e_Paper, Monday, June 19, 2017_Final

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2017 | Ashar 5, 1424, Ramadan 23, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 5, No 45 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 8-page world supplement | Price: Tk10 

Fresh landslides kill 

5 in Khagrachhari, 

Moulvibazar › 5 

BIGSTOCK 

AFP 

Limits of forex limits › 2 

A passage to Italy: Death 

and dismay › 6 

New VAT rate 

likely to be 

postponed 

› 3 

DT 

World Tribune 

Deadline 

2019 

WORLD SUPPLEMENT 

Big issues loom over 

Brexit talks › 2 

Brothers who brought death 

and ruin to Philippine city › 3 

SEHRI 

AND IFTAR 

TIMES 

Ramadan June Sehri Iftar 

23 19 – 6:52 

BIG ISSUES LOOM OVER 

2 BREXIT TALKS 

3 

BROTHERS WHO BROUGHT 

DEATH AND RUIN TO 

PHILIPPINE CITY 

ARE CONDITIONS RIPENING FOR 

7 IRAQI KURDISH STATE? 

Are conditions ripening for 

Iraqi Kurdish state? › 7 

24 20 3:38 6:52 

25 21 3:38 6:52 

Source: Islamic Foundation

2 

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2017 

DT 

News 

The limits of forex limits 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi 

and Shariful Islam 

ECONOMY 

Bangladesh Bank has rules for how 

much foreign currency an individual 

can carry while travelling 

abroad, but there are no separate 

policies for casual travel and business 

trips. 

This makes it difficult for entrepreneurs 

to make business trips 

which may entail more costs than 

regular travel. Sometimes, businesspeople 

may even resort to illegal 

means to carry dollars going 

abroad. 

Under the Foreign Exchange 

Regulations for Individuals, a 

Bangladeshi national is allowed to 

carry up to $12,000 or other equivalent 

currency in cash or credit for 

all their travels abroad in a year. 

For each travel, up to $5,000 or 

equivalent can be taken to Saarc 

member countries and Myanmar. 

For the other countries it is up to 

$7,000. 

“To explore a new destination 

for products and build relationships 

with the global buyers, manufacturers 

have to travel to meet 

people in their country or a third 

country,” Md Rashedul Karim Munna, 

managing director of Creation 

Private Limited, a jute goods manufacturer, 

told the Dhaka Tribune. 

But they face challenges in bearing 

the costs of travel, accommodation 

and meetings because of the 

central bank’s conservative policy, 

said Munna. 

During a visit, a businessman 

has to bear food costs, pay for local 

transportation and also has to 

entertain guests while trying to 

make a business deal, said several 

businessmen from export-oriented 

industries. 

Travel to any European country 

costs at least three to four thousand 

dollars, and therefore a limit 

of $7,000 for a single trip is impractical 

even for regular tourists, they 

said. 

Since the permissible amount 

is not enough, the business people 

have to resort to illegal means 

to meet the costs, a businessman 

seeking anonymity told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

To curb illegal transactions 

the government should develop a 

pragmatic solution by setting a reasonable 

amount, he said. 

Separate ceiling policies could 

also be created for businesspeople 

instead of treating them as general 

travellers, he added. 

Foreign exchange limit for individuals 

Figure in $ 

Category 

Foreign currency being counted at a money exchange 

Credit 

Annual limit 12,000 

Travelling to Saarc countries + Myanmar 5,000 

Travelling to other countries 7,000 

Treatment abroad 10,000 

Online purchase fees 300 

Source: BB 

“Since businesspeople have to 

travel to various countries several 

times a year for many reasons 

like consultancy, research and 

development to diversify their 

businesses, I think the government 

and the central bank should 

consider the issue separately,” said 

Munna. 

Sources said, the businesses are 

suffering due to the central bank’s 

conservative attitude and they are 

also forced to buy dollar using illegal 

means. 

Bangladesh Bank Foreign Exchange 

Policy Department’s Deputy 

General Manager Jagannath 

Chandra Ghosh acknowledged that 

the central bank was conservative 

in its approach to the foreign currency 

exchange limit. 

He told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“We do not import dollar, we 

have to collect foreign currency 

from non-resident Bangladeshis 

through remittance and nationals 

who come back to Bangladesh after 

travelling. 

“For this we have a conservative 

stance about extending the foreign 

currency transactions limit for individuals. 

If we liberalise the transaction 

limit, it will create pressure 

on our dollar reserve.” 

Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, 

former deputy governor of 

Bangladesh Bank, told the Dhaka 

Forex limits bar 

online businesses 

Tribune: “It will not be a good 

idea to liberalise the foreign 

currency transaction limit for 

everybody. I think the number of 

businesspeople who frequently 

travel abroad is not too many. It 

will be better if they take additional 

foreign currency that they need 

from Bangladesh Bank by showing 

proper documents.” 

Although there is a provision allowing 

people who travel for treatment 

to carry up to $10,000 for 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

Small businesses like e-commerce and 

other tech sectors are sufferers of another 

central bank regulation that limits 

online cross-border payment. 

Currently, these types of 

businesses are allowed to spend $300 

for online payment to purchase goods 

and services such as downloadable 

application software, e-book and 

consultancy. 

“E-commerce businesses across 

the country are basically retail marketplaces 

where we have to import single 

products from home and abroad as per 

clients’ choice,” e-Commerce Association 

of Bangladesh (e-CAB) President 

Razib Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune. 

The majority of e-commerce businesses 

are small entrepreneurs and 

they are not able to import goods. 

“That is why they have to buy it 

from foreign markets using credit 

cards, but the exchange limit of $300 

is very little. 

“The government should extend 

the transaction limit for e-commerce 

businesses and the Bangladesh Bank 

should formulate policies to ease the 

process for e-commerce entrepreneurs,” 

he said. • 

treatment, the process for obtaining 

permission is time-consuming 

and cumbersome. 

A patient has to take permission 

from the central bank by presenting 

documentation and reporting 

estimated costs. 

“Treatment is an emergency 

issue. The government should increase 

the limit as well as ease the 

process,” Shahidullah Azim, who 

takes regular treatment in Singapore, 

told the Dhaka Tribune. •

2 


DT 

News 

The limits of forex limits 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi 

and Shariful Islam 

ECONOMY 

Bangladesh Bank has rules for how 

much foreign currency an individual 

can carry while travelling 

abroad, but there are no separate 

policies for casual travel and business 

trips. 

This makes it difficult for entrepreneurs 

to make business trips 

which may entail more costs than 

regular travel. Sometimes, businesspeople 

may even resort to illegal 

means to carry dollars going 

abroad. 

Under the Foreign Exchange 

Regulations for Individuals, a 

Bangladeshi national is allowed to 

carry up to $12,000 or other equivalent 

currency in cash or credit for 

all their travels abroad in a year. 

For each travel, up to $5,000 or 

equivalent can be taken to Saarc 

member countries and Myanmar. 

For the other countries it is up to 

$7,000. 

“To explore a new destination 

for products and build relationships 

with the global buyers, manufacturers 

have to travel to meet 

people in their country or a third 

country,” Md Rashedul Karim Munna, 

managing director of Creation 

Private Limited, a jute goods manufacturer, 

told the Dhaka Tribune. 

But they face challenges in bearing 

the costs of travel, accommodation 

and meetings because of the 

central bank’s conservative policy, 

said Munna. 

