e_Paper, Sunday, April 16, 2017

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 | Boishakh 3, 1424, Rajab 18, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 348 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 8-page business s supplement | Price: Tk10 

Is Jamaat 

on the 

rise again? › 2

2 

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 

DT 

News 

Think Jamaat is finished? Think again 

• Manik Miazee 

After nearly four years of lingering 

in political limbo, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami 

is showing it is actively 

engaging people in the grassroots 

level, without drawing undue 

attention. 

In 2013, a Supreme Court verdict 

cancelled the registration of the 

party with the Election Commission, 

preventing it from taking part 

in any elections. Another Supreme 

Court decision in 2016 to remove 

“weighing scales” as an electoral 

symbol seemed to be yet another 

nail in the coffin for Jamaat. 

But despite the apparent absence 

from Bangladeshi politics, 

Jamaat has been working around 

the clock to prepare for the 2019 

elections. 

Even before the party institution 

was deconstructed, the top 

brass were being indicted from 

2011 for their war crimes during the 

1971 Liberation War. In response to 

the loss of major leaders, the controversial 

party has been bringing 

in new blood and fresh faces. 

It was widely believed that Jamaat 

would appeal to overturn 

the Supreme Court’s decision to 

restrict their election participation. 

The case now rests with the Appellate 

Division, and until recently 

this had appeared to be Jamaat’s 

key to get back into the game. 

Old play, new actors 

But a number of Jamaat leaders, a 

mix of veterans who survived the 

judicial action and new recruits, 

say that the party will sit for the 

election by any means necessary. 

Since 2016, the main focus of Jamaat 

has been to rebuild its target 

demographic from the grassroots. 

Rural areas, border areas, areas 

which have experienced severe 

crackdown by law enforcement 

agencies are the key voter mines 

for Jamaat to tap. 

Jamaat seems to be focusing on 

the northern and coastal districts 

for its revival. 

Insert panel of constituencies here 

Families which have lost a member 

to engagement with police or RAB 

are singled out. Jamaat members 

are building up rapport on empathy. 

Financially marginalised families 

are supported with job opportunities 

or welfare if they join the 

party. 

Highly-trained Jamaat members 

(Rokon), numbering in the thousands, 

go from door to door, engaging 

people one-on-one to sway their 

votes. Mosques see regular sermons 

by these rokons. Party funds are on 

the rise with donations from patrons 

and registered members. 

Championing the Comilla mayoral 

elections 

The restructuring and maneuvering 

of Jamaat-e-Islami was palpable, 

but not visible, in the Comilla 

City Corporation election earlier 

this month. Thousands of rokons 

from Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni 

and Chittagong formed the core 

of their political campaign, laying 

the groundwork for the 20-party 

Alliance victory. With additional 

low-key support of its student-wing 

Islami Chhatra Shibir, 

four Jamaat-affiliated councillors 

emerged victorious out of the five 

seats they campaigned for. 

BNP-backed Monirul Haque 

Sakku retained his mayoralty with 

heavy support from Jamaat and its 

wing organisations. Several Jamaat 

leaders told the Dhaka Tribune it 

considered the 2017 Comilla City 

Corporation election a proving 

ground of their restructuring, a test 

they believe to have passed exceptionally 

well. 

Comilla is considered fertile for 

the new Jamaat, and there is reason 

enough for this. Syeed Abdullah 

Muhammad Taher, a member of 

PM: Govt and judiciary must 

not be in conflict 

• Tribune Desk 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has 

asked the three state organs - judiciary, 

legislature and executive - to 

maintain a better relationship. 

Speaking at the inauguration 

of the newly constructed Judges 

Complex, a residential complex for 

Supreme Court judges in Dhaka’s 

Kakrail, Hasina took a reconciliatory 

tone to grievances raised by the 

chief justice. 

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar 

Sinha, who spoke at the event said 

the prime minister had been misled 

about some major decisions 

involving the judiciary, while he 

himself had been sidelined. 

Vested quarters were engaged in 

trying to create distance between 

the judiciary and the government, 

CONSTITUENCIES WHICH COULD 

SEE JAMAAT CONTEST 

DISTRICT SEAT DISTRICT SEAT DISTRICT SEAT 

Thakurgaon 2 Rangpur 5 Khulna 5, 6 

Kurigram 4 Lalmonirhat 1 Sherpur 1 

Gaibandha 1, 3, 4 Nilphamari 2, 3 Mymensingh 6 

Chapainawabganj 2, 3 Dinajpur 1, 6 Sylhet 5, 6 

Rajshahi 3 Satkhira 1, 2, 3, 4 Comilla 12 

Sirajganj 4,5 Pirojpur 1, 2 Chittagong 14 

Pabna 1, 5 Patuakhali 2 Cox’s Bazar 2, 4 

Meherpur 1 Jessore 1, 2 Bagerhat 3, 4 

Jhenaidah 3 Chuadanga 2 

he said. 

The prime minister in response 

said the three organs of the state 

should not be involved in a show of 

strength towards each other. 

“The organs of the state complement 

each other. No one has power 

over the other. The nation will not 

function properly if the state organs 

are in conflict,” she said. 

The Law Ministry since August 

last year has been stalling the Supreme 

Court on issuing a gazette 

notification on conduct rules for 

judges, which emerged from the 

1997 State vs Masdar Hossain case. 

Another contentious issue has 

been the ministry’s non-confirmation 

of judge Farid Ahmed Shibli 

as a High Court justice in February 

this year. Farid Ahmed Shibli and 

nine others were appointed as additional 

justices in February 2015, 

but he was left out from the ministry 

gazette this year despite the 

chief justice’s recommendation. 

“As per the Constitution, the 

president will consult the Chief Justice 

while appointing judges, but finally 

it is the president’s decision. 

“If confusion arises, it should be 

settled through consultation with 

the president, and this is the right 

path. I have no power of my own in 

this matter,” she said. 

Regarding the Judges Complex, 

prime minister said the residential 

complex was constructed considering 

the safety and security of the 

judges as well as modern housing 

facilities. The prime minister unveiled 

the plaque of the 20-storey 

Judges Complex of 76 flats, built on 

1.5 acres land at Kakrail in Dhaka.• 

the current Executive Committee 

of Jamaat and former president of 

the central committee of Chhatra 

Shibir and a former MP, is a Chauddagram 

native. 

After the election results sounded 

the victory for the BNP-led 

20-party Alliance, Taher congratulated 

Gulam Kibria, Mosharraf Hossain, 

Iqramul Haque Babu and Siddiqur 

Rahman Suruj from wards 1, 

6, 8 and 20 respectively on a Facebook 

post on March 30. 

In his post, Taher praised the 

decision of the nominees to campaign 

under a different symbol, 

which signified the party had made 

its peace with losing the “scales.” 

A more fervent Facebook post by 

Rezaul Karim, member of Jamaat 

central working committee and another 

former president of central 

Chhatra Shibir, hailed the victory as 

a divine blessing from Allah. 

“It is the victory of the people 

against the misrule of Awami 

league. Allah himself assured 

the respect of the tears of the oppressed 

and the blood of the martyrs. 

The victors must pay gratitude 

to the Almighty. Evident in 

the history that none can sustain 

their power only by means of oppression 

and suppression, the oppressor 

must suffer the defeat in 

the consequence.” 

‘Quran does not change, our 

charter does’ 

The Jamaat revamp has seen three 

key changes in its charters. Their 

first national conference is in the 

works, the elections for the 23-member 

executive body, 53-member 

working committee, 277-member 

central Majlish-e-Sura body have 

been completed by March 2017, and 

there are new chiefs from the party’s 

helm to the wards. 

The party aims to see at least 33% 

of its members be women by 2020. 

The ameers for Dhaka South and 

Dhaka North units are all fresh faces, 

but tried and tested during their 

tenure as Shibir president. 

Jamaat and Shibir are using 

online platforms to expand their 

reach. A source said they are afraid 

of using cellular connections as 

it can be traced back and monitored 

by the police. Rather, Viber, 

Skype, Facebook, Line, Imo, and 

other web-based communication 

platforms have become their 

Suhrawardy Udyan. 

In addition, thousands of Facebook 

pages are active around the 

clock. Each unit has its own Facebook 

page, giving them a unique 

identity and an umbrella at the 

same time. 

A Jamaat leader commented: 

“Our charter is not absolute, the 

Quran does not change, but our 

charter adapts with time and age.” 

Target 2019 

According to several reputed confidential 

sources, Jamaat is eyeing 

40 constituencies to contest in the 

2019 general elections. 

The party has contingencies for 

its contingencies. If the court does 

not allow Jamaat to take part in the 

elections as a party, the candidates 

will declare themselves independent 

to continue moving forward. 

Jamaat sources stated their current 

focus is on doing inventory, 

assessing future costs, estimating 

the logistics required, and how 

much show of force will be needed 

to bring Jamaat back into the spotlight, 

without the tarnished reputation 

of war crimes billowing in 

their wake.• 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the Liberation War Museum 

in Agargaon today. The new building is an expansion of the Kakrail museum 

founded on March 22, 1996. The new site is expected to hold exciting new 

exhibits such as rocket launchers, broken remnants of a bridge, and a fighter 

jet used in the war and donated by India. Due to lack of space, these among 

other exhibits weren’t on display at the old location. The photo was taken 

yesterday 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

POHELA BOISHAKH 

News 3 


Resisting militancy through joy, benevolence 

DT 

• Tarek Mahmud 

Snapshots of Pohela Baishakh 1424 in Dhaka (clockwise from top left): A group 

of dancers perform at a Bangla New Year programme organised by Bangabandhu 

International Cultural Centre, Channel I, and Shurer Dhora; a group of singers 

perform at a musical event organised by Chhayanaut at Ramna Botomul; Dhaka 

University’s Faculty of Fine Arts brings out the annual Mongol Shobhajatra 

MEHEDI HASAN / RAJIB DHAR / SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

Dhaka city came alive on Friday 

with people dressed in the traditional 

colours of Pohela Boishakh 

ushering in the Bangla New Year of 

1424. 

Festivities began at 6am with 

musical performances at Ramna 

Batamul organised by Chhayanaut 

– a 50 year old tradition of the cultural 

organisation. 

One of the highlights of this colourful 

exhibition of Bangladesh’s 

culture, tradition and heritage is 

the UNESCO-recognised Intangible 

Cultural Heritage, the Mongol 

Shobhajatra, a parade that began 

in 1989 as a resistance to military 

dictatorship by teachers and students 

of the Faculty of Fine Arts, 

Dhaka University using traditional 

folk art. 

Hundreds participated in the 

parade this year that began at 9am 

with Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman 

Noor and Dhaka University 

Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin 

Siddique in attendance. 

Amid grave concerns over militancy, 

the parade’s theme was 

“Anondo Loke, Mongol Aloke, Birajo 

Sottyo Sundro” (in the abode of 

joy and benevolence lies the beautiful 

truth) focusing on celebrating 

truth and justice. 

President Abdul Hamid and 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 

separate messages wished peace, 

happiness and prosperity to everyone 

on the new Bangla year of 1424. 

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 

Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, 

Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, 

Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote, 

Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Jatiya 

Press Club, Dhaka Reporter’s 

Unity (DRU) and different organisations 

all organised programmes 

to celebrate the day amid much 

fanfare. 

Not only in Dhaka, Pohela 

Boishakh was also celebrated in 

Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, 

Barisal, Rangpur, Faridpur, 

Madaripur, Gopalganj, Shariatpur, 

Mymensingh, Habiganj, Magura, 

Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Rangamati, 

Bagerhat, Kurigram, Kushtia, 

Joypurhat, Chuadanga, Meherpur, 

Sherpur, Dinajpur, Gazipur and 

other districts. 

The Hindu community celebrated 

Pohela Baishakh yesterday as 

it is traditionally connected to the 

harvest festival that fell a day before 

or after April 14. 

In Bagerhat, Jessore and 

Moulvibazar, Pohela Baishakh was 

celebrated with Charak Puja, the 

Hindu festival of penance where 

men and women are hooked on 

their backs and spun around a bar 

with a long rope. 

In Brahmanbaria the Hindu 

community also celebrated Pohela 

Baishakh yesterday with a Sindoor 

Festival by placing sindoor on each 

others’ forehead for a prosperous 

new year. 

In 1987 the tradition of celebrating 

Pohela Boishakh was set to 

April 14, which previously depended 

on the lunar calendar and was 

connected to the harvest festival. 

The Bengali calendar was modified 

by a committee under the 

Chittagonians give apt reply to artwork vandals 

• Anwar Hussain, Chittagong 

People in Chittagong city drew a 

37,500sq-ft alpana (painting) on roads 

in the DC Hill area on the occasion 

of Pohela Boishakh, a strong and 

appropriate response to the incident on 

Tuesday when unidentified 

vandals spilled motor oil to damage a 

wall art. 

Some 71 students of fine arts of 

Chittagong University drew the alpana 

overnight on Pohela Boishakh’s eve 

holding up the age-old tradition. 

Sponsored by Asiatic EXP, Banglalink 

Digital Communications Ltd and 

Berger Paints, the alpana was one the 

six largest street paintings drawn at 

different places across the country to 

mark the first day of Bangla new year. 

On Friday, during the celebrations, 

enthusiastic people from all walks of life 

were seen taking photographs standing 

on the art stretching from Nandankanan 

Buddhist Temple to the office of 

the Chief Conservator of Forests. 

Kaniz Fatema, a lecturer of Ispahani 

Public School and College, came to see 

the painting with her two children. 

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, she 

Bangla Academy on February 17, 

1986 and was officially adopted by 

the government in 1987. 

According to historical records, 

celebrations of Pohela Boishakh 

started from Emperor Akbar’s reign 

when it was customary to clear all 

dues on the last day of the Bangla 

month of Chaitra with businessmen 

opening “halkhata” or new 

book of accounts in their shops. • 

said: “At the sight of such art work my 

sons are overjoyed. This is indeed a 

great enterprise, which I think has added 

a new dimension to the celebration 

of Pohela Boishakh.” 

