e_Paper, Wednesday, May 17, 2017

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017 | Jyastha 3, 1424, Shaban 20, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 5, No 12 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages | Price: Tk10 

Mobile 

courts 

in the 

dock 

STORY ON › 2 

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 

Policy forces 

jewellers to 

depend on 

smuggled 

gold › 3 

Banani rape: 

Driver claims 

to have deleted 

video › 5 

Trump intel 

sharing to Russia 

risks damaging 

US alliances › 6 


FBCCI gets new 

office-bearers › 8

2 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017 

DT 

News 

Mobile courts in the dock 

• Shohel Mamun and 

Ashif Islam Shaon 

Mobile courts are 

our own mechanism 

to deliver justice 

on time. It is not a 

common practice 

around the world, but 

people agree that it is 

an effective process 

for overpopulated 

countries like ours 

With the Appellate Division set to 

hear the appeal against the High 

Court verdict on the legality of mobile 

courts, administration officials 

are airing their grievance at the 

potential loss of magistracy power 

on various formal and informal 

platforms. 

The High Court last Thursday 

declared unconstitutional the rules 

under which the mobile courts are 

operated in the country. 

The High Court verdict on Thursday 

declared 11 sections of Mobile 

Court Act 2009, which empowered 

executive magistrates to conduct 

mobile court drives, unconstitutional. 

The court ruled that the sections 

violate the constitutional provision 

for independence of the judiciary 

and separation of powers between 

the three organs of the state. 

The verdict arrives at a time 

when the Chief Justice SK Sinha 

has been publicly vocal about the 

government’s failure to complete 

Code of Conduct for lower court 

judges in line with the verdict of 

the Masdar Hossain case which 

stipulates the provisions of the 

separation of judiciary. 

Caught in between the larger debate 

for the separation of judiciary, 

district and executive magistrates 

feel the law and order situation 

around the country, especially in 

the absence of sufficient numbers 

of judicial magistrates, may compromise 

the law and order situation 

in the country. 

The decision becomes more relevant 

with the month of Ramadan 

coming up, where mobile courts 

are perceived as an effective mechanism 

to stop consumers from 

being exploited by unscrupulous 

traders and businessmen. 

On various formal and informal 

platforms, executive magistrates 

are pointing out that efforts to curb 

child marriage, encroachment of 

rivers, sand extraction, stalking, 

sale of fake medicines, cosmetics 

and other commodities, use of polythene 

bags, illegal power and gas 

connections and cheating at examination 

centres. 

The magistrates want their powers 

to convict and hand down sentences 

and the government’s power 

to amend the schedule of the act 

returned. 

Lawyer Hassan MS Azim, representing 

the petitioner Kamruzzaman 

Khan in the case, said the law and 

order situation will not deteriorate if 

the executive magistrates lost their 

power to conduct mobile courts. 

“They can perform all other 

functions - bust offenders, lodge 

FIRs and even hold offenders in 

custody. The magistrates can also 

seal off any organization or seize 

illegal items,” he said. 

“The difference now is that they 

cannot take any offence into cognizance 

and deliver any sentence on 

it. They will have to hand over the 

offenders to the police for a regular 

trial,” he added. 

Azim added that in mobile courts 

alleged offenders do not get a chance 

to be represented by a lawyer. There 

is no chance of producing witnesses 

for or against them. As a result the 

trial is prompt but remains faulty. 

Administration officials, however, 

are extremely unhappy. 

District officials in letters to the 

Cabinet secretary claimed that the 

law and order situation had drastically 

deteriorated in the three days 

following the HC verdict. 

A district magistrate in Pabna 

claimed the local authorities had 

been conducting drives against 

child marriage at 17 villages across 

the nine upazilas of the district 

which had come to a halt since the 

HC verdict. Another letter claimed 

that packaged sugar past their expiration 

date was being sold in markets 

in absence of mobile courts. 

BRTA executive magistrate Munibur 

Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune 

“It is very difficult to run the 

local administration without mobile 

courts. No one will follow the 

directions of the administration if 

they have do not have any magistracy 

power,” he added. 

Cabinet secretary Mohammad 

Safiul Alam said “Mobile courts 

are our own mechanism to deliver 

justice on time. It is not a common 

practice around the world, but people 

agree that it is an effective process 

for overpopulated countries 

like ours.” 

“However, we are waiting on the 

Supreme Court direction,” he added. 

The High Court in its’ verdict 

agreed that in order to facilitate 

access to justice at the grassroots 

level, fast-track courts like mobile 

courts are an impressive necessity 

and this types of courts may prove 

to be effective tool in curbing the 

rising wave of crime in the country. 

But, it said that all Bangladesh 

Civil Service (Administration) 

Cadre members are administrative 

executives. As per the Masder Hossain 

case, widely known as judiciary 

separate case, they cannot exercise 

sovereign judicial power. • 

The need to 

curtail speed 

• Shohel Mamun 

Motor vehicles driving without any 

regard for speed limits are a leading 

cause of accidents in the country. 

The law related to speeding is 

rarely enforced, and instead a reliance 

on speed breakers actually 

contributes to more accidents than 

it helps at curbing speeding vehicles. 

Speeding contributes to more 

than 53% of all road accidents that 

place in Bangladesh, a study by 

Buet’s Accident Research Institute 

(ARI) found last year. 

ARI Director Prof Moazzem Hossain 

told the Dhaka Tribune: “Our 

study shows that speeding is one 

of the major causes of fatal accidents.” 

“The government has set the 

highway speed limit at 80km/h. 

However, not only do the drivers 

not follow the rules, the authorities 

concerned fail at implementing the 

order as well,” he added. 

In a programme conducted by 

Brac from May 8-14 in observance 

of the Fourth UN Road Safety Week 

which ran with the slogan Save 

Lives: #SlowDown, civil society 

members demanded that the speed 

limit be set at 30km/h in Dhaka. 

Although both the current road 

traffic law and the draft Road 

Transport Act 2017 tackle the problem 

of road accidents occurring 

due to speeding, neither, claim 

civil society members, provide a 

strong enough incentive for drivers 

to stop speeding on the country’s 

highways. 

The law currently in effect, the 

Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, has 

a maximum punishment of Tk500 

fine and a one-month suspension 

of driving license for speeding. 

The present draft Road Transport 

Act 2017 has however increased 

the punishment to a maximum 

of two years in prison, or 

Tk2 lakh as fine. The new law also 

stipulates that if speeding leads to 

injury, then the owner, driver and 

the helper will face a maximum 

three years of prison or Tk25 lakh 

fine, or both. 

Most speeding related accidents 

occurred because of the speed 

breakers on highways to curtail 

speeding, say experts. Many of the 

speed breakers on highways were 

unmarked, most drivers failed to 

Desperate to save a few seconds, a Gangchil Paribahan bus overtakes a Procheshta Paribahan bus on Dhaka-Mawa highway in 

Abdullahpur area, putting its passengers in danger on a busy highway. The photo as taken recently 

MEHEDI HASAN 

spot them and slow down, especially 

at night. 

Road Transport and Highways 

Division Secretary MAN Siddique 

said: “We are removing speed 

breakers from the roads to minimise 

accidents, but the initiative 

has not been effective thus far. 

People who have businesses or 

residences near highways, pay off 

road construction crews, and put 

up their own speed breakers in various 

locations. 

When asked about initiatives 

to address the issue of accidents 

caused by speeding, the Bangladesh 

Road Transport Authority 

(BRTA) Secretary Muhammad 

Showkat Ali said they had 

introduced awareness building 

campaigns and that the highway 

police had also been equipped with 

speedometers, or speed guns. 

Atiqul Islam, the deputy inspector 

general of Highway Police, 

however, said while the speed guns 

were effective in measuring speeds, 

it did not mean that police were 

able to effectively tackle speeders. 

“On average, 180 speeding cases 

are filed daily across the country. 

What matters is what happens to 

these speeding drivers afterwards,” 

he added. 

Transport Division Secretary 

Siddique said: “Most of the drivers 

and owners who do not follow the 

rules are the ones who come from 

influential and wealthy families. 

We have been working on tightening 

the rules so that no law breaker 

goes unpunished.” 

“A few years ago, the government 

identified 265 black spots or 

areas which are highly accident 

prone. Most of these roads had 

sharp curves and drivers driving at 

high speeds were often unable to 

make the turns. So we have straightened 

out the curves and placed 

road dividers for two-way flow,” 

explained Siddique, adding, “We 

are now constructing new highways 

and upgrading the roads such as 

the Dhaka-Rangpur, Dhaka-Mawa, 

Dhaka-Sylhet highways with a separate 

lane for low speed vehicles.” •

News 3 


Policy forces jewellers to depend 

on smuggled gold 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi 

High import duty under the baggage 

rules and the absence of any 

formal mechanism to import gold 

is forcing jewellery makers to become 

heavily dependent on smuggled 

gold, according to industry 

insiders. 

The government recently increased 

duty on the gold brought 

in by individuals under the baggage 

rules of the National Board of 

Revenue (NBR) and raised the duty-free 

import limit, which is causing 

a hike in gold prices in the local 

market, sources in the local gold 

market told the Dhaka Tribune. 

Until the 2014-15 fiscal year, under 

the baggage rules, a passenger 

could bring in 100 grams of gold 

without duty and an additional 200 

grams of gold with Tk3,000 duty. 

In the 2016-17 fiscal year, the 

government imposed Tk3,000 customs 

duty and 4% advance trade 

vat (ATV) on the import of every 

11.664 grams of gold by authorised 

gold businessmen only. 

“Our prime source of gold for 

jewellery making is usually locally 

recycled gold and the gold imported 

under the baggage rules,” 

said Dilip Kumar Agarwala, general 

secretary of Bangladesh Jewellers’ 

Samity (Bajus). 

Sometimes, Bangladesh Bank 

provides gold through auctions, 

sources said. 

There is also an option to import 

gold by opening Letters of Credit 

(LC), but that requires the payment 

of Tk300,000 of supplementary 

duty per kg of gold, which pushes 

the prices of jewellery further up, 

Agarwala said. 

Gold cannot be imported legally 

in Bangladesh, and supply has 

reduced as passengers are discouraged 

to bring in gold due to the increased 

duty. 

Added to that is the fact that 

Bangladesh Bank has not auctioned 

gold in the last three years. 

In this circumstance, traders are 

becoming dependent on smuggled 

gold to keep the prices balanced, 

several jewellers told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

“About 65-70% jewellery in my 

shop is made of smuggled gold as 

Khaleda to contest election 

from Sylhet 1 constituency 

• Mohammed Serajul 

Islam, Sylhet 

A consignment of smuggled gold showcased for media at the Detective Branch 

headquarters in Dhaka 


BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia 

will contest the next general 

election from Sylhet 1 constituency, 

a central leader of the 

party said yesterday. 

The three-time former premier 

will also contest the polls 

from two other parliamentary 

seats in Feni and Bogra, the 

leader said anonymously. 

The decision was made on 

principle at a BNP high command 

meeting in Gulshan in 

the afternoon. 

Some senior BNP leaders 

of Sylhet region were overjoyed 

when they learnt of the 

decision. The party that wins 

the seat – covering Sylhet City 

Corporation and the Sadar 

upazila – has ended up forming 

the government in all the 

previous elections. 

However, local leaders 

and activists said the BNP's 

position in Sylhet division 

was shaky because of internal 

conflicts. That was the reason 

why the party could not succeed 

in the anti-government 

movements, they said. 

The leaders hoped that 

Khaleda's candidacy would 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

we cannot legally import gold,” 

said a shopkeeper in Dhaka’s Baitul 

Mukarram area which houses the 

largest gold market in the country. 

However, former Bajus president 

Dilip Kumar Roy said though 

it was true that smuggled gold was 

being used to make jewellery, the 

amount was only 30%. 

In recent years, confiscation of 

smuggled gold at the airports has 

increased due to strong vigilance 

of the customs intelligence. 

According to the Custom Intelligence 

and Investigation Directorate 

(CIID), at last 1,101kg gold, 

worth around Tk520.86 crore, have 

been seized in the last four years. 

Experts, however, disagree with 

strengthen the party’s organisational 

base and help win 

most of the 18 other parliamentary 

seats in Sylhet. 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith 

won the seat for the ruling 

Awami League for the second 

consecutive term in 2014. 

Former finance minister M 

Saifur Rahman was the last 

BNP leader to become an MP 

from the constituency. 

After his death in a road 

accident in 2009, no other 

BNP leader managed to create 

a support base in Sylhet 1. 

One of the two top BNP 

leaders from the area is Harris 

Chowdhury, Khaleda's former 

political secretary who 

has been a fugitive for the 

last 10 years. The other is M 

Ilias Al, who was abducted in 

2012. • 

the notion that only government 

is to blame. They believe that the 

amount of gold smuggled into the 

country is higher than the local demand 

for gold. 

“If we look at the trend, the 

amount of smuggled gold surpasses 

the amount that is actually 

needed in our market. Smugglers 

are using Bangladesh as a transit to 

take the gold to other countries,” 

said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, 

research director of Dhaka-based 

think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue. 

Agarwala said to curb gold 

smuggling, the government should 

introduce a gold import policy with 

an SD rate that will enable traders 

to legally import gold at lower prices. 

Roy reiterated Moazzem’s statement, 

but he agreed with Agarwala 

that the government should formulate 

an import policy to stop 

gold smuggling. 

He further added that the central 

bank could supply gold to the 

local market through auctions to 

meet the market demand. 

But Moazzem believes that there 

is no need for legal gold import. 

“I think the baggage rules allow 

enough gold to enter the country 

to meet the local demand,” he 

told the Dhaka Tribune. “Allowing 

import will give the smugglers an 

opportunity to smuggle legally 

imported gold out of the country. 

It will also create pressure on the 

national reserve and the balance of 

payment.” • 

Muhith wants 

to legalise gold 

import 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

DT 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday 

said he wanted to legalise 

gold import for the jewellery industry 

as most of it is currently being 

smuggled into Bangladesh. 

“How can we relieve ourselves 

from this smuggling situation? I 

think the best way would be to allow 

importing gold to combat gold 

smuggling from India,” the finance 

minister said in his situation paper 

on allowing legal import of gold. 

“I want to speak with all the 

stakeholders, including the leaders 

of Bangladesh Jewellers’ Samity 

(Bajus). We need to be open to 

allowing legal imports of gold by 

local businessmen. I will then prepare 

my recommendation.” 