During a visit, a businessman 

has to bear food costs, pay for local 

transportation and also has to 

entertain guests while trying to 

make a business deal, said several 

businessmen from export-oriented 

industries. 

Travel to any European country 

costs at least three to four thousand 

dollars, and therefore a limit 

of $7,000 for a single trip is impractical 

even for regular tourists, they 

said. 

Since the permissible amount 

is not enough, the business people 

have to resort to illegal means 

to meet the costs, a businessman 

seeking anonymity told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

To curb illegal transactions 

the government should develop a 

pragmatic solution by setting a reasonable 

amount, he said. 

Separate ceiling policies could 

also be created for businesspeople 

instead of treating them as general 

travellers, he added. 

Foreign exchange limit for individuals 

Figure in $ 

Category 

Foreign currency being counted at a money exchange 

Credit 

Annual limit 12,000 

Travelling to Saarc countries + Myanmar 5,000 

Travelling to other countries 7,000 

Treatment abroad 10,000 

Online purchase fees 300 

Source: BB 

“Since businesspeople have to 

travel to various countries several 

times a year for many reasons 

like consultancy, research and 

development to diversify their 

businesses, I think the government 

and the central bank should 

consider the issue separately,” said 

Munna. 

Sources said, the businesses are 

suffering due to the central bank’s 

conservative attitude and they are 

also forced to buy dollar using illegal 

means. 

Bangladesh Bank Foreign Exchange 

Policy Department’s Deputy 

General Manager Jagannath 

Chandra Ghosh acknowledged that 

the central bank was conservative 

in its approach to the foreign currency 

exchange limit. 

He told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“We do not import dollar, we 

have to collect foreign currency 

from non-resident Bangladeshis 

through remittance and nationals 

who come back to Bangladesh after 

travelling. 

“For this we have a conservative 

stance about extending the foreign 

currency transactions limit for individuals. 

If we liberalise the transaction 

limit, it will create pressure 

on our dollar reserve.” 

Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, 

former deputy governor of 

Bangladesh Bank, told the Dhaka 

Forex limits bar 

online businesses 

Tribune: “It will not be a good 

idea to liberalise the foreign 

currency transaction limit for 

everybody. I think the number of 

businesspeople who frequently 

travel abroad is not too many. It 

will be better if they take additional 

foreign currency that they need 

from Bangladesh Bank by showing 

proper documents.” 

Although there is a provision allowing 

people who travel for treatment 

to carry up to $10,000 for 


Small businesses like e-commerce and 

other tech sectors are sufferers of another 

central bank regulation that limits 

online cross-border payment. 

Currently, these types of 

businesses are allowed to spend $300 

for online payment to purchase goods 

and services such as downloadable 

application software, e-book and 

consultancy. 

“E-commerce businesses across 

the country are basically retail marketplaces 

where we have to import single 

products from home and abroad as per 

clients’ choice,” e-Commerce Association 

of Bangladesh (e-CAB) President 

Razib Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune. 

The majority of e-commerce businesses 

are small entrepreneurs and 

they are not able to import goods. 

“That is why they have to buy it 

from foreign markets using credit 

cards, but the exchange limit of $300 

is very little. 

“The government should extend 

the transaction limit for e-commerce 

businesses and the Bangladesh Bank 

should formulate policies to ease the 

process for e-commerce entrepreneurs,” 

he said. • 

treatment, the process for obtaining 

permission is time-consuming 

and cumbersome. 

A patient has to take permission 

from the central bank by presenting 

documentation and reporting 

estimated costs. 

“Treatment is an emergency 

issue. The government should increase 

the limit as well as ease the 

process,” Shahidullah Azim, who 

takes regular treatment in Singapore, 

told the Dhaka Tribune. •

SATUR 

DAY 

, DECEMBER 24, 2016 

BSS 

Poush 10, 1423, Rabiul Aw 

wal 23, 1438 

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 

4, No 236 www.dhakatribune.com 32 pages Price: Tk10 

4 


DT 

News 

Huge forest fires kill 62 in Portugal 

• AFP, Penela 

WORLD 

Raging forest fires in Portugal have 

killed at least 62 people, most of 

whom burnt to death in their cars, 

the government said Sunday, in 

one of the worst such disasters in 

recent history. 

The fire broke out on Saturday 

in the municipality of Pedrogao 

Grande in central Portugal, before 

spreading fast across several 

fronts. 

On Sunday afternoon, nearly 

900 firefighters and 300 vehicles 

were still battling the blaze 

as scenes of devastation could be 

seen around the town. 

“Unfortunately, this seems to 

be the greatest tragedy we have 

seen in recent years in terms of 

forest fires,” said a visibly moved 

Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who 

declared three days of mourning 

starting on Sunday. 

The flowing expanse of hills situated 

between Pedrogao Grande, 

Figueiro do Vinhos to the west and 

Castanheira de Pera to the north, 

which 24 hours before had glowed 

bright green with eucalyptus plants 

and pine trees, were completely 

gutted by the flames. 

A thick layer of white smoke 

hovered over either side of a national 

motorway for a distance of 

about 20km, as blackened trees 

leaned listlessly over charred soil. 

A burnt-out car sat outside 

partly destroyed and abandoned 

houses, while a few metres away 

police in face masks surrounded 

the corpse of a man hidden under 

a white sheet. 

Secretary of State for the Interior 

Jorge Gomes said 62 people 

burned to death, mostly trapped in 

their cars engulfed by flames in the 

Leiria region. 

More than 50 people were injured, 

five critically, including one 

child and four firefighters. 

‘Fire raging on four fronts’ 

The European Union said it would 

provide firefighting planes following 

a request from Lisbon. 

Portugal was 

sweltering under 

a severe heatwave 

over the weekend, 

with temperatures 

topping 40°C in 

several regions 

“France has offered three planes 

through the EU Civil Protection 

Mechanism and they will be quickly 

sent to assist the local emergency 

efforts,” EU Commissioner for 

Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management 

Christos Stylianides said. 

Portugal was sweltering under 

a severe heatwave over the weekend, 

with temperatures topping 

40°C in several regions. 

About 60 forest fires broke 

out across the country during the 

night, with around 1,700 firefighters 

battling to put them out. 

“The fire is still raging on four 

fronts,” Gomes said, two spreading 

“violently”. 

Dry thunderstorms were 

thought to have been the cause, according 

to the prime minister. 

A number of villages were affected 

by the main fire and homes 

were evacuated. Some were sheltered 

in neighbouring areas. 

Officials were not immediately 

able to comment on the extent of 

the damage. 

Spain dispatched two water-bombing 

planes on Sunday to 

aid the Portuguese fire service, 

Costa said. 

‘Didn’t want to die in their homes’ 

Dozens of people who fled their 

homes were taken in by residents 

of the nearby municipality of Ansiao. 

“There are people who arrived 

saying they didn’t want to die in 

their homes, which were surrounded 

by flames,” Ansiao resident Ricardo 

Tristao told reporters. 

President Marcelo Rebelo went 

to the Leiria region to meet families 

of the victims, saying he was “sharing 

their pain in the name of all the 

Portuguese people”. 

Firefighters did “all they could” 

when faced with the blaze, he said. 

Pope Francis began his Angelus 

prayer by invoking the tragedy. 

“I express my closeness to the 

beloved people of Portugal following 

the devastating fire,” Francis 

said. “Let’s pray in silence”. 