Clad in Boishakhi garb, the residents 

of the country’s premier port city 

thronged major streets and enjoyed 

Mongol Shobhajatra attractions and 

cultural events featuring music, dance, 

and poetry recitations. 

Meanwhile, the university’s fine arts 

students also decorated their campus 

and surroundings with similar artwork 

and brought out colourful processions. •

4 


DT 

News 

Misery and fear 

grip Korail fire 

survivors 

• Nawaz Farhin 

A month has passed since a 

fire broke out a huge slum in 

Dhaka’s Korail area, yet most 

slum dwellers have been unable 

to rebuild their homes and 

still live in makeshift tents and 

under the open sky. 

Residents affected by the 

fire claim the Dhaka North 

City Corporation are to compensate 

them for their losses 

while landlords are yet to repair 

the burnt homes. 

Billal, a landlord, told the 

Dhaka Tribune: “I could not repair 

my three burned houses as 

I have not received compensation 

from the city corporation.” 

A shopkeeper, Anwar Hossen, 

said: “The government has 

given each family only 15kg of 

rice, which is insufficient. Some 

landlords are rebuilding their 

homes on their own though.” 

Some Korail residents have 

hurried to reconstruct their 

shanties, fearing that the authorities 

concerned might 

drive them away from the area. 

Fires have broken out recurrently 

in Korail last year, on 

March 14 and then on December 

6. The persistent fires have led 

residents to believe it was a premeditated 

arson attack to evict 

them from the land, as the government 

is reportedly mulling 

setting up a hi-tech park there. 

Slum resident Abdul Khalek 

alleged: “Every time a fire 

breaks out in the dead of night, 

it signifies that vested quarters 

are deliberately setting fire to 

our homes to benefit from the 

government. 

“We have nowhere to go. 

So we started rebuilding our 

homes; or else they will drive 

us away from the land.” 

The DNCC and Fire Service 

and Civil Defence, however, 

refuted the allegations and 

said they were working to determine 

the amount of damage 

caused by the fire. 

On March 16 this year, the 

day the fire broke out, DNCC 

Mayor Annisul Huq ensured 

proper compensation would 

be paid to all landlords affected 

by the fire so they can rebuild 

their homes shortly. 

However, the DNCC Social 

Welfare and Slum Development 

Department Chief 

Masudul Haq said: “We hope 

it will take two more weeks to 

present the compensation [to 

the Korail slum residents].” 

Regarding the fires that 

broke out in Korail in the last 

one year, the government has 

distributed Tk25,000 to each 

victimised family and ensured 

free housing for eight months. 

According to the Population 

Census 2011, around 

40,700 people live in Korail. 

Apart from government 

aid, some non-government 

organisations also promised to 

provide adequate reparations 

to the victims, including housing, 

clothing and food. 

However, Salma, a victim, 

told the Dhaka Tribune: “The 

different types of support provided 

by the NGOs have been 

inadequate.” 

Korail is the largest slum in 

Dhaka, spread over 150 acres 

across Gulshan and Banani, 

and divided by a lake. The slum 

sits on prime real estate owned 

by Bangladesh Telecommunications 

Company Limited and 

has avoided several eviction 

attempts over the years. 

Meanwhile, DNCC issued a 

new directive to widen the internal 

road of the slums. 

Mohammad Khokon, a 

Korail resident, who lost his 

home, told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“On March 29, city authorities 

directed all landlords to rebuild 

their homes, keeping 12 

feet for inner lanes and 16 feet 

for the outer lane, so that rescue 

operations could be easily 

carried out in disasters such as 

fires.” • 

MEHEDI HASAN

News 5 


DT 

4TH CONVOCATION OF UIU 

The fourth convocation of United International University was held yesterday on its permanent campus in 

Dhaka’s Bhatara area, according to a press release. At least 1610 students from different disciplines were 

conferred undergraduate and graduate degrees with six receiving gold medals for their excellent results 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

Dhaka 33 22 Chittagong 32 25 Rajshahi 34 23 Rangpur 30 21 Khulna 35 22 Barisal 33 23 Sylhet 32 19 

Cox’s Bazar 32 26 

PARTLY CLOUDY 

SUNDAY, APRIL 16 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:21PM 

SUN RISES 5:36AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

36.3ºC 

20.7ºC 

Rajshahi 

Rajarhat 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Fajr: 5:10am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:28pm 

Esha: 8:15pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

Advertisement

News 7 


DT 

Mother arrested 

for killing 

cricketer son 

• Bishwajit Deb, Jamalpur 

Police have arrested a school 

teacher in Bakshiganj, Jamalpur 

after she beat her 12-year-old son 

to death for playing cricket all day 

long on Pohela Boishakh. 

Isha Sarker, a grade VII student 

of Surjonagar High School, went 

out to play cricket with his friends 

Friday morning despite being 

asked by his mother not to do so, 

police say. 

When he returned just before 

dusk, mother Anjuma Ara – a 

teacher of Hasina Gazi High School 

– took the cricket bat from Isha and 

beat him up mercilessly. 

He was declared dead when taken 

to Bakshiganj Upazila Health 

Complex. 

Police recovered the body yesterday 

morning and arrested the 

mother. Father of the boy filed a 

murder case accusing Anjuma. 

Bakshiganj police Officer-in- 

Charge Aslam Hossain said that Anjuma 

had been sent jail when produced 

before the court of Jamalpur 

Judicial Magistrate Court. • 

34 ruling party 

men face case for 

assaulting police 

• FM Mizanur Rahaman, 

Chittagong 

Police are looking for the ruling 

party supporters who engaged in 

a scuffle with the law enforcers 

when barred from entering a Pohela 

Boishakh festival venue in Chittagong 

city Friday. 

Kotwali police filed a case naming 

34 leaders and activists of Chhatra 

League and Jubo League, and 

40 unnamed others Friday night, 

hours after the incident in DC Hill 

area around 3pm that left on-duty 

Inspector Kiran Barua injured. 

Four of the accused, detained 

from the area soon after the attack, 

were sent to jail through a court 

yesterday, Inspector (investigation) 

Jahedul Kabir of Kotwali police 

said. 

They identified themselves as 

supporters of Akbar Chowdhury 

Babar, deputy finance secretary of 

Jubo League’s central committee. 

Babar is also an accused in a case 

filed over a double murder in CRB 

area in 2013 over railway tender. 

According to police, a group of 

25-30 Chhatra League and Jubo 

League men tried to enter the Pohela 

Boishakh venue of DC Hill area 

bypassing the security check post, 

triggering an altercation. 

At one point, the unruly ruling 

party men started pelting bricks at 

the police. Inspector Kiran was hit 

by a brick in the head. •

DT 

8 

World 


SOUTH ASIA 

Sri Lanka rubbish dump 

landslide death toll rises 

to 16 

A rubbish dump landslide in the Sri 

Lankan capital Colombo killed at 

least 16 and injured over a dozen, 

as emergency workers dug into the 

mountain of trash in search of survivors. 

The estimated 300ft dump 

collapsed after flames engulfed it 

late on Friday, the island nation’s 

traditional new year’s day, and 

witnesses said around 100 houses 

could have been buried. REUTERS 

INDIA 

Farooq Abdullah wins 

Srinagar LS bypoll 

National Conference president 

and former Jammu and Kashmir 

Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah 

on Saturday won the bypoll to the 

Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha seat, 

beating his PDP rival Nazir Ahmad 

Khan by a margin of over 10,700 

votes. The polling for the seat was 

held on April 9, amid large scale violence 

that left eight persons dead 

and several dozen others injured. 

The constituency had recorded an 

abysmal 7.13% turnout, the lowest 

ever in its history. THE HINDU 

CHINA 

China, Russian foreign 

ministers discuss Korean 

peninsula situation 

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi 

and his Russian counterpart Sergei 

Lavrov discussed the situation on 

the Korean peninsula and Syrian 

crisis in a phone call on Friday. 

The two ministers also discussed 

the schedule of bilateral contacts, 

the ministry said. REUTERS 

ASIA PACIFIC 

Violence flares at 

Australian refugee facility 

in PNG 

Violence has flared at an Australian 

asylum-seeker detention centre 

in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and 

shots were fired when local people 

tried to break into the centre after 

an argument got out of hand. The 

trouble is likely to add to pressure 

on Australia from rights groups 

and the UN to close it and another 

centre in Nauru, criticised over 

poor conditions. REUTERS 

MIDDLE EAST 

25 dead in Iran floods 

At least 25 people were killed and 

16 declared missing as flash floods 

hit northwestern Iran, state media 

reported on Saturday. “Twenty-five 

people have been killed in the 

floods across four provinces,” the 

head of Iran’s emergency response 

organisation, Esmail Najar, told the 

ISNA news agency. AFP 

Death toll from ‘mother of all bombs’ 

has risen to 94 in Afghanistan 


The number of militants killed in 

an attack by the largest non-nuclear 

weapon ever used in combat by 

the US military has risen to 94, an 

Afghan official said Saturday. 

Ataullah Khogyani, spokesman 

for the provincial governor in Nangarhar, 

said the number of Islamic 

State group dead was up from the 

36 reported a day earlier. A Ministry 

of Defence official had said Friday 

the number of dead could rise as officials 

assessed the bomb site. 

“Fortunately there is no report 

of civilians being killed in the attack,” 

Khogyani said. 

The increased death toll in Nangarhar 

was announced as officials 

in southern Helmand province 

reported at least 11 civilians were 

killed and one wounded in two 

roadside bomb blasts overnight. 

The US attack on a tunnel complex 

in remote eastern Nangarhar 

province near the Pakistan border 

killed at least four IS group leaders, 

Khogyani said. He said a clearance 

operation to assess the site of 

Dorm debate led to death in 

Pakistan blasphemy killing 

• Reuters, Mardan 

The ransacked university hostel 

room of slain Pakistani student 

Mashal Khan has posters of Karl 

Marx and Che Guevara still hanging 

on the walls, along with scribbled 

quotes including one that reads: 

“Be curious, crazy and mad.” 

The day before, a heated debate 

over religion with fellow students 

broke out at the dorm and led to 

people accusing Khan of blasphemy 

against Islam. That attracted a 

crowd that grew to several hundred 

people, according to witnesses. 

The mob kicked in the door, 

dragged Khan from his room and 

beat him to death, witnesses and 

police said. The death in the northwestern 

city of Mardan is the latest 

violence linked to accusations of 

blasphemy in Pakistan. 

“Whatever he had to say, he 

would say it openly, but he didn’t 

understand the environment he 

was living in,” said one of Khan’s 

teachers at Abdul Wali Khan University, 

who declined to be named 

for fear of retribution. 

At least 65 people have been 

murdered over blasphemy allegations 

since 1990, according to 

figures from a Centre for Research 

and Security Studies report and 

local media, and dozens more convicted 

of the crime are currently 

on death row in Pakistani jails. • 

the attack was continuing. 

The strike using the GBU- 

43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast, 

also known as the “mother of all 

bombs”, or MOAB, for short, was 

carried out Thursday against an Islamic 

State group tunnel complex 

carved into the mountains that Afghan 

forces had tried to assault repeatedly 

in recent weeks in fierce 

fighting in Nangarhar province. 

The Pentagon said the strike was 

the first time the 21,000lb weapon 

had been used in combat operations. 

Former Afghan president Hamid 

Karzai on Saturday criticised 

both the Afghan and US governments 

for the attack in Nangarhar. 

Addressing a gathering in capital 

Kabul, Karzai said that allowing 

the US to carry out the bombing 

was “a national treason” and an 

insult to Afghanistan. 

Current President Ashraf 

Ghani’s office said Friday there 

was “close coordination” between 

the US military and the Afghan 

government on the operation, and 

they were careful to prevent any 

civilian casualties. • 

Islamic State mufti killed in 

Mosul air strike 


One of the most senior religious 

leaders in the Islamic State group 

has been killed in west Mosul, according 

to Iraqi forces. 

Abdullah al-Badrani, also 

known as Abu Ayoub al-Atar, reportedly 

died in an air strike by 

the US-led coalition on Thursday, 

reports BBC. 

Syria car bombing kills at least 43 evacuees 

• AFP, Beirut 

A suicide car bombing killed at least 

43 people Saturday in an attack near 

buses for Syrians evacuated from two 

besieged government-held towns, a 

monitor said. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human 

Rights said the attack in Rashidin, west 

of Aleppo, targeted residents evacuated 

from the northern towns of Fuaa 

and Kafraya under a deal reached between 

the regime and rebels. 

A witness in rebel-held Rashidin 

saw several bodies, body parts and 

blood scattered on the ground. 

“The suicide bomber was driving a 

GBU-43 MOAB BOMBING IN AFGHANISTAN 

TURKMENISTAN 

AFGHANISTAN 

The bombing on Thursday 

hit a tunnel complex used by 

Islamic State group fighters, 

according to the US military 

KABUL 

Achin 

district 

PAKISTAN 

van supposedly carrying aid supplies 

and detonated near the buses,” the Observatory 

said. It warned that the death 

toll was likely to rise given the “several 

dozen wounded” at the blast site. 

State television said the car bombing 

had been carried out by “terrorist 

groups”, a term the regime applies to 

all armed opposition groups. 

It was not immediately clear if rebels 

at the transit point were among 

the dead. 

The attack took place as thousands 

of evacuees from the besieged government-held 

towns of Fuaa and Kafraya 

waited to continue their journey to 

regime-controlled Aleppo, the coastal 

TAJIKISTAN 

ISLAMABAD 

GBU-43/B 

Massive Ordnance Air Blast 

bomb (MOAB) 

The largest non-nuclear bomb 

deployed in combat 

Blast equivalent to 

11 tons of TNT 

Known in the US military 

as “the mother of all bombs” 

Delivered via an 

MC-130 transport plane 

province of Latakia, or Damascus. 

More than 5,000 people who had 

lived under crippling siege for more than 

Who was the IS mufti? 

The IS has made its name feared 

and reviled through the very public 

atrocities and human rights 

abuses it has committed against 

whole communities. 