In the minister’s situation paper, 

the National Board of Revenue 

(NBR) gave three recommendations 

including letting VAT registered 

jewellery businesses to import 

gold legally. 

The NBR will also relax prior approval 

for gold importers. 

They will also withdraw specific 

duties on imported gold as the new 

VAT law will be implemented from 

July 1. 

Under the new VAT law, local importers 

will pay a total tax of Tk8,012 

to import Tk35,000 worth of gold 

which currently stands at Tk7,161. 

Bajus made a proposal to the 

government to allow them to import 

gold. 

Muhith earlier had instructed 

the Internal Resources Division to 

find a solution to the upward trend 

of gold smuggling from India. •

4 


DT 

News 

JHENAIDAH RAID 

Police find militant bomb cache 

• Nayan Khondoker, Jhenaidah 

Law enforcement agencies cordoned 

off two suspected militant 

hideouts just half a kilometre away 

from the RAB camp in Chuadanga 

village of Jhenaidah district around 

10am yesterday. 

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) 6 

Jhenaidah Commander Major Monir 

Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“We anticipating that militants 

are hiding inside these two dens.” 

One of the houses is owned by 

Selim, 35, younger brother of Tuhin 

– a militant killed in a police raid on 

May 7. The other house is owned by 

Tuhin’s cousin Pranto, 17. Both are 

residents of Chuadanga village. 

Selim and Pranto were detained 

around 1pm by a joint team of police 

and RAB. The two then revealed 

three more locations of interest to 

the law enforcement agencies. 

The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) arrived 

around 11:50am in the morning 

and began digging around the houses. 

From 12pm to 5pm, the BDU 

recovered two suicide vests, four 

bombs, 30 bomb circuits, 20 sticks 

of dynamite, 186 PVC stick switches, 

and four drums of chemicals 

used to make explosives. 

Khulna RAB Commanding Officer 

Rafiqul Islam called off the 

operation around 6pm due to poor 

visibility. Commander Rafiqul said 

the operation will resume again on 

Wednesday morning. • 

Women honoured for catching 

militant in Mymensingh 

• Ashrafuddin Seizel, 

Mymensingh 

Three women of the Ahmadiyya 

Muslim community have 

been honoured for their bravery 

in the arrest of a suspected militant 

in Ishwarganj upazila of Mymensingh. 

Achhia Khatun, Mosammat 

Ayatunnessa and Minara Khatun 

was awarded with a sari and 

Tk5,000 by SP Syed Nurul Islam , 

and DIG Abdullah Al Mamun separately. 

On May 8. three miscreants 

believed to be militants attacked 

an imam of an Ahmadiyya 

mosque. 

One of the attackers, Ahad, fled 

to Ayatunnessa’s home near the 

mosque after the attack. She, along 

with Achhia and Minara captured 

him and tied him with rope. 

Ahad was later handed over to 

the police. •

News 5 


DT 

Banani rape: Driver claims to 

have deleted video 

• Arifur Rahman Rabbi 

Law enforcement agencies apprehended 

two more suspects in the 

Banani rape case on Monday night, 

bringing the total number detained 

over the case to four. 

Billal Hossain, 27, was the driver 

of Shafat Ahmed, one of the prime 

accused, and was detained by a 

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team 

at a boarding house in Nawabpur 

Road in Wari around 6pm. 

RAB 10 Commander Md Jahangir 

Hossain Matubbor said Billal admitted 

during the primary interrogation 

to being part of the rape of the 

two university students at the Raintree 

Hotel in Banani on March 28. 

The night of the rape 

According to Billal, he drove Shafat 

to The Raintree around 4:30pm on 

the day in question and was then 

instructed to pick up one of Shafat’s 

girlfriends and a female friend 

from Gulshan 2 Agora and Banani 

Road 11 respectively, and drive 

them both to the hotel. 

Billal escorted the girls to the 

hotel room at around 6:30pm. 

He found Shafat with his friend, 

Nayem Ashraf. 

The driver went back to the car 

to wait for further instructions. 

Around 8pm, Shafat called him and 

told him to pick up his bodyguard 

Rahmat from the US embassy and 

then to go to Niketan to pick up 

the two university students, who 

arrived bearing gifts. 

Around 9:30pm, Billal and Rahmat 

led the two girls to the rooftop 

pool of The Raintree. Billal claims 

he was then told to return the first 

pair of girls to their homes. 

In addition, he was asked to 

pick up another one of Shafat’s girlfriends 

from Bijoynagar. When Billal 

returned to the hotel, he saw Shadman 

Sakib had also joined and a doctor 

named Shahriar was also present, 

albeit in a “reclusive mood”. 

Billal drove back to Shafat’s house 

to park the car and returned to the 

hotel around 4am. According to his 

statement, he went up to the room 

and was instructed by Shafat to stand 

near the false partition in a shared 

toilet. From his location, he could 

look in to two adjoining rooms. 

Shafat and Nayem took turns 

raping both victims in separate 

rooms, all of which Billal filmed on 

his phone from his vantage point. 

Doctor beaten 

Shahriar was soon dragged in and 

ordered to force birth control pills 

to the victims. Shahriar refused, 

and was thrashed thoroughly for 

not complying. 

Shafat and Nayem put yaba pills 

in Shahriar’s pockets and threatened 

to frame him as a yaba dealer, 

all the while continuing to beat him. 

Although a RAB press release 

says Billal had admitted to recording 

the crime, RAB 10 Commander 

Jahangir said Billal told them he 

only pretended to make the recording. 

However, Billal also said 

he had recorded Shafat and Nayem 

beating and threatening Shahriar 

but had deleted the footage. 

The RAB commander also said 

Billal’s phone had been seized and 

sent to the forensic department to 

see what can be recovered from it 

as evidence. 

Escape from Dhaka 

When the case was publicised online, 

Shafat and Shadman made 

plans to leave Dhaka and go into 

hiding. Billal and Rahmat accompanied 

them to a hotel in Ashkona near 

Hazrat Shahjalal Int’l Airport where 

they dined, after which they drove 

to Sylhet via Maona and Gazipur. 

Shafat and Shadman took up residence 

at a family friends’ house. 

The driver and the bodyguard 

checked into a resort in Sylhet, but 

the latter left soon after. Billal grew 

nervous and went to Chhatak and 

back to Sylhet again until deciding to 

return to Dhaka to consult a lawyer. 

On early Monday morning, Billal 

arrived in Dhaka and rented a room 

at the boarding house. He met a lawyer 

to discuss his options after being 

named in the rape charge sheet. 

A team of the Detective Branch 

of police also caught Rahmat from 

Gulshan 1 on Monday night. With 

the arrest of these two, only Nayem 

Ashraf remains on the run. • 

Raintree authorities refuse to answer queries 

• Arifur Rahman Rabbi 

Billal Hossain 

Authorities of Banani’s The Raintree 

Hotel yesterday denied allegations 

that they had aided the Banani 

rape case accused, but refused 

to elaborate when questioned by 

journalists. 

The hotel authorities expressed 

the denial through both a written 

statement and press conference on 

the day, in which they demanded 

“exemplary punishment” for the 

rapists. 

journalists raised questions regarding 

the involvement of Raintree 

Hotel officials in the Banani 

rape incident and the recovery of 

alcohol from the hotel during a raid 

by customs on May 14. 

When asked whether they took 

responsibility for the rape and if 

any of its officials were involved, 

hotel authorities refused to comment 

and said that it was a matter 

in the hands of investigators. 

When asked how the alcohol recovered 

on May 14 got to the hotel, 

the hotel authorities said this was 

up to the judgment of the journalists, 

as no alcohol was recovered 

during a raid by the Narcotics Control 

Department on May 13. 

Subsequently, when pressed as to 

whether they were accusing customs 

officials of framing them by bringing 

the alcohol, the hotel authorities 

once again refused to comment. 

When journalists asked why 

Rahmat Ali 

they were unwilling to answer 

questions at their own press conference, 

the hotel authorities once 

again refused to comment and 

claimed all they wished to share 

was in the press statement. 

The statement denied reports of 

deleting surveillance camera footage 

of March 28 to protect the suspected 

rapists of the two university students. 

The hotel authorities further 

claimed that the surveillance data 

was automatically overwritten every 

30 days, and as such had already 

been overwritten by the time they 

learned of the rape from law enforcement 

officials 38 days after the rape. 

Raintree management also denied 

reports that its Sales and Marketing 

Director Mahir Harun had 

links with Shafat. According to the 

statement, Shafat had stayed at the 

hotel only once, on the night of the 

incident. • 

From left, The Raintree Dhaka’s Internal Operations Executive Farzan Ara Rimi, Manager Franck Forget, Managing Director 

Adnan Harun and Humaira Group General Manager Raja Golam Mostofa 


Court approves 

remand for 

Shafat’s driver 

and bodyguard 

• Md Sanaul Islam Tipu 

A Dhaka metropolitan court on 

Tuesday approved a police request 

to remand two of the accused in 

the Banani rape case. 

Billal Hossain acted as the driver 

and Rahmat Ali as the bodyguard 

of Shafat Ahmed, who is accused of 

raping two women at the Raintree 

Hotel in Banani in March. 

Metropolitan Magistrate Lashkar 

Shohel Rana granted a four-day 

remand for Billal and three days for 

Rahmat. 

In the remand prayer, the case 

Investigation Officer (IO) Ishrat Jahan 

Amy asked for a 10-day remand 

in order to interrogate the suspects 

thoroughly and to increase the 

chances of recovering the video of 

the rape that had allegedly been 

captured by Billal. 

Shafat and Nayem 

allegedly raped the 

victims while the 

bodyguard held them 

at gunpoint and driver 

Billal videotaped them 

Opposing the remand prayer, defence 

counsel Hamayat Uddin Molla 

submitted a bail petition for the 

accused, but this was rejected by 

the court. 

Driver Billal and bodyguard 

Rahmat, who are said to have assisted 

the double rape on March 

28, were arrested on Monday night. 

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) 

arrested Billal during a raid on a 

boarding house in Nawabpur Road 

in Wari at around 6:00pm, while the 

Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan 

Police arrested Rahmat in 

Gulshan-1 around an hour later. 

Billal and Rahmat had been missing 

for over a week, since details of 

the rape emerged in the media. 

Shafat Ahmed and Shadman 

Sakif, two of the other accused in 

the Banani rape case, were arrested 

by police in Sylhet on Thursday 

night and remanded the following 

day. Both had been absconding 

since Tuesday, May 9. 

According to the case file, Shafat, 

the son of Dildar Ahmed, one of 

the owners of Apan Jewellers, and 

his friend Nayem allegedly raped 

the two university students while 

Shafat’s bodyguard held the girls at 

gunpoint and Shafat’s driver Billal, 

26, videotaped the incident. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

Dhaka 34 26 Chittagong 32 28 Rajshahi 34 26 Rangpur 33 24 Khulna 34 26 Barisal 33 27 Sylhet 32 23 

Cox’s Bazar 33 27 

STORMS OR RAIN 

LIKELY 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:35PM 

SUN RISES 5:15AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

35.0ºC 

20.1ºC 

Khepupara 

Mymensingh 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Fajr: 4:50am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:38pm 

Esha: 8:30pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

Trump intel sharing to Russia risks 

damaging US alliances 

• Agencies 

US President Donald Trump, right, speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei 

Lavrov during a meeting at the White House on May 10, 2017 

AFP 

For months, US allies have anxiously 

wondered if President Donald 

Trump could be trusted with 

some of the world’s most sensitive 

national security secrets. 

Now, just a few days before 

Trump’s debut on the international 

stage, he’s giving allies new reasons 

to worry. A US official said Trump 

revealed highly classified information 

about an Islamic State plot to 

senior Russian officials during an 

Oval Office meeting last week. The 

information had been obtained by 

a US partner and shared with Washington, 

according to the official. 

“If it proves to be true that the US 

president passed on internal intelligence 

matters, that would be highly 

worrying,” Burkhard Lischka, a 

senior German lawmaker, said in a 

statement to The Associated Press. 

The revelations, which Trump 

appeared to verify in a pair of 

tweets Tuesday morning, are sure 

to shadow the president as he embarks 

Friday on his first overseas 

trip as president. After high-stakes 

visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the 

Vatican, he’ll meet some of Washington’s 

strongest European partners 

at a Nato summit in Brussels 

and the Group of 7 meeting in Sicily. 

Some of the leaders he’ll meet come 

from countries the US has intelligence-sharing 

agreements with. 

Trump has a contentious relationship 

with US spy agencies. He’s 

questioned the competence of intelligence 

officials, challenged their assessment 

that Russia meddled in last 

year’s election to help him win, and 

accused them of leaking information 

about him and his associates. The 

leaks have only continued to flow. 

According to the US official, 

Trump shared details with top Russian 

officials about an IS terror threat 

related to the use of laptop computers 

on aircraft. The Washington Post 

first reported the disclosure. 

White House officials disputed 

the report, saying Trump did not 

disclose intelligence sources or 

methods with the Russians, though 

they did not deny that classified 

information was disclosed in the 

May 10 meeting. And by Tuesday 

morning, Trump was justifying his 

actions, writing on Twitter that he 

had an “absolute right” to share the 

information about “terrorism and 

airline flight safety” with Russia.” 

The US and Western officials all 

spoke on the condition of anonymity 

in order to discuss sensitive information. 

Some of the European partners 

Trump will meet later in his trip 

have been more sceptical about his 

policies, including a controversial 

travel and immigration ban that’s 

been blocked by US courts. Western 

allies, including Britain and Germany, 

have also been wary of Trump’s 

warmness toward Russian President 

Vladimir Putin, who was kicked out 

of the summit of leading economic 

powers after Moscow’s annexation 

of territory from Ukraine. 

The White House’s botched handling 

of Trump’s firing last week of 

FBI Director James Comey, who was 

overseeing the bureau’s Russia probe, 

and the president’s own volatile 

statements about his actions are also 

likely to raise questions among allies 

about the US leader’s standing. • 

Trump travel ban 

back in court 

• AFP, Seattle 

A US government attorney insisted 

Monday that President Donald 

Trump’s revised travel ban did 

not unfairly target Muslims, in the 

latest twist in a monthslong legal 

battle that has dogged the new US 

administration. 