Portugal was hit by a series of 

fires last year which devastated 

more than 100,000 hectares of the 

mainland. 

Fires on the tourist island of Madeira 

in August killed three people, 

while over the course of 2016 around 

40 homes were destroyed and 5,400 

hectares of land burned. • 

Lawyer serves notice for 

Sultana Kamal’s arrest 

• Tribune Desk 

COURTS 

A Supreme Court lawyer on 

Sunday served a legal notice 

seeking arrest of prominent 

human rights activist and 

former advisor of caretaker 

government Sultana Kamal 

within seven days for hurting 

religious sentiment of majority 

Muslims of the country. 

Advocate Zulfikar Ali Zunu 

served the notice to the inspector 

general of police 

(IGP) and the chairman of 

Bangladesh Telecommunication 

Regulatory Commission 

(BTRC) saying Sultana 

has hurt Muslims with her 

derogatory and irresponsible 

comments, reports the Bangla 

Tribune. 

According to the notice, 

the lawyer came to know that 

Sultana made irresponsible 

comments on the Muslims 

and Islam in spite of being an 

eminent personality of the 

country through social media 

and television. 

Her comments hurt the 

majority Muslims of Bangladesh 

and their faith. 

The lawyer also said he 

served the notice on behalf 

of millions of Muslims of the 

country and requested the 

court to order the law enforcement 

officials to arrest Sultana 

Kamal within seven days. 

Zunu also said that he took 

the step as a practicing Muslim 

and a lawyer of the highest 

court of the country. 

Earlier on June 6, Zunu 

served another legal notice 

demanding arrest of Brac Unviersity 

Professor and Journalist 

Afsan Chowdhury for 

his Facebook post on Chief 

Justice Surendra Kumar 

Sinha. • 

Urban poor under 

gov 

t health care 

radar › 32 

What NCC win means for AL › 2 

Were the Dhaka 

› 5 

Beware of Bangladesh › 24 

EDITORIAL Improv 

ing public 

transport is the answe 

r › 20 

Exiled from 

for 

ests, 

Paraguay’s 

Ache people 

want land › 9

Fresh landslides kill 5 in Khagrachhari, 

Moulvibazar 

Death toll from landslide now 161 

• Saiful Islam, Moulvibazar 

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

Heavy rain, alarm in Rangamati 

News 5 


DT 

At least five people have reportedly 

been killed in separate incidents of 

landslides triggered by heavy rainfall 

in Khagrachhari and Moulvibazar 

districts. 

Three people, including two siblings, 

were killed and two others 

injured in separate landslides in 

Ramgarh and Lakkhichhara upazilas 

of Khagrachhari district on Sunday 

morning. 

The deceased are Nurunnabi, 14, 

and his younger brother Mohammad 

Hossain, 10, sons of Mostafa 

of Ramgarh and five-year-old Nipu 

Chakma, son of Debroto Chakma of 

Lakkhichhara. Mostafa’s other son 

was injured in the incident. 

Ramgarh police station Officein-Charge 

(OC) Shariful Islam told 

the Dhaka Tribune: “The incident 

took place due to the torrential rain 

early Sunday. The death toll might 

increase.” 

Lakkhichhara Upazila Chairman 

Super Jyoti Chakma confirmed the 

death of the five-year-old boy. 

“We are on our way to the spot,” 

said Lakkhichhara police station 

OC Abdul Rakib. 

With the addition of these two 

new landslides, the death toll from 

landslides in Chittagong division 

No food, no water 

• FM Mizanur Rahaman, 

Rangamati 


• FM Mizanur Rahman, 

Rangamati 

Fire Service began sounding alarms 

in several areas around Rangamati on 

Sunday morning after heavy raining 

started in the landslide-stricken district. 

People in risky areas were being told 

to evacuate from their homes to shelters 

for safety over megaphones, Fire 

Service Deputy Director Newton Das, 

who has been reassigned from Chittagong 

on special duty, told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

At least 114 people died and hundreds 

injured in the district in late night 

landslides last week. Landslides have 

Md Sohel, who along with his family 

left his home and took shelter at the 

Rangamati Radio Centre after the devastating 

landslides claimed 114 lives, 

says he has barely eaten anything in 

the last four days. 

As many as 120 people from the 

nearby Natunpara, Vedvedi, just outside 

the municipal area, were moved 

to the radio centre after the landslides. 

The landslides have left a trail of destruction 

in major parts of the Rangamati 

hill district. 

Most homes in Natunpara are now 

completely buried under earth that slid 

down from nearby hills last week after a 

day of rain. 

People who have taken refuge in 

various shelters and public buildings in 

the city are saying they have been living 

like animals. There is an acute shortage 

of drinking water and food all around 

the city. 

“All my valuables are now buried under 

the earth. I have eaten almost nothing 

in the last four days. It is the drinking 

water which is badly needed here,” said 

Md Sohel. 

Visiting different shelters, this correspondent 

found that people were waiting 

agonizingly for relief materials. 

The landslides have taken a heavy 

toll on the road communication of the 

hill district. 

As of Saturday afternoon, vehicular 

movement from Rangamati city to 

Manikchari, Khagrachari was restored 

partially. However, no heavy vehicles 

were seen in the city. This is the only 

road connecting the city to the rest of 

the nation. 

At Rangamati General Hospital, the 

harsh and sorrowful wailing of the fifty-year-old 

Hosne Ara Begum echoed 

through the walls. 

The woman lost five of her family 

members in the landslides. 

Lying on a bed of the hospital with 

critical injuries to her waist, the shellshocked 

survivor from Vedvedi narrated 

the horrors of the fateful night. 

“It was pouring heavily since Tuesday 

night. All of us were asleep at that 

also taken lives in the neighbouring hilly 

districts, but Rangamati municipal area 

and its neighbourhoods are the most 

affected. 

Thousands of locals have left their 

homes and taken refuge in shelters and 

public buildings. 

Abu Bakr Siddique, a van driver from 

the city’s Keranipara area said he and his 

mother had taken shelter at the Police 

Line School but his father was still at home. 

There are at least 20 families living in 

his neighbourhood, he said. 

Meanwhile, the district deputy 

commissioner was scheduled to hold a 

meeting with various agencies for disaster 

response at 11:30am. 

time in the house. It was in dead of the 

night when the hill collapsed on our 

tin-shed house with a loud thunder,” 

she said. 

Breaking into tears, Hosne Ara said: 

“I cannot recollect exactly what happened 

next. Later, I discovered myself in 

thick mud up to my waist. When I finally 

managed to pull myself out of the mud 

and learned that my husband, two sons, 

a daughter and a granddaughter were 

killed in the landslide.” 

Another survivor, Sonamoni Chakma, 

is so shocked by grief he has been 

unable to cry. 

Having lost his wife, three-year old 

son and sister-in-law in the landslide. 

the survivor is now struck dumb with 

shock and trauma. 

Upon insistence, Sonamoni said that 

he had moved his family from Kuduk 

Chari to Vedvedi area in Rangamati in 

hopes of ensuring a better education 

for his son. 

On that fateful night, his wife, son 

and sister-in-law were asleep on the 

bed while he was sleeping on the floor 

of the house. 

“Massive chunks of land collapsed 

Fire Service men warn people over megaphones to move to shelters in Vedvedi 

area, Rangamati yesterday as a fresh bout of heavy rain in the hill district renews 

fears of further landslides 

BIJOY DHAR 

on the house with a deafening sound 

in the night. My entire body except for 

my hands was buried under the earth. 

