

of time, these boys have improved 

a new form of cricket titled “Pickup, 

setup and play”. 

During an over in a game, they have 

to pick up the stumps at least twice due 

to traffic movement. They pick up the 

stumps when any vehicle passes the 

road and put them back moments later. 

Although their game gets interrupted 

frequently, they still enjoy a lot. Every 

street of Dhaka has its own team and 

unique set of rules. 

Due to lack of open space and 

playgrounds in the city, these street 

cricketers have been forced to adopt 

the “Pickup, setup and play” theory, 

which is often called “Pickup culture”. 

Saju, one of the players, told Dhaka 

Tribune with frustration that they love 

cricket and want to play the game 

regularly. But since there are no playgrounds 

to go, they play in the middle 

of the street. 

Dhaka these days is the perfect 

example of a concrete jungle with 

FIXTURE 

Bangladesh v Hong Kong 

Today, SKICS, Cox's Bazar 

Bangladesh v Nepal 

Tomorrow, SKICS 2, Cox's Bazar 

Bangladesh v Pakistan 

Thursday, SKICS, Cox's Bazar 

very few open spaces. According to a 

research of “Work for a better Bangladesh 

(WBB Trust)”, Dhaka has very little 

open and green spaces per capita by 

all accounts: between 0.052 and 0.5 

square metres. 

According to the Dhaka South City 

Corporation website, there are a total 

of nine playgrounds under its jurisdiction. 

These nine playgrounds cover an 

area of just 20.40 acres. There are a 

total of 27 parks under the corporation 

but most of them are occupied by 

influentials. 

The Dhaka North City Corporation 

meanwhile, has only 15 playgrounds 

and 29 parks. 

These corporations conducted 

several drives to recover the parks and 

playgrounds from the grabbers but 

each and every single time they failed 

to do so. To add to that, the corporations 

use some of the parks as dumping 

places of dustbins and city waste. 

Although Bangladesh rectified 

the United Nations Conventions on 

the Rights of the Child, it has failed 

to provide minimum open spaces for 

children. The UNCRC 1989, article 31(1) 

of the convention states that all state 

Street cricket often takes place in Dhaka University’s Suhrawardy Udyan 

parties are responsible for ensuring 

children’s rights to “play”. 

In 2000, a law was accepted by 

the parliament of Bangladesh for 

conserving playgrounds, open spaces, 

parks and natural water bodies in the 

mega-cities, divisional and district 

towns. 

According to a research article titled 

“Child’s play and recreation in Dhaka 

city, Bangladesh” conducted by Afroza 

Ahmed and Muhammad Sohail, the optimum 

distance between playgrounds 

and houses — irrespective of age or 

background — in Dhaka is under 800m. 

MD MANIK 

MD MANIK 

There are many people with opinions 

regarding street cricket; not about 

the formats, the laws, who will play or 

not, but about the lack of open spaces 

and playgrounds. They all have urged 

to ensure open spaces and playgrounds 

for children. 

Child rights activist and lawyer of 

Ain o Salish Kendra, Child Rights Unit, 

Rasheda Akter said, “Outdoor games 

help a child’s brain and increase the capability 

of leadership. But it is a matter 

of great regret that our city planners 

are not aware of having more open 

spaces and playgrounds for the next 

generation. Even in schools, students 

cannot play outdoor games due to lack 

of playgrounds.” 

She added, “Many of the existing 

open spaces or playgrounds in the 

schools are not functional. These are 

used only for sports day.” 

Dr. Abdur Razzaque Khan, associate 

professor of Mass Communication and 

Journalism department of University of 

Dhaka, said, “The quality of city life is 

measured by parks, gardens and open 

spaces. But large scale infrastructure 

projects and greedy behaviour of the 

real estate companies have ruined the 

city’s normal life.” 

In a sad tone, Alamin, a street cricketer 

of Malibagh area, said, “We play 

on the street as there is no playground 

nearby. 

“We go to Suhrawardy Udyan when 

we have matches with other street 

cricket teams. Dhaka’s street is good 

enough to play cricket.” •

20 



Sports 

‘Rooney still 

has role to play 

for club and 

country’ 

• AFP 

England's record goalscorer Wayne 

Rooney can still play an useful role 

for both his country and club Manchester 

United, his former teammate 

Paul Scholes told the BBC 

yesterday. 

Rooney, who has scored 53 goals 

in his 119 international appearances, 

is not definitively out of 

the England picture, according to 

coach Gareth Southgate, although 

lack of first team football at United 

is not helping his case for inclusion. 

Rooney, who is also his club's 

record goalscorer having passed 

icon Bobby Charlton's mark earlier 

this season, has been linked with 

a move in the close season after 13 

years with United. 