Abu Ayoub al-Atar was infamous 

in Mosul and beyond for 

the religious decisions, or fatwas, 

he issued that permitted some of 

these acts. He is believed to have 

given the justification for the enslavement 

and sexual abuse of 

women from the Yazidi minority 

in northern Iraq. 

More recently, he has given the 

authority for IS to continue to attack 

civilians in the eastern side 

of Mosul, which Iraqi forces have 

recaptured. He called the civilians 

apostates who deserve to be killed. 

The Iraqi government has issued 

instructions to civilians on 

how to stay safe as forces continue 

their assault on the IS-held western 

side of the city. • 

A picture taken on April 15, 2017, shows smoke billowing following a suicide car 

bombing in Rashidin, west of Aleppo 

AFP 

two years left the two towns, along with 

2,200 evacuated from rebel-held Madaya 

and Zabadani, on Friday. •

World 

N Korea, US stoke tensions, war fears 


The Korean peninsula is braced 

for possible war, amid fears North 

Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will 

conduct a nuclear test as early as 

today, potentially triggering US 

military retaliation. 

US President Donald Trump Friday 

repeated his threat to “properly 

deal with” North Korea, as a US carrier 

strike group neared the region. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi 

said conflict over North Korea could 

break out “at any moment”, warning 

there would be “no winner” in any 

war, as tensions soar with the US. 

“Lately, tensions have risen 

with the US and the South Korea 

on one side, and the North Korea 

on the other, and one has the feeling 

that a conflict could break out 

at any moment,” Wang said during 

a joint news conference with his 

French counterpart, Jean-Marc 

Ayrault. “If a war occurs, the result 

Philippine army 

plans all-Muslim 

units amid 

insurgency 

• AFP, Manila 

The Philippine military announced 

plans to create all-Muslim fighting 

units on Saturday, with quotas from 

the Catholic country’s largest religious 

minority, as it looks to bolster 

efforts to tackle Islamic insurgents. 

Five percent of all new applications 

will be allocated for Muslims 

under the new order, military 

spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo 

said in a statement, adding the eventual 

aim was to have a dedicated 

brigade or division to be deployed in 

the country’s troubled south. 

The Philippines is battling Muslim 

extremist militants in lawless 

southern regions, some of whom 

have pledged allegiance to the IS. 

Arevalo said the Muslim quota 

would help the army operate in areas 

where it has been previously viewed 

with suspicion by local people. 

“Most of our Muslim brothers 

and sisters perceive the deployment 

of almost 100% Christian 

soldiers in their communities as invading 

or occupational forces,” he 

said, adding that fellow Muslims 

would be more aware of religious 

or cultural “sensitivities”. 

The statement did not give details 

of the existing numbers of 

Muslims in the military. 

The southern region of Mindanao, 

the ancestral homeland of 

the Philippines’ Muslim minority, 

has been locked in a separatist 

insurgency since the 1970s, with 

the conflict claiming more than 

120,000 lives. • 

An Australian-Chinese impersonating N Korean leader Kim Jong-un, poses with 

impersonating US President Donald Trump, in Hong Kong on April 7 REUTERS 

Erdogan makes final push before vote 

on presidential powers 

• Reuters, Ankara 

President Tayyip Erdogan appealed 

for support from Turkish 

voters in final campaign rallies on 

Saturday, the eve of a referendum 

which could tighten his grip over 

a country bridging the EU and a 

conflict-strewn Middle East. 

Opinion polls have given a narrow 

lead for a “Yes” vote in Sunday’s 

referendum to replace Turkey’s 

parliamentary democracy 

with an all-powerful presidency, 

a move Erdogan says is needed to 

confront the security and political 

challenges Turkey faces. 

Opponents say it is a step towards 

greater authoritarianism in 

a country where 40,000 people 

were arrested and 120,000 sacked 

or suspended from their jobs in a 

crackdown following a failed coup 

attempt against Erdogan last July. 

Western countries have criticised 

that tough response, and 

relations with the EU, which Turkey 

has been negotiating to join 

for a decade, hit a low during 

the campaign when Erdogan accused 

European leaders of acting 

like Nazis for banning referendum 

rallies in their countries on 

security grounds. 

Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK 

Party has enjoyed a disproportionate 

share of media coverage 

in the buildup to the vote, but 

the result may be close. A narrow 

majority of Turks will vote “Yes”, 

two opinion polls suggested on 

Thursday, putting his support at 

only a little over 51%. • 

ISRO to launch South Asia Satellite, 

Pakistan not on board 


India has planned to launch on May 5 

the South Asia Satellite that will benefit 

all the countries in the region, except 

Pakistan which is not a part of the 

project, reports Press trust of India. 

“It’s going up in the first week of 

May,” Indian Space Research Organisation 

(ISRO) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar 

told PTI in a telephonic interview. 

According to ISRO sources, the 

launch of this communication satellite 

(GSAT-9) is scheduled for May 5 on 

board the space agency’s rocket GSLV- 

09 from Sriharikota spaceport. 

Kiran Kumar said the satellite, with 

a lift-off mass of 2,195kg, would carry 

12 ku-band transponders. “Pakistan is 

not included in that. They did not want 

(to be part of the project),” he said. 

Sources said the satellite is designed 

is a situation in which everybody 

loses and there can be no winner.” 

North Korean Vice-Foreign 

Minister Han Song-ryol blamed 

Trump for building up a “vicious 

cycle” of tensions on the Korean 

peninsula, saying his “aggressive” 

tweets were “making trouble”. “If 

the US comes with reckless military 

manoeuvres then we will confront 

it with the DPRK’s pre-emptive 

strike,” Han said. “We’ve got a 

powerful nuclear deterrent already 

in our hands, and we certainly will 

not keep our arms crossed in the 

face of a US pre-emptive strike.” 

North Korea’s army late last 

night vowed a “merciless” response 

to any US provocation. 

The US administration had “entered 

the path of open threat and 

blackmail against the DPRK”, according 

to a statement on the official 

news agency KCNA. 

China’s state media continues 

to play down tensions, providing 

minimal coverage, but the most 

outspoken publication, Global 

Times, editorialised Friday that if 

North Korea relinquished its nuclear 

weaponry and opened its 

economy, China-style, then Beijing 

would “ensure that its sovereignty 

was no more endangered”. 

In Seoul, which is 56km from 

the border, within range of a massive 

battery of conventional artillery, 

the media is reporting rising 

concern among foreign companies 

about the prospect of war. The defence 

ministry called a news conference 

to assure both its citizens 

and other residents that war was 

not looming. • 

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wave Turkey’s national flags 

during a rally for the upcoming referendum in Istanbul on April 15 

REUTERS 

for a mission life of more than 12 years. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi had made an announcement 

about this satellite during the SAARC 

Summit in Kathmandu in 2014 calling 

it a “gift to India’s neighbours.” 

“It (name) was changed to this 

(South Asia Satellite) because of that 

only (Pakistan not being part of it),” 

Kiran Kumar said. Earlier, it was named 

as “Saarc Satellite”. • 

9 


USA 

US launches qualification 

tests for upgraded nuke 

bomb 

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories 

are claiming success with 

the first in a new series of test flights 

involving an upgraded version of 

a nuclear bomb that has been part 

of the US arsenal for decades. “It’s 

great to see things all come togetherthe 

weapon design, the test preparation, 

the aircraft, the range and the 

people who made it happen,” Anna 

Schauer, director of Sandia’s Stockpile 

Resource Centre, said. AP 

THE AMERICAS 

Clashes after fifth person 

dies in Venezuela unrest 

More clashes erupted Thursday between 

police and protesters rallying 

against the Venezuelan government, 

after officials said a fifth person 

died from being shot during earlier 

unrest. Police fired tear gas and rubber 

bullets to disperse protesters in 

Caracas. It was the latest in a week of 

clashes over a mounting crisis driven 

by food shortages. AFP 

UK 

UK police looking into 

hate crime claim about 

Sun column 

DT 

A complaint from Liverpool’s 

mayor has sparked police to investigate 

whether a column in The 

Sun newspaper constituted a hate 

crime. Mayor Joe Anderson called 

for Kelvin MacKenzie to be fired 

after a column in which he compared 

a soccer player with African 

ancestry to a gorilla. The Sun has 

apologised for the incident and 

suspended the columnist. AFP 

EUROPE 

2,000 migrants rescued 

from Med in last 24 hours 

Over 2,000 migrants have been 

rescued from the Mediterranean 

Sea in the space of around 24 

hours, the Italian Coast Guard said 

on Saturday. This latest operation 

was set in motion on Friday in collaboration 

with the NGO Doctors 

Without Borders (MSF) and has so 

far rescued 2,074 people crossing 

the Strait of Sicily, the channel of 

water separating southern Italy 

with the North African coast. EFE 

AFRICA 

Congo suspends military 

cooperation with Belgium 

Congo has suspended military 

cooperation with Belgium after 

Brussels criticised President Joseph 

Kabila’s choice of prime minister. 

“The decision to suspend military 

cooperation with Belgium has taken 

effect. This measure was pending 

since (Belgian Foreign Minister 

Didier Reynders) came out and 

attacked the Congolese authorities,” 

a government official said. AFP

DT 

10 

Business 


CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: PAST WEEK 

DSE Broad Index 5,645.9 -1.6% ▼ Index 1,294.9 -1.4% ▼ 30 Index 2,087.3 -2.2% ▼ Turnover in Mn Tk 35,932.4 -25.0% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 1,094.2 -11.4% ▼ 

CSE All Share Index 17,472.3 -1.8% ▼ 30 Index 15,521.9 -2.5% ▼ Selected Index 10,593.7 -1.8% ▼ Turnover in Mn Tk 2,418.4 -26.9% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 91.9 -0.2% ▼ 

Costly car parts being stolen from ports 

‘Negligence’ of authorities blamed for lack of security at the country’s two sea ports 

• Shariful Islam 

Reconditioned car importers have 

alleged that different parts of their 

imported vehicles are being stolen 

from the country’s major two 

sea ports, Chittagong and Mongla, 

costing them dearly. 

They blamed the authorities for 

their “negligence” to maintain security 

in the ports and stop thefts. 

According to them, some of the 

port staff are behind the theft and 

irregularities. Importers said insects 

like rats are also infiltrating 

into the vehicles and causing damage 

to different parts. 

They said the cars were also 

parked randomly at the sheds, 

which caused scratches on the car 

bodies. In Chittagong port, a car 

shed is yet to open although 10 

months have passed after launching. 

“We are losing Tk30,000- 

Tk100,000 a car due to irregularities 

and negligence of the authorities,” 

said Habibullah Dawn, 

president of Bangladesh Reconditioned 

Vehicles Importers and 

Dealers Association (Barvida). 

“It (the loss) has increased significantly 

in last five months. Last 

month, a company had to buy parts 

worth Tk3,50,000 for its 16 cars,” 

he said. 

Barvida sent two separate letters 

to Chittagong Port Authority 

and Mongla Port Authority seeking 

immediate actions against the 

flaws in services. 

The letters signed by Barvida 

president were sent to MPA Chairman 

Commodore AKM Faruque 

Hasan on March 18 and CPA Chairman 

Rear Admiral Mohammad 

Nizamuddin Ahmed on March 28. 

According to Barvida, expensive 

parts of imported cars such 

as brand logo, looking glasses, 

Expensive parts of imported cars such as brand logo, looking glasses, air-conditioners, SD cards and other parts are being stolen from sea ports 

We are losing Tk30,000-Tk100,000 a car 

due to irregularities and negligence of the 

authorities 

air-conditioners, SD cards and 

other parts are being stolen from 

Mongla port during the car shifting 

time from ships to car sheds. 

Barvida asked the Mongla port 

authorities to provide them with 

online banking facilities. The dealers 

demanded a change in daily 

schedules of car delivering. 

MPA Chairman Commodore 

AKM Faruque Hasan said: “We are 

about to install 30 CCTV cameras 

at the port to ensure security. Surveillance 

will be increased to stop 

stealing of parts.” 

He blamed inadequate manpower 

as one of the main reasons 

behind such incidents. He said currently 

the Mongla port has 1,200 

workers while it needs 2,929. 

Another letter which was sent to 

CPA said the newly constructed car 

shed with the capacity of 900 cars 

at Chittagong port has not been 

functional yet though it was formally 

inaugurated on May 7, 2016. 

Md Zafar Alam, member (admin 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

and planning) of CPA said: “We 

could not start operation (of the 

new shed) as Bangladesh railway 

authorities did not provide any 

land for the 20 feet road at the adjoining 

areas of the shed.” 

“This is not our responsibility 

any more as we have handed it over 

to customs. The customs has the 

authority to declare the car shed as 

bonded warehouse and operate it,” 

he said. 

The car importers and dealers 

have urged port authorities to in 

car carrier facilities to ensure security 

in car carrying and reducing 

risk of losses in accidents. • 

China’s Q1 growth stabilises at 6.8% 

• AFP, Beijing 

China’s growth stabilised in the 

first quarter thanks to rising 

investments and a recovery in 

exports, experts said, though 

they warned the reprieve may be 

temporary. 

According to an AFP survey of 

16 economic analysts, the gross domestic 

product expanded 6.8% in 

the first three months of this year 

- the same level of growth as in the 

last quarter of 2016. 

The official GDP growth figure 

will be released tomorrow. 

“Our expectation is stable to 

stronger growth in the first quarter, 

based on faster industrial production 

and investment related mostly 

to the housing sector bubble and 

increased fiscal spending on infrastructure,” 

Brian Jackson of IHS 

Markit told AFP. 

Cheap credit has bolstered the 

construction sector since last year, 

attracting savers and speculators 

who have fuelled housing prices in 

large cities and accelerated manufacturing 

activity. 

While the country attempts to 

rebalance its economy around services 

and domestic consumption, 

“the question we need to ask is 

whether China has returned to the 

same old property-driven model,” 

ANZ Bank’s chief economist for 

greater China, Raymond Yeung, 

told AFP. •

Tanners fear 

cancellation of 

huge export orders 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi and 

Shariful Islam 

Leather factory owners are fearing 

the loss of export orders following 

the shutdown of Hazaribagh tanneries 

over their failure to relocate 

to Savar Tannery Estate. 