A crowd rallied in protest outside 

an appeals court in the western city 

of Seattle, where a panel of federal 

judges was weighing the legality of 

the contested immigration order – 

which has twice been blocked. 

The Trump administration says 

the temporary ban on refugees and 

travelers from six Muslim-majority 

countries – Iran, Syria, Sudan, 

Libya, Somalia and Yemen – is motivated 

by national security concerns, 

an area where US presidents 

have wide powers. 

But a Hawaii-based judge in 

March issued a nationwide preliminary 

injunction against the order on 

grounds it was unconstitutional and 

motivated by anti-Muslim bias. 

Now, three judges from the US 

9th Circuit Court of Appeals are 

considering Trump’s challenge of 

that injunction. 

Monday’s hearing came a week 

after a federal court in Maryland 

heard arguments on whether to 

uphold a separate judge’s decision 

blocking the ban. • 

What’s at stake in Iran’s presidential 

election? 

‘Destroy Labour’, 

British Tories given 

election orders 

• Reuters, London 

No talk of opinion polls and definitely 

no boasting, Britain’s governing 

Conservative Party is under strict orders 

before a June election which it 

hopes will “destroy” the opposition. 

The Conservatives, once criticised 

by Prime Minister Theresa 

May for being called the “nasty party”, 

won seats from left-wing parties 

and from the right in local elections 

this month by capitalising on the 

opposition Labour Party’s divisions 

to appeal to their working-class voters 

and Brexit supporters. 

The goal is nothing less than “to 

destroy Labour”, one Conservative 

lawmaker said, by targeting the 

seats of up-and-coming opposition 

politicians to stunt its growth. 

This, the Conservatives say, would 

hand May the kind of commanding 

victory she needs to strengthen her 

hand in divorce talks with the EU. • 

• AFP, Tehran 

Iran’s presidential election Friday is effectively 

a choice between moderate 

incumbent Hassan Rouhani and hardline 

jurist Ebrahim Raisi, with major 

implications for everything from civil 

rights to relations with Washington. 

Rouhani is still seen as the frontrunner, 

but he faces a tougher than 

expected challenge from Raisi, who 

has rallied religious traditionalists and 

working-class voters disillusioned with 

the stagnant economy. 

The economy 

This is the issue driving the campaign 

on all sides as the Islamic republic 

struggles with a 12.5-percent unemployment 

rate and minimal growth outside 

the oil sector. 

Rouhani won praise for taming inflation 

and easing sanctions through a 

nuclear deal with world powers, but his 

promises of massive foreign investment 

have not materialised, and Raisi has criticised 

his lack of support for the poor. 

Raisi has pushed his charitable 

credentials as head of the powerful 

Imam Reza foundation and vowed 

to create jobs, though with a notable 

Supporters of Iranian President and presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani 

gather at a campaign rally in the capital Tehran on May 13, 2017 

AFP 

lack of detail on how. 

Regime legitimacy 

For Clement Therme of the International 

Institute for Strategic Studies, the turnout 

will be the biggest issue in the election. 

“The regime needs participation. 

What matters most is the turnout, not 

the result,” he said. 

With many disillusioned by the lack 

of improvements after past elections, 

this is a particular fear for the Islamic 

regime this year, and supreme leader 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a 

massive turnout. 

Nuclear deal 

Because it had the tacit approval of 

the supreme leader, Raisi supports the 

2015 deal with world powers which saw 

curbs to Iran’s nuclear programme in 

return for an easing of sanctions. 

“The nuclear issue is not decided by 

the president and the future of the deal 

will depend on the Trump administration 

which is trying to change Iran’s behaviour 

with the threat of force,” said Thermes. 

But Raisi has attacked the Rouhani 

government for his “weak” stance during 

negotiations and for having failed to 

cash in on the deal. • 

British Labour 

Party unveils 

election manifesto 

• AFP, Bradford 

Britain’s opposition Labour Party 

pledged to raise taxes on the welloff, 

renationalise key industries 

and end austerity in its manifesto 

on Tuesday, presenting voters with 

their starkest choice in decades in 

next month’s election. 

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn 

called the programme “radical and 

responsible”, saying the country 

had been run “for the rich, the elite 

and the vested interests” in seven 

years of Conservative government. 

The manifesto is expected to 

include a tax increase from 40% 

to 45% for salaries of between 

£80,000 and £150,0000 a year. 

The current 40% tax rate applies 

to people earning between £31,500 

and £150,000. 

But ruling Conservatives immediately 

slammed the plan as “nonsensical” 

and not properly costed. •

News 7 


Syria peace talks restart in Geneva 

DT 

• AFP, Geneva 

A new round of Syria peace talks opened on 

Tuesday in Geneva, the latest United Nations 

push to resolve a six-year conflict that has 

killed more than 320,000 people. 

Five previous rounds of UN-backed negotiations 

have failed to yield concrete results and 

hopes for a major breakthrough remain dim. 

The Syrian leader has however given more 

credit to a separate diplomatic track in Kazakhstan’s 

capital Astana, which is being led 

by his allies Russia and Iran along with opposition 

supporter Turkey. The UN’s Syria envoy 

Staffan de Mistura has dismissed suggestions 

that the Astana negotiations were overshadowing 

the Geneva track. “We’re working in 

tandem” he told reporters on Monday. • 

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they 

meet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 16, 2017 

REUTERS 

China offers help for 

Myanmar peace process 

• Reuters, Beijing 

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Myanmar 

leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday that China 

would continue to help the country achieve 

peace, and called for both sides to maintain stability 

on their shared border, state media said. 

Fighting in March in Myanmar pushed 

thousands of people into China to seek refuge, 

prompting Beijing to call for a ceasefire 

between ethnic militias and the security 

forces there and carry out military drills 

along the border. 

Xi met Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who serves 

as Myanmar’s foreign minister while also being 

de facto head of its civilian government, 

following China’s Belt and Road Forum on 

Sunday and Monday. 

“China is willing to continue to provide 

necessary assistance for Myanmar’s internal 

peace process,” China’s official Xinhua news 

agency cited Xi as saying. “The two sides 

must jointly work to safeguard China-Myanmar 

border security and stability,” Xi said. 

China has repeatedly expressed concern 

about fighting along the border that has occasionally 

spilled into its territory, for instance 

in 2015, when five people died in China. 

Xi also said China would work to enhance 

cooperation with Myanmar on his Belt and 

Road development plan, which aims to bolster 

China’s global leadership by expanding 

infrastructure between Asia, Africa, Europe 

and beyond. 

The president promised $124bn on Sunday 

to expand the reach of the initiative during the 

two day summit of world leaders in Beijing. 

Suu Kyi told Xi that Myanmar was grateful 

for Chinese help and that it would work with 

China to safeguard stability in the border. • 

Inflation rates rising in rural 

areas, falling in cities 

• Bilkis Irani 

Though the country’s overall inflation rate 

in the third quarter of the current fiscal year 

has gone down to 5.28% from 5.78%, the inflation 

rate in rural areas has risen to 5.08% 

from 4.95% in the same period. 

The inflation rate in urban areas has, however, 

decreased to 5.65% from7.34%. 

The inflation rate of nonfood 

items went up due 

to an increase in house 

rents, treatment costs, 

transportation costs, 

educational expenses, and 

prices of apparel products 

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal disclosed 

these when talking to reporters following 

a meeting of Executive Committee of 

the National Economic Council at his office 

in Dhaka yesterday. He, however, refrained 

from elaborating the reasons for the increased 

inflation rate in the rural areas. 

Showing a quarterly Consumer Price Index, 

Kamal said food items saw a jump as 

prices of rice, fish, red meat, green chilli, 

soybean oil, tea leaves, and milk had shot up 

in the last quarter. 

The inflation rate of non-food items went 

up due to an increase in house rents, treatment 

costs, transportation costs, educational 

expenses, and prices of apparel products, 

fuel as well as household furniture, the minister 

added. 

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics prepares 

such indices on a monthly basis, but it has prepared 

the quarterly CPI for the first time ever. 

Khandokar Golam Moyajjem, research 

director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), 

told the Dhaka Tribune: “ Because the index 

was prepared on a quarterly basis, it seems 

that the inflation rate increased in rural areas 

and decreased in urban areas. The scenario 

would have been different had it been prepared 

on a monthly basis.” 

Prices of commodities were not so high 

from January to February as they were in 

March. Though the prices have further gone 

up in recent times, the index demonstrates a 

decreasing trend in the inflation rates as the 

report is quarterly, he explained. 

Moyajjem also found floods and other 

natural adversaries to be among the factors 

contributing to inflation in the rural areas. •

8 


DT 

News 

State banks likely to get Tk2,000cr 

recap funds in next fiscal year too 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

The government intends to provide the 

state-owned banks with another recapitalisaiton 

fund of Tk2,000 crore in 

the next fiscal year to meet the capital 

shortage created by the loan defaults, 

said a source in the Finance Division 

recently. 

The same amount of money was 

allocated for the state banks to meet 

their capital shortage in the current fiscal 

year. 

BASIC Bank gets Tk1,000 crore from 

the allocation in the revised budget. 

Earlier, the government decided to 

provide Tk1,000 crore to BASIC Bank 

this fiscal year to improve clients’ trust 

which was damaged by massive loan 

irregularities. 

According to official sources, Finance 

Division wanted to merge BASIC 

Bank and Sonali Bank, but the government 

high-ups declined the proposal. 

“Finance Division recommended 

merger of BASIC Bank and Sonali Bank. 

But the government high-ups didn’t 

go that way. So, the next fiscal year’s 

allocation (for recapitalisation of state 

banks) will be same as the current fiscal 

year,” said an official at the Finance 

Division. 

The two state-owned financial institutions 

and private IFIC Bank are going 

to get recapitalisation funds in the revised 

budget of fiscal year 2016-17. 

Only Tk365.50 crore is left for recapitalisation 

which is likely to be disbursed 

among six state-owned banks 

suffering capital shortfalls, including 

An amount of Tk2,000 crore was allocated for the state banks to meet their capital 

shortage in the current fiscal year 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi 

Unnayan Bank and Sonali Bank. 

Probashi Kallyan Bank will get 

Tk250 crore while Bangladesh House 

Building Finance Corporation Tk200 

crore. 

The Finance Ministry will provide 

Tk184.65 crore for IFIC as the private 

commercial bank which earlier decided 

to increase paid-up capital through 

issuance of rights share after considering 

bonus shares for stock dividend. 

After last recapitalisation meeting 

on BASIC Bank at the Finance Division, 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the 

government would treat BASIC Bank 

with special care to help it meet capital 

shortfall. 

He said the bank needs “special nurturing” 

as its condition is not normal 

now. 

“It cannot be compared with other 

banks,” he said, adding that the Finance 

Ministry thinks that without recapitalisation, 

BASIC will not be able to 

do business. 

BASIC Bank is running its Letter of 

Credit (LC) business with the help of 

Sonali Bank. 

The bank received Tk2,390 crore 

from the budget allocation under 

the government recapitalisation programme 

in the last five years. 

According to the Finance Division 

working papers, the capital shortfall of 

the BASIC Bank is Tk1,934.5 crore while 

the capital reserve ratio was only 7.55% 

in 2015. • 

FBCCI gets new office-bearers 

• Shariful Islam 

Incumbent vice-president of Federation 

of Bangladesh Chambers of 

Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md 

Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin will lead 

the country’s apex trade body for the 

next two years. 

The newly elected and nominated 

directors of FBCCI lent their support 

to him as the president yesterday. 

Earlier, Mohiuddin’s panel, Sammilito 

Ganatantrik Parishad, bagged 

34 out of the 36 directorial seats in 

the election to the board of directors 

held on Sunday. 

Mohiuddin had been nominated 

as a director from Bangladesh Garment 

Manufacturers and Exporters 

Association. 

Meanwhile, Sheikh Fazle Fahim, 

representing Gopalganj Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry, was elected 

as the first vice-president and 

Muntakim Ashraf representing Bangladesh 

Cold Storage Association as 

vice-president respectively. 

Fahim was elected unopposed as 

Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin 

there was no candidate against him 

while Ashraf was elected bagging 

1,105 votes. 

This year two panels contested 

only 18 directorial posts of Association 

Group as the remaining 18 directors 

of Chamber Group had been 

elected unopposed. 

The other panel – Babosayee Oikya 

Forum – led by Qazi Irteza Hasan 

Muntakim Ashraf 

bagged only two posts. Of the two, 

one is Irteza Hasan and the other 

Helena Jahangir with the National 

Association of Small and Cottage Industries 

of Bangladesh. 

The 36 directors elected the FBCCI 

president from the Association Group, 

one first vice-president from the 

Chamber Group and one vice-president 

from the Association Group. • 

Tofail: Businesses will be 

happy about new VAT rate 

• Tribune Desk 

Commerce Minister Tofail 

Ahmed has said some decisions 

on VAT, Customs and 

Income Tax have been taken 

for the next fiscal year budget 

at a meeting held in the Prime 

Minister’s Office recently. 

“I hope local businessmen 

will definitely be happy about 

the decision as the premier 

has given her opinion in this 

regard,” he said. 

Tofail was briefing a 

group of journalists at his 

secretariat office yesterday. 

But he declined to reveal the 

decisions. 

Asked about the possible 

VAT rate, he said: “It is not 

possible to disclose about the 

decisions ahead of the next 

fiscal year budget announcement 

which is supposed to be 

placed on June 1.” 

In reply to a query, commerce 

minister said he was 

not assigned to settle the VAT 

issue by the premier. 

“It is not true that prime 

minister had asked me to settle 

the VAT issue with businessmen.” 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith 

is now visiting Middle 

East and the prime minister 

will also go there, and after 

their return, they will fix the 

VAT rate after May 20, he said. 

Seeking anonymity, a highly 

credible source at the meeting 

at the PMO told the Dhaka 

Tribune: “Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina has directed the 

NBR to reduce VAT from the 

15% flat rate, considering the 

interest of local industry.” 

The premier also asked for 

increasing VAT-free turnover 

limit for small businesses to 

Tk36 lakh from Tk30 lakh in 

the new law to be effective 

from July 1, 2017. 

In the meeting, the NBR has 

been directed to increase the 

number of products to over 

550 to impose Supplementary 

Duty in order to protect domestic 

industry. 

Earlier, the analysts said 

implementation of new VAT 

law at a flat rate of 15% would 

increase the living cost as it 

will hike the prices of essentials 

due to multi-stage payment 

of tax from production 

level to retailing. 