The 31-year-old has been linked 

with a lucrative transfer to the China 

Super League whilst his former 

club Everton have expressed an 

interest. 

However, Scholes says it would 

be a loss for both England and United 

if his former team-mate was dispensed 

with. 

"Wayne has been a sensational 

footballer for England and Manchester 

United for nearly 15 years. 

He is greatly respected and I still 

think he has a part to play with 

United and England," the 42-yearold 

told the BBC. 

"He has great experience, he 

can pass knowledge on to young 

players and it's up to Gareth if and 

when he wants to use it. I don't 

want to talk about him going to another 

English club, I hope he gets 

himself back into the United team. 

He has a fight on his hands but the 

Wayne Rooney I know is someone 

who will face that challenge. 

"He still has a prominent role 

to play for England and United. 

There's been a lot of speculation 

over where he goes now but Wayne, 

with what he's done, has earned 

the right to do what he wants to do. 

I hope he does stay and fight." • 

Dutch suffer shock, Ronaldo in 70-goal landmark 

• AFP 

The Netherlands' hopes of reaching 

the World Cup finals suffered a major 

setback on Saturday when the 

three-time runners-up slumped to 

a shock 2-0 defeat to Bulgaria. The 

loss left the Dutch six points behind 

Group A leaders France, who beat 

Luxembourg 3-1, and down in fourth 

spot, three back from Sweden and 

two off Bulgaria with just the group 

winners guaranteed a place in the 

2018 finals in Russia. 

Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo 

took his international tally to 70 

goals as European champions Portugal 

beat Hungary 3-0 to stay in 

second spot behind Switzerland in 

Group B. 

Belgium needed a goal two minutes 

from time by Romelu Lukaku 

to salvage a 1-1 draw against nineman 

Greece as they stayed two 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the Australian Grand Prix alongside 

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas yesterday in Melbourne REUTERS 

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo vies with Hungary’s Adam Nagy during their WC 2018 Group B qualifying match at Luz stadium in Lisbon on Saturday 

points clear in Group H, although 

Roberto Martinez's team lost their 

100 percent record in the process. 

In Sofia, Bulgaria stunned the 

Dutch with two goals in the first 20 

minutes, both coming from Spas 

Delev. 

Delev pounced on a mistake by 

17-year-old Matthijs De Ligt, Holland's 

youngest debutant since 

1931, who misjudged a pass and 

allowed the striker to slot the ball 

past Jeroen Zoet. Delev then made 

it 2-0 when he unleashed a stinging 

right-foot drive past Zoet. 

The Dutch dominated large parts 

of the rest of the game but were 

thwarted by a solid Bulgarian defence 

while goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov 

pulled off a super save in the second 

period to deny Davy Klaassen. 

Group A table-toppers France, the 

1998 champions and last year's Euro 

2016 runners-up, saw Olivier Giroud 

open the scoring in Luxembourg just 

before the half-hour mark. Luxembourg 

levelled after 34 minutes 

thanks to Aurelien Joachim's penalty, 

his country's first goal against 

France in 39 years. 

But the minnows' joy was shortlived 

as Atletico Madrid striker Antoine 

Griezmann restored France's 

lead, also from the spot, just four 

minutes later. 

Arsenal star Giroud scored his 

second of the evening after 77 minutes 

after being set up by Benjamin 

Mendy. 

In Lisbon, Portugal saw off Hungary, 

a team they shared six goals 

with at Euro 2016. 

The win kept Portugal in second 

place in Group B, three points 

behind Switzerland, who earlier 

preserved their 100 percent record 

with a fifth win in five games, a 1-0 

home victory against Latvia. • 

Vettel masters Hamilton 

• AFP 

Sebastian Vettel out-manoeuvred 

Lewis Hamilton and the world 

champion Mercedes team with 

a stunning victory in the season-opening 

Australian Grand Prix 

in Melbourne yesterday. Vettel won 

by 10 seconds from Hamilton and 

Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas 

in a commanding victory of tactics 

and superior speed around the 

Albert Park street circuit. 

Ferrari hadn't won in Melbourne 

since Kimi Raikkonen's 2007 victory 

and it was Vettel's second triumph 

in Australia after winning 

the 2011 race with Red Bull. It was 

a fillip for the season and the new 

generation of quicker cars after 

Ferrari's superior pre-season test 

times as they chase their first world 

constructors' title since 2008. 