The tanners who have already 

shifted their units to the Savar estate 

are also facing the same threat as 

they are yet to install their crust and 

finished leather sections as the gas 

connection is still not available there. 

Talking to Dhaka Tribune, a 

good number of factory owners expressed 

their apprehension of losing 

orders and buyers while some 

claimed they had already lost some 

of their export orders. 

“Our factory had a work order of 

$15 million from a Malaysian buyer. 

But, the order has been canceled 

and shifted to India and Pakistan,” 

FM Rafikul Islam, director (technical) 

of Dhaka Hide and Skins told 

the Dhaka Tribune. 

“We are also fearing huge losses 

as there are pending work orders 

worth around $30 million, which 

have to be completed within the 

next three months,” said Islam. 

Delay in shipment may erode 

buyers confidence, which would 

ultimately hurt the country’s second 

largest foreign currency earning 

sector, he added. 

“The manufacturers of leather 

footwear might have to import processed 

leather as the tanning is being 

hampered due to the relocation 

of tanneries,” said M Abu Taher, former 

chairman of Bangladesh Finished 

Leather, Leather Goods, and 

Footwear Exporters Association. 

In a press briefing on April 2, 

Bangladesh Tanners Association 

(BTA) claimed that the leather industry 

might suffer a loss of over 

Tk1,000cr export orders after the 

closure of the Hazaribagh tanneries. 

In the fiscal year 2015-16, Bangladesh 

exported leather and leather 

products worth $1.16. 

After court order, the government 

disconnected gas, electricity 

and water connections to Hazaribagh 

tanneries. • 

Business 11 


US: China, Germany must do 

more to reduce trade surpluses 

• AFP, Washington 

DT 

China and Germany are not manipulating 

the value of their currencies 

to gain an unfair trade advantage, 

but both should do more to reduce 

their large trade surpluses with the 

United States, the Treasury Department 

said Friday. 

The decision was expected after 

President Donald Trump this week 

reversed himself and said China 

was not a currency manipulator. 

The administration’s first report 

to Congress on foreign exchange 

policies of US trading partners 

continues the stance of the Obama 

administration, putting those and 

four other countries on a watch list, 

though using a much tougher tone. 

Unlike the previous administration, 

which issued its final re port 

in October, the latest semi-annual 

report urges specific policy actions 

the countries should pursue that 

would lead to a lower trade surplus. 

Trump repeatedly pledged in 

his election campaign to name China 

as a currency manipulator on 

his first day in office, but did not do 

so. He has retreated from that position 

after meeting with Chinese 

President Xi Jinping in Florida last 

weekend. 

China met only one of the three 

criteria required to be labeled a currency 

manipulator - a large trade 

surplus with the United States - 

while Germany also met a second: 

a current account surplus amounting 

to more than three percent of 

the nation’s economic output. 

Beijing has not intervened in 

markets to weaken the value of its 

currency - the third criteria - and in 

fact has tried to keep the renminbi 

from falling further amid the country’s 

relatively sluggish growth rate. 

And Germany, as part of the eurozone, 

cannot act unilaterally to 

change the value of the euro. 

A weaker currency makes exports 

cheaper compared with those 

of competitors. 

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and 

Switzerland also were again included 

on the monitoring list. 

Even though China has not 

moved to keep its currency weak 

in recent years, the country “has 

a long track record of engaging in 

persistent, large-scale, one-way 

foreign exchange intervention, doing 

so for roughly a decade,” the 

report said. 

That “distortion in the global 

trading system... imposed significant 

and long-lasting hardship on 

American workers and companies.” 

With a trade surplus in goods 

with the United States of $347bn last 

year, and continued policies that restrict 

free trade, “Treasury will be 

scrutinizing China’s trade and currency 

practices very closely.” 

The department said Germany 

should take steps, notably spending 

policies, “to encourage stronger 

domestic demand growth, which 

would place upward pressure on 

the euro’s nominal and real effective 

exchange rates and help reduce 

its large external imbalances.” 

Treasury Secretary Steven 

Mnuchin said ensuring a level playing 

field for US businesses is an “essential 

component of this administration’s 

strategy.” 

“Expanding trade in a way that 

is freer and fairer for all Americans 

requires that other economies 

avoid unfair currency practices, 

and we will continue to monitor 

this carefully,” he said in statement. 

• 

Citi Foundation honours 14 entrepreneurs and institutions with Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards this 

year. The function was attended yesterday by Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, State Minister for 

Finance and Planning MA Mannan, Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury, Chairperson of 

the 12th CMA Advisory Committee Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, Sub-Cluster Head of Citi Bangladesh and Sri 

Lanka James Morrow and Managing Director of Citi Bangladesh Rashed Maqsood 

Walton takes part in Canton Fair 

• Tribune Business Desk 

Electronics goods brand Walton 

has taken part at the “Canton 

Fair 2017” to explore global 

markets and consumers. 

Canton Fair 2017, also 

known as China Import and Export 

Fair, is the largest biannual 

China trade fair began April 15 

and will end on 19 at Pazhou 

Complex in Guangzhou. 

Walton, as a Bangladeshi 

company, is participating in 

the expo for the second consecutive 

year and will show 

products with “Made in 

Bangladesh” level to promote 

and brand Bangladesh as a 

manufacturer of electronics 

products, according to a press 

statement released yesterday. 

Roqibul Islam Rakib, Head 

of International Marketing of 

Walton Group, said Walton 

secured the apex position in 

the local electronics and electrical 

market. 

He said: “Now the target is 

to make a strong foot on the 

international market. Canton 

Fair would play a vital role in 

the successful implementation 

of the company’s target.” 

As people of all countries 

of the world usually visit this 

mega expo, Walton’s participation 

would help the company 

creating a business relationship 

with the importers 

of household electronics and 

electrical appliances across 

the world, he added. 

To attract the fair’s visitors, 

Walton is conducting massive 

branding campaigns in different 

countries like UK, USA, 

Africa and Middle East. •

DT 

12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

Words of wisdom 

A careful analysis of the early economic 

history of Bengal indicates that farming 

and being associated with agriculture 

was considered very honourable 

PAGE 13 

Trump trauma 

troubles 

Unnerving is a president who is clearly 

unmoored ideologically, and who could 

very well flip-flop from the globalist to 

the nationalist depending on what he has 

seen on television that day 

PAGE 14 

BIGSTOCK 

It’s good to be connected 

Walking a tightrope 

The Lal Masjid incident is an object 

lesson on how things can go awry with 

disastrous results when government 

coddles religious elements and religious 

institutions either for political reasons, or 

for fear of public backlash 

PAGE 15 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

Send us your Op-Ed articles: 

opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com 

www.dhakatribune.com 

Join our Facebook community: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

DhakaTribune. 

The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

The people of Dhaka are rather fond of their social media. 

The Global Digital Statshot Q2 2017 report shows that 

the capital city has the second-highest number of Facebook 

users in the world. 

Whatever the naysayers may say, this is a good thing. 

Social media platforms like Facebook represent the 

communications paradigm of the future -- already Facebook is 

widely being used for business communications, not just as a 

marketing tool but also to more efficiently manage companies. 

Not to mention, social media can bring together people from 

disparate parts of the globe, and help people share knowledge with 

each other. 

If the government wants a truly Digital Bangladesh, it is time to 

embrace these new technologies, instead of fearing them. 

In the past, platforms like Facebook and YouTube have been 

blocked by the authorities in response to threats, but we cannot 

continue with that line of thinking. 

Social media platforms can be used for good as well as for ill, and 

shutting them down for all will prove counter-productive. 

The advanced nations of the world have decided to embrace 

technology, and protect the freedom and privacy of users -- and 

Bangladesh should do the same. 

When done right, social media can be a force for upholding 

human rights -- we have seen citizen journalism through Facebook 

and Twitter create movements and raise awareness in ways that 

would not be possible through conventional media. 

Now that so much of Dhaka is already online, the next step would 

be to spread internet connectivity to the rest of the country, so that 

no one gets left out of the digital revolution. 

When done right, social 

media can be a force for 

upholding human rights

Opinion 13 

DT 


Words of 

wisdom 

What do our adages say about our 

culture? 

P O S T 

BREAKFAST 

• Muhammad Zamir 

We have just finished 

celebrating our 

Bangla New Year 

1424. Thus, I felt the 

need existed to acquaint readers 

about the role played by adages in 

our lives. 

Proverbs, adages, or “bochons” 

are short pithy sayings in common 

use. In origin, they belong to the 

same stage of ethnic and racial 

history as ballads and folk songs, 

and are sometimes related to the 

fable and the riddle. 

Bochons and proverbs are 

found all over the world in every 

ethnic community. They provide 

an insight into the effects of 

cultural conditions, language, and 

local variations on expression. 

They form part of codes of 

behaviour, and exemplify the use 

of the sayings in the transmission 

of tribal wisdom and rules of 

conduct. Often, the same adage 

can be found in many variants. 

This process is similar in the case 

of Bengali adages. 

In Bengal and its adjoining 

regions, bochons transcended 

boundaries and found expression 

with comparative similar 

meanings in other languages and 

dialects spoken in the Indian 

States of Orissa, Assam, Bihar, and 

Tamil Nadu, and also in Nepal. 

Another common element in 

the proverbs and adages of Europe 

and that of Bengal is its fondness 

for homely imagery. This is so, 

because, in both instances they 

originated from rural sources. 

In Europe, they refer to pot and 

kettle, sheep, horse, cock and hen, 

cow and bull, dog, and the events 

of everyday life. In the case of 

Bengal, the adages and bochons 

refer to domestic animals and 

economic activities involving daily 

life. 

All bochons and adages, 

however short they might be, 

have a singular characteristic: 

They generally have philosophical 

content and connote a special 

meaning. Such expressions are 

usually formulated on the basis 

of broad experience and not on 

emotion. 

They are mental in character 

and social in nature. As a result, 

some Bangla linguists refer to 

adages as being “crystallised forms 

of human experience.” 

Bangla adages normally have 

dual meanings -- a literary and 

an inner meaning. Normally, the 

importance of the bochons lies in 

the significance of the symbolical 

meaning. As a consequence, 

sayings with metaphorical quality 

are more easily recognised 

as proverbial. This is what 

distinguishes it from an idiom. 

From that point of view they are 

really signposts and in a manner 

of speaking “fragments of an elder 

wisdom.” 

Bengali proverbs and bochons 

normally consist of a descriptive 

element that contains a topic and 

a comment. Based on common 

sense, they have in the villages of 

Bengal over the years, assumed 

the unwritten status of morality. 

A careful analysis of the early economic history of Bengal indicates that 

farming and being associated with agriculture was considered very 

honourable 

They also reflect the ethos and, in 

more ways than one, the cultural 

identity of the people of this 

region. 

Bangla adages usually have a 

theme and a distinct meaning. 

Some of them rely on the 

contradictory nature of the 

construction while others are 

comparative or complementary 

in nature. There are proverbs and 

bochons that deal with principles 

of social science, politics, and 

even economics. There are also 

bochons which deal with the 

weather, weather patterns, the 

supernatural, flora and fauna, and 

also the importance of astrology in 

daily life. 

Mohammad Hanif Pathan, in 

his publication Bangla Probad 

Parichiti realistically identified 

the difficulties associated in 

the collection and publication 

of proverbs. He also correctly 

explained the significant factor 

Our language is inextricable with our existence 

of adages being based on oral 

tradition. 

This creates its own dynamics 

and practical day-to-day 

interaction. It also moulds 

collective experience and helps in 

the evolution of terminology and 

idioms. 

A historical appreciation 

of Bangla bochons and their 

relevance to rural Bengal would, 

however, be incomplete without 

reference to our ancient seer 

Khana. 

Sayings of Khana form part 

of this country’s traditional 

agricultural norms. They also 

constitute, in a manner of 

speaking, a body of suggestions 

regarding public health. 

For many centuries, these 

have contributed towards 

understanding of this country’s 

evolution in civilisation and 

culture. In Khana’s bochons, most 

of the references are to paddy, 

bananas, and various types of 

vegetables. They are sometimes 

also philosophical in content. In 

her rhythm and prosody, Khana 

appears to be mostly under the 

influence of a particular period 

of medieval Bengali grammar. 

Another distinct feature is the 

great similarity between Khana’s 

sayings and proverbs in Uriya in 

Kanara, Telegu, and Nepali. 

This association between 

bochons and Bangla as a 

language has old roots. Different 

excavations carried out in 24 

parganas, Mednipore and in 

Birbhum in the present day 

Indian State of West Bengal have 

indicated clear evidence of a 

continuing civilisation rich with 

agricultural knowledge. 

A careful analysis of the early 

economic history of Bengal 

indicates that farming and being 

associated with agriculture was 

considered very honourable. 

BIGSTOCK 

Numerous references exist in 

Khana to the important role 

that farmers played in the 

economic history of Bengal. This 

was also evident in the poetry 

of the famous medieval poet 

Mukondoram, particularly in his 

work “Chandimongal.” 

Khana particularly noted more 

than once “goru, joru, dhan, ei tine 

rakhe maan,” “jar golai nai dhan, 

tar abar kothar tan,” and “jar nai 

goru, shey shobar horu.” In all 

these sayings, Khana underlines 

the importance of having healthy 

farming animals and farm 

implements, for, essentially, these 

were, and still are, the factors 

for creating wealth in a rural 

household. 

Surveys conducted in the 

near past in different districts of 

Bangladesh have revealed that 

though the inhabitants have not 

formally read about Khana, her 

adages, practiced locally, continue 

to have an unconscious impact on 

their daily lives. • 

Muhammad Zamir, a former 

Ambassador and Chief Information 

Commissioner of the Information 

Commission, is an analyst specialised in 

foreign affairs, right to information, and 

good governance. He can be reached at 

muhammadzamir0@gmail.com.

14 


DT 

Opinion 

Trump trauma troubles 

Is a civil war going on within the Trump administration? 