Amid a wide range of criticism 

and opposition from 

business people, the Value 

Added Tax (VAT) Act 2012 will 

be effective from July 1 at a flat 

rate of 15% for almost all products. 

The manufacturers of 

products will enjoy rebate by 

showing previous vouchers or 

records. 

In line with the new law, all 

business transactions will be 

under the VAT net except education, 

lifesaving drugs and 

essential commodities, but the 

NBR is yet to clarify those exceptions. 

“Prices of finished goods 

have soared immediately, affecting 

the living expenses of 

consumers as they have to pay 

15% VAT,” Former finance adviser 

to caretaker government 

AB Mirza Azizul Islam told the 

Dhaka Tribune. 

Though manufacturers 

would get rebate on purchase 

of raw materials, it would 

hardly benefit consumers, he 

said. 

“I think VAT rate should 

be 10% in Bangladesh as most 

countries in the region have 

below 15%.” 

Azizul suggested considering 

the rate based on per-capita 

income. •

News 

9 


DT 

City Bank, Jamuna Bank, 

Shahjajal Islami Bank and 

First Security Islami Bank 

donated funds to Prime 

Minister’s Education 

Support Trust, Jatir Janak 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib 

Memorial Trust and Suchana 

Foundation under their CSR 

activities. The banks’ high 

officials hand over cheques 

to Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina at the Gonobhaban 

on Monday. City Bank, 

Jamuna Bank and Shahjalal 

Islami Bank gave Tk4 crore 

each while FSIBL donated 

Tk5 crore 

COURTESY 

Purnava brings natural sugar substitute 

• Rafikul Islam 

Purnava Limited, a subsidiary 

of Renata Ltd, manufacturer 

of non-medicated preventive 

healthcare products, has 

brought natural substitute 

of sugar – CHINI GO – in the 

market for health conscious 

consumers of the country. 

The sugar substitute is safe 

for all types of consumers including 

vegetarians, pregnant 

women and diabetics. This 

will minimise regular consumption 

of synthetic and 

artificial sweeteners – saccharin, 

aspartame and sucralose, 

said a press release issued recently. 

Synthetic sugar can be 

carcinogenic to humans and 

unsafe for human consumption 

in various ways like gastric, 

migraine, weight gain, 

blurred vision, allergic reaction, 

etc. 

The consumption of sugar 

substitute – CHINI GO – will 

considerably reduce the impact 

of diseases in the years 

to come, added the release. 

Purnava has brought the 

natural sweetener with zero 

calories, zero carb, zero GI 

produced in South America 

which is widely used by consumers 

in Japan and North 

America. 

The company Chairman 

Syed S Kaiser Kabir said: “We 

always try to bring the best 

non-medicated preventive 

healthcare products for our 

valued consumers. For that 

we are introducing CHINI GO 

to ensure safe sweetness consumption.” 

• 

Huawei renews deal with cricketer Shakib 

• Tribune Desk 

Leading ICT and telecommunications 

company Huawei 

has renewed its contract with 

star cricketer Shakib Al-Hasan 

as its brand ambassador for 

the Bangladeshi market. 

The continued partnership 

between Huawei and 

the all-rounder highlights the 

company’s alignment with 

Bangladeshi people and its 

commitment to local customers. 

The agreement was renewed 

recently and will 

continue till 2020, said press 

release the company issued 

recently. 

The collaboration signifies 

a long-term partnership as 

Huawei believes in working 

together with its partners 

and continues to introduce 

innovative products in the 

market. 

Referring to the partnership, 

Zhao Haofu, CEO, Huawei 

Technologies (Bangladesh) 

Ltd, said: “Huawei has 

been working with Shakib for 

the last one year, and this extension 

is a result of the continued 

commitment between 

Huawei and the star cricketer. 

“Our focus is giving the 

best to our customers in 

Bangladesh and getting closer 

to them in every way we 

can. The partnership deal will 

play a key role in realising 

Huawei’s brand ambition in 

Bangladesh. ” 

According to Ziauddin 

Chowdhury, device sales director, 

said: “I believe the 

partnership will help Huawei 

get closer to consumers. As 

Huawei is becoming more 

popular as a brand, there are 

many areas we can work on 

with Shakib.” 

In his reaction, Sakib said: 

“I am happy to be associated 

with Huawei, a company 

which has been maintaining 

high standard in ICT, telecommunications 

and device 

industry globally.” •

10 


DT 

News 

Norwesters hit several villages in Naria, Shariatpur leaving thousand of families homeless on Monday 

Man beaten to death by in-laws 

• Nadim Hossain, Savar 

A man has been beaten to death by his 

in-laws in Savar, on the outskirts of 

Dhaka, over family disputes. 

The dead is Ekram Ali, 34, son of 

Mohammad Ali from Nikrail area. 

According to police and family 

sources, Ekram used to live with his 

wife Aleya Akhter in a rented house in 

Ghashmohol area of Rajashon, close to 

his in-law’s house. 

The couple used to engage in 

brawls on a regular basis. Following 

an argument with his wife on Monday 

night, Ekram locked into an altercation 

with her family members yesterday 

morning. 

At one stage, Aleya’s father Ali Hossain 

beat him up, leaving him dead on 

the spot, Ekram’s cousin Babul Mia 

alleged. 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Ali and his family members later 

hanged the body from the ceiling fan 

to stage a suicide. 

On information, police recovered 

the body and sent it to Dhaka Medical 

College DMCH morgue. 

Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of 

Savar model police station, said they 

had detained Aleya and that other 

members of her family went into hiding 

after the incident. • 

Sleeping boy burnt 

to death 

• Anwar Hussain, 

Chittagong 

A third-grader was burned to 

death while he was sleeping at 

his home yesterday. 

The tragic incident took 

place at 2:30am at Keochia union 

under Satkania upazila of 

Chittagong. 

The 10-year-old victim was 

identified as Saidul Islam Sunny, 

son of Sahab Uddin. 

Saidul’s grandmother and 

younger sister also sustained 

burn injuries. The grandmother 

was taken to Chittagong 

Medical College Hospital in a 

critical state. 

Fire service sources said the 

fire may have originated from 

an electrical short-circuit. 

In conversation with the 

Dhaka Tribune, Priyo Lal, 

sub-inspector of Satkania police 

station said: “Everyone 

but the boy managed to escape 

the house when the fire 

started. The family members 

could not rescue him as the 

fire spread and engulfed the 

whole house within a very 

short time.” 

Jashim Uddin, an official 

of Agrabad Fire Service and 

Civil Defense said: “Two vehicles 

from Satkania Fire Station 

rushed to the spot and brought 

the situation under control after 

two hours of frantic effort. 

The damage from the fire has 

been estimated at Tk6 lakh.” • 

Man to die for killing wife 

• Saiful Islam Swapan, 

Lakshmipur 

A special tribunal yesterday 

sentenced a man to death for 

killing his wife for dowry in 

2012. 

Judge Saidur Rahman Gazi 

of the district’s Women and 

Children Repression Prevention 

Tribunal passed the order 

in the afternoon. The convict, 

Monir Hossain, 40, was also 

fined Tk100,000. 

As many as 10 witnesses testified 

in the case against Monir. 

He is a resident of West Sheikhpur 

area in Ramganj upazila. 

According to the case, Monir 

used to pressure his wife Kulsum 

Akter to pay Tk200,000 

as dowry after he faced losses 

in business. He also tortured 

her for failing to manage the 

amount from her parents. 

On November 17, 2012, 

Monir suffocated Kulsum to 

death at his house. 

Kamal Hossain, father of 

Kulsum, lodged the murder 

case with Ramganj police 

the same day. Police pressed 

charges against Monir on April 

20, 2013. • 

3 Indians deported after 

end of jail term 

• Halim Al Raji, Hili 

Three Indian nationals, including 

a child, have been sent 

back home after serving jail 

terms for 14 months in Bangladesh 

for illegal entry. 

The deported Indians are 

Sima Mahato, 35, her son Subrata 

Mahato, 8, and Purnina 

Mahato, 50. 

They hail from Madla area 

in West Bengal. 

Hili immigration police 

check-post’s OC Aftab Hossain 

handed them over the his Indian 

counterpart Najir Hossain 

around 11am yesterday. 

Earlier, Sima told the Dhaka 

Tribune that they had entered 

Bangladesh with the help of 

brokers through Hili border 

to visit their relatives in Rajshahi’s 

Godagari on March 31 

last year. 

Meanwhile, OC Aftab 

said that a case had been 

filed against the trio under 

the Passport Act and kept in 

Dinajpur jail. •

Abducted Indian 

citizen rescued 

from Sherpur 

News 11 


DT 

• SA Shahriar Milton, 

Sherpur 

Police have rescued an Indian 

citizen, for days after he was 

abducted from Sunamganj for 

ransom. 

Dajed Sianlia, 17, from 

Meghalaya’s Nongstoin district 

in India, was reported 

missing since May 12. He was 

abducted from the border area 

in Sunamganj by Md Alam, 30, 

and his associates. 

Sherpur’s Jhenaigati police 

rescued him Monday night 

and arrested Alam. 

Police say when Alam and 

his associates demanded Rs60 

lakh from Dajed’s family, they 

informed the Khasi Hill district 

police superintendent 

regarding the incident, who 

then informed the Sherpur 

police superintendent seeking 

cooperation. 

Sherpur Superintendent of 

Police Rafiqul Hasan Gani said 

that the police had tracked the 

mobile phone used by Alam, 

and rescued Dajed from Ahmednagar 

in Jhenaigati in a 

drive conducted on Monday 

night. 

Additional Superintendent 

of Police Aminul Islam 

said that a case had been filed 

against Alam with Jhenaigati 

police for abducting Dajed and 

holding him hostage. • 

Minister claims 

rise in rice prices 

is artificial 

• Zakir Mostafiz, 

Thakurgaon 

Rice Minister Qamrul Islam 

has claimed that certain quarters 

are hatching conspiracy 

to increase rice prices in the 

aftermath of crop losses in different 

regions due to flood and 

storms. 

‘The national 

rice output from 

the ongoing 

Boro season 

(December-May) 

is likely to stand 

at about 1.80 

crore tonnes’ 

“An intriguing quarter is plotting 

to create unstable situation 

in the country by fabricating 

rice crisis. Some dishonest 

traders and mill owners are 

involved in the destabilisation 

of the market,” the minister 

said at a views exchange 

meeting with field officials 

of the Directorate General of 

Rice (DGF) yesterday. 

The meeting was held at the 

conference from of the Deputy 

Commissioner’s Office. 

“But the plotters will not 

succeed as the government is 

well prepared to tackle such 

situation with formidable 

public rice storage,” he added. 

Qamrul admitted that it 

would take time for the government 

to rein in the recent 

uptrend of rice prices. 

He mentioned that the national 

rice output from the 

ongoing Boro season (December-May) 

is likely to stand 

at about 1.80 crore tonnes 

against the target of 1.91 crore 

tonnes because of crop losses 

in the storms. 

Asked about the allegation 

of corruption in wheat procurement, 

the rice minister 

admitted that the government 

had failed to control those 

middlemen who were misusing 

the farmers’ cards. •

DT 

12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

With friends 

like these 

Despite the progress, we still can’t shake 

off the deeply ingrained prejudice 

PAGE 13 

How strong is our 

rule of law? 

We have a judicial system that is intended 

to uphold the principle of equality of all 

before law 

PAGE 14 

BIGSTOCK 

No one must go hungry 

What if you were 

there in that hotel 

room? 

I have not lost faith in the mobilising 

power of unity, of the unified call for 

justice 

PAGE 15 

Be heard 

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or its publisher. 

Despite the government’s past efforts to make 

sure that no Bangladeshi citizen goes hungry, the 

progress made keeps getting undone either by 

natural calamities or gross incompetence. 

According to reports, as it stands, the nation’s food supply 

is likely to face an imminent threat because of the loss of Boro 

production arising from flash floods in the Haor wetlands. 

This is nothing new for us. 

But what makes the rice crisis worse is the fact that both 

the public and private spheres of relief are currently at their 

lowest reserves in recent memory, with the government even 

scrambling to make a quick response. 

Which is a shame, really. The current government recently 

reiterated its staunch commitment to ending hunger in 

Bangladesh, and has, to an extent, shown signs of fulfilling 

that promise. 

Even though flash floods are the main source of the 

crisis, unstable prices, unnecessary bureaucracy, and 

corruption typically embedded within the lower rungs of 

the government keep any progress from being made into 

improving the situation. 

We need to understand that a rice crisis must be treated as 

a national priority. 

It is impossible for a nation to prosper when its very 

people keep dying of hunger. And while the government’s 

commitment, at least on paper, has been commendable, it 

needs to identify the key areas of problem. 

This crisis needs to be brought to the attention of the 

highest echelons of our government. 

When it comes to food, we cannot afford to take chances. 

When it comes to food, 

we cannot afford to 

take chances

With friends like these 

Are we safe, even when we are with our friends? 

Opinion 13 

DT 


• Luba Khalili 

In light of the train wreck that 

women’s safety has become, 

specifically on the topic of the 

rape case that took place in 

the capital, my mother’s question 

was: Why did they go in the first 

place? 

Victim-blaming or not, my 

mother is a product of a system 

that’s a world apart than the one 

that shaped me. I could reason 

with her, and any subsequent 

understanding she would come 

across still lingered as foreign. 

I told her how the only method 

that would ensure some kind of 

safety for women was by doing 

exactly that she had suggested: 

Not go outside. 

Don’t go to the party. Don’t go 

to the restaurant. Don’t. Go. 

In fact, any time a woman steps 

foot outside her home, she’s under 

attack. Her body is under attack, 

either by eyes, words, hands, 

mouth. 

But being at home is not a 

feasible solution. Not to my 

mother, not to me, not to the parttime 

housemaid. So we negotiate. 

Women negotiate with their 

realities every step of the way 

-- and at the risk of sounding 

presumptuous -- much more so 

than men do. 

Patriarchal bargains 

In her paper in 1988, Turkish 

author Deniz Kandiyoti 

summarised that women 

manoeuvre around the constraints 

of their lives by ways of 

strategising in order to optimise 

life options and maximise 

their security, all the while 

accommodating societal norms. 

A process that she refers to as 

patriarchal bargains. 