The victory was the German 

four-time world champion's fourth 

for Ferrari and his first since Singapore 

in 2015 and his 43rd career 

win. Ferrari got the better of 

Mercedes in the sole round of tyre 

changes which ultimately decided 

RESULTS 

AFP 

Sweden 4-0 Belarus 

Forsberg 19-P, 49, 

Berg 57, Thelin 77 

Luxembourg 1-3 France 

Joachim 34-P Giroud 28, 77, 

Griezmann 37-P 

Bulgaria 2-0 Netherlands 

Delev 5, 20 

Andorra 0-0 Faroe Islands 

Switzerland 1-0 Latvia 

Drmic 66 

Portugal 3-0 Hungary 

Silva 32, Ronaldo 36, 65 

Bosnia 5-0 Gibraltar 

Ibisevic 4, 43, Vrsajevic 52, 

Visca 56 Bicakcic 90+4 

Cyprus 0-0 Estonia 

Belgium 1-1 

Lukaku 89 Mitroglou 46 

the race. 

Hamilton's early stop meant 

he rejoined behind the Red Bull 

of Max Verstappen which allowed 

Vettel to open up a decisive gap 

at the head of the field. Ferrari's 

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth with 

Verstappen fifth ahead of Brazilian 

Felipe Massa in the Williams. 

Australia's Daniel Ricciardo had 

a heartbreaking day with gear box 

problems ending his race on the 

29th lap after he was forced to start 

from pit lane when his Red Bull car 

broke down on the warm-up lap. •

Sports 

21 



QUICK BYTES 

‘Bale could have 

broken my leg’ 

Republic of Ireland veteran John 

O’Shea believes he was fortunate to 

avoid a broken leg after being fouled 

by Gareth Bale during his side’s 

bruising World Cup qualifier against 

Wales. Ireland captain Seamus Coleman 

sustained a sickening double 

leg break during Friday’s 0-0 draw in 

Dublin in an incident that saw Welsh 

wing-back Neil Taylor sent off. Bale 

had earlier escaped with a yellow 

card after catching O’Shea high on 

the left leg as he slid in to attack Chris 

Gunter’s cross and the Sunderland 

defender revealed the injury had 

required stitches. “I’ve had plenty 

of stitches put in there. I was lucky 

considering what has happened to 

Seamus,” O’Shea told reporters. “On 

another night there could have been 

two red cards.” 

AFP 

Former Ghana 

coach Addo dies 

Former Ghana coach Herbert Addo 

has died aged 65 in the Accra 

military hospital from an undisclosed 

illness, football officials announced 

Saturday. His four-decade coaching 

career included handling the 

national under-20, under-23 and 

senior teams. Addo guided Obuasi 

Goldfields (now AshantiGold) to the 

first Caf Champions League final in 

1997, which they lost on penalties to 

Raja Casablanca of Morocco. He is 

the only coach to win the Ghanaian 

league title with four different clubs, 

including the two biggest crowd-pullers 

in the west African nation, Asante 

Kotoko and Hearts of Oak. His other 

championships successes came with 

AshantiGold (twice) and Aduana 

Stars. 

AFP 

SA achieve record 

unbeaten run 

South Africa stretched an unbeaten 

run to a record 16 matches with a 3-1 

friendly international victory over 

Guinea-Bissau in Durban. Kermit 

Erasmus and Andile Jali converted 

penalties and Percy Tau scored on 

debut for Bafana Bafana (“The Boys”) 

at a wet and windy Moses Mabhida 

Stadium. Djalo “Aldair” Balde scored 

for Guinea-Bissau, whose qualification 

for the 2017 Africa Cup of 

Nations ranks among the greatest 

shocks in the 60-year competition. 

AFP 

DAY’S WATCH 

CRICKET 

Star Sports 1 

10:00AM 

Australia Tour of India 

4th Test, Day 3 

Quinton de Kock of South Africa plays a shot on day two of their third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton 

yesterday 

AFP 

De Kock bats through pain 

• AFP 

Quinton de Kock batted through 

the pain of a damaged finger to bolster 

South Africa with a defiant 90 

as the deciding Test against New 

Zealand was evenly poised at the 

end of day three in Hamilton yesterday. 

In the rain disrupted Test, New 

Zealand were 67 without loss at 

stumps, with a rejuvenated Tom 

Latham on 42, in reply to South Africa's 

314. 

The injured De Kock and previously 

out-of-form Latham were 

the individual stars in the deciding 

Test with South Africa 1-0 up 

and New Zealand needing a win to 

draw the series. 

De Kock, playing with damaged 

ligaments in his right index finger, 

went to the middle with South 

Africa 148 for five and he held the 

innings together while the bottom 

half of the batting order added a 

further 166. 

4TH TEST, DAY 2 

SOUTH AFRICA 314 in 89.2 overs 

(De Kock 90, Henry 4/93) lead NEW 

ZEALAND 67/0 in 25.3 overs (Latham 

42*, Raval 25*) by 247 runs 

South African batting coach Neil 

McKenzie described De Kock as "a 

unique player" who needed painkillers 

to get through the day. 