• William Milam 

Another day, another 

change in direction 

for the Trump 

administration? 

Was the missile attack on the 

Syrian Air Force base just a blip 

on the course of the president’s 

“America First” policy? Or was it 

a shift to something akin to the 

hopeless, non-violent “regime 

change” policy of the Obama 

administration in Syria? 

After the debacle of last week’s 

attempt to repeal and replace 

the Affordable Care Act, was the 

president serious when he thought 

of working with the Democrats 

to craft an updated version of 

Obamacare? 

In foreign and domestic 

policies, will the Trump 

government turn out to be an 

extension, and clearly not a very 

competent or coherent one, of the 

government it replaced? 

After more than 70 days of 

very uncertain governance and 

uninterrupted policy setbacks, 

it seems fitting to begin another 

piece on the “Trumpian” era with 

question marks. 

The confusing signals that 

the missile attack on Syria sent 

are already the talk of the town 

-- media warlords are growing fat 

on parsing the meaning of this 

act which seems contradictory to 

what Trump said on the campaign 

trail as well as the policy concepts 

he professed in his inauguration 

speech. 

Just days earlier, Trump had 

blamed Obama for the continuing 

Syrian tragedy, citing his 2013 

back-down after setting a red line 

for using chemical weapons. 

Just days later, moved almost to 

tears it seems by the heart-rending 

television scenes of children 

who were gassed, he ordered a 

missile strike as punishment for 

the wantonly brutal act, while his 

subordinates, Secretary of State 

Tillerson and UN Ambassador 

Nikki Healy, seemed to be saying 

that Assad must go before the 

Syrian imbroglio can end. 

Back in 2013, a Trump tweet 

pleaded Obama not to attack 

Syria after the Assad government 

used a nerve gas to attack rebels 

leading to unfortunate civilian 

“collateral damage” in an area near 

Damascus. 

He had seen the same kind of 

pictures then, yet they did not 

spur him to want an attack. 

In the campaign, Trump 

repeatedly said that the US priority 

in Syria should be to crush IS, and 

not to become entangled in its civil 

That sinking feeling when you realise who your president is 

war. Assad would be an ally in that 

regard, he said, and could be part 

of the solution to the civil war, not 

part of the problem. 

Only a few weeks ago, Secretary 

Tillerson said that Assad’s future 

was to be decided by the Syrian 

people. After the missile attack, he 

said it seemed there would be no 

role for Assad in Syria’s political 

future. 

Trump was meeting Chinese 

leader Xi Jinping when the attack 

occurred. Some observers have 

expressed that, perhaps, the 

timing of the attack was to show 

the Chinese leader that he could be 

tough and unpredictable. 

But it is more likely that this 

very unlikely interpretation is 

designed to draw attention from a 

“softball” summit with a country 

that Trump pledged to play 

hardball with during his campaign. 

Concurrent with the news of 

the missile attack and with the 

summit meeting with China, 

comes also the news that Trump’s 

éminence grise Steve Bannon has 

fallen on hard times, having been 

removed by Trump from his seat 

on the Principles Committee of the 

National Security Council, and the 

permanent seat of the chairman of 

the joint chiefs has been restored. 

One hears excited rejoicing 

that the globalists are winning the 

civil war in the White House over 

the nationalists/populists, whose 

leader is Mr Bannon. 

America First doctrines, which 

the administration brought 

into the White House, and were 

clearly enunciated by Trump in 

his inauguration speech, may be 

Unnerving is a president who is clearly unmoored ideologically, and who 

could very well flip-flop from the globalist to the nationalist/populist/ 

nativist, depending on what he has seen on television that day 

leavened, or so it is hoped. 

But the excitement seems 

premature and misplaced. 

What “globalists” are we talking 

about? Leading a short list are 

three generals, who seem the only 

functional members of his team, 

his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, 

whose list of responsibilities in 

the administration keeps growing 

as Bannon’s seems to shrink, 

but whose globalism seems to 

centre on one country: Israel. 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson 

may also be on the “globalist” 

list, but I find it hard to discern 

on which list he belongs, as he 

appears to be deconstructing 

the state department part of the 

administrative state, a Bannon 

priority. 

But how much confidence 

should we have in a globalist 

core of government, if one is 

developing, in which the military 

members outnumber the civilians? 

And where is the globalist check 

on a president who clearly acts on 

impulse and whose main advisers 

are military, whose instincts are to 

salute and attack. 

More worrisome, however, is 

the report of a “civil war” in an 

administration that has become 

increasingly paranoid and chaotic. 

This is not only apparent in the 

actions taken against Syria, which 

are contrary to everything Trump 

said in the campaign and his 

inauguration speech but also in 

the divergences over China and 

trade policy in general. 

This civil war now seems to 

extend to the government as 

a whole. Reports from federal 

agencies flood in of these agencies 

being paralysed by the back-biting 

and lack of direction, glacially 

slow hiring as candidate after 

candidate for senior positions is 

nixed by one side or the other in 

the White House. 

More unnerving is a president 

who is clearly unmoored 

ideologically, and who could very 

well flip-flop from the globalist to 

the nationalist/populist/nativist, 

depending on what he has seen 

on television that day. It is hard 

to believe that his well-known 

nationalist/populist/nativist 

inclinations could all disappear in 

one day. 

Nor do I think he could abandon 

those inclinations completely 

and precipitously without a huge 

outcry from his core supporters 

who voted for him because they 

REUTERS 

approved of the policies -- America 

First, building the wall, getting 

tough on illegal immigrants, as 

well as getting rid of Obamacare, 

minimising foreign interventions, 

and others that flow from those 

ideological inclinations. 

It seems to me, however, that 

something big is coming that will 

either pull the administration 

together on one ideological track 

or the other, or will cause its 

downfall. “Something big” are 

the words David Brooks used a 

few days ago, and since I suspect 

that the present dysfunction and 

ideological schizophrenia are 

unsustainable in a government, it 

will take something big to change 

it. 

This could be many things: A 

war, an attempt by the president 

to override a constitutional block 

to one of his policies by congress 

or the judiciary, or perhaps a great 

scandal. It ain’t over til it’s over, as 

Yogi once said. • 

William Milam is a Senior Scholar at the 

Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington 

DC, and a former US diplomat who 

was Ambassador to Pakistan and 

Bangladesh. This article previously 

appeared in The Friday Times.

Walking a tightrope 

Opinion 15 

The coddling of religious extremists for political gain can spell disaster for a country 

DT 


It took the forces eight days to 

subdue the militants and retake 

the mosque. The death toll stood 

at 102 of which 91 were militants 

and 11 members of operation 

forces. 

An enormous quantity of 

arms and ammunition was 

recovered from the mosque, 

including rockets, anti-tank 

and anti-personnel landmines, 

suicide bombing belts, assault 

rifles, and thousands of rounds of 

ammunition. 

Do we really need to appease these people? 

• Ziauddin Choudhury 

I 

am forced to repeat some of 

my comments made a few 

years back on the dangers of 

coddling religious forces for 

political gain. 

About a decade ago, the 

headlines hitting the news media 

in Pakistan and elsewhere put a 

little known mosque and seminary 

in Islamabad, and its leader, on the 

world map. 

The Lal Masjid provided 

religious education based on 

Deobandi curriculum to about 

7,000 students, male and female. 

The horrific incidents 

surrounding the mosque and the 

ensuing mayhem were the result 

of Pakistan authorities storming 

the seminary with battle strength 

forces to oust the student militants 

and their leader who had lodged 

there for months, defying law 

enforcing authorities. 

But the question remains: How 

did a mosque and madrasa located 

in the heart of the country’s capital 

turn into a bastion of radicalism 

and create a small army of young 

militants? 

And how was this grievous 

situation that led to the deaths 

of many young militants allowed 

to grow right under the nose of a 

powerful government? 

The Lal Masjid incident is an 

object lesson on how things can go 

awry with disastrous results when 

government coddles religious 

elements and religious institutions 

either for political reasons, or for 

fear of public backlash. 

The mosque, which was 

constructed and funded by 

The Lal Masjid incident is an object lesson on how things can go 

awry with disastrous results when government coddles religious 

elements and religious institutions either for political reasons, or 

for fear of public backlash 

the Pakistan government, was 

originally the main mosque 

in Islamabad patronised by 

government officials including top 

army brass. Its central location 

placed it within close proximity of 

various government offices, the ISI 

among them. 

With General Ziaul Huq leading 

the country in the heady days of 

the US assisted fight against the 

Russians in Afghanistan, the Lal 

Masjid turned into a madrasa, 

training students who would be 

cannon fodder for the holy war. 

The imam of the mosque at the 

time was a favourite of President 

Ziaul Huq, not only because of his 

fiery “jihadi” speeches, but also 

for the help he provided in training 

the mujahideen who would fight 

in Afghanistan. 

Imam Abdul Aziz, who ruled 

over the seminary after the Afghan 

war, was the son of the first prayer 

leader at the mosque and had 

worked closely with the Afghan 

mujahideens that his father’s 

madrasa had trained. 

Abdul Aziz and his brother 

became firebrand radicals who 

would later use the Lal Masjid to 

train young minds in their school 

of thought. However, the clash 

with government would not occur 

until much later. 

The first brush with the 

government occurred in 2005 

when Abdul Aziz issued a fatwa 

against the army officers who were 

fighting against Pakistani Taliban 

in the tribal areas close to the 

Afghan border. 

For this reason, he was 

dismissed from his position by 

the government, but he refused to 

vacate the mosque. 

With his baton wielding 

acolytes (men and women) in the 

madrasa, he turned the mosque 

and the adjoining seminary 

into a fortress, daring any law 

enforcing agency to oust him. The 

government did not apply any 

force. 

This encouraged Abdul Aziz 

and his students to take their 

radical activism a notch higher. 

First, the madrasa students 

rallied against the government 

campaign to demolish illegally 

constructed mosques in 

Islamabad. They followed these 

protests along with their teachers, 

threatening the owners of video 

and music shops in Islamabad. 

The female students of the 

seminary, assisted by their male 

counterparts, raided an alleged 

brothel, kidnapping three women 

and holding them hostage for 

three days before releasing 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

them after securing confessional 

statements saying that there were 

involved in “immoral activities.” 

All this happened under the 

watchful eyes of Pakistani and 

international media. 

The most egregious of 

the unlawful activities was, 

however, when the students and 

their teachers abducted three 

policemen as they went about 

their duties in search of students 

who were breaking the law. 

This time also the government 

relented. 

Instead of carrying out a major 

operation, the police negotiated 

the release of the three policemen. 

It took several months for the 

Pakistani government to realise 

that it was time to take the bull by 

the horn. 

The demon it was nurturing 

close to its core was giving birth 

to hundreds of radicals who were 

being shipped to fight its army and 

botch its war on terrorism from 

within. 

Ironically, the government 

was fighting the very elements 

that were first born out of direct 

government subsidy and later of 

sheer neglect. 

Finally, on July 3, 2007, the 

government, aided by the army, 

attacked the mosque. 

Is there a lesson to be learnt from 

all this? 

The use of religion for short term 

political gains is not unheard of 

-- at the very least, we are familiar 

with it from the history of Pakistan 

and Bangladesh. 

In the 60s, Ayub Khan gathered 

the support of the ulema for his 

regime. General Ziaul Huq not 

only indulged religious elements, 

but considered himself as the new 

messiah. Pakistan is still reaping 

the harvest of the seeds that he 

had sown. 

In Bangladesh in the early 

70s, Ziaur Rahman was blessed 

in a national gathering of the 

mudarreseen (association of 

madrasa teachers). Later, we saw 

the repetition of the blessing of the 

dictatorship of General Ershad by 

the same elements. 

The Bangladesh government is 

now walking a tightrope dangling 

between pressures of religious 

groups and demands of moderates 

for a more open and secular 

society. 

Appeasement of one group at 

the chagrin of another may work 

for a limited time, but in the end 

both groups see through the game 

and coalesce with each other to 

fight a common foe. We have seen 

this in Iran in the 70s, and later 

during the Arab spring. 

Democracy dies in the dark 

when our leaders either do not 

or will not follow lessons from 

history. 

Conspiracies against democracy 

do not come from outside, but 

from within. They come from 

our inability to recognise that 

forces that seek to usurp state 

power with violent means first 

work silently with connivance of 

allies that they set up in powerful 

quarters. 

We need to be watchful that the 

Lal Masjid experience does not 

repeat in our country. • 

Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the 

higher civil service of Bangladesh early 

in his career, and later for the World 

Bank in the US.

16 


DT 

Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

CODE-CRACKER 

ACROSS 

1 Marsh (6) 

6 Spirit (3) 

9 Combine (5) 

10 Large volume (4) 

11 Even (5) 

12 Copy (3) 

13 Elevated (6) 

15 Certain (4) 

18 Exploit (4) 

21 Guarantee (6) 

24 Insect (3) 

25 Dwell (5) 

28 Fasting period (4) 

29 Locations (5) 

30 Finish (3) 

31 Replenishes (6) 

DOWN 

1 Stubborn animals (5) 

2 Unique (3) 

3 Waterway (5) 

4 Consumed (3) 

5 Vend (4) 

6 Farm land (4) 

7 Obstruct (6) 

8 Require (4) 

14 Nourished (3) 

16 Invisible (6) 

17 Flightless bird (3) 

19 Best part (5) 

20 Garment (5) 

21 Qualified (4) 

22 Transmit (4) 

23 Comfort (4) 

26 Container (3) 

27 Early freshness (3) 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 23 represents N so fill N 

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 

FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

What’s on 

17 


DT 

EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY 

HEALTH 

MOVIE 

FAIR 

STAR CINEPLEX 

Where Bashundhara City, Dhaka 

What Movie showtime (April 16) 

SAAOL HEART SEMINAR – 57 

When 4am-7am 

Where Saaol Heart Center BD Ltd, House 26, Eskaton Garden 

Road, Ramna, Dhaka 

What Weekly seminar on heart disease awareness by Saaol 

Heart Center BD Ltd. 