This bargaining comes in 

various shapes, sizes, and ways; 

from the clothes we choose to 

wear, to the tone and volume of 

our voices, to the things we say, 

the company we choose to keep. 

Ultimately, the handful of safe 

spaces we find usually revolve 

around our families and other 

people we trust -- our friends. 

The friends we surround 

ourselves with -- the women 

and the men -- more or less hold 

similar values as us. Progressive 

values. Values that aren’t 

exclusionary, that commemorate 

equality, justice, tolerance. 

After all, they are the products 

of the same system that we are. 

But within these safe 

spaces, women sometimes find 

themselves in perils brought on 

by trust. We find that maybe not 

all our male friends have the same 

expectations as we do from our 

friendships. 

We might feel that their 

understandings, especially to 

the plight of women’s cause, and 

towards us as women -- despite 

how angry it makes them feel to 

see what happens to girls on a 

daily basis, and by how normalised 

this imbalance has become -- have 

been under a pretense of progress. 

It becomes a little clearer when 

we see what expectations they 

have from their female partners, or 

in the specific ways they would be 

overbearingly protective of them. 

It becomes clearer in closed 

spaces and tones. Gestures and 

body language. Sometimes subtle, 

sometimes otherwise. It’s when 

we somehow just don’t reciprocate 

that our eyes really open up -- and 

not other things. 

A history of oppression 

The issue of women’s subjugation 

and objectification has been 

imprinted on us, our parents, and 

their parents through history, 

mythology, culture, media, and 

what-have-you. Everywhere we 

look, women have been, without 

justification, the small, the 

fragile. And both men and women 

internalise that stance within 

themselves quite well. 

So, despite the progress, the 

fight for equality, all the talk 

of smashing the patriarchy, we 

still can’t shake off the deeply 

ingrained prejudice. And for 

women, even in the safe little 

spaces we’ve created, there is no 

escape. 

I can vouch for all women when 

I say we’ve been on the receiving 

end of sexual harassment and 

assault -- subtle or otherwise, 

from a stranger or friend, on a 

daily basis or occasionally. Stories 

abound of where my women 

friends, co-workers, classmates, 

have been subjected to emotional 

abuse because of their passivity, 

or where their sexual appeal was 

the only thing that mattered about 

them. 

I can also vouch for the men 

Sexism can be found everywhere 

So despite the progress, the fight for equality, all the talk of smashing the 

patriarchy, we still can’t shake off the deeply ingrained prejudice. And for 

women, even in the safe little spaces we’ve created, there is no escape 

in my life that they wouldn’t 

ever, on their own volition, be 

misogynistic. 

But there’s an undertone that 

has been well perched inside, and 

despite us being products of the 

same (or different) systems, it’s 

still very real. And when it comes 

out, it’s still very sexist. 

And when the men we trusted 

and felt safe among perpetrate 

the same things that they so 

vehemently argue against, where 

are our safe places? Where has 

negotiation gotten us? 

Is it time to stay within the 

confines of our walls? • 

Luba Khalili is an Editorial Assistant at 

the Dhaka Tribune. 

BIGSTOCK

14 


DT 

Opinion 

How strong is our rule of law? 

Transparency, accountability, and due process are essential for the rule of law 

As defined by WJP, the factor 

“constraints on government” 

indicates the extent to which 

government powers are effectively 

limited by the legislature, 

judiciary, and independent 

audit, and whether officials are 

sanctioned for misconduct. 

The factor “open government” 

measures whether basic laws 

and information on legal rights 

are publicised, and evaluates the 

quality of information published 

by the government. 

The factor “fundamental 

rights” shows the extent to which 

the state provides equal treatment 

and absence of discrimination for 

all citizens, the right to life and 

security, due process of law and 

rights, freedom of expression, etc 

among other things. Apparently, 

we have been unable to 

demonstrate sufficient tangible 

results in these fronts. 

In theory, Bangladesh has all 

the clauses in its Constitution and 

in its laws to ensure the rule of law 

in the country. Fundamental rights 

are enshrined in the Constitution, 

and laws provide for freedom of 

information and transparency of 

government. 

Why is it so difficult for the average citizen to access our justice system? 

• Ziauddin Choudhury 

An interesting exchange 

has been taking place 

in the country for the 

past few weeks between 

the executive and the judiciary 

over rule of law, independence 

of judiciary, and equality of three 

branches of government. 

The debate, however, ignores 

the fundamental fact that the 

rule of law is not just about 

independence of judiciary or 

interference of one branch of 

government over another. 

The rule of law is a legal 

principle that law should 

govern a nation, as opposed to 

arbitrary decisions of individual 

government officials. 

It is a combination of framing 

and preserving human rights, 

transparency of governance, and 

people’s access to justice. Above 

all, the rule of law is making 

government and its services 

available to all its citizens without 

discrimination. 

It is ironic that the debate on 

the rule of law is taking place in 

a country where the law is more 

respected in breach than in its 

observance; at least that is the 

perception of our own people. 

The most recent assessment 

of Bangladesh’s position (2016) in 

We have a judicial system that is intended to uphold the principle of 

equality of all before law. Yet our common people find it hard to access 

the system when in need 

a global index of the rule of law 

published by the World Justice 

Project (WJP) points out this sad 

reality. 

The WJP report 

WJP is a US based non-government 

organisation that was set up about 

ten years ago to advance rule 

of law globally. Headquartered 

in Washington DC, the entity is 

staffed and managed by a multidisciplinary 

team including 

eminent jurists and funded by 

donations from multiple national 

and international charitable 

foundations. 

Of all its research and 

publications, and other activities 

that WJP undertakes, its annual 

rule of law index gets the most 

attention worldwide. 

The index is the product of 

a year’s monitoring of eight 

indicators of rule of law, including 

constraints on government 

powers, absence of corruption, 

regulatory enforcement, civil and 

criminal justice, and fundamental 

rights. 

In 2016 a total of 113 countries 

were surveyed globally, with 

Denmark topping the list and 

Venezuela at the bottom. 

Bangladesh came in at number 

103, slightly above Pakistan (106), 

but way below India (66) and Sri 

Lanka (68). Among six South Asian 

countries, Bangladesh figures at 

the bottom or nearly at the bottom 

on most of the factors. 

The position of Bangladesh near 

the bottom of a list of 113 countries 

in the survey on rule of law sheds 

light on the fact that we have 

failed to honour our Constitution, 

which is anchored in democracy 

and human rights. 

It tells us that the principles 

of transparency and openness 

of government that our leaders 

proclaim every now and then are 

BIGSTOCK 

rarely practiced in reality in this 

country. 

We cannot dismiss the report 

as a subjective analysis by a 

foreign organisation either, since 

the country scores are computed 

after surveying a large sample of 

households, meaning the citizens 

themselves evaluate the law and 

order situation. 

That said, why is there is such a 

gap between the pronouncements 

of our leaders on rule of law and 

actual perception of it by our own 

people? 

The fact is, much of what the 

government says is inconsistent 

with what it actually does. 

Upholding rule of law 

Rule of law is not just about 

having a set of laws or legislating 

new ones; it is a combination 

of efficient due process, and 

maintaining transparency and 

accountability in government. 

But the reality says otherwise 

We have a judicial system that is 

intended to uphold the principle 

of equality of all before law. Yet 

our common people find it hard to 

access the system when in need. 

We have law enforcement 

agencies that are legally obliged to 

ensure life and security, and offer 

due process of law to all without 

discrimination. Yet, people have 

a negative perception of these 

agencies. 

The rule of law cannot be 

upheld simply with debates 

on independence of judiciary 

and separation of powers. The 

rule of law is not just about 

whether administration of 

justice is hampered by executive 

interference. 

It is more than that. It is about 

ensuring that there is transparency 

in governance, accountability of 

government officials and agencies, 

and above all, it is to ensure that 

all citizens including lawmakers 

are equal before the law. 

Justice must not only be 

deliberated in debates, but it 

should be seen being served in 

practice. The rule of law can only 

be achieved when there is no gap 

between concept and reality. • 

Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the 

higher civil service of Bangladesh early 

in his career, and later for the World 

Bank in the US.

Opinion 15 

DT 


What if you 

were there 

in that hotel 

room? 

What is the right punishment 

for rape? 

• Marjiya Baktyer Ahmed 

Does this begin with hope? 

No. It begins with the 

knowledge that we are 

complacent, weak, and 

lacklustre. 

Yet another rape case. Two 

girls this time. Will we let it slip 

through the cracks again? 

Will we sit by idly and twiddle 

our thumbs, then cluck our 

tongues in disapproval when the 

authorities decide to not bring the 

perpetrators on the run to justice? 

We have our lives to lead. What 

lives? The one where we go on 

thinking that nothing can be done? 

Do your memes keep you distracted 

enough to not even spare a shred 

of thought to the injustices that 

prevail. I don’t have to sit here 

and tell you “it could have been 

anyone.” We know it well. 

turns, and pay attention to the 

images your mind conjures. 

Can you? Do you feel the 

imposition? The absolute lack 

of consent? The decimation of 

the victims? I don’t like the word 

“victim,” because the connotations 

behind this word have shifted 

and became synonymous with 

“shame” and “dishonour.” 

Don’t imagine “sex” because 

that’s not what happened. It’s 

rape. Remember this as you read. 

Picture it. Let me paint it for you. 

Imagine two girls, decked out, 

excited they have been invited to 

a party. I am sure we have all been 

to parties. They trusted the men 

who invited them. How is trust 

gained? 

Think about this in relation to 

your life. Now imagine they are 

there in the hotel room, excited to 

finally be at the scene. 

I have not lost faith in the mobilising power of 

unity, of the unified call for justice 

It could have been anyone 

BIGSTOCK 

It goes on and on and on, and 

all it gets out of us is a mere shrug 

and a meh? How have we become 

so desensitised? How have we 

stopped empathising? 

When did we stop reacting? 

My mind dreams that, one day, 

something will shock us out of 

our stupor. Something that will 

bring us together and raise our 

voices loud enough to shake the 

foundations of impunity. 

The word is rape 

Rape. Read that word three times, 

and notice how sour your tongue 

The air in the room shifts, it’s 

palpable with malice as they 

realise something’s wrong. 

The girls can see it in their eyes, 

as they wander wherever they 

please, as their actions slowly 

lose any humanness they might 

have ever possessed, as they drag 

them off into separate rooms -- 

threatening and coercive. 

We are in the room now. What 

do you see? Need I draw you 

this scene too? I will if you can 

stomach it. If your mind can see it. 

If you can really allow the image 

to burn into your brain and into 

the back of your eyelids so you 

lose sleep from the weight of the 

oppression in the room, I will paint 

you this picture too. 

Held at gunpoint, a camera 

aimed, and the girls are assaulted 

over and over, for probably what 

must have felt like an unending 

night. 

Can you not see it? Does it not 

hurt you? 

Mind you, you may not dare to 

shift the burden of this crime. We 

are not allowed to think that we 

were not there, that we were not 

participating in what happened to 

them. 

We are culpable with our 

indifference, with our noncommittal 

shrugs, with our 

godforsaken existential dread, 

with our passive silence. 

Ask yourself, if it is worth it to 

remain quiet. Ask yourself, if you 

have really done enough to exact 

justice. Kindly ask yourself, what 

will be enough, if anything? 

When will an example be set? 

When will the ones committing 

these crimes be held accountable? 

For how long are we going to just 

sit back and remain immobile 

spectators? When do we decide it’s 

time? I decide it’s now. 

And I don’t hope for others to 

decide it, I demand that they do, 

I expect that they will. I have not 

lost faith in the mobilising power 

of unity, of the unified call for 

justice. 

For punishment to be given to 

the rapists. Personally, I vote for 

castration. Remove from them 

what they hold most dear -- their 

pride. • 

Marjiya Baktyer Ahmed is a freelance 

contributor.

16 


DT 

Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

CODE-CRACKER 

ACROSS 

1 Use a broom (5) 

6 Close friend (3) 

7 Automation (5) 

10 Efface (5) 

12 Single entity (4) 

13 Forms walking 

surface (5) 

15 Pace (4) 

16 Wager (3) 

18 Bishop’s territory (3) 

20 African river (4) 

22 Speak (5) 

23 Vegetables (4) 

25 Proverb (5) 

27 Precipitous (5) 

28 Hill (3) 

29 Pays attention (5) 

DOWN 

1 Uses money (6) 

2 Armed conflict (3) 

3 Slip by (6) 

4 Stop from happening (7) 

5 Spanish nobleman (3) 

8 Public transport (3) 

9 Weary (4) 

11 Used a seat (3) 

14 Tombstone 

inscription (7) 

16 Scold (6) 

17 Lofty structures (6) 

19 Facial features (4) 

21 Was ahead (3) 

22 Employ (3) 

24 Consumed (3) 

26 Deity (3) 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 17 represents W so fill W 

every time the figure 17 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 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

What’s on 

17 


DT 

EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY 

EXHIBITION 

MOVIE 

WORKSHOP 

STAR CINEPLEX 

Where Bashundhara City, Dhaka 

What Movie showtime (May 17) 

THE EMPIRE OF DREAM 

When 5-8pm 

Where Kala Kendra, 1/11, Iqbal Road (3rd floor), 

Mohammadpur, Dhaka. 

What Solo art exhibition by artist Ripon Saha. 

BUILD YOUR SELF ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE 

When 5-7pm 

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

House#5, Road 16, Dhanmondi, Dhaka. 

What The workshop focuses on exploring the root causes of 

low self-confidence, and understanding the theory behind 

high self-confidence. 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 

(3D): 11:20am, 2pm, 4:40pm, 

7:30pm 

WORKSHOP ON MOTION GRAPHICS 

When 5-7pm 

Where Bangladesh Skill Development Institute (BSDI), House 

#2B, Road #12, Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi, Dhaka. 

What Participants will be able to learn the importance and 

working areas of this sector, and get introduced to using 

different types of software at this workshop. 

CAN THE DIVINE PRESENCE BE FELT SO EASILY 

When 3-9pm 

Where Alliance Française de Dhaka, 26, Mirpur Road, Dhaka. 

What A group art exhibition. 

Smurfs: The Lost Village (3D): 

11:30am, 1:30pm, 5pm 

SEMINAR 

ACTIVITY B: GRADUATE AND 

UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY SEARCH PROCESS 

When 3-4pm 

Where The American Center, Plot No-1, Progoti Shoroni, 

J-Block, Baridhara, Dhaka. 