Somehow I managed to come out. I 

began to call my wife and baby boy and 

at one stage I fainted. Regaining consciousness, 

I discovered myself on a 

hospital bed,” said Sonamoni. 

The man began to weep on the hospital 

bed. 

“I cherished a dream of educating 

my boy. Now I am ruined. My son will 

never call me daddy,” he said. 

Md Nobi lost six of his family members 

in the landslide. He lost his wife, 

two daughters, a son and granddaughter. 

His son Suman and son-in-law Sohel 

survived the tragedy. 

Talking to this reporter, Suman 

said: “All of us were buried under the 

avalanche. We were rescued alive by 

the locals and Fire Service personnel. 

The doctors have referred my father to 

Chittagong Medical College Hospital for 

better treatment. 

“The doctors said that mud has entered 

his lungs. We have lost everything 

in the landslide and have no money for 

treatment,” said the survivor. 

has risen further to 161. 

In Moulvibazar, a woman and 

her daughter were killed in a landslide 

triggered by rainfall in Barlekha 

upazila of Moulvibazar district 

early hours on Sunday. 

Afia Begum, 50, from Moddhodimai 

village of the upazila, and her 

daughter Fahmida Begum, 13, were 

killed after their house was crushed 

under a landslide mass from a hillock, 

confirmed Barlekha Upazila Nirbahi 

Officer SM Abdullah Al Mamun. 

Locals recovered the dead bodies 

of the duo removing the landslide 

mass in the morning. 

Barlekha Union Parishad Member 

Siraj Uddin said heavy rainfall 

from Saturday had caused the 

landslide while low-lying areas of 

the union had also been flooded. • 

Speaking to reporters, Manzarul 

Mannan, deputy commissioner of 

Rangamati, said that the administration 

were yet to fully ascertain damage triggered 

by the deadly landslides. 

Asked why there had been delays 

in ascertaining damage, the DC said: 

“Apart from breaking houses the landslides 

also killed livestock. That is why 

we are taking a little time to ascertain 

the damage caused by the landslides 

properly. 

“We are doing everything that we 

can possibly do in this deadly disaster. 

We are sending dry food and rice to the 

affected areas and shelters. Besides, we 

are also conducting drives through mobile 

courts to keep the prices of essentials 

at reasonable levels,” the DC said. 

Although the Rangamati district administration 

has wrapped up rescue operations 

in the district, firefighters are 

still conducting rescue operations on 

specific information, he said. 

The death toll in Rangamati alone 

has climbed to 114 while landslides in 

Chittagong have killed 32, six in Bandarban, 

and two each in Khagrachari and 

Cox’s Bazar. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

Dhaka 33 27 Chittagong 32 26 Rajshahi 37 27 Rangpur 32 24 Khulna 34 26 Barisal 32 26 Sylhet 30 24 

Cox’s Bazar 29 25 

RAIN LIKELY 

MONDAY, JUNE 19 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:48PM 

SUN RISES 5:12AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

37.0ºC 

24.4ºC 

Rajshahi 

Rajarhat 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Fajr: 3:54am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 7:01pm 

Esha: 8:45pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

A passage to Italy: Death and dismay 

This is the second instalment of a four-part series 

• Adil Sakhawat 

SPECIAL 

For a Bangladeshi to illegally migrate 

to Italy, risks await at every 

step of the journey. But neither 

warnings nor reports of death ever 

dissuade a Bangladeshi who aspires 

of a life in Europe. 

The Mediterranean crossing is 

fraught with peril, and the traffickers 

often extort further money. 

Rishat and Rana, two 

Bangladeshi migrants currently 

residing in an Italian refugee 

camp near Naples, shared their 

experience of the journey with the 

Dhaka Tribune. 

Double-crossed 

It seldom comes as a surprise when 

the traffickers in Libya frequently 

shift the migrants from one location 

to another, citing “security” 

concerns. Sometimes they are relocated 

before the voyage and sometimes 

during the voyage itself. 

At these junctures, many migrants 

find themselves held against 

their will, held for ransom. 

Rishat discussed his encounter: 

“There were about 140 people 

on the rubber boat. Most of them, 

about 80 approximately were Africans 

and the other 60 Bangladeshis 

like me. As soon as we boarded 

the boat, we were threatened by 

the traffickers armed with guns 

and knives. All their pretence of 

treating us like guests or even clients 

had disappeared, and we were 

treated like cattle, if not chattel. 

“We huddled down on the boat 

with no room to budge. The ones 

around the edges were at risk of 

After fire, May’s government says will 

act to protect Britons 

• Reuters, London 

WORLD 

Britain will act on any recommendations 

from a probe into a fire that 

ripped through an apartment block 

and killed at least 58 people, ministers 

said, responding to a tragedy 

their critics said showed something 

had gone “badly wrong” in 

the country. 

Prime Minister Theresa May, under 

pressure for keeping a distance 

from angry residents on a visit to 

the charred remains of the 24-storey 

block last week, said on Saturday 

the response to the disaster 

was “not good enough”. 

Her government is trying to 

make up ground in reacting to a 

fire that trapped people in their 

Migrants and refugees sit on a rubber boat before to be rescued by the ship Topaz Responder run by Maltese NGO Moas and 

Italian Red Cross off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea, on November 5, 2016 off the coast of Libya 

AFP 

falling overboard. The ones in 

the centre were at risk of being 

squashed by those seeking security 

in the heart of the boat,” Rishat 

continued. 

“After an hour of sailing, we were 

hailed by a boat carrying a group of 

armed people who claimed to be a 

Libyan mafia. They took us to the 

shore and locked all of us in a farmhouse 

much like the one we stayed at 

before setting out,” Rishan went on. 

He said the migrants were not 

surprised to find a Bangladeshi 

greet them. But instead of salutations, 

he outright demanded 

another Tk20,000 transferred via 

beds in the early hours of Wednesday, 

with many unable to escape as 

the flames raced up the building, 

cutting off exit routes and forcing 

some to jump. 

Both May and her ministers 

Bkash. 

The Bangladeshi trafficker gave 

them the opportunity to make a 

phone call to their families back 

home and apprise them of the development. 

Rishat and the others had to survive 

for two days without any food 

other than a single Khobz (Moroccan 

flatbread) each to sustain 

them. 

After their families paid the ransom, 

they were permitted to board 

the boat and resume their voyage. 

This time, the voyage lasted 

for 10 hours until the Italian Navy 

seized the boat in Italian waters. 

have said they will do all they can 

to help those left homeless after 

the blaze and make sure other 

high-rise buildings, usually home 

to poorer people, are checked and 

safe. • 

A boy points at flowers, tributes and messages left for the victims of the Grenfell 

apartment tower fire in North Kensington, London on June 18, 2017 REUTERS 

The migrants surrendered to the 

navy, following which, they were 

placed in a refugee camp. 

For Rana, the ransom was 

Tk35,000. He said: “Failure to pay 

the ransom means the Libyan traffickers 

will hand us over to their 

authorities who will deport us.” 

Migrants die at sea, dreams do not 

How many Bangladeshis have 

drowned in the arduous crossing 

across the Mediterranean remains 

unknown. The numbers have the 

potential to be alarmingly high, 

given the large number of passengers 

on each boat, and the utter 

lack of any safety harness or life 

jackets or lifeboats. 