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY CAMP 

When 8:30am-11:30am 

Where Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Sher-E-Bangla 

Nagar, Dhaka 

What Speech and language therapy camp organised 

collaboratively by Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College 

Hospital and Therapy Plus. 

SEMINAR 

Beauty and the Beast (3D): 

11:20am, 2:10pm, 4:40pm, 7:15pm 

Ghost in the Shell (3D): 10:50am, 

1:40pm, 4:30pm, 7:20 pm 

Swatta (2D): 4:10pm, 7:10pm 

Fast & Furious 8 (2D): 4:35pm. 

7:30pm 

Fast & Furious 8 (3D): 10:50am, 

11am, 1:40pm, 1:50pm, 4:30pm, 

7pm, 7:20pm 

Logan (2D): 10:50am, 1:40pm 

The Boss Baby (3D): 11:30am, 2pm, 

4:50pm 

BLOCKBUSTER CINEMAS 

Where Jamuna Future Park, Dhaka 

What Movie showtime (April 16) 

BOISHAKHI MELA-GULSHAN 

When 10am-3pm 

Where ITHS Gulshan, Road 111, House 9, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 

What A Children friendly Boishakhi fair organised by 

International Turkish Hope School. 

EDUCATION 

UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA - MEETING 

IN DHAKA 

When 12pm-2pm 

Where N&N Int. Education Consultancy Ltd, House 18 (1st 

Floor), Road 126, Gulshan 1 Dhaka 

What Consultancy and on spot admission for studying at 

University of Tasmania. 

UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON SEMINAR & SPOT 

ASSESSMENT 

When 11am-4pm 

Where Alaska Services BD, House No 682 (4th Floor), Road 9, 

Mirpur DOHS, Dhaka 

What Consultancy and on spot admission for studying at 

University of East London in the UK. 

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD SEASON 2 

When 2:40pm-6:30pm 

Where UIU Auditorium, Dhanmondi 8A, Shat Mosque Road, 

Dhaka 

What Professional skill development workshop organised by 

UIU Skill Development Forum 

CHAT WITH A DIPLOMAT 

When 3pm-4pm 

Where U.S. Embassy-Dhaka, Baridhara, Dhaka 

What Conversations with diplomats from the U.S. Embassy. 

Fast and Furious 8 (3D): 11:30am, 

11:35am, 2:15pm, 2:20pm, 5pm, 

5:05pm, 7:45pm, 7:50pm 

Power Rangers: 5pm, 11:40am, 

2:15pm, 7:30pm 

Rings (2D): 2:50pm 

La La Land (2D): 4:50pm 

Swatta (2D): 1pm, 4pm, 7pm 

Haripada Bandwala: 12:30pm, 

3:30pm, 6:30pm 

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

FOOD 

MANCHESTER UNITED VS CHELSEA LIVE AT 

VELOCITY 

When 9pm-11pm 

Where Velocity, House 22, Road-19/A, Block-E, Banani, Dhaka 

What Live sport screening. Entry and Platter Tk400 and 

Tk450 for non-members.

DT 

18 

Sports 


Abahani brace for 

Bengaluru clash 

• Tribune Report 

Bangladesh Premier League champion 

Dhaka Abahani Limited will 

leave here for India today morning 

to take part in their third AFC Cup 

2017 Group E match against Indian 

League winner Bengaluru FC, 

scheduled to be held on Tuesday. 

An 18-member Abahani squad 

will travel with only two foreigners 

– Emeka Darlington and Jonathan 

David – as their veteran Ghanaian 

defender Samad Yussif is yet to get 

the Indian visa. 

“Samad didn’t get visa yet. He 

had to go to his own country first to 

get his passport okay. Now we are 

again going to travel with only two 

foreign players while all the other 

teams are playing with four. They 

are the major players in the team,” 

said Abahani head coach Drago 

Mamic yesterday. 

Mamic also informed that midfielder 

Emon Babu is unlikely to 

play due to injury. 

The Sky Blues are currently languishing 

at the bottom of Group E 

with two defeats in as many matches. 

Abahani manager Satyajit Das 

Rupu stated that if Samad gets his 

visa today then he will fly off the 

next day to play the game. • 

Abahani players take part in a training session in Dhanmondi yesterday 

Mamic: Abahani in transition but improving 

• Shishir Hoque 

Five-time professional league 

champion Dhaka Abahani Limited 

will play away to Indian League 

winner Bengaluru FC in their third 

match of the AFC Cup on Tuesday. 

Having lost almost half of the 

key squad members at the beginning 

of the season, the Dhanmondi 

giant have been going through 

difficult times in the competition, 

suffering defeats in their last two 

matches. Bengaluru are currently 

at the top of the Group E table 

while the Sky Blues are mired at 

the bottom. Abahani head coach 

Drago Mamic gave an interview to 

Dhaka Tribune, before their final 

practice session in Dhaka prior to 

their departure, at the club premises 

yesterday afternoon. 

Here are the excerpts: 

What are your expectations 

regarding the match against 

Bengaluru? 

We will be playing against the defending 

champion of India and also 

the finalist of the last AFC Cup. We 

know everything about this club. 

But we must take care about our 

performance, to be better than last 

time. We played very, very good 

against Mohun Bagan FC in the 

first half but we must start thinking 

about (prolonging) this performance; 

to be very good more than 

only one half. We are now in better 

fitness condition than before and I 

already told that we are fighting. 

Bengaluru have exhibited strong 

performances in the AFC Cup. They 

defeated Bagan in the group stage. 

Do you think the next game will be 

tougher than the previous one? 

After winning against Bagan, 

they were outplayed by the same 

opponent within a weak. We can’t 

say which team is better. The only 

question is who is concentrating 

more in which competition. They 

also won the game against Maziya 

(Sports and Recreation Club) with 

a winner in the 94th minute. They 

are at the top of the table. We are 

playing very good. This conception 

and system of playing (are) not 

problems. We must just (continue) 

on that, to extend the time of 

good playing, not playing only 45 

minutes. I hope now we can play 

(well) much longer than the last 

game. 

You have experience of coaching in 

the I-League, how competitive are 

Abahani head coach Drago Mamic briefs his charges during training 

you expecting this game to be? 

I have experience in all Asia. I know 

very good that in this game if you 

have very good squad and foreign 

players, then you have big chance. 

If you take off all the foreign players 

from Bagan, they can not play 

so quality game like they did with 

them. Same goes for Bengaluru. 

We are handicapped. I don’t know 

what happened here for minimum 

presence of the foreign players. 

This is killing the quality of the 

league. This is also the reason why 

this is happening with us in the 

AFC Cup. 

MD MANIK 

MD MANIK 

Mulling any change in formation or 

strategy? 

New formation depends on the 

quality of the players. That’s why 

we cannot play 4-3-3 against the 

team who have more quality. And 

we also have to play away. I think 

everybody who is rational thinking 

must know at the moment Bengaluru 

(are) better team than us. 

We must play something which can 

ensure the defence. 

What do you think are the reasons 

behind Abahani’s two defeats in 

the AFC Cup? 

Many reasons I have already 

spoke of, about calender of 

competition, about everything. I 

don’t want to repeat it. Now we 

have two games behind us. Boys 

are improving. We are just in the 

selective time. This team existed 

for only one month. We changed 

about seven-eight players from 

last season, including foreign 

players. That’s why it is a new 

team and we must think about 

it. I’m sure the team will be 

improving but at the moment 

we can’t expect some surprising 

results in Bengaluru. We cannot 

go there like favourite and 

promise somebody that we are 

going there for win because it will 

be ridiculous in my opinion. •

Last-gasp Milan draw 

in first Chinese derby 

• Reuters, Milan 

AC Milan equalised with the last 

kick of the game to force an extraordinary 

2-2 draw against Inter 

Milan yesterday as the historic 

derby was played at lunchtime for 

the first time and with both clubs 

under Chinese ownership. 

Defender Cristian Zapata 

was Milan's unlikely hero when he 

managed to force the ball over the 

line at the far post in the seventh 

minute of stoppage time after Inter 

failed to clear a corner. 

The Colombia defender hooked 

the ball against the underside of 

the crossbar and, although Gary 

Medel cleared it off the line, referee 

Daniele Orsato immediately 

awarded the goal, helped by goalline 

technology. 

Before there was time to restart, 

the referee blew for time, 

sparking wild celebrations among 

the Milan fans and leaving Inter's 

players slumped on the pitch in 

despair. 

Zapata's fellow defender Alessio 

Romagnoli began the fightback 

seven minutes from time when he 

RESULTS 

Inter Milan 2-2 AC Milan 

Candreva 36, Romagnoli 83, 

Icardi 44 Zapata 90+7 

Cagliari 4-0 Chievo 

Borriello 11, Sau 15, Pedro 40, 90 

Fiorentina 1-2 Empoli 

Tello 64 El Kaddouri 37, 

Pasqual 90+3-P 

Genoa 2-2 Lazio 

Simone 10, Biglia 45+2, 

Pandev 78 Alberto 90+1 

Palermo 0-0 Bologna 

Pescara 0-2 Juventus 

Higuain 23, 43 

Roma 1-1 Atalanta 

Dzeko 50 Kurtic 22 

Torino 1-1 Crotone 

Belotti 66-P Simy 81 

turned in Suso's cross. 

Inter, who appeared to have 

been time-wasting, could have 

sealed the game seconds before 

Zapata's goal when substitute Jonathan 

Biabiany fired over the bar 

when it seemed to easier score. • 

Sports 

19 


Inter's Antonio Candreva (R) vies with Milan's Mati Fernandez during their Serie A match at San Siro yesterday 

AFP 

DT 

Kolkata’s Manish Pandey plays a shot 

yesterday against Sunrisers 

AFP 

Mustafizur, Shakib left out as 

Kolkata beat Sunrisers 


Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur 

Rahman and all-rounder Shakib al 

Hasan were left out from the starting 

XI of their respective franchises 

as Kolkata Knight Riders defeated 

Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in 

their IPL T20 2017 clash at Eden 

Gardens in Kolkata yesterday. 

Sunrisers managed 155/6 in their 

allotted 20 overs after being set 173 

to win by Kolkata. 

Kolkata have now won five 

games against Sunrisers at Eden 

Gardens, the most against any 

team without losing at one venue. 

Sunrisers won the toss and 

asked Kolkata to bat first. Kolkata 

reached 172/5, thanks to a 39-ball 

68 by wicketkeeper-batsman Robin 

Uthappa before top-order batter 

Manish Pandey hit 46 in 35 balls. 

Uthappa struck five fours and four 

sixes in his knock while Pandey 

hammered three boundaries and a 

couple of sixes. 

BRIEF SCORE 

HYDERABAD 155/6 (Warner 26, Woakes 

2/49) lost to KOLKATA 172/6 (Uthappa 

68, Bhuvneshwar 3/20) by 17 runs 

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar 

was the most successful Sunrisers 

bowler with three wickets, conceding 

20 runs in his quota of four 

overs. 

Afghanistan spinner Rashid 

Khan, pacer Ashish Nehra and 

Australia all-rounder Ben Cutting 

picked up one wicket each. 

Chasing, Sunrisers lost wickets 

at regular intervals and ultimately 

lost by 17 runs. Middle-order batsman 

Yuvraj Singh (26), skipper 

David Warner (26), opener Shikhar 

Dhawan (23) and lower-order batter 

Bipul Sharma (21 not out) all got 

starts but were unable to convert 

into substantial knock. 

West Indian mystery spinner 

Sunil Narine stood out with figures 

of 4-0-18-1. He received able 

support from England all-rounder 

Chris Woakes, part-time spinner 

Yusuf Pathan, chinaman bowler 

Kuldeep Yadav and New Zealand 

fast bowler Trent Boult, who 

shared five wickets between themselves. 

Uthappa was adjudged player of 

the match for his brisk knock. 

Shakib's Kolkata will take on 

Zaheer Khan's Delhi Daredevils in 

their next game tomorrow while 

Mustafizur's Sunrisers will face 

Glenn Maxwell's Kings XI Punjab 

on the same day. • 

Season opening 

Federation Cup 

kicks off May 12 


The season’s first professional tournament, 

the Federation Cup, begins 

on May 12 this year while the 

BPL kicks off on June 12, confirmed 

the BFF yesterday. A meeting of the 

professional football league committee, 

presided over by BFF senior 

vice president Abdus Salam Murshedi, 

was held at the BFF House 

where the decisions were taken. 

The 2017 Federation Cup will 

be held with the participation of 

12 clubs from the top flight league. 

The Bangabandhu National Stadium 

will host all the matches, 

including the final on May 27. The 

committee also decided to extend 

the transfer window clearance of 

the BCL by a fortnight. The window 

opened on April 1 and will now 

close on May 15. •

20 


DT 

Sports 

Sensational 

Isco spares 

Real Madrid's 

blushes against 

Sporting 

• Reuters, Madrid 

Isco's brilliant double helped a 

much-changed Real Madrid side 

snatch a 3-2 win at Sporting Gijon 

yesterday to move six points clear 

of title rival Barcelona at the top of 

La Liga. 

Madrid twice came from behind 

before Isco's low drive in the 90th 

minute handed Los Blancos victory 

against their exhausted host, who 

had faced waves of attacks. 

Sporting opened the scoring in 

the 14th minute when Mikel Vesga 

scooped a pass over Madrid's 

defence which Duje Cop slammed 

home, before Isco equalised three 

minutes later with a brilliant individual 

goal. 

Vesga looped a header over Kiko 

Casilla to put the hosts back in 

front after halftime, but Alvaro Morata 

equalised with a headed goal 

of his own, before Spanish midfielder 

Isco's late winner. 

Barca could trim the lead when 

they take on Real Sociedad at home 

later yesterday. • 

Real Madrid's Isco controls the ball next to Sporting Gijon's Fernando Amorebieta (L) during their La Liga match in Gijon yesterday. Real won 3-2 

Tottenham keep up Chelsea 

chase with 4-0 rout 

• Reuters 

Tottenham Hotspur’s tenacious 

chase of leaders Chelsea continued 

as they claimed a 12th consecutive 

Premier League home win with a 

4-0 rout of Bournemouth yesterday 

to cut the gap to four points. 