What Hosted by US Embassy-Dhaka, it is a free group 

advising session on how to carry out US university search 

process for both undergraduate and graduate studies. 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

GOLDEN DOORS 

When 3-10pm 

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

Bay’s Galleria, 57 Gulshan Avenue, Dhaka. 

What Solo art exhibition by artist Proshanta Karmakar 

Budhha. 

PATAKABYA PARAMPORA 

When 10am-8pm 

Where Gallery Chitrak, Road 4, House 21, Dhanmondi, 

Dhaka. 

What Solo painting exhibition by Shambhu Acharya. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 

(3D): 10:50am, 1:40pm, 3:50pm, 

4:30pm, 6:50pm, 7:20pm 

Fast & Furious 8 (3D): 11:10am, 

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

Fast & Furious 8 (2D): 10:50am, 

1:35pm 

One (2D): 4:20pm, 7:20pm 

Beauty and the Beast (3D): 

11:00am, 1:50pm, 7:10pm 

May 18 

MIB SUMMER MEET-UP 2017 

When 12-8pm 

Where Clay Station Dhaka, House 28, Road 20, Block K, 

Banani, Dhaka. 

What MIB Spirit – Made in Bangladesh is back again with the 

celebration of summer, with their most awaited Summer 

Meet-up 2017 on the grounds of Clay Station Dhaka.

DT 

18 

Sports 


Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha briefs his charges during training in Ireland yesterday 

Tigers eye maiden away win against 

Kiwis as Mashrafe returns 

• Tribune Report 

ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza 

returns to the side after serving a 

one-match ban when Bangladesh 

take on New Zealand in their second 

game of the tri-nation series at 

Malahide in Dublin, Ireland today. 

The Tigers’ first match against host 

Ireland was washed out on Friday 

in Dublin. 

And against the Kiwis, Mashrafe 

and his troop will need to be on 

their guard as the Black Caps 

thrashed them 3-0 in a three-ODI 

series earlier this year. 

Batting collapse has been an 

area of concern for the Tigers for 

some time now and it also reared 

its ugly head against the Irish in the 

first game. However, opening batsman 

Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder 

Mahmudullah came to the rescue 

before rain stopped play. 

The pitch, covered with grass, 

is at the centre of all discussions in 

the Bangladesh camp and according 

to Mashrafe, his side is trying to 

adapt to the conditions. 

“Obviously, whenever we go 

out, our first aim is to win the 

match. Despite the conditions and 

facilities not being up to the mark, 

we tried to overcome those and 

prepare ourselves,” Mashrafe told 

the media yesterday. 

Bangladesh v New Zealand 

Starting time: 3:45 PM 

BTV, GTV, Maasranga TV 

“After losing a few early wickets, 

Tamim and Riyad (Mahmudullah) 

batted well to overcome the situation, 

displaying their experience. I 

think that’s the reality in such conditions. 

You have to bounce back 

despite losing early wickets in a 

game. 

“We are expecting same type of 

pitch. And in these wickets, even if 

we lose wickets, it’s still possible to 

score 270-300 runs. We are yet to 

see the pitch. It depends on how it 

behaves from the previous match. 

We are focused to do well,” he said. 

Putting aside the weather aspect, 

the Tigers will also be mindful 

of their sorry record against the 

Kiwis away from home or in neutral 

venues. In 15 meetings away 

from home and in neutral venues, 

the men in red and green are yet to 

beat the Kiwis. 

And despite the absence of senior 

members like Martin Guptill, 

Kane Williamson and Tim Southee 

in the New Zealand side, Mashrafe 

is not taking the Kiwis lightly. 

“New Zealand are a professional 

side. They are also ranked higher 

in the ICC ranking. Although they 

don’t have a few top grade cricketers 

in the side, still, if you see, 

there are many of them who played 

against us in the last series,” he 

said. 

Mashrafe continued, “So far, 

what we have witnessed is that 

the weather is quite unpredictable 

as suddenly it starts to rain amid 

heavy winds. And suddenly, there 

is sunshine. We have to adjust to 

BCB 

such condition and I hope there 

won’t be similar weather in England. 

Still, we have three games left 

in Ireland and we will try to adjust 

to the condition. 

“We are mentally prepared for 

that. Obviously it’s important for 

us to play well and as I said, we 

expected the conditions here to be 

similar to England. But that’s not 

exactly what has happened. In the 

first match, it was a grassy pitch. 

However, the batsmen can score 

after the early movement from the 

wicket. Still, I think the pitch is 

quite different compared to England.” 

There won’t be much changes 

in the Bangladesh playing XI with 

only pacer Rubel Hossain making 

way for Mashrafe. 

On the other hand, Tom 

Latham’s New Zealand registered 

a rather comfortable 51-run win 

over Ireland in their first match. 

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner 

bagged his maiden five-wicket haul 

in ODIs on Sunday and the Tigers 

will need to be wary of him if they 

are to have any chances of a win. • 

Carroll satisfied 

with security 

arrangement 


Cricket Australia’s anti-corruption 

and security unit manager Sean 

Carroll is relying on the same security 

arrangement provided to 

England when they toured Bangladesh 

last October. The CA official 

is on a two-day tour to Bangladesh 

and had a series of meetings with 

the Ministry of Home Affairs, Australian 

High Commission and the 

Inspector General of Bangladesh 

Police yesterday. 

BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury 

informed that Carroll is more 

than satisfied with the security arrangement 

in place. 

Australia are scheduled to tour 

Bangladesh for two Test matches 

this August-September. 

The tour was supposed to take 

place in 2015 but got postponed over 

security concerns, just 48 hours before 

their team were scheduled to 

fly for Dhaka. Carroll is on a short 

tour of Dhaka for a routine check of 

the security arrangements. 

Inspector General of Bangladesh 

Police, AKM Shahidul Haque 

has assured the Australians of foolproof 

security. Carroll however, 

has not asked for anything more 

than the security arrangement given 

to England. 

“We are working together with 

the BCB in order to ensure that 

the series takes place. There was a 

meeting with the Australian High 

Commission. I am happy with the 

arrangement that was in place for 

England. I am here to ensure security 

arrangement. Bangladesh is to 

give us a security plan,” former Victorian 

police detective Carroll told 

the media yesterday. 

Nizamuddin, who was also part 

of the meetings, said, “The IGP has 

assured fool-proof security arrangement 

and if needed, it will be beefed 

up. At the moment they (CA) are more 

than happy with the arrangement we 

have in place. The CA delegate is here 

to ensure the arrangement.” 

Carroll is likely to visit the venue 

for the first Test, Sher-e-Bangla National 

Stadium in Mirpur, today. He 

is also set to meet the high-ups of the 

Detective Branch and Rapid Action 

Battalion on the same day. Carroll is 

scheduled to leave Dhaka tomorrow. 

Nizamuddin stated that Carroll, 

along with other CA representatives, 

will visit Bangladesh again 

in July to inspect the facilities. 

The tour schedule will be finalised 

soon, said the BCB high-up. 

If everything falls into place, the 

first Test will be played before the 

Eid-ul-Adha holidays, from September 

1-5. The second Test, slated 

for Chittagong, will be held following 

the holidays. •

Sports 

19 


DT 

TODAY’S MATCH 

Rahmatganj v Brothers 

5:30pm, Group D 

Indian women 

set record 320 

opening stand 

• AFP 

India openers Deepti Sharma and 

Poonam Raut put on a record oneday 

international 320-run partnership 

as their country routed Ireland. 

The mammoth stand was the 

best in women’s cricket and surpassed 

the men’s ODI record for 

an opening partnership of 286 between 

Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya 

and Upul Tharanga against England 

in 2006. 

The match, part of a four-nation 

series in Potchesfroom, South Africa, 

saw the first 300-plus stand in a 

women’s ODI. 

The previous best was 268 between 

England’s Sarah Taylor and 

Caroline Atkins against South Africa 

in 2008. 

Sharma (188) and Raut (109) 

played out for 45.3 overs during 

their epic stand after India elected 

to bat in Monday’s game, which 

they won by 249 runs. 

Sharma, who hit 27 fours and 

two sixes during her 160-ball innings, 

helped India to 358 for 2 in 

their 50 overs. Ireland were bundled 

out for 109. 

Sharma’s knock was the India’s 

highest in women’s cricket. • 

Baliyapukur lift school cricket title 


Baliyapukur Bidya Niketan of Rajshahi 

division emerged as the champion 

in the Prime Bank Young Tigers 

National School Cricket Tournament 

yesterday. They defeated Kashinath 

Alauddin High School of Sylhet division 

by 34 runs in a rain-affected final 

at Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium 

in Rajshahi. Wet outfield had curtailed 

the game to 24 overs per side. 

Baliyapukur were asked to bat 

Sk Russel thump Farashganj, MSC get lucky 


Baliyapukur players celebrate winning the national school cricket 

Goalmouth action from the Federation Cup game between Sheikh Russel and Farashganj at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday 

COURTESY 

first and riding on Somrat Ali’s 53, 

they scored 129 losing seven wickets. 

Somray in his 50-ball innings 

struck four boundaries and three 

over-boundaries. Kashinath’s Reduan 

Rashid picked up four wickets 

conceding 26 runs in four overs. 

Later, aided by Mohammad Foysal’s 

four wicket-haul, Baliyapukur 

restricted the opponent to 95 in 

23.3 overs. Kashinath captain Mahinur 

Rahman’s 27 was the highest 

in the innings. • 

Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra moved 

into the quarter-finals of the 

2017 Walton Federation Cup after 

thrashing Farashganj Sporting Club 

3-0 at Bangabandhu National Stadium 

yesterday afternoon. 

The Group B affair proved to be 

one-way traffic with Sheikh Russel 

dominating the entire game and 

Farashganj on the receiving end. 

Farashganj, who earlier lost to 

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi, took the 

exit door following their second 

defeat in as many matches. Yesterday’s 

result also confirmed Sheikh 

Jamal’s place in the last eight. 

Dawda Cisse, the Gambian forward, 

put Sheikh Russell ahead in 

the 32nd minute with a cracking 

right footer from the top of the 

box. Taking control of a long ball, 

the lanky Gambian took a few steps 

before drilling a low shot into the 

far post net. 

Farashganj’s woes worsened as 

Sheikh Russel doubled their lead 

seven minutes later. Midfielder 

Shahedul Alam Shahed initiated 

the move from midfield before 

threading a wonderful through 

pass to Aminur Rahman Sajib. Sajib 

crossed from the right flank to 

Arup Baidya, whose grasscutter 

rolled into the far post net. 

Sajib included his name in the 

scorers’ list eight minutes after the 

Nat’l Hockey 

semis today 


Bangladesh Navy will take on Dhaka 

Education Board while Bangladesh 

Army and Dhaka district 

lock horns with each other in the 

semi-finals of the 31st ATN Bangla 

National Hockey Gold Cup Tournament 

today. 

Both the matches will be held at 

Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in 

Paltan. The first semi between Dhaka 

and Bangladesh Army is scheduled 

to be held at 2pm while the 

second last four clash begins at 4pm. 

Favourite Bangladesh Navy defeated 

Meherpur, Narail, Gazipur and 

Air Force on their way to the last four 

before outplaying Bangladesh Army 

5-1 in the semifinal-deciding match. 

Dhaka beat Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Barisal 

and Mymensingh in the first round 

and quarter-finals before beating 

Dhaka Education Board 5-4 in the 

semifinal-decider. Dhaka Education 

Board earlier defeated reigning champion 

Faridpur in the group stage. • 

RESULTS 

Russel 3-0 Farashganj 

Cisse 32, Arup 39, Sajib 53 

Mohammedan 2-1 Arambagh 

Toklis 34, Robiul 13 

Kingsley 56 

Coach Ratan flying 

Bangladesh flag high 

in England 


Since getting Test status back in 

2000, Bangladesh cricket has come 

a long way and the people associated 

with this game have also 

reached new heights by sharing 

their experiences across the world. 

Shahidul Alam Ratan is one of 

them. He is the CEO and head of 

development at Capital Kids Cricket 

in London that provides a range 

of cricket-related projects focusing 

on providing disadvantaged people 

with the opportunity to participate 

in healthy, physical activity. 

Ratan, who was previously a national 

coach for the BCB from 2001- 

08, has also worked as the national 

coach of Malaysia in the 2008 U-19 

World Cup. The Level 3 coach and 

coach educator of the ECB, the 46- 

MD MANIK 

restart as he outjumped his marker 

to head an Arup cross that gave no 

chance to Farashganj goalkeeper 

Borhanuddin. 

Sheikh Russel and Sheikh Jamal 

will lock horns with each other in 

their last group stage match tomorrow 

to decided which of the two 

teams finish as Pool B champion. 

Meanwhile in the other match of 

the day at the same venue, Mohammedan 

Sporting Club Limited edged 

Arambagh Krira Sangha 2-1 to remain 

on course for a quarter-final slot. 

Mohammedan, who lost 2-1 to 

Chittagong Abahani in their first 

game, scored the match-winner 

capitalising on a blunder by the Arambagh 

custodian. 

Arambagh broke the deadlock 

in the 13th minute through Robiul 

Islam before Toklis Ahmed and Nkwocha 

Kingsley netted in the 34th 

and 56th minute to give Mohammedan 

the three points. 

Mohammedan have three points 

from two points while Arambagh 

are yet to open their account. They 

will play Chittagong Abahani in 

their last group match. • 

year old Ratan started his coaching 

journey in England back in 2008 

and gradually worked as the development 

manager, followed by 

director of cricket, and finally, the 

CEO of Capital Kids Cricket. 

He also coached various age-level 

teams during his coaching career 

in Bangladesh. In England, he has 

been living with his family, including 

two children. He is now a British 

citizen and holds dual citizenship. 

Ratan received the ECB national 

award for grass-roots development 

in 2016. •

20 


DT 

Sports 

Ronaldo could 

take Madrid to 

brink of title in 

Celta Vigo 

• Reuters 

In-form striker Cristiano Ronaldo 

will try to take Real Madrid to the 

brink of the Spanish title today 

against Celta Vigo. 

Madrid would move three points 

clear of Barcelona at the top of La 

Liga with a victory in Galicia ahead 

of the season finale on Sunday. 

The match at Balaidos was originally 

scheduled for February but 

had to be postponed after strong 

winds damaged the stadium. 