Latham, who managed 24 in 

total in three previous innings in 

the series, put his string of low 

scores behind him to ensure a 

positive start to Zealand's reply 

with Jeetan Raval who was 25 not 

out at stumps. New Zealand bowling 

coach Shane Jurgensen said 

Latham was buoyed by a standout 

performance in the field highlighted 

by an instinctive catch at short 

leg to remove Faf du Plessis. 

Just as De Kock's 91 in the first 

innings in Wellington set South Africa 

up for an eight-wicket victory, 

he again tormented New Zealand 

with his trouble-free approach. 

His 90 came off only 118 balls, 

highlighting why captain Du 

Plessis was determined to have 

him play despite the wicketkeeper-batsman's 

injury. 

He hit 11 fours and two huge sixes, 

one off New Zealand's best performed 

bowler Matt Henry and one 

off Jeetan Patel, as he dominated 

the off-spinner who had claimed 

his wicket cheaply in the drawn 

first Test. But 10 runs short of his 

century he played across the line to 

Neil Wagner and was out lbw. 

South Africa resumed the day 

at 123 for four and after Henry removed 

Temba Bavuma for 29, Du 

Plessis progressed to 53 before a 

smart piece of fielding by Latham 

at short leg. On the third ball of 

Mitch Santner's opening over, 

Latham anticipated du Plessis was 

going to sweep and before the shot 

was played he was moving to his 

right where he flung out an arm to 

take the close-range catch. • 

Figo reveals Real regrets over Gerrard 

• AFP 

Luis Figo said he wished Steven 

Gerrard had played alongside him 

at Real Madrid after watching the 

former Liverpool captain star in 

Saturday's charity match at Anfield. 

Gerrard, who at 36 was one of 

the youngest and most recently-retired 

players on show, was 

in sparkling form as a “Liverpool 

Legends” team beat their Real Madrid 

counterparts 4-3 in a match in 

aid of the Liverpool Football Club 

Foundation. 

Former Liverpool captain Gerrard, 

now back at Anfield as a member 

of the coaching staff, retired in 

November after ending his playing 

career with the LA Galaxy in the 

United States' Major League Soccer. 

The ex-England midfielder had 

a role in all four Liverpool goals on 

Saturday, scoring one, setting up 

two and also winning a penalty. 

At the peak of his career, Gerrard 

- won the Champions League 

with Liverpool - was a target for 

some of the world's leading clubs. 

Yet he remained loyal to hometown 

club Liverpool until eventually 

opting to go to Los Angeles. 

Figo, however, was in no doubt 

that Gerrard would have held his 

own among the “Galacticos” in the 

celebrated Real team of his time in 

Madrid. 

"The moment in life when we 

had the possibility to play together, 

that wasn't possible. I think it is 

a pity because everyone wants to 

play with the best," the Portuguese 

star said. 

"I think Gerrard showed in his 

career he was one of the best footballers 

in his position. It was a pity 

but for Liverpool it was lucky because 

he could show his quality 

and talent here, at Anfield." • 

Lyon roars for 

Australia 

• AFP 

Australian off-spinner Nathan 

Lyon was the hero on an engrossing 

second day of the series-deciding 

fourth and final Test yesterday, 

taking four key Indian wickets. 

The 29-year-old made the most 

of a lively track at Dharamsala, 

which is hosting its first Test, to return 

a rich haul of 4-67. 

Fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood 

(1-40) and Pat Cummins (1-59) also 

bowled their hearts out during frugal 

spells to restrict the top-ranked 

hosts to 248-6 at stumps. 

India still trail by 52 runs with 

four wickets in hand after Australia 

made 300 in their first knock, 

largely thanks to a fine 111 from 

captain Steve Smith. At stumps 

Wriddhiman Saha was batting on 

10 with Ravindra Jadeja on 16. 

3RD TEST, DAY 2 

AUSTRALIA 300 lead INDIA 248/6 

in 91 overs (Rahul 60, Lyon 4/67) by 52 

runs 

The Indian batsmen were guilty 

of squandering good starts in a 

match they must win to regain 

the Border-Gavaskar trophy. But 

Lokesh Rahul (60) and Cheteshwar 

Pujara (57) batted patiently to put 

on 87 for the second wicket, the 

best partnership for the hosts. 

Ajinkya Rahane, standing in 

for Virat Kohli, looked set for a big 

score but ended up gifting a catch 

to Smith off Lyon for 46 off 104 

balls. Ravichandran Ashwin (30) 

was adjudged lbw off Lyon. The 

all-rounder opted for a review but 

ball tracking showed the stumps 

would have been hit. Ashwin hit 

four fours in his 49-ball knock. 