The Bangladeshi embassy in 

Tripoli said they were aware of an 

incident where 29 Bangladeshis – 

including two women and three 

children – died when a boat sunk 

on its way to Italy in July 2016. 

An embassy official confided 

that humanitarian agencies only 

informed them of the nationalities 

among the casualties, but not the 

number of citizens found dead. 

Drowning is not the only threat. 

Suffocation is another gruesome 

way to die. 

Both Rana and Rishat had something 

common to share. They had 

both known migrants who had 

undertaken the voyage across the 

Mediterranean. But nobody in the 

refugee camps or the Italian Ministry 

of Interior could confirm they 

reached Italian shores alive. 

IN THE NEXT INSTALMENT: 

A passage to Italy: Life in refugee 

camps 

Read on about the life of Bangladeshis 

in refugee camps in Italy 

Further reading: 

A passage to Italy: No other 

options 

Read on about how many Bangladeshis 

are forced to embrace the 

risk of failure and death to make 

the perilous journey to Italy via the 

war-torn nation of Libya. 

*The names in the story have 

been changed to protect the identity 

of the informants 

Fazlur Rahman Raju contributed 

to this report.• 

Khagrachhari-Tripura bridge 

work to begin in July 

• Shilajit Kar Bhowmik 

DEVELOPMENT 

Construction work on a bridge 

over Feni River, which will connect 

southeastern Bangladesh and Tripura 

of India, is expected to start in 

July this year after a 10-year delay. 

The bridge will start from Andarpara 

of Sabroom in India and end at 

Ramgarh of Khagrachhari in Bangladesh. 

The approach road of the Indian 

counterpart will connect to the 

Agartala-Sabroom Highway and the 

approach road on the Bangladeshi 

side to the Chittagong highway. 

Tripura East MP Jitendra Choudhury 

said: “The construction was 

initiated 10 years ago but will materialise 

now. The project was assigned 

to Dineshchandra Agarwal 

Infracom Private Limited on March 

31, 2017. The project is scheduled to 

be finished within 30 months.” 

According to the MP, the Union 

Surface Transport and National 

Highway Ministry has funded 

Rs122.27cr (around Tk152.83cr) for 

the project. 

The construction 

was initiated 10 

years ago but will 

materialise now 

Tripura Public Works Department 

Minister Badal Choudhury also visited 

the construction site and told 

reporters that the construction 

work would start from the beginning 

of the monsoon in both India 

and Bangladesh. •

News 

MONDAY, 

7 

JUNE 19, 2017 

DT 

A second look at China’s OBOR scheme 

• Ashis Biswas, Kolkata 

ANALYSIS 

Some see the ambitious China-sponsored 

One Belt One Road 

(OBOR) scheme, seeking to connect 

UK, West Europe and Chinese 

locations by road/rail linkage 

through West Asia and Africa, as 

the world’s biggest infrastructure 

development project. 

By achieving new connectivity, 

this has the potential to rev up the 

stagnant economies of over 100 

countries currently hit by a world recession. 

It will bring about a massive 

increase in the movement of people 

and goods in the medium turn. 

The critics of the project, who 

are by no means anti-Chinese by 

inclination, view the project quite 

differently. 

Their verdict: what is presented 

by China as an economic game 

changer is a grand scheme to increase 

both the depth and range of 

Chinese economic influence in the 

world, which can morph into a political 

domination at a short notice. 

Both in Bangladesh and India, 

the OBOR scheme has its supporters 

and critics. The proposed Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar 

Forum for Regional Cooperation 

(BCIM) – the 2,800km economic 

corridor – is a component of the 

OBOR scheme. However, its work 

continues sporadically. 

Meanwhile in South Asia, two 

countries, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 

have had their first taste of working 

with China on major economic projects. 

China has built the Hambantota 

Port complex in Sri Lanka. It has 

also built the long China-Pakistan 

Economic Corridor (CPEC) highway 

linking its Xinjiang province with 

the Gwadar port in Pakistan. 

The question then arises, what 

has been their experience and what 

are the short-term results so far. 

But before that, let’s look into 

the timing and objectives of the 

OBOR project. Regardless of their 

political leanings, most economists 

are convinced that Beijing has 

launched the OBOR initiative with 

much fanfare at a time when its own 

domestic economy is in recession. 

They believe that China’s demand 

for new construction in real estate 

sector has slackened. As the Indian 

analyst Mohan Guruswamy points 

out in his recent write-up, China’s 

current domestic annual demand 

for steel is for only 700,000 tonnes 

however it has the capacity to produce 

1.1 billion tonnes of steel. 

For China, it would make good 

sense to produce more steel only if 

the surplus output is used for specific 

projects – building highways, 

bridges and tunnels or expanding 

roads under the OBOR. 

However, as Guruswamy explains, 

even the ongoing OBOR 

scheme will not solve the problem 

of idle over-capacity in China’s 

steel sector. World Steel Industry 

estimates are that the European 

Union (EU), which usually has the 

biggest regional demand for steel, 

would need only 150,000 tonnes 

for this year, whereas China has an 

excess capacity for 300,000 tonnes! 

It is the same with cement and 

other materials that are essential 

for construction and infrastructure 

building operations throughout 

the world. Domestic demand in 

China has been hit by an economic 

slowdown. The property and stock 

market bubbles have burst. This 

has created idle capacity reducing 

the demand for cement. 

However, Chinese forex reserves 

are still the largest in the world – 

by some estimates, amounting to 

around $1.3 trillion. Because of the 

world economic slowdown, much 

of this amount held in western 

banks, cannot be invested. Much 

of the money lies in the form of 

US government bonds, with a low 

interest component. Worse yet, 

the value of the US dollar, vis-à-vis 

other international currencies, has 

been depreciating for several years. 

This means the longer Chinese 

forex reserves stay in the vaults, the 

more the country loses in real terms. 

What better way to spend these idle 

dollars in a massive infrastructure 

development project, like OBOR, 

adopting a lesson taught by Keynes? 

As economists point out, the yields 

from infrastructure projects may 

not be very high, but the duration of 

repayment from such projects takes 

a long time and the rate of return is 

better than going interest rates. 

So, the OBOR solves both problems 

for China: it uses up its idle 

dollars, ensuring that in terms of 

loans and tolls it will recover the 

money invested and at the same 

time, keep its own factories running 

at full steam even as other 

major economies find it hard to 

keep their workers employed. In 

the process, struggling economies 

of smaller countries in Asia and Africa 

are helped in building their infrastructure 

– resorting to the ‘soft 

‘ long-term loans on offer from 

Beijing. The repayment of loans 

of such projects may be small, but 

they will continue for ages! 

Even so, the OBOR may not see 

the kind of success its Chinese 

presenters hope for. Many big and 

small countries, including the US 

and the EU, attended the recently 

concluded international meet 

in China to discuss the OBOR. 

However, President Xi Jinping announced 

that China would spend 

around ¥380 billion ($55 billion) 

for the OBOR in the short-term. 

Significantly, this falls well short 

from the claims of $750 billion or 

so worth of investments that were 

made earlier by some circles, suggesting 

that perhaps the world’s 

most populous country would take 

its next steps more carefully. 

As some western observers have 

pointed out, in the end what may 

prevent the OBOR from becoming 

an attractive proposition for countries 

keen to move their imports/exports 

by road/rail is the cost factor. 