The only force of nature Celta 

Vigo need to worry about now is 

Ronaldo, who is driving Madrid 

towards a potential league and 

Champions League double. 

“More than the goal itself, it’s 

what he’s done so far. In the decisive 

moments, Cristiano is always 

there,” Madrid coach Zinedine 

Zidane told reporters on Sunday 

when asked about the Portuguese 

forward. “He’s just got something, 

he’s different.” 

Ronaldo struck twice as Madrid 

beat Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu, 

reaching 401 goals for the club 

in all competitions since he signed 

for them in 2009 from Manchester 

United. 

This season the 32-year-old has 

22 strikes in the top flight and hit 

hat-tricks in the recent Champions 

League quarter-final against Bayern 

Munich and semi-final against 

rivals Atletico Madrid. 

Gareth Bale is still out injured, 

however, along with Pepe and Dani 

Carvajal. But Madrid will be confident 

of beating a Celta Vigo side in 

13th with nothing to play for this 

season after being eliminated from 

the Europa League by Manchester 

United in last Thursday’s semi-final 

second leg. • 

Chelsea edge past Watford 

• Reuters 

Departing captain John Terry led 

his Chelsea champion to a rip-roaring 

4-3 victory over Watford on 

Monday, scoring the first goal on an 

evening of celebration, fireworks 

and streamers rather than vintage 

football at Stamford Bridge. 

Terry, who is leaving this season 

after 22 years with the club, hooked 

home a loose ball from a Willian 

corner in the 22nd minute. The defender 

has scored in 17 consecutive 

Premier League seasons. 

But the former England captain 

was at fault for the equaliser 

Sharapova targeting return to the top 

• Reuters 

Former world number one Maria 

Sharapova says she is not looking 

too far ahead after returning from 

a doping suspension but concedes 

she is eager to be competing for the 

biggest titles in tennis again. 

The 30-year-old beat Christina 

McHale 6-4 6-2 in the first round of 

the Italian Open on Monday to guarantee 

herself a spot in the Wimbledon 

qualifying tournament. 

She faces a battle to raise her 

ranking enough to qualify for the 

grasscourt grand slam by right and 

spare organisers the dilemma of 

whether to award her a wildcard 

into the main draw of the tournament 

she won in 2004. 

The Russian is returning from a 

15-month doping ban after testing 

positive for the heart drug meldonium 

at last year’s Australian Open. 

Since her return in April, Sharapova 

has received wildcard entries 

to the Stuttgart, Madrid and Italian 

Opens. 

“I certainly have expectations 

of myself...when you have won big 

events and you have been No. 1 in 

the world, you know that feeling. So 

that feeling ultimately stays inside 

of you...and you know what you 

work for,” Sharapova told reporters. 

“I would love to experience 

those feelings again. Of course, 

that is my goal. But as I said, every 

week is important...I might have 

not played my best tennis, but I set 

up an opportunity to play another 

match and to hopefully improve in 

that match, and that’s what I need.” 

Sharapova also said that she was 

unaware of this week’s rankings 

deadline for the Wimbledon qualifying 

draw. 

“Oh, is it? See, I think maybe 

you guys assume that I know these 

things, but I genuinely want to take 

care of each and every single week, 

and every single match is a priority 

for me,” Sharapova said. 

“When you’ve been out of the 

game and haven’t played competitively 

in 15 months...The fact that 

I’m back and playing three weeks 

in a row now and three events in a 

row for me is a big deal. That’s my 

focus.” The five-time grand slam 

winner will find out if she receives 

a wildcard entry into this month’s 

French Open later yesterday. • 

RESULT 

Chelsea 4-3 Watford 

Terry 22, Azpilicueta 36, Capoue 24, 

Batshuayi 49, Janmaat 51, 

Fabregas 88 Okaka 74 

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard in action with Watford’s Heurelho Gomes during their Premier League match at Stamford Bridge on 

Monday night 

REUTERS 

when barely two minutes later 

he back-headed a ball he should 

have cleared, sending it straight to 

Etienne Capoue for an easy headed 

goal. 

Chelsea had won the title with a 

1-0 victory against West Bromwich 

Albion at the Hawthorns on Friday, 

so Monday’s game was more 

about enjoying the moment with 

the fans and giving those who had 

not figured too often in the season 

a chance to shine. 

Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta 

put Chelsea ahead again in 

the 36th minute and striker Michy 

Batshuayi, Diego Costa’s understudy, 

followed his goal on Friday 

with Chelsea’s third on Monday, 

four minutes into the second half. 

Watford put a brief damper on 

fans’ celebrations with Daryl Janmaat 

dribbling through for Watford’s 

second goal and substitute 

Stefano Okaka equalising in the 

74th. 

But when substitute Cesc Fabregas 

put away the winner in the 

88th minute, the stadium erupted 

once again in song for Conte, for 

Terry and for a title that had looked 

out of reach after a 10th-place finish 

last season and a shaky start 

last autumn. • 

Sharapova celebrates after winning the 

first round match in Rome REUTERS 

Chelsea legend 

Terry undecided 

about playing 

future 

• AFP 

Chelsea icon John Terry scored 

in what is likely to be his penultimate 

game for the newly-crowned 

champion and suggested unless 

a good offer came along he might 

retire after Sunday’s final Premier 

League match. 

The 36-year-old - who has spent 

22 years at the club winning 15 trophies 

including this season’s title - 

opened the scoring in the 4-3 win 

over Watford at Stamford Bridge 

his 67th goal in 716 appearances for 

the Blues. 

Terry, who hadn’t started a 

league game since September 11 

last year, slightly blotted his copybook 

in handing their opponent 

the equaliser sixty seconds later. 

Terry has been linked with 

a move to Premier League side 

Bournemouth whilst Swansea 

manager Paul Clement who worked 

with the former England defender 

at Chelsea has also declared an 

interest, but he intimated to Sky 

Sports he had not yet had an offer 

that might persuade him to keep 

on playing. 

“I still haven’t ruled out Sunday 

being my last game and retiring,” 

said Terry, who announced in mid- 

April he would be leaving the club. 

“It depends if the right offer 

comes along I will sit down and 

consider it with my family - whether 

that’s here, abroad, or wherever 

that may be. 

“Genuinely I haven’t made any 

decisions of yet and I’m evaluating 

all my options at the moment.” 

Terry, who has captained Chelsea 

on a record 579 occasions, said 

he had never intended in trying to 

prevent younger talent from breaking 

through whilst he blocked their 

way. • 

Boys, girls win 

in Asian U-12 

tennis 


Bangladesh boys and girls tennis 

team registered victories in the ITF 

Asian U-12 Team Tennis Championship 

2017, also known as south 

Asia regional qualifiers, after beating 

Pakistan and Bhutan respectively 

in Nepal yesterday. 

The boys team, who have been 

placed in Group B along with Sri 

Lanka, Pakistan and host Nepal, 

defeated Pakistan 2-1. Mohammad 

Rumman Hossain won the first singles 

but Mehedi Hasan lost the second 

singles before Rumman and 

Utsha pair won the doubles to seal 

victory. •

Cavani named 

best Ligue 1 

player 

• Reuters 

Paris St Germain striker Edinson 

Cavani was named the best Ligue 

1 player of the season by his fellow 

professionals on Monday. 

The Uruguay forward has scored 

35 league goals in as many appearances 

this season and PSG are likely 

to finish second to Monaco in Ligue 1. 

The principality side won the 

best coach trophy with Leonardo 

Jardim, France prodigy Kylian 

Mbappe was awarded the best 

hope trophy and Danijel Subasic 

was named best goalkeeper. 

Monaco will snatch their first 

Ligue 1 title since 2000 if they avoid 

defeat against St Etienne today. 

Chelsea’s French international 

midfielder N’Golo Kante was 

named best French player in a foreign 

league. • 

Sports 

Warner: Australia risk missing top 

players in Ashes over pay dispute 

• Reuters 

The ongoing pay dispute might 

leave Australia without their top 

players in the home Ashes series 

against England later this year, 

vice-captain David Warner has 

warned. 

Australian Cricketers’ Association 

rejected Cricket Australia’s pay 

offer last month, dismissing the initial 

proposal as “a win for cricket 

administrators but a loss for cricket”. 

CA has threatened the players 

with unemployment, saying they 

would not get alternative contracts 

if they fail to agree to the new collective 

bargaining agreement. 

Warner said he and his colleague 

would not “buckle at all”. 

“If it gets to the extreme they 

might not have a team for the Ashes,” 

Warner, currently playing in 

the Indian Premier League, told the 

Age newspaper. 

“I really hope they can come 

to an agreement...we don’t really 

want to see this panning out like 

that where we don’t have a team, 

we don’t have cricket in the Australian 

summer. 

“It is up to CA to deal with the 

ACA. It’s obviously in their hands,” 

said the 30-year-old. 

Fast-bowling team mate Mitchell 

Starc had earlier predicted “an 

interesting men’s and women’s 

ashes” in a cryptic tweet, triggering 

speculations of a possible players’ 

strike if they were not paid after 

the existing collective bargaining 

agreement expires on June 30. 

Warner said the players were not 

really shocked by the CA stance. 

“We thought something along 

the lines of this might happen... it’s 

not come as a shock, but more the 

fact it has come so early,” the opener 

said. 

“We won’t buckle at all, we are 

standing together and very strong, 

and as you can see from all the people 

that have spoken so far, we are 

all on the same wavelength. 

“We want a fair share and the 

revenue-sharing model is what we 

want, so we are going to stick together 

until we get that.” 

Warner also ruled out signing 

three-year contracts that would 

keep him and other elite Australian 

players out of the lucrative IPL. • 

21 


DAY’S WATCH 

CRICKET 

SONY SIX HD 

8:30 PM 

Indian Premier League 2017 

Eliminator: Hyderabad v Kolkata 

FOOTBALL 

STAR SPORTS HD 1 

12:35 AM 

Premier League 2016/17 

Southampton v Manchester United 

BASKETBALL 

TEN 1 

7:00 AM 

NBA Playoffs 2017 

Golden State v San Antonio 

1:00 AM 

La Liga Santander 2016/17 

Celta Vigo v Real Madrid 

TEN 2 

12:50 AM 

French Ligue 1 2016/17 

Monaco v Saint- Etienne 

NEO SPORTS 

1:00 AM 

Coppa Italia TIM Cup 2017 

Final: Juventus v Lazio 

TENNIS 

TEN 3 

4:00 PM 

ATP 1000 Masters 2017 

Internazionali dItalia Rome, Day 3 

DT 

Super League, 

relegation fight hots up 


The Dhaka Premier Division 

Cricket League season 

2016-17 enters round 10 today 

with Abahani Limited 

taking on Legends of Rupganj 

at the BKSP ground 4. 

At Khan Shaheb Osman 

Ali Stadium in Fatullah, 

Prime Doleshwar Sporting 

Club face Khelaghar Samaj 

Kalyan Samity while at the 

BKSP ground 3, relegation 

contenders Victoria Sporting 

Club and Partex Sporting 

Club lock horns with 

each other. 

With seven wins in nine 

matches, holder Abahani 

are second in the 12-team 

points table. With only two 

rounds left to the six-team 

Super League, the Sky Blues 

will be looking to end their 

league campaign on a high. 

In contrast, Rupganj are 

struggling to live upto their reputation 

as title favourite. They 

have won five out of nine games 

and find themselves at seventh 

with 10 points. Rupganj will be 

desperate to win their two remaining 

matches and qualify 

for the Super League. 

On the other hand, 

DPL FIXTURE 

Abahani v Rupganj, BKSP 4 

Doleshwar v Khelaghar, Fatullah 

Victoria v Partex, BKSP 3 

POINTS TABLE 

Teams Mat Won Lost Pts 

Gazi 9 9 0 18 

Abahani 9 7 2 14 

Prime 9 7 2 14 

Doleshwar 9 6 3 12 

Mohammedan 9 6 3 12 

Jamal 9 5 4 10 

Rupganj 9 5 4 10 

Brothers 9 3 6 6 

Khelaghar 9 3 6 6 

Kalabagan 9 2 7 4 

Partex 9 1 8 2 

Victoria 9 0 9 0 

Khelaghar will be eyeing a win 

today in order to avoid relegation. 

With three wins, they 

need at least one win in their 

last two games to be safe from 

the relegation battle. 

The situation however, 

makes for grim reading for 

Victoria, who have lost all 

nine of their matches. Even 

two wins out of two will not 

be enough for them to be safe 

from relegation. •

22 


DT 

Showtime 

Ransom demanded for Disney’s 

‘stolen’ film 

• Showtime Desk 

Film studio Disney has revealed 

that hackers have threatened to 

leak one of the studio’s upcoming 

films unless the studio pays a 

ransom. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger said 

on Monday that the hackers 

demanded a “huge sum” to be 

paid in Bitcoin, or they will release 

parts of the film, in 20 minute 

segments, until the money comes 

through. 

Though Iger did not mention 

the film in question, Deadline 

reported that it is Pirates of the 

Caribbean franchise’s latest 

instalment Dead Men Tell No Tales. 

Disney has decided to not pay 

the ransom, instead the studio is 

working with US federal agents to 

monitor any online leaks. 

Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth 

instalment of the Pirates franchise, 

stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack 

Sparrow who return to the ocean 

alongside Geoffrey Rush and 

Orlando Bloom. The film is due to 

be released in cinemas in the US 

Hum Paanch girl makes 

a comeback 


Who can ever forget 

Sweety Mathur - the 

popular character 

from Hum Paanch, 

played by Rakhi Vijan? 

Back in the 90s, Rakhi 

achieved great levels 

of popularity and acted 

in several promising 

projects. Her other 

famous work- Humko 

Ishq Ne Mara - become 

one of the most popular 

TV movies back then. 

After a power packed 

career, Rakhi got 

married to Raveena 

Tandon’s brother. 

But her decade 

long marriage ended 

in 2010. Rakhi, who 

was married to Rajiv 

Tandon, parted ways 

with him due to 

compatibility issues. 

Speaking about her marriage to a 

media portal, Rakhi said that the 

divorce was long overdue, and 

did not wish to speak about it 

any further. 

Currently looking forward to 

having a good career and life, 

Rakhi revealed that her parents 

on May 26. 