Lyon conceded 163 runs while 

taking just one wicket in the previous 

drawn Test at Ranchi. But 

the bowler, whose experience as a 

curator means he has a sharp understanding 

of pitches, brought 

Australia back into the game in the 

final session through some classic 

old-fashioned spin. •

22 



Showtime 

Tribute to Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds 

• Showtime Desk 

With humour, music and the 

tapping of dancing shoes, a public 

memorial to Debbie Reynolds and 

Carrie Fisher, which loved ones 

say is just how the actresses would 

have wanted it, took place in Los 

Angeles last Saturday. 

The two-hour ceremony, 

held at the 1200-seat theatre 

at Hollywood’s Forest Lawn 

Memorial Park, honoured the 

mother-daughter duo’s impact on 

film and culture. Reynold’s son 

Todd Fisher led the ceremony, 

which he said was intended to 

bring fans an intimate view of his 

mother and sister. He referred to it 

as a show, saying his mother hated 

to attend memorials. 

In the ceremony, James Blunt 

performed a song which he wrote 

after Fisher’s death. The Gay 

Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles also 

performed a sombre rendition of 

Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colours” 

that honoured Fisher’s status as 

a feminist icon. A troupe from 

Reynolds’ dance studio performed 

an homage to Singin’ in the Rain, 

the film that propelled Reynolds to 

stardom at the age of 19. 

A working R2D2 unit came on 

stage followed by an opening film 

that was an ode to Fisher’s Star 

Wars role. The working R2D2 unit 

mournfully beeped and parked 

next to a director’s chair with 

Fisher’s name on it. 

Todd Fisher said, “There were 

no finer people that I have ever 

known than my mother and 

sister.” He recounted his mother’s 

final moments and her remark 

that she wanted to be with her 

daughter. “It was a very peaceful 

exit that only my mother could 

have orchestrated,” he said to 

booming laughter. “She was 

trained in Hollywood where 

they teach you to make a great 

entrance, and exit.” 

Dan Aykroyd paid tribute to 

his ex-fiancee Fisher joking that 

she openly tried to rekindle her 

romance with singer Paul Simon 

while they were dating, “She had 

long conversations on the phone 

in my presence with Paul Simon 

with whom she was attempting 

to reconcile at the time of my 

relationship with her.” 

“Here I found myself in love 

with a woman who was returning 

to a former intimate, and might 

I say a better choice,” he added. 

Aykroyd also described Fisher as 

a chatterbox who never let him 

speak. 

Several stars, including Rene 

Russo, Beverly D’Angelo, Dallas 

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher in 1997 

actress Morgan Brittany, actordirector 

Fisher Stevens, Brady 

Bunch actress Susan Olsen and 

actor Griffin Dunne, attended the 

ceremony. 

Griffin Dunne recalled living 

with Fisher in New York when they 

were both young actors, and her 

initial reactions to working on Star 

Wars. Dunne recounted Fisher’s 

early evaluation of the film: “It’s 

stupid and it’s terrible.” After the 

first screening, they both knew she 

had been wrong. “We knew movies 

PHOTO: CBS 

would never be the same, and you 

just knew Carrie’s life would never 

be the same,” he remarked. 

After the ceremony, fans were 

invited to see the actresses’ final 

resting place at Forest Lawn, 

Hollywood Hills. • 

Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole welcome a son 


One Direction’s Liam Payne 

announced on an Instagram post 

late on Saturday evening, that he 

and Cheryl Cole, former The X 

Factor judge and Girls Aloud star, 

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES 

have become proud parents of a 

son on Wednesday. 

The couple welcomed their 

first child at London’s Chelsea 

and Westminster Hospital. 

The One Direction singer 

posted: “I’m incredibly happy to 

welcome our new baby boy into 

the world, it’s a moment that I 

will never forget for the rest of 

my life and my favourite memory 

I have so far,” accompanied by 

a captioned photo of himself, 

snuggling with his newborn. 

“I’m completely in awe of 

his incredible mother and how 

she has been the whole way 

through this, she’s really made 

my dreams come true,” he says of 

Cheryl. “We haven’t named him 

yet but he’s already capturing 

hearts including mine. I feel very 

blessed.” 

Cheryl shared the same 

picture of Payne and revealed 

that the baby was born on March 

22, weighing 7 lbs., 9 oz. Her post 

read: “Happy Mother’s Day to all 

the mothers around the world. 

A day that now has a different 

meaning to me forever.” 

Payne and Cheryl began dating 

late last year. They first met back 

in 2010 when the former One 

Direction member competed on 

The X-Factor. Cheryl was then a 

judge on the competition. 