The researcher, Tom Holland, points 

out that land freight costs are always 

pegged higher than sea freight costs, 

because of the time factor. And surely 

the bulk of export/import items 

are not high priority items with a 

brief shelf life. So most countries 

may prefer to continue using the 

sea routes for the movement of their 

goods – cutting down on costs. 

As for the experience in Pakistan 

and Sri Lanka, both public and political 

reactions to the impact of Chinese 

projects have not been entirely 

positive. By using labour and other 

components, Beijing is believed to 

have recouped most of what it spent 

on building the Hambantota port 

complex. But hard negotiations 

continue between the two countries 

as to what further concessions (not 

necessarily in cash terms) Sri Lanka 

has to make to China. 

The Sri Lanka government has 

also faced much flak over the concessions 

it has already announced 

for China. 

However, it has been worse in 

Pakistan. Analysts have pointed out 

that the CPEC practically divides 

the country into two parts, with 

thousands of Chinese personnel expected 

to work in various manufacturing 

and power producing units. 

Over 15,000 Pakistan para-military 

troops provide protection for them, 

from Baluchi and other insurgents, 

who have created problems during 

construction of the highways. 

To make matters worse, two 

Chinese citizens have been kidnapped 

and killed by suspected 

miscreants a few days ago – causing 

some anger in Beijing. 

A Pakistani economist addressing 

a gathering in Kolkata last week 

did not mince his words. He said: 

“It may seem to a visitor to Pakistan 

these days that the country 

has become a colony of China!” 

This, as he says, calls for more 

trade and business between India 

and Pakistan. 

Observers are more worried 

about the purchase of scores of 

big and medium companies by 

Chines businessmen in Pakistan, 

along with the acquisition of thousands 

of acres of agricultural land 

along the CPEC highway by China 

(by lease or other arrangements). 

What do the Chinese want to do 

with such large tracts of largely water-deficit 

land in Pakistan? Only 

time can tell. 

Already there are reports that the 

Chinese intend to build new army 

bases on Pakistani soil, which have 

been denied by Beijing. But judging 

by the experience of Myanmar 

(where China is no longer a popular 

country among the people), it is 

certain that Beijing will not feel it 

necessary to explain to Islamabad 

what it wants to do with Pakistani 

soil once it acquires control there. 

Bangladesh and India, therefore, 

must learn from the experience 

of their regional neighbours 

in their dealings with the Chinese, 

if only to avoid major political/diplomatic 

problems in the long run. •

8 


DT 

News 

Online Eid sales cross Tk300 crore 

• Hitler A Halim 

BUSINESS 

E-commerce is bringing the marketplace to the buyer’s fingers 

According to sources, there are usually 

10,000 e-commerce transactions daily 

during the year 

Technological advances have made 

shopping easy without the hassle 

of having to push through crowds, 

or traffic roadblocks. Thanks to 

e-commerce businesses, you can 

now enjoy the convenience of 

shopping for your favorite products 

from the comfort of your home. 

This shopping-from-home trend 

has become particularly popular 

with younger generations. With 

Eid around the corner, online sales 

have crossed Tk300 crore. Compared 

to the rest of the year, business 

for e-commerce companies 

have increased by 30%, said online 

company sources. 

According to sources, there are 

usually 10,000 e-commerce transactions 

daily during the year. 

However, during festivals and 

celebrations, this number increases 

three times, to 30,000. The rising 

popularity of mobile financial 

services (MFS) for e-commerce and 

online purchase has led insiders to 

believe that trading in future will 

further increase. 

Over the last five years, e-commerce 

companies have come to 

offer everything, from clothes to 

suits, household utensils, luxury 

items, and shoes; from spinach to 

shrimp, cell phones made in Bangladesh 

to iPhones, gadgets, fast 

food and groceries. 

There are around 100 e-commerce 

companies in the country, 

however, only 50 of them are currently 

active. According to the 

E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh 

(ECAB), there are over 10,000 

Facebook-based e-commerce entrepreneurs. 

All of their sales have 

gone up before Eid. Around 40% of 

e-commerce in Bangladesh is carried 

out over Facebook. 

Business usually goes up during 

Ramadan for e-commerce companies, 

said ex-president of the 

Bangladesh Association of Software 

and Information Services 

(BASIS), Shameem Ahsan. He told 

the Bangla Tribune: “We have seen 

this trend in the last few years. Online 

sales have gone up threefold 

this year as well. There has been 

increased business from outside 

Dhaka as well, which is a good sign 

for this industry. Business has been 

over Tk300 crore for e-commerce 


companies.” 

Chief Executive Officer of Ajker 

Deal, Fahim Mashroor told the 

Bangla Tribune: “Sales have increased 

since last week. Because of 

bKash’s cashback offer, most payments 

have been through bKash.” 

He said: “Sales have gone up by 

30% because of Eid compared to 

the rest of the year. During the two 

weeks around Eid, daily sales are 

almost twice the regular demand.” 

Multiple e-commerce entrepreneurs 

have confirmed that bKash is 

the preferred method of payment 

for clients. Rocket comes next. 

MFS companies have also enjoyed 

a 30% increase in transactions because 

of Eid. 

Jahidul Islam, Assistant General 

Manager for bKash, told the Bangla 

Tribune that bKash is partnering 

with 59 companies for cashback 

offers. Of these, 28 are e-commerce 

businesses, and they have 

had good responses from clients. 

“Customers have been responding 

positively to our offers. We usually 

give these offers out during various 

celebrations,” he said. 

Online smartphone sales have 

also increased. Sales of smartphones 

and gadgets have gone up 

on sites like pickaboo.com, kiksha, 

and others. 

Solar Electro Bangladesh Limited 

(SEBL) is the distributor of 

Xiaomi mobile phones, the new fad 

in Bangladesh. SEBL’s CEO, Dewan 

Kanon, told Bangla Tribune: “Both 

our ‘Mi Flagship Store’ and online 

‘Mi Store’ have seen an increase 

in sales of nearly 25-30%. Even 

though demand was slow at the 

start of Ramadan, sales have picked 

up near the end. So business has 

been strong online as well. People 

are very extravagant about buying 

a smartphone now. They usually 

check products out on their phone 

or laptop and order from there.” 

Mirajul Haque, head of Marketing 

for bagdoom.com told Bangla 

Tribune: “Bagdoom’s main objective 

is to provide customers with 

the best product at the cheapest 

rate and as quickly as possible, 

wherever in the country the customer 

may be.” He further added: 

“This Eid, we have seen a 30% 

rise in orders compared to last 

time. 4-5% of these are being paid 

through credit or debit cards. And 

80% are being paid through cash 

on delivery.” • 

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News 

9 


DT 

BNP wants next parliamentary elections 

under older delimitation 

• Bilkis Irani 

POLITICS 

Fake journalist held with 

yaba in Gaibandha 

• Md Tazul Islam, Gaibandha 

CRIME 

The Rapid Action Battalion 

(RAB) arrested a person from 

Rajahar UP gate in Gobindaganj 

upazila of Gaibandha yesterday 

morning with 600 yaba tablets 

in his possession, who falsely 

claimed himself as the journalist 

of the Daily Sandhya Bani. 

The detainee, Shohag 

Chowdhury, 25, is from Kamdia 

Bazar area. 

RAB-13 Company Commander 

Motahar Hossen said following 

a tip-off, a team of the elite 

force conducted a drive in the 

area and arrested Shohag with 

an ID card of the newspaper, 

600 yaba tablets, three mobile 

phones and a motorcycle. 