This is not the first time a 

film studio is being threatened 

with online leaks. Last month, a 

hackers’ group leaked the fifth 

season of Orange is the New Black 

after it’s producing company 

Netflix refused to pay the 

demanded money. 

Film writers and journalists 

speculated on social media that 

it could be Pixar’s Cars 3, which 

is slated to come out in June, or 

the next Star Wars flick The Last 

Jedi, with a premiere date set for 

December. 

Ryan Parker, a writer from the 

Hollywood Reporter, posted on 

Twitter, “If it were Last Jedi, he 

would pay in a heartbeat. But 

Pirates... meh.” 

While the Pirates franchise is 

one of Disney’s most lucrative, 

with a gross of $3.7bn since the 

first one premiered, it bears no 

comparison to the threat of a 

leaked Star Wars movie. The Force 

Awakens alone scored over $2bn 

worldwide, with The Last Jedi 

expected to beat its predecessor.• 

are looking for an arranged 

match for her. She reportedly 

wants to get married again, 

and travel the world with her 

companion. However, she is not 

ready to take up the additional 

responsibility of rearing kids 

yet!• 

Gane Gane Shokal Shuru 


Eminent Nazrul Sangeet singer 

Shusmita Anis will perform live 

on Channel i’s popular morning 

musical show Gane Gane Shokal 

Shuru tomorrow. The music 

show will be telecast from 

7:30am to 8.45am. 

Starting her musical 

journey as a disciple of her 

aunt, the legendary Nazrul 

sangeet singer Feroza Begum, 

Shusmita specialised in Nazrul 

Sangeet from an early age. She 

is also specialised in modern 

Bengali songs, especially those 

composed by her uncle, the 

legendary composer Kamal Das 

Gupta. Shusmita also covers a 

wide range of musical genres 

with versatility and grandeur in 

her musical performances. 

Renowned tabla player Syed 

Meher Hossain will accompany 

Shusmita Anis, while Yousuf 

Ahmed Khan will host the 

programme Gane Gane Shokal 

Shuru.• 

WHAT TO WATCH 

Hanna 

WB, 6:06pm 

Hanna was raised by her 

father, in isolation, in the 

wilds of North Finland, 

intensely trained to be the 

perfect assassin. After being 

dispatched on a mission 

across Europe, tracked by a 

ruthless intelligence agent she 

faces dilemma as time unfolds 

many unknown facts to her. 

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Eric 

Bana, Tom Hollander, Olivia 

Williams, Jason Flemyng 

Kung Fu Panda 2 

HBO, 9:30pm 

In the Valley of Peace, Po Ping 

is revelling in his fulfilled 

dreams as he serves as 

the fabled Dragon Warrior 

protecting his home with 

his heroes now his closest 

friends. However, Po and 

company learn that the 

murderous Lord Shen of 

Gongman City is threatening 

the land with a fearsome new 

weapon that could mean the 

end of kung fu. They attempt 

to stop him, but the panda 

is burdened with crippling 

memory flashbacks linked to 

this villain. 

Voice: Jack Black (Po), 

Angelina Jolie (Tigress), 

Dustin Hoffman ( Shifu), Gary 

Oldman (Shen), Jackie Chan ( 

Monkey) 

Superman III 

Movies Now, 11:20pm 

Gus Gorman has a lot of time 

on his hands having lost 

his job. He finds out that he 

is very good at computer 

programming. He makes use 

of this ability to embezzle 

huge sums of money from the 

company payroll. That’s when 

he catches his ex-boss Ross 

Webster’s attention. Webster 

runs a business conglomerate 

and he wants Gus to aid 

him in his schemes of world 

domination. 

Cast: Christopher Reeve, 

Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, 

Marc McClure, Annette 

O’Toole, Annie Ross •

Showtime 

23 


DT 

Young film maker Rasel 

Ahmed passes away 


Guru-shishya performances 

in Praner Khela 

Young film maker Rasel Ahmed 

passed away on May 15. He was 

ready to release his first film Nree. 

According to the hospital report, 

Rasel died due to a heart attack. 

He and his wife Ethel Ahmed 

were residents of North Badda. 

His body was taken to his village 

in Barisal yesterday. 

Rasel Ahmed’s debut feature 

film Nree is about the essence 

of humanity. It tries to portray 

the message that matters like 

race and belief should not create 

division among people. The 

strongest bond that ties everyone 

together is the shared bond of 

being human. 

Beside this, his other works 

like Confession and Flyover got 

positive reviews from audiences 

and critics. 

His sudden death has 

saddened his colleagues in the 

industry, some of whom have 

posted quick reaction to the 

social media. 

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki 

“It was like a 

thunder storm 

to me to know 

that young film 

director Rasel 

Ahmed is no 

more. He called 

me twice or 

thrice and met with me to show 

his trailer. I can’t even remember 

what we talked about! But his 

eyes, his love for his work is still 

resonating inside me! His intense 

desire to finish his film was 

stringer than the thunderstorm 

going on outside now!” 

Abu Shahed Emon 

“Rest in peace 

Rasel, Film 

Director of 

an upcoming 

Bangla 

cinema 

Nree! Feeling 

devastated after hearing your 

news!” 

PHOTO: DANIEL DANY 

Masud Hasan Ujjal 

“How 

unfortunate 

I am, that I 

didn’t even 

get to know 

him. I just 

got to watch 

the trailer! And this is full of 

so many cinematic shots! This 

is unbelievable! Rasel Ahmed, 

this is my bad luck that I didn’t 

get any chance to meet you. I 

also don’t know if I will be able 

to see my first release or not! 

Your departure makes me feel 

empty.” • 


Classical music is the base of 

any music. The ‘guru-shishya’ 

tradition or parampara, which 

denotes a succession of teachers 

and disciples in traditional Indian 

classical music, still exists in the 

country. 

Bengal Foundation believes 

that the young generation has 

to be motivated and involved 

in learning and practicing the 

Indian classical music to continue 

the legacy of this tardition. This 

tradition of thousand years may 

survive only if young musicians 

become interested to carry out 

Indian classical music. 

On this note, gurus and 

shishyas will perform in a Bengal 

Foundation’s regular music soiree 

titled Praner Khela on May 18 at 

the Chhayanaut Auditorium at 

7pm. • 

Dr Asit Roy and his group 

Swaraj Pancham will perform 

group Dhrupad in the concert 

while Murtaza Kabir Murad and 

his group Aaroho will present 

group flute performance in the 

second session of the event. • 

Fifth season of Sultan Suleiman to air this Saturday 


The fifth season of popular TV 

series Sultan Suleiman is set to 

premiere on Saturday, May 20. The 

Turkish TV series that is dubbed 

in Bangla will be shown from 

Saturday to Thursday at 7:30pm 

and 10pm, every week on Deepto 

TV. 

Written by Meral Okay and 

Yılmaz Şahin, the Turkish historical 

fiction television is based on the 

life of Ottoman Sultan Süleiman the 

Magnificent, the longest reigning 

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and 

his wife Hürrem Sultan, a slave girl 

who later became Sultana. 

Within the first two months 

of its showing, Sultan Suleiman 

received the highest TV program 

ratings in Bangladesh. •

24 


DT 

Back Page 

TIGERS EYE MAIDEN AWAY WIN AGAINST 

KIWIS AS MASHRAFE RETURNS › 18 

YOUNG FILM MAKER RASEL 

AHMED PASSES AWAY › 23 

GANG RAPE OF GARO WOMAN 

Aftermath of rape: How the justice 

system fails women 

• Md Sanaul Islam Tipu 

It has been almost two years since a 

21-year-old indigenous woman was 

gang raped in a moving microbus 

in Dhaka on May 22, 2015 but there 

has been little or no progress in the 

case. 

The case is now pending with 

the court of Judge SM Rezenur Rahman 

of Dhaka Women and Children 

Repression Prevention Tribunal-4, 

as court sources claimed that witnesses 

have failed to show up before 

the court. 

They also said the prosecution 

lawyers have been negligent in fulfilling 

their duty in regards to moving 

the case forward. 

On May 23, 2015 a case was filed 

with the Vatara police station against 

five individuals for gang raping the 

young Garo women in a microbus 

for over an hour before dropping her 

off at Uttara, near her home. 

The following day on May 24, 

2015 a case was filed with the Vatara 

police station against five individuals 

including Ashraf Khan alias 

Tushar and Jahidul Islam Lavlu. 

Although the rape survivor filed 

the case against five people, the investigating 

officer of the case Assistant 

Superintendent of Police (ASP) 

of RAB Azmila Nasren Chowdhury 

submitted a charge sheet accusing 

only two people in the case. 

On May 27, 2015, RAB arrested 

Jahidul Islam Lavlu from Gulshan-1 

and Tushar from Patuakhali’s 

Kuakata and recovered the microbus 

from Banani, Dhaka. 

The duo admitted to raping the 

young indigenous woman during 

their confessional statement before 

a magistrate under 164 of Code 

of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). 

“On May 17, Tushar pretending to 

be a senior official of a buying house 

went to the store in Jamuna Future 

Park where the rape survivor worked 

as a sales person and asked her for 

her resume offering her a better job. 

They then exchanged phone 

numbers. He had planned to rape 

the young woman the same night 

and shared his plan with his colleagues 

– Lavlu and Firoz. 

When that did not happen, he 

changed his plans to May 18, but 

the young woman declined his offer 

to meet him. 

On May 21, Tushar asked the 

young woman to wait at Kuril bus 

stand after work,” said RAB’s Director 

(legal and media wing) Mufti 

Mahmud Khan. 

Tushar arrived at the bus stand 

at 9:30pm in a microbus that Lavlu 

was driving. They pulled up and 

asked the young woman if she recongised 

him and asked her if she 

needed a lift home. 

When she refused to a ride from 

Tushar he forcefully pulled her into 

the vehicle where both the men repeatedly 

gang raped her for over an 

hour while driving on and around 

Kuril Flyover. 

They threatened to throw her 

off the moving vehicle every time 

the young woman tried to scream 

for help, police said. 

The rape survivor faced another 

hurdle trying to file a case as she 

went between two police stations 

Gulshan and Turag who claimed it 

was out of their jurisdiction. 

After a rape test, forensic doctors 

at Dhaka Medical College Hospital 

on May 23, 2015 confirmed 

the young woman had been gang 

raped. 

The Dhaka Tribune had asked 

RAB Additional Director General 

(operations) Ziaul Ahsan why only 

two men were charged with rape 

when a case was filed against five 

individuals, and he said: “It might 

be a mistake since the girl was traumatised 

following the rape.” 

Meanwhile court’s Special Public 

prosecutor Md Forkan Miah denied 

the allegations of negligence 

in pushing the case forward even 

after two years. 

“We are trying our best to complete 

the trial soon. 

“What can we do if the witnesses 

are not showing up to give their 

deposition,” he added. 

There was some progress in the 

case, he said, as 17 testimonies of 

prosecution witness have already 

been recorded by the court out of 

a total 22. 

Three people including the accused 

security guard gave their 

statements before the magistrates 

under section 22 of Women and 

Children Repression Prevention 

Act-2000. 

Rights activists expressed disappointment 

over the slow progress 

of the case. 

Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Fahmida 

Akhert Rinky, counsel of 

Bangladesh National Woman Lawyer’s 

Association said: “It has been 

almost two years and very little 

progress has been made, which is 

very disappointing.” 

She also alleged the prosecution 

lawyers were not actually very interesting 

in pushing the case forward. • 

Murder case lodged against Test skipper Mushfiqur’s father 

He has been allegedly running a primary school on another school’s campus 

• Nazmul Huda Nasim, Bogra 

A murder case was filed against 

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur 

Rahim’s father, Mahbub Hamid 

Tara, his brother Mejbah-ul-Hamid, 

a local municipality councillor of 

Awami League, and 14 others in 

connection with the killing of teenager 

Mashuk Ferdous on Sunday. 

The victim’s father, Emdadul 

Haq, filed the case with Bogra Sadar 

police station on Tuesday evening. 

In the case statement, the plaintiff 

alleged that Mahbub was involved 

in the killing of his son over 

previous enmity regarding a position 

in the managing committee of 

Matidali High School in Bogra town. 

Emdad also said a teenage 

neighbour Nayeem Hossain and 

Anik took Mashuk out in the Matidali 

area around 8:30pm on Saturday, 

as planned by Mahbub, Mejbah 

and their aides two days ago. 

Later, Mashuk was found lying 

A festoon says that Mahbub Hamid is the head of the managing committees of the 

schools and Mushfiqur Rahim is sponsoring the primary school DHAKA TRIBUNE 

near his home with grievous head 

injuries. He was taken to a local 

hospital where he was declared 

dead the same night. 

After the murder, Mahbub 

claimed that he had no rivalry with 

Emdad and condemned the incident, 

demanding punishment of 

the killers. 

Emdad is an executive member of 

Jasad (Hasanul Haq Inu-led faction). 

Two schools, one building, one 

president 

Meanwhile, our Bogra correspondent 

found that Mahbub has reportedly 

been running a primary 

school called Barnali Bidyayatan 

since 2012, using the building, furniture 

and field of Matidali High 

School, an MPO-listed high school 

in Bogra. 

During a recent visit, it was 

found that a signboard reading 

“Barnali Bidyayatan is an associate 

organisation of Matidali High 

School” was attached to the wall of 

the school in question. 

A festoon attesting to Mushfique 

sponsoring the school was also visible 

on the wall. The festoon also 

says that Mahbub is the president 

of the managing committees of 

both schools. 

Locals said the high school, 

established in 1970, had been imparting 

lessons for students from 

class III to class X until the primary 

school was launched. 

But, Mahbub reduced the number 

of classes using his executive 

authority, now taking classes only 

from class VI at the 47-year-old educational 

institute. 

The spot visit also led to the 

discovery that both the schools 

were being operated from the same 

building with shared facilities. 

“Tara (Mahbub) retained the 

post as president by flexing his 

political muscle to continue his 

unlawful activities in the schools,” 

said Mahbubur Rahman, a local. 

A complaint was lodged with 

the Rajshahi Education Board regarding 

this issue recently. 

According to Mahbubur Rahman, 

the primary school overcharges 

its students. 

When contacted, Mahbub defended 

himself saying that he had 

established the second school within 

the boundaries of relevant laws. 

“The school was not established 

through any graft or anomaly since 

there are separate managing committees 

and bank accounts for both 

schools,” he claimed. • 

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

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

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