Two goals in three minutes 

from Mousa Dembele and Son Heung-min 

put the hosts in complete 

control inside 20 minutes and Harry 

Kane grabbed his 20th league 

goal of the season shortly after 

halftime as high-flying Spurs maintained 

their momentum. 

Substitute Vincent Janssen received 

the biggest roar of the day 

in stoppage time as he claimed his 

first Premier Leasgue goal from 

open play since joining last year. 

Mauricio Pochettino’s side will 

now hope fifth-placed Manchester 

United can do them a favour by 

stopping Chelsea’s seemingly unstoppable 

title charge at Old Trafford 

today. 

“It was another great performance,” 

Pochettino, whose side 

won 4-0 for the second Saturday 

running and now have six-goal better 

goal difference than Chelsea, 

told Sky Sports. 

RESULTS 

Tottenham 4-0 Bournemouth 

Dembele 16, Son 19, 

Kane 48, Janssen 90+2 

Palace 2-2 Leicester 

Cabaye 54, Benteke 70 Huth 6, Vardy 52 

Everton 3-1 Burnley 

Jagielka 49, Mee 71-og, Vokes 52-P 

Lukaku 74 

Stoke 3-1 Hull 

Arnautovic 6, Maguire 51 

Crouch 66, Shaqiri 80 

Sunderland 2-2 West Ham 

Khazri 26, Borini 90 Ayew 5, Collins 47 

Watford 1-0 Swansea 

Capoue 42 

“Our job is done now, we have 

the three points and now we’ll see 

what happens [today]. If (Chelsea) 

fail we are waiting.” 

Dembele struck his first Premier 

League goal for 15 months after 16 

minutes, slamming in a shot from 

six metres after Christian Eriksen’s 

corner arrived through a crowd of 

players. 

In-form Son fired through the 

legs of keeper Artur Boruc from 

a narrow angle after racing on to 

Kane’s deft flick. 

Kane, starting for the first time 

since injuring his ankle last month, 

wrapped up Tottenham’s seventh 

successive league win after 48 

minutes, turning Simon Francis all 

too easily and firing low past Boruc 

with his left foot. 

It is the third season in a row 

England forward Kane has reached 

the 20-goal mark - a feat previously 

only achieved by Alan Shearer, 

Ruud van Nistlerooy and Thierry 

Henry. 

Boruc made sure the score 

did not get too embarrassing for 

Bournemouth with several saves 

as Tottenham went through their 

routines but he was beaten again in 

stoppage time. 

Janssen, who has struggled 

to make an impact at White Hart 

Lane, scuffed his first attempt on 

goal but got another chance as 

the ball came back to him and the 

Dutchman fired past Boruc to put 

the icing on the cake of a 15th home 

league win. 

Bournemouth are seven points 

above the relegation zone before 

the later kickoffs and probably 

need one more victory to guarantee 

a third season of top-flight football. 

• 

Jose summons 

strength for Blues tie 

• AFP, London 

Manchester United manager Jose 

Mourinho must rally a fatigued and 

foundering team this weekend as 

he rekindles an increasingly thorny 

rivalry with his former club Chelsea, 

the Premier League leaders. 

United have drawn five of their 

last six home games and go into 

today’s Old Trafford showdown on 

the back of a leggy 1-1 draw at Anderlecht 

in the first leg of their Europa 

League quarter-final. 

They are far from ideal conditions 

in which to be preparing an 

ambush of the champions-elect, 

but despite his protestations that it 

is "just one more game", Mourinho 

is likely to be highly motivated. 

Sacked by Chelsea midway 

through last season's car-crash title 

defence, he has had two deeply 

unpleasant experiences on his two 

trips to Stamford Bridge this season. 

In October, he saw United 

thrashed 4-0 and made a public 

show of taking Chelsea manager 

Antonio Conte to task over his 

touchline exhortations, accusing 

the Italian of trying to "humiliate" 

him. 

February's 1-0 FA Cup defeat 

AFP 

was a closer affair, but brought 

with it barracking from the fans 

who had once sung his name. 

In response to their taunts of 

"Judas!", he raised three fingers - 

one for each of the Premier League 

titles he won over his two spells as 

Chelsea manager. 

"When they have somebody 

that wins four Premier Leagues for 

them, I become number two," he 

said after. "Until this moment, 'Judas' 

is number one." 

Mourinho cannot have enjoyed 

watching the players who seemed 

to down tools under him thriving 

under Conte, as typified by the 

form of Eden Hazard. 

Hazard, who played like a ghost 

under Mourinho last season, will 

arrive at Old Trafford seeking to 

reach the milestone of 15 goals in a 

league campaign for the first time 

since he signed from Lille in 2012. 

For his part, Conte has sought to 

play down any suggestion of tension 

between himself and Mourinho. 

"I have zero problems (with 

Mourinho)," he said. "It's only a 

sporting competition between him 

and me. "There is a game of football. 

I want to try and win with my 

team." •

Sports 

21 


DT 

Chanderpaul 

rescues 

Lancashire 

• AFP, London 

West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul 

showed that even closing 

in on his 43rd birthday his stubbornness 

at the crease remains 

as he stood firm for Lancashire in 

their county championship First 

Division match with Surrey. 

Chanderpaul, a mainstay of the 

West Indies batting for over two 

decades and who played the last 

of his 164 Tests in 2015, shared a 

superb unbeaten seventh wicket 

partnership with Jordan Clark of 

172 to guide his county to 294-6 

on the first day. Chanderpaul was 

dropped on 47 but went on to make 

85 not out while Clarke was on a career 

best 108. 

Lancashire had at one point 

been in a perilous position but 

Chanderpaul put on 55 runs for the 

sixth wicket with Ryan McLaren. • 

Di Maria sends PSG 

level with Monaco 

• AFP, Paris 

Angel Di Maria scored a brace to 

keep Paris Saint-Germain hot on 

Ligue 1 leaders Monaco's heels 

with a 2-0 win at Angers on Friday. 

The Argentina international 

showed his class with one sublime 

and another clinical finish as PSG 

moved level on points at the top of 

the table. 

Monaco can reclaim their threepoint 

advantage with victory at 

home to relegation threatened Dijon 

yesterday but with one eye on 

next week's Champions League 

quarter-final second leg against 

Borussia Dortmund, they could be 

vulnerable. What's more, Monaco 

have had one less day to prepare 

for yesterday’s game after their 

first leg in Germany, which the 

Principality outfit won 3-2, was 

postponed 24 hours after a triple 

bomb blast damaged the home 

side's team bus and left Spanish 

CRICKET 

SONY ESPN 

IPL T20 2017 

4:30PM 

Mumbai v Gujarat 

8:30PM 

Bangalore v Pune 

FOOTBALL 

STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 2 

Premier League 2016-17 

6:20PM 

West Brom v Liverpool 

8:50PM 

DAY’S WATCH 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel of Germany gives autographs to fans as he arrives at 

Bahrain International Circuit yesterday 

REUTERS 

defender Marc Bartra with a broken 

wrist. How much that incident has 

affected Monaco's already weary 

players remains to be seen while 

PSG have only domestic matters to 

concentrate on now. 

Di Maria's first goal was a rare 

spark in an otherwise tight first 

half, but there was no doubting the 

quality of his placement as he bent 

a free-kick from 25 yards over the 

defensive wall and beyond the despairing 

reach of Alexandre Letellier 

in the Angers goal on 28 minutes. 

The home side had the ball 

in the net on 39 minutes 

through captain Cheikh 

Ndoye but it was controversially 

disallowed for a 

foul by Famara Diedhiou 

on Serge Aurier when television 

replays proved 

inconclusive as to which 

of the two was the true 

offender as they wrestled 

in the area. • 

Man Utd v Chelsea 

TEN 1 

La Liga 2016-17 

8:10PM 

Valencia v Sevilla 

TEN 1 HD 

Serie A 2016-17 

12:40AM (Monday) 

Roma v Atalanta 

FORMULA 1 

STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 1 

Bahrain Grand Prix 

8:55PM 

Main Race 

Vettel survives Ferrari 

'shut-down' in Bahrain 

• AFP, Manama 

Sebastian Vettel survived a scare 

on Friday as he and Ferrari proved 

they are back as serious contenders 

for this year’s world championship 

by topping both opening practice 

sessions ahead of this weekend’s 

Bahrain Grand Prix. 

The four-time world champion 

was the quickest man of the day 

but admitted he had been lucky to 

recover from a technical problem 

in the evening’s floodlit session 

when his Ferrari lost power and 

“shut down”. 

“We had some sort of glitch," he 

said. “All of a sudden everything 

went dark. It was a total shutdown. 

“Thankfully, there was no lasting 

damage to the car and we can 

fix it. Nowadays, these cars are 

not just cars - it’s all technology 

and software so it seems to me like 

something went wrong there.” 

Vettel wound up narrowly ahead 

of Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and 

third-placed Daniel Ricciardo of 

Red Bull at the end of practice, the 

trio separated by 0.06 seconds. 

“I think Mercedes looked 

stronger earlier today, but we were 

lucky to recover after our issue so 

overall I think we did ok,” he added. 

“I think we can do better.” 

Vettel shares the leadership of 

this year’s world championship 

with three-time champion Lewis 

Hamilton of Mercedes after two 

races. Both have 43 points after one 

win apiece. 

Hamilton was unable to clock a 

flying lap on his set of super-soft 

tyres in the second session, when 

he was baulked by Nico Hulkenberg 

of Renault, and he ended up 

fifth quickest behind Kimi Raikkonen 

in the second Ferrari. • 

Sampaoli unhappy at Sevilla's rebuke 

• AFP, Madrid 

Jorge Sampaoli reacted angrily 

on Friday to Sevilla's decision to 

threaten the Argentine Football 

Association with legal action over 

Afa’s interest in hiring the Sevilla 

coach to rescue their floundering 

World Cup qualifying campaign. 

Sevilla issued a statement on 

Wednesday describing comments 

from new Afa president Claudio 

Tapia over his intentions to meet 

Sampaoli over the vacant coach's 

role as "unacceptable" and "a lack 

of respect." 

Tapia later backtracked saying 

he would be flying to Spain only to 

meet with Barcelona star and Argentina 

captain Lionel Messi. 

"The statement has more to do 

with speculation than facts," said 

Sampaoli. 

"If you ask me if I have said yes 

(to Afa) then I would be saying that 

I am the Argentina coach and that 

isn't the truth." 

Argentina are looking for a new 

coach after Edgardo Bauza was 

sacked on Monday. 

Sampaoli is under contract at 

Sevilla until 2018, but his future is 

far from certain after the departure 

of the club's sporting director Monchi. 

The 57-year-old has had an impressive 

debut season in Europe 

with Sevilla sitting fourth in La 

Liga. 

However, despite being one of 

the leading candidates, he is expected 

to miss out on the Barcelona 

job when Luis Enrique steps 

down at the end of the season. 

"I have already been Barcelona, 

PSG, Arsenal, Holland coach," Sampaoli 

added sarcastically. 

"My name is being played with a 

lot in speculation and that bothers 

me. 

"If the club had to issue a statement 

every time I am linked with 

a job, there would be one every 

week." •

22 


DT 

Showtime 

Celebrating 

the silent hero 

• Farhat Alam Brishty 

“Life is a tragedy when seen in 

close-up, but a comedy in longshot.” 

– Charlie Chaplin. 

Charlie Chaplin’s famous 

character, the funny little Tramp 

made us all laugh, but also told 

us the most profound stories of 

life. Life is a fusion of tragedy 

and comedy; there’s tragedy in 

comedy and there’s comedy in 

tragedy. The character of Tramp, 

constructed and played by Charlie 

Chaplin, is one of the most iconic 

figures in the history of world 

cinema. The Tramp made us 

laugh and cry at the same time. 

With his charm, innocence and 

comedy, he made us love him 

and touched our hearts. He 

taught us how to be happy, even 

during the moments of greatest 

despair. He taught us that little 

things can also be great, and 

that our troubles never make life 

worthless. 

Charles Spencer Chaplin – 

the creator of Tramp, and the 

greatest comedian, actor, director, 

producer and composer, was born 

on this day, April 16, 1889. On his 

128th birthday, let us look back 

at some of his most memorable 

works. 

The Kid (1921): 

The Kid was Chaplin’s first 

full-length feature film, which 

portrayed the sweet, tender and 

heartbreaking story of a father 

and son. Like most of Chaplin’s 

films, the film belonged to the 

silent era. The Tramp finds an 

abandoned infant and raises him 

as his own. The sweet and funny 

little moments of the father-son 

duo make the audience fall in love 

with them. By the end of the film, 

the real mother is found and the 

child has to go back to her. The 

tear-jerking, yet adorable comedydrama 

is still considered one of 

the greatest films by Chaplin. 

The Gold Rush (1925): 

The silent comedy film shows 

the Tramp trying his luck as 

a prospector in the 1896-1899 

Klondike Gold Rush. He gets 

trapped in a cabin during a 

blizzard, along with a fugitive 

and another prospector. In this 

film, the terrible experience of 

being trapped inside a cabin 

without food has been portrayed 

beautifully. Eventually, he gets to 

leave the cabin and falls in love 

with a barmaid in the town. They 

lose contact but later reunite, 

after the Tramp and his fellow 

prospector find their lost gold 

and become rich. One of the 

interesting points of this film is 

that it shows the ever unfortunate 

Tramp as a billionaire in the end. 

City Lights (1931): 

Highlighting the love story of the 

Tramp and a poor blind girl, City 

Lights is a silent romantic comedy. 

The Tramp undertakes various 

attempts to help the girl keep 

her house, and undergo an eye 

surgery. All his attempts end up 

in chaos, providing humour for 

the audience. Finally, he succeeds 

in getting money from his 

millionaire friend for the girl, but 

gets arrested. When he is released 

a few months later, the lovers are 

reunited through a heart-melting 

scene. The scene, according to 

many critics, is one of the best 

performances by Chaplin. Talkies 

or sound films were already 

developing when Chaplin started 

working on City Lights, but he 

chose to continue making silent 

films, as he believed cinema will 

lose its artistry with sound. 