When the elite force interrogated 

him, he identified himself 

as a journalist of the daily and 

engaged in a scuffle with them, 

the RAB official said. 

Details about the daily could 

not be known immediately, he 

added. 

Shohag has been handed 

over to police, said the RAB 

commander. • 

Decision on excise duty on 

bank deposit on June 28 

BNP has demanded the next general 

election follow the parliamentary 

constituency delimitation made 

in 1984, as the general elections 

in 2008 and 2014 were held as per 

fresh delimitations. 

BNP Standing Committee Member 

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain 

made the statement to reporters 

after holding a meeting, as part of a 

four-member delegation, with Chief 

Election Commissioner KM Nurul 

Huda at the Election Commission 

building in Agargaon yesterday. 

Mosharraf said: “The latest delimitation 

was conducted before 

the general election was held in 

2008 during the army-backed caretaker 

government, without consulting 

the political parties.” 

“This raised some problems for 

all quarters, including the political 

parties, administration and Election 

Commission,” he said. 

The BNP standing committee 

member said that no objection was 

raised about the 1984 delimitation 

in 2008, but the 1/11 government 

changed it for unknown reasons. 

The fresh delimitation created 

various problems for at least 134 out 

of 300 constituencies, he said. 

“There is still no level playing 

field as BNP is being attacked. The 

Election Commission should put 

pressure on the government to ensure 

a level playing field in the next 

parliamentary election,” he added. 

Chief Election Commissioner 

KM Nurul Huda spoke to reporters 

as well following the meeting. 

He said: “The Election Commission 

has no jurisdiction to pressure 

the government to ensure a level 

playing field in the election.” 

“We agree with the point that 

BNP has raised on reinstating the 

boundaries. However, we have to 

discuss with all political parties and 

stakeholders how this matter will 

be managed,” he added. • 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

BANKING 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith 

has said a decision on excise 

duty on bank deposits of Tk 

100,000 in the proposed budget 

will be changed on June 28. 

“I have assured the media 

that the excise duty on bank 

deposit will be changed, since 

people from different quarters 

raised concerns and asked for 

the duty to be reduced,” he 

told reporters yesterday at an 

agreement signing ceremony 

with 16 state run-banks and 

financial institutions at the Finance 

Ministry auditorium. 

He said: “We will have to 

wait until June 28 for a decision 

on the excise duties, when 

the next year’s budget will be 

passed in Parliament.” 

He also mentioned that 

the name, excise duty, will be 

changed as well. • 

Idols vandalised in Gopalganj 

• Manoj Kumar Saha, 

Gopalganj 

NATION 

Two idols of Hindu god Shiva 

and goddess Kali were vandalised 

at Kalibari temple under 

Borashi union council in Gopalgnj 

on Saturday night. 

Police and temple sources 

said Sabita Bala of Ghoshgoti 

village, a worshiper, who went 

to the house yesterday morning, 

found the heads of Kali 

and Shiva idols lying damaged 

on the floor. 

On information, Selim Reza, 

officer-in-charge of Sadar police 

station went to the spot. 

Ranjan Kumar Biswas, 

chairman of the temple committee, 

said there was no previous 

record of vandalising idols 

in the area. 

Police had already started 

investigation into the incident, 

said the OC. •

10 


DT 

News 

4 ways money is laundered out of the country 

• Shariful Islam 

ECONOMY 

Every year a huge amount of money 

is siphoned out of the country 

primarily in four forms - over and 

under invoicing, over and under 

shipment, multiple invoices, and 

falsely declared goods and services, 

according to a study report of 

Bangladesh Institution of Bank 

Management (BIBM). 

BIBM Research Director Shah 

Md Ahsan Habib launched the report 

“Review of the Trade Services 

Operations of Banks-2016” at a 

workshop in the BIBM auditorium 

in Dhaka yesterday. 

Among others, Helal Ahmed 

Chowdhury, a supernumerary professor 

at the BIBM, spoke at the event 

with BIBM Director General Dr Toufic 

Ahmad Choudhury in the chair. 

Habib said: “Among various 

forms of trade related frauds, 

trade-based money laundering is 

perhaps the most concerning issue 

to policy makers all over the world, 

and four basic techniques are followed 

by fraudsters in Bangladesh 

for money laundering. 

“The new online reporting system 

of Bangladesh Bank has turned 

out to be a great achievement in 

the banking sector, which greatly 

helps the monitoring and supervising 

of day-to-day trade transactions. 

Also, this is a vital tool for 

data validation.” 

In spite of these improvements 

and achievements, cases of non-reporting 

and misreporting are still 

concerning, Habib added. 

In January 2013, the central bank 

launched the online reporting system 

for all inward and outward remittances 

of authorised dealer (AD) 

banks. The AD banks report their 

transactions online, helping Bangladesh 

Bank, the head offices of other 

banks, Export Promotion Bureau, 

National Board of Revenue and the 

Six police killed in attack on Afghanistan 

police headquarters 

• Reuters, Gardez 

WORLD 

At least six police were killed and 

dozens of people wounded when as 

many as six gunmen and a suicide 

bomber attacked a police headquarters 

in eastern Afghanistan on 

Sunday morning, officials said. 

It took Afghan security forces 

most of the day to kill the last 

gunmen, who had barricaded 

themselves in a kitchen in the compound, 

according to police. 

The attack, claimed by the Taliban, 

began around 0200 GMT 

when one bomber detonated a car 

packed with explosives at the gate 

of the police headquarters in Gardez 

city, capital of Paktia province, 

said Najib Danish, a spokesman for 

the Interior Ministry. 

Around six attackers stormed 

the gate after the blast, with at 

least two quickly killed by police. 

The others held out against Afghan 

special forces that had responded 

to the attack, he said. 

Paktia police chief Toryalai Abdani 

put the toll at six police killed 

and 12 wounded. 

Doctors at the city hospital said 

A speaker addresses a workshop in the Bangladesh Institution of Bank Management auditorium in Dhaka yesterday 

they had received the bodies of at 

least five police, as well as at least 

30 wounded people. 

The Taliban claimed responsibility 

for the attack, with spokesman 

Zabihullah Mujahid reporting 

more than 100 police were killed 

and wounded. The Islamist group 

often exaggerates casualty numbers 

in attacks against government 

targets and security forces. 

Insurgent groups like the Taliban 

and Islamic State have launched 

a string of attacks across Afghanistan 

in recent weeks. 

Islamic State claimed responsibility 

for a deadly attack on a 

mosque in Kabul on Thursday. 

A massive truck bombing and later 

suicide attacks left hundreds dead 

ministries concerned establish a 

greater coordination among them. 

Addressing the event as chief 

guest, Bangladesh Bank Deputy 

Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said 

regulatory supervision and reporting 

had now become crucial due to 

such concerning issues as money 

Afghan security forces inspect the aftermath of a suicide bomb blast in Gardez, Paktia Province on June 18, 2017 

COURTESY 

REUTERS 

and wounded at the end of May and 

beginning of June, raising political 

tensions for the Afghan government, 

which is struggling to combat rising 

violence and corruption. 

Thousands of international 

troops remain in the country to 

train and assist Afghan security 

forces as well as carry out counter-terrorism 

missions. • 

laundering, compliance requirements 

and assorted financial crimes. 