Meanwhile, numerous fans have 

been posting on social media, 

speculating that the couple will 

call their newborn son Alfie or 

Taylor. • 

Students to get discounted tickets 

for Shreya Ghoshal concert 


Indian singer Shreya Ghoshal is all 

set to perform at a concert to be 

held at the International Convention 

City, Basundhara on March 

31. The organisers announced that 

they have arranged a special entry 

price for students. 

Jointly organised by Octopi 

Limited and ATN Events, the 

concert titled, “Shreya Ghoshal 

Melody Night Live in Dhaka” will 

also feature Bangladeshi singer 

Pinto Ghosh, Tasnim Anika, Miftah 

Zaman and Kinjal Chattopadhyay 

from Kolakata. 

The organisers informed that students 

can buy the concert tickets at 

30% off by showing their ID cards. 

Tickets for the concert are 

available at The Westin Dhaka, 

Banani’s Floor 6 Reloaded, 

Mirpur’s Sub Hub, Dhanmondi’s 

Cafe Darbar and at Hatirjheel’s 

Caffeiners’. •

Showtime 

23 



Nepal’s largest art festival featuring 

eight Bangladeshi artists 

PHOTOS: FACEBOOK/THE VISUAL ARTS PROGRAMME OF BENGAL FOUNDATION 

the history of the post-war 

politics of the country. Mustafa 

Zaman’s “The Gatekeeper 

of Pre-history” criticises the 

linearised explanation of the 

history. Promotesh Das’ sculpture 

lifts up the dialectics of life and 

Zihan Karim’s videoart questions 

the urbanisation and economic 

development. 

The Kathmandu Triennale 

is the latest iteration of the 

pioneering Kathmandu 

International Art Festival (KIAF), 

a premier international platform 

for global contemporary arts. 

Like the precursory festivals of 

2009 and 2012, the Triennale 

is thematically engaged with 

WHAT TO WATCH 

Mad Max: Fury Road 

7:13pm, HBO 

A woman rebels against a 

tyrannical ruler in postapocalyptic 

Australia in 

search for her home-land 

with the help of a group of 

female prisoners, a psychotic 

worshipper, and a drifter 

named Max. 

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize 

Theron, Nicholas Hoult, 

Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie 

Huntington-Whiteley, Riley 

Keough 


Eight prominent Bangladeshi 

artists are taking part in the 

Kathmandu Triennale, Nepal’s 

largest art festival, which has 

kicked off on March 24. 

The Visual Arts Programme 

of Bengal Foundation is holding 

an exhibition titled Upheavals 

as part of the social program 

of the Kathmandu Triennale 

2017. An exhibition exploring 

contemporary Bangladesh 

through the eyes of eight artists 

from the country, Upheavals is 

running from yesterday to the 

closing day of the grand event, 

April 9. 

Upheavals examines the 

ambiguous power of change 

through three generations of 

artists from Bangladesh and 

features Dhali Al Mamoon, 

Shishir Bhattacharjee, Mustafa 

Justice League 

trailer is out 


The first full trailer for the muchanticipated 

superhoero-squad 

movie Justice League has arrived. 

Directed by Zack Snyder, who 

has Batman v Superman: Dawn 

of Justice to his credit, the movie 

is one of the heavily hyped DC 

venture which is also considered 

an answer to Marvel’s The 

Avengers. 

A common name in the 

world of comics, Marvel paved 

the way of multiple character 

spin-off movies in the first place 

and brought its first superhero 

“universe” altogether, Justice 

Zaman, Zihan Karim, Marzia 

Farhana, Promotesh Das 

Pulak, Dilara Begum Jolly and 

Razib Datta. Representing the 

three generations of artists 

of the nation, their works 

include various forms of art 

including artwork, videoart 

and sculpture. Works of these 

artists are circumscribed 

around contemporary dynamic 

Bangladesh along with the 

coherence of the glorious past. 

Mashfee Binte Shams, the 

ambassador of Bangladesh to 

Nepal, and Sangeeta Thapa, 

founder and chair of the 

Kathmandu Triennale have 

jointly inaugurated the exhibition 

yesterday at Park Gallery, 

Lalitpur, Nepal. The exhibition 

will remain open from 10am to 

7pm everyday during the festival. 

“Lal Saheber Chair” by Dhali 

Al Mamoon captures the history 

League features the likes of 

Batman, Aquaman and Wonder 

Woman, and is due to be followed 

by films giving each character 

solo outings in reply. 

Wonder Woman, which will be 

released in June this year, stars 

Gal Gadot and fans are waiting 

for the arrival of Aquaman in 

December 2018. The Batman 

has been going through some 

production troubles, which may 

delay the landing of the movie 

as there’s been no sign of the 

inauguration of the shooting until 

next year. 