Modern Times (1936): 

This film is an effort to reconcile 

with the chaotic modern 

industrial life. The Tramp is 

a factory worker who gets 

overwhelmed by the hectic 

machinery work load. He falls 

in love with a poor orphan girl, 

and together, they try to find 

positivity in the midst of the 

chaos in modern times. The 

Tramp is given voice for the first 

time, as Chaplin sings a song as a 

waiter and performer in the film. 

The film got mixed reviews as 

some critics did not like Chaplin 

getting involved with the sociopolitical 

situation of the society. 

The Great Dictator (1940): 

Charlie Chaplin’s first true sound 

film, The Great Dictator, is a 

political satire. Chaplin condemns 

fascism, anti-semitism and the 

Nazis, by impersonating Adolf 

Hitler as Adenoid Hynkel – a 

ruthless dictator. Chaplin plays 

both the roles of the dictator and 

a Jewish barber, who was a soldier 

in World War I. The identical 

appearance that the dictator 

and the barber share causes 

humorous confusions, and leads 

to the barber giving a speech to 

a gigantic crowd in the place of 

the dictator. The barber, as the 

dictator, tells the nation that he 

does not wish to spread hatred 

and war, but chooses humanity 

and compassion. The speech is 

one of the most significant scenes 

in Chaplin’s career. The film is 

considered as one of the greatest 

films by Chaplin and was his 

most commercially successful 

film. It also garnered criticism for 

becoming overtly political. 

The beginning of sound in films 

played a huge role in shaping 

the end of Charlie Chaplin. He 

found it difficult to adapt to 

the huge change, and thought 

that giving voice to the Tramp 

will decrease his global appeal. 

Chaplin believed, “Sound has 

spoiled the most ancient of the 

world’s art, the art of pantomime, 

and has cancelled out the great 

beauty that is silence.” Though 

he “spoke” in the later days of his 

career, most of his greatest works 

belong to the silent era. The 

beauty of silence is also painted 

in some other great works by him 

like The Circus, A Woman of Paris, 

A Dog’s Life, Tillie’s Punctured 

Romance, etc. Without uttering 

words, Charlie Chaplin has built 

such powerful a connection with 

us, that he was and will be loved 

by viewers and film enthusiasts 

for generations to come. •

Showtime 

23 


DT 

Shakib Khan celebrates Boishakh with family 

• Showtime Desk 

Shakib - Apu – Abraham, the most 

talked about trio in the showbiz at 

the moment, just spent their first 

Pohela Boishakh together. Apu 

Biswas, the Dhallywood actress 

who created a national news storm 

by coming out from a two-yearslong 

hiatus and appearing on a 

live television program on April 

10, to reveal her secret marriage 

to superstar Shakib Khan and the 

existence of the couples’ baby 

boy Abraham, seemed to have got 

past the long acrimonious episode 

and getting along with her famous 

husband after the week-long pandemonium. 

When Shakib appeared live 

on Independent TV on April 11 to 

address the situation, things were 

seemingly heading south, as the 

Dhallywood King Khan reluctantly 

accepted some of the allegations 

but dismissed Apu’s dramatic 

appearance earlier as a “conspiracy 

by the opposing forces.” Things 

however, took a strange turn when 

Shakib got himself admitted into 

hospital on April 13. 

On the early hours of Bangla 

new year (April 14), however, 

Shakib Khan seemingly wised up 

from his solitude in the hospital 

cabin, and headed to celebrate the 

Pohela Boishakh with his formerly 

secret wife and son at a five star 

hotel. 

But the day hardly ended for 

Shakib at the family reunion and 

he went to attend a pre-scheduled 

mohorot of the film Rongbaj, in 

which his co-star is none other 

than Bubly, the actress who 

reportedly was the subject behind 

the couples’ public discord. Bubly, 

who had had an altercation with 

Apu in the past, had come up 

frequently during the live TV interviews 

by Apu and Shakib. But the 

decision to go ahead with the mohorot 

program is clearly a sensible 

attempt to diffuse the rumour and 

restore a sense of normalcy. 

Finally able to celebrate an 

occasion officially as a family Apu 

Biswas said “We spent nearly an 

hour together. This is the first 

official Boishakh in our marital 

life. And this is Abraham’s first 

Boishakh as well. This is certainly 

a special day for us as parents.”• 

Sara Zaker and Sriya open 

wellness fair 


Sajida Foundation and 

Purnava Ltd organised a 

Health and Wellness Fair 2017, 

focusing on mental health and 

comprehensive well being on 

April 15, at the BRAC Centre. The 

event is being arranged based 

on the month observing World 

Health Day, which this year 

focuses on mental health. The 

Fair launched Sajida Foundation’s 

Psychosocial Counseling Centre 

situated in Banani called Inner 

Circle, which offers a range 

of psychosocial counselling, 

training and workshops 

through a team of qualified and 

experienced counsellors and 

trainers. 

Famous media personality, 

actress, counsellor, and Ekushey 

Padak award winner Sara Zaker, 

and Group Operations Director 

of Asiatic 360 Sriya Sharbojoya 

inaugurated the fair. 

The fair included various 

kinds of innovative and 

therapeutic psychological 

activities conducted by Inner 

Circle, discussions with expert 

speakers, yoga and poetry 

presentation all day. 

Besides, there were relaxation 

corner, self-help corner, 

artists’ corner, 

and psychological 

corners facilitated 

by Inner Circle. 

These different 

corners offered 

activities regarding 

mental relaxation 

therapies, psychoaroma 

therapies, and 

different interactive 

activities regarding 

mental self-care. 

Inner Circle provided 

free psychological 

and health check-ups 

for the visitors of the 

fair. 

A poetry 

workshop was taken 

by Ampersand. The 

day-long fair ended 

with a concert named ‘Healing 

Circle,’ by Armeen Musa, Shayan 

(Farzana Wahid) and Anusheh 

Anadil. 

With over two decades of 

experience in health care, 

Sajida Foundation operates 

with the vision of ensuring 

health, happiness, and dignity 

for all. Established in 1993, the 

organisation’s comprehensive 

health care covers both physical 

and mental wellness with two 

modern hospitals, community 

health program, home health 

care, an institute of health 

science as well as a psychosocial 

counselling centre.• 

First look of The Last Jedi 


The four-day convention named 

“Star Wars Celebration” unveiled 

the first-ever teaser trailer of The 

Last Jedi – the next episodic Star 

Wars film, on Friday. 

It looks like another planethopping 

war between the 

Resistance and the Empire is going 

to take place in the universe, that 

George Lucas gave birth to in 1977, 

with the release of the landmark 

space opera Star Wars. 

From the trailer, the first image 

we see with a haunting voice-over, 

is the face of Rey, played by Daisy 

Ridley, who gasps for air as if she 

had just been transported to the 

planet with the rocky isle, where 

she met Luke Skywalker, played 

by Mark Hamill, at the end of The 

Force Awakens. 

It shows Rey making rock 

particles that defy gravity, using 

the Force. A subsequent image 

of Rey shows her learning to use 

the light saber, under the gaze of 

another figure, presumably Luke 

Skywalker. 

In later images, the Resistance 

winged fighters explode as pilot 

Poe Dameron, played by Oscar 

Isaac, runs towards them. 

Finn, played by John Boyega, 

appears asleep in some sort of 

healing pod, while the Millennium 

Falcon swoops into the frame. 

Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, 

master of the Dark Side and the 

estranged son of Han Solo and 

Leia Organa, leads his soldiers into 

battle. 

In an ominous final note in the 

teaser, Skywalker declares that it is 

“time for the Jedi to end.” 

The Last Jedi is written and 

directed by Rian Johnson, whose 

previous ventures include Brick, 

The Brothers Bloom, and the loopy 

time-travel saga, Looper. 

The action of The Last Jedi picks 

up precisely where the previous 

film, The Force Awakens, ended. 

Benicio del Toro and Laura 

Dern, newcomers to the Star Wars 

franchise, will appear in The Last 

Jedi in roles that have not been 

disclosed yet, but do not appear in 

the trailer. The hugely anticipated 

film is set for the Christmas 2017 

release. •

24 


DT 

MISERY AND FEAR GRIP 

KORAIL FIRE SURVIVORS ›4 

Back Page 

COSTLY CAR PARTS BEING 

STOLEN FROM PORTS › 10 

SHAKIB KHAN CELEBRATES 

BOISHAKH WITH FAMILY › 23 

Government planning barrage on Brahmaputra 

• Abu Siddique 

The government is looking at the 

prospect of building a barrage on 

the Brahmaputra River. 

The probable location of the barrage 

might be Bahadurabad point 

on the river’s left bank or Fulchhari 

point on the right bank in Kurigram 

district. It will ensure irrigation to 

17 northern districts during the dry 

season. 

The Water Resources Ministry has 

already called for ‘expression of 

interest’ letters from interested organisations 

to conduct a feasibility 

study on the planned infrastructure. 

The cost of the feasibility 

study has been estimated to be Tk 

100cr. 

“The Brahmaputra barrage is 

necessary to supply water to the 

northwest as well as north central 

region of the country,” Md Aminul 

Haque, the project director, told 

the Dhaka Tribune. 

“We are trying to have the barrage 

somewhere between Bangabandhu 

Bridge and Bahadurabad 

point of the river,” he added. 

The Brahmaputra is a major 

trans-boundary river and contributes 

to about two-third of the total 

dry season water flow in Bangladesh. 

The project will involve a detailed 

feasibility study, socio-economic, 

environment, and other hydraulic 

and hydro-morphological 

surveys and studies, said Aminul 

Haque. 

Hydrologist Prof Ainun Nishat, 

however, observed that the authorities 

should first ensure the 

‘The locations proposed for the barrage and 

the proposed irrigation areas go against the 

general rules of gravitational flow’ 

economic, social and environmental 

viability of the barrage. 

An expert, on condition of anonymity, 

also noted that the locations 

proposed for the barrage and 

the proposed irrigation areas go 

against the general rules of gravitational 

flow. 

Many districts where the irrigation 

water is to be diverted are at a 

higher plane than the sea-level in 

comparison to the proposed barrage 

points, the expert added. 

The length of the trans-boundary 

Brahmaputra, from its source in 

southwestern Tibet to the mouth 

at the Bay of bengal is about 2,900 

km. The length of the Brahmaputra 

inside Bangladesh is about 240km 

with a catchment area of about 

The government plans to construct a barrage on the Brahmaputra River to ensure irrigation in northern districts during the 

dry season. The file photo was taken at the Jamalpur point of the river on July 30, 2015 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

39,100 square km, according to 

project documents. 

A study of the Center for Environmental 

and Geographic Information 

Services (CEGIS) said 

the average width of the river had 

increased from 8.5km in 1973 to 

12.2km in 2009 due to the erosion. 

Petition to keep Bangladeshi youth in UK 

gains 23,000 signatures 


A petition to grant a London-based 

Bangladeshi teenager the indefinite 

right to stay in the UK has 

gained over 23,000 signatures and 

counting, after he was told he faces 

deportation due to “close family 

ties to Bangladesh.” 

Abdul Hassan, 18, has been living 

in the UK since he was five years old. 

He applied to remain in the UK on 

the grounds of his residency in 2016. 

The application was denied by 

the Home Office as “it did not meet 

the rules and because he has close 

family ties to Bangladesh,” a UK 

Home Office spokesperson said as 

quoted by the Huffington Post. 

Abdul’s visitor visa expired in 

2004, the Home Office official said. 

However, Abdul has not seen 

any of his family in Bangladesh 

since he was a small child, when he 

left for the UK with his father, who 

was in need of medical treatment, 

and his schizophrenic mother. 

His parents then returned to 

Bangladesh, where his father has 

since died and his mother’s mental 

condition deteriorated, while Abdul 

stayed back and has been living 

in Britain with his aunt. 

“Me and my family were just really 

shocked. Just devastated when 

they rejected my initial application,” 

Abdul told the Huffington Post. 

“I thought they would grant me 

indefinite leave to remain.” 

Upon receiving news of the 

impending deportation, Abdul’s 

friend Hector O’Shea began an online 

petition to help the teenager 

remain in the country. Should the 

petition gain more than 25,000 

signatures, it shall be formally delivered 

to British Home Secretary 

Amber Rudd for consideration. 

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing 

Abdul for the last seven years, 

as a close friend and strong fellow 

student. He is one of the hardest 

working people and his care for 

others is second to none,” O’Shea 

The location the government 

is considering for setting up the 

infrastructure is around 10km in 

width. 

The water of Brahmaputra, 

known as Tsangpo-Brahmaputra 

river in China, are shared by China, 

India, and Bangladesh. In the 

said in the petition in an endorsement 

of Abdul’s character. 

O’Shea added that Abdul had obtained 

an ABB in his A levels, considered 

exceptional grades, and an 

apprenticeship with the global auditing 

firm KPMG, a promising future 

that has been thrown into limbo 

by the deportation order in spite 

of the UK being “the only home he 

had known for most of his life.” 

“He is as much a part of British 

society and culture as I am, and 

I don’t have a word to say against 

him and I’m sure no one else 

would,” said O’Shea in the petition. 

“Please help his situation by 

signing this petition, in hope that 

the tribunal see how many people 

see Abdul as part of their lives and 

part of the United Kingdom.” • 

1990s and 2000s, there had been 

repeated speculations that China 

was building a dam on the river to 

divert the waters to its northern 

territory. 

Finally in 2010, China confirmed 

it was indeed building the Zangmu 

Dam on the Brahmaputra in Tibet. • 

BUSINESS SUPPLEMENT 

Hi-tech parks to make 

Bangladesh IT hub › 2 

‘Digital Bangladesh 

largely depends on 

the success of hi-tech 

parks’ › 3 

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

e_Paper, Sunday, April 16, 2017

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