In the 15-second teaser, which 

has been released on Friday and 

of the feudal regime while Dilara 

Begum’s work represents the 

tale of the Bangladeshi women 

who fought for their soil in the 

Liberation War. The power and 

wit of the Bengali language are 

celebrated in the site-specific 

intervention of Razib Datta. 

The mural drawings portray the 

fictional character Ramij in a 

series of absurd situations. when 

Shishir Bhattercharjee sketches 

Saturday, Warner Bros showed 

the likes of Batman, Aquaman 

and Wonder Woman. But the 

trailer presents specially prepared 

footage from the film that was 

debuted at the Comic Con festival 

in July. Duration of the trailer is 

particular social issues and seeks 

to advance a nuanced approach 

that encapsulates the pedagogical 

potential of visual arts. The 

festival features works by 70 

artists from 26 countries, which 

are being exhibited concurrently 

in eight venues around the 

Valley, over the course of 17 days. 

This edition of the mega event 

has been themed “My City, My 

Studio/My City, My Life.”• 

over two minutes. 

Announced in October 2014 

with Snyder on board to direct 

and Terrio attached to write the 

script, Justice league is scheduled 

to be released on November 17, 

2017, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.• 

Journey to the Center of the 

Earth 

3:20pm, Movies Now 

On a quest to find out what 

happened to his missing 

brother, a scientist, his 

nephew and their mountain 

guide discover a fantastic and 

dangerous lost world in the 

centre of the earth. 

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Josh 

Hutcherson, Anita Briem 

New Police Story 

4pm, Star Movies 

A hero cop accidentally leads 

his team into a trap from 

which he is the only survivor. 

Drowning his guilt in booze, he 

is eventually assigned a new 

younger partner who turns out 

to have his own secrets. 

Cast: Jackie Chan, Nicholas 

Tse, Mak Bau, Tak-bun Wong, 

Winnie Leung 

Insidious: Chapter 2 

7:25pm, Zee Studio 

The Lamberts believe that they 

have defeated the spirits that 

have haunted their family, but 

they soon discover that evil is 

not beaten so easily. 

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose 

Byrne, Barbara Hershey 

Michael Jackson’s-This Is It 

3:52pm, WB 

A compilation of interviews, 

rehearsals and backstage 

footage of Michael Jackson as 

he prepared for his series of 

sold-out shows in London. 

Cast: Michael Jackson, Alex 

Al, Alexandra Apjarova, Nick 

Bass, Michael Bearden •

24 



ROAD ACCIDENTS KILL 

18 IN 4 DISTRICTS › 7 

Back Page 

BPC PLANS TO IMPORT OCTANE 

AS ERL SET FOR RENOVATION › 10 

TRIBUTE TO CARRIE FISHER 

AND DEBBIE REYNOLDS › 22 

Nation pays respect to martyrs of ‘71 


The nation celebrated the 47th Independence 

and National Day of the 

country yesterday with a vow to uproot 

militancy from Bangladesh and 

build a happy, prosperous “Sonar 

Bangla” that is free from poverty. 

On March 26, 1971, Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s 

independence following the 

crackdown on unarmed Bangalis 

on the night of March 25 by Pakistani 

occupation forces. 

After a nine-month war, the 

people achieved its cherished independence 

on December 16. 

Political parties, their affiliates 

and different other organisations 

arranged programmes around the 

country to remember the war martyrs, 

reported UNB. 

President Abdul Hamid and 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid 

tributes to Liberation War martyrs 

by placing wreaths at the altar of 

National Mausoleum in Savar early 

in the morning. 

After placing the wreaths, the 

president and the prime minister 

took a few moments of silence as a 

mark of respect to the memories of 

the martyrs. 

Following the president and the 

prime minister, a smartly turnedout 

contingent drawn from Bangladesh 

Army, Navy and Air Force 

presented a state salute while the 

bugles played the last post. 

Later, flanked by senior leaders 

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina place wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar yesterday morning 

on Bangladesh’s Independence Day to pay tribute to the Liberation War martyrs 

PID 

of the party, Sheikh Hasina laid 

another wreath at the National Memorial 

as the president of her party 

Bangladesh Awami League. 

She also paid rich tributes to 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

on the day. 

Teachers, students and employees 

of Dhaka University, led by 

Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin 

Siddique, placed a wreath at the 

National Mausoleum as well. 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia also 

paid her tributes to the Liberation 

War martyrs placing a wreath at the 

National Mausoleum in the morning. 

In the afternoon, BNP took out 

an Independence Day rally in the 

city, with police permission. 

This was their first Independence 

Rally in five years and also 

their first street programme in the 

capital this year. 

Thousands of leaders and activists 

holding banners, festoons and 

placards thronged Fakirerpool to 

Kakrail crossing. 

BNP Secretary General Mirza 

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir inaugurated 

the rally around 3:15pm in front 

of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, 

UNB reported. 

In his brief speech prior to inaugurating 

the rally, the BNP secretary 

general alleged that the 

country’s independence and sovereignty 

was at stake while democracy, 

people’s voting rights, freedom 

of expression and other rights had 

been taken away. 

“We want to restore democracy 

and all of people’s rights. That is 

why we all must get united under 

the leadership of Khaleda Zia to 

strengthen the movement for restoration 

of democracy,” he said. 

Later in the day, special prayers 

were offered at all mosques in DU, 

while its music department arranged 

a cultural programme at the 

TSC in the evening. 

Bangladesh missions abroad 

celebrated the occasion in a befitting 

manner as well. • 

‘The Unfinished Memoirs’ published in French 

• UNB 

The first autobiography of Father 

of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman, “The Unfinished 

Memoirs,” has been published in 

French language. 

Ginkgo Editeur, a renowned 

French publishing house, published 

the book marking the 47th Independence 

and National Day of Bangladesh 

and the 45th anniversary of establishing 

diplomatic relations between 

Bangladesh and France. 

The book hit Salon Livre Paris, the 

biggest book fair in France, at Porte 

De Versailles in Paris yesterday. 

The book was translated by 

France Bhattachariya, professor 

emeritus of the National Institute of 

Oriental Language and Civilisation 

(INALCO) at the University of Paris. 

The work for publishing the book 

in French was conducted under 

the personal supervision of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Apart from Bangla and English, 

the book is also available in Chinese, 

Urdu, Japanese and Arabic. 

Bhattachariya has also translated 

different Bangla literary work, 

including “Jogajog,” “Noshto Neer,” 

“Anandamoth,” “Kopalkundola,” 

“Pother Panchali” and “Monoshamongal 

Kabya” in French. 

Jeremi Krodon, teacher at the 

department of Bangla language and 

civilisation at INALCO, wrote the 

footnotes of the book. 

Besides, former French ambassador 

to Bangladesh Surge Degale, 

head of Bangla department at 

INALCO Dr Phillip Benowa and eminent 

educationist Phillip Rat worked 

together for publication of the book. 

Former French foreign minister 

Hubert Ve’dirne wrote the introduction. 

“The people of France were with 

Bangalee people in the 1757’s Plassey 

Battle against British East India 

Company where a French soldier led 

the artillery unit. But the Bangalees 

were defeated in the battle and lost 

their independence,” Ve’dirne wrote. 

“Bangla got back its independence 

after long 214 years under the 

leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman.” 

“The Unfinished Memoirs” was 

first published on June 18, 2012 in its 

original Bangla version “Oshomapto 

Atmojiboni” as well as in English. 

Bangabandhu wrote the 

book during his time in jail through 

1967-69. • 

GLOBAL RECOGNITION 

OF 1971 GENOCIDE 

ICSF suggests 

7-point strategic 

roadmap for 

government 


The International Crimes Strategy 

Forum (ICSF) has prescribed a 

seven-point strategical roadmap 

for the Bangladesh government for 

establishing global recognition of 

1971 genocide. 

The ICSF, an independent global 

network of experts and activists 

working to ensure justice for the 

victims of international crimes, has 

long been campaigning for recognition 

of the Bangladesh Genocide. 

The organisation has urged the 

Bangladesh government to engage 

with their Indian counterpart regarding 

access to India’s classified 

war archives for useful information. 

It posted the suggestions on 

their official website on March 25, 

which was observed as the first 

ever Genocide Day in Bangladesh. 

The ICSF also recommended actively 

engaging with international 

organisations in their seven-pointer, 

for cognisance of 1971 atrocities 

as genocide and international 

crimes. 

It stressed on reaching out to 

other foreign governments and 

entities with shared, strategic, or 

mutually advantageous interests 

involving recognition of 1971 genocide. 

The platform proffered introducing 

Genocide Risk Education in 

Bangladesh and making it part of 

the national curriculum; preserving 

important sites relating to the 

Liberation War; investing in knowledge 

base development relating to 

1971 history which include archiving 

and digitising documents and 

making them easily accessible; and 

extending support to citizens’ initiatives 

relating to 1971 across the 

world. 

Bangladesh’s parliament on 

March 11 adopted a resolution to 

observe March 25 as Genocide Day, 

which got the cabinet’s nod nine 

days later. 

Commending the step of parliament 

as one in the right direction, 

the ICSF said in a statement the 

move not only serves as a milestone 

in honouring the victims of 

international crimes in 1971, but 

also works as a safeguard against 

repetition of such atrocities. • 

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

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

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