He said: “Bangladesh Bank has 

brought enormous changes to the 

reporting system so it can easily 

detect possible anomalies and instruct 

the banks to immediately 

rectify them. Yet, the ADs are still 

facing problems including network 

disruptions, frequent power outages 

at branches of the banks, etc.” 

Lack of operational knowledge of 

persons involved in the reporting is 

also a problem, Chowdhury added. 

The BIBM report also shows that 

state-run banks are losing out their 

influence on banking services in 

foreign trade. Import transactions 

through these banks came down to 

7% in 2016 from 27% in 2011, while 

transactions through commercial 

banks rose from 64% in 2011 to 85% 

in 2016. 

Meanwhile, Finance Minister 

AMA Muhith yesterday said the 

government was planning to reform 

some of its laws and regulations 

to curb money laundering. 

“Money being siphoned off has 

increased recently due to some existing 

laws and regulations. We are 

going to reform them to stop this 

trend,” he said at the signing ceremony 

of Annual Performance Agreement 

between his ministry and 16 

state-run banks and financial institutions 

in the ministry auditorium. • 

Russia slams 

Trump’s ‘Cold 

War’ policy on 

Cuba 

• AFP, Moscow 

WORLD 

Russia’s foreign ministry on Sunday 

said it regretted US President 

Donald Trump’s policy reversal on 

Cuba, calling it reminiscent of the 

Cold War era. 

“The new line towards Cuba 

announced by US President Donald 

Trump takes us back to already 

half-forgotten rhetoric in the style 

of the Cold War,” the ministry said 

in a statement on its website. 

Trump vowed Friday to overhaul 

his predecessor Barack Obama’s 

deal to restore ties with Cuba, 

promising instead to support the 

Cuban people against Raul Castro’s 

government. 

Moscow said Trump’s policy 

changes showed that “anti-Cuban 

discourse is still widely in demand. 

This cannot but cause regret.” 

It said that easing of sanctions 

under Obama was a “well-thoughtout 

political decision in which 

there were no losers except marginal 

Castro opponents.” 

Russia said it was reaffirming its 

“unshakeable solidarity with Cuba.” •

News 11 


DT 

Langadu people still living under sky 

• Ziaul Haque, Rangamati 


The indigenous people have been 

living under open sky for last two 

weeks in Rangamati’s Langadu as 

their houses were torched by Bangali 

settlers following death of a 

Jubo League leader in Khagrachhari. 

Some are living under the open 

sky and some with their relatives. 

And there is allegation of not getting 

enough relief for the affected 

Adivasis. 

Locals urged upazila administration 

to take immediate steps for 

their rehabilitation and the administration 

also assured them. 

Langadu Union Parishad Chairman 

Kulin Mitra Adu told Bangla 

Tribune: “We did not say that we 

will not take the relief. Government 

high officials assured us. But 

the rain has worsened our condition. 

We are running out of daily 

essentials. We demand proper rehabilitation 

for the affected families. 

Before that there should be an 

arrangement for ration.” 

General Secretary of Langadu 

Upazila Jana Sanghati Samity Moni 

Shankar Chakma said: “The government 

assured us of rehabilitation 

repeatedly but we have not 

seen any arrangement yet. The 

Adivasis are taking shelter in their 

relative’s house due to the rain.” 

“They are living miserable 

life. We need fast rehabilitation.” 

He added. “A few days back the 

Dead parades in Darjeeling amid unrest 

• AFP, Darjeeling 

WORLD 

Hundreds of protesters on Sunday 

paraded with coffins containing the 

bodies of two men they claimed 

were killed in clashes with Indian security 

forces in Darjeeling, as the hill 

resort reels from separatist unrest. 

Nearly 50 people, mostly police, 

have been injured in riots and 

arson attacks that have rattled the 

picturesque hill station for more 

than a week and caused thousands 

of mostly Indian tourists to pack 

their bags and flee. 

As the violence escalated sharply 

on Saturday, police said one man 

died and 35 policemen were hurt 

as protesters torched cars and set 

upon security forces with knives, 

who responded with tear gas and 

baton charges. 

West Bengal director general of 

police, Anuj Sharma, said the dead 

man appeared to have been shot 

but the circumstances were still 

unclear. Police have denied using 

live ammunition. 

But supporters of the Gorkha 

Homeless residents of Langadu village have been living under trees since the attack on their village 

amount of compensation announced 

by Bridges Minister 

Obaidul Quader is not sufficient. 

We demand appropriate amount of 

compensation.” 

Langadu Upazila Nirbahi officer 

Md Tajul Islam said, “Today (17th 

June) a delegation from Ministry 

of Chittagong Hill tracts Affairs inspected 

the affected area. The Joint 

Secretary of the ministry Kamal 

Uddin Ahmed told us that, government 

will rehabilitate the homeless 

family soon. We hope that the step 

will be taken within a short time.” 

Janmukti Morcha (GJM), a separatist 

movement that has long called 

for a separate state for ethnic 

Gorkhas in West Bengal, dispute 

this, saying three of their comrades 

were shot dead by police in the 

clashes. 

Hundreds of mourners on Sunday 

silently escorted the coffins 

of two men through the streets of 

On June 1, Nurul Islam Nayan, 

Jubo league leader of Langadu, was 

killed and his body was found in 

Charmile besides Dighinala-Khagrachhari 

Highway. Next day, on 

2nd June, Bangali Settler brought 

out a procession with the body and 

later set fire to Adivasi villages. 

Over 200 houses were burnt on the 

day. Local administration imposed 

Section 144 in the area to control 

the situation. 

Langadu police filed a case on 

June 3 against 300 people naming 

15 people. After that, a person 

Indian army patrol amid clashes between security force and protesters in 

Darjeeling on June 16, 2017 

AFP 

Darjeeling, waving India’s tricolour 

flag and posters calling for peace. 

State police strongly denied the 

charge that live rounds were used. 

‘Deep-rooted conspiracy’ 

The troubles have dealt a major 

blow to the crucial tourism industry, 

leaving the normally busy destination 

deserted as shops, schools 

ASHIF ISLAM SHAON 

named Kishor Chakma filed another 

case against 300 more naming 

98 people on June 11. 

On June 9, police arrested two 

accused and they confessed killing 

Nayan. Police recovered the motorcycle 

owned by Nayan from Maini 

river in Dighinala. 

In primary interrogation, the detainees, 

Romel Chakma and Junel 

chakma, told police that they killed 

Nayan to snatch his motorcycle. 

But after snatching, the duo failed 

to sell the motorcycle and later 

they threw it in to the river. • 

and banks closed. 

Authorities on Sunday appeared 

to have blocked mobile internet 

services in riot-affected areas. Earlier, 

Home Minister Rajnath Singh 

appealed for calm, urging protesters 

to engage in dialogue with the 

state government. 

West Bengal Chief Minister 

Mamata Banerjee described the unrest 

as a “deep-rooted conspiracy”. 

The hills are famous for Darjeeling 

tea whose production is jealously 

guarded. It is also famed for 

its “toy train”, a 78km uphill ride 

from New Jalpaiguri. 

Tension has been mounting in 

the region since the government 

announced it was making Bengali 

mandatory in state schools, angering 

the state’s Gorkha population, 

who speak Nepali. 

Gorkhas have been agitating 

for decades for a new state of 

“Gorkhaland” within West Bengal, 

claiming Bengali-speaking outsiders 

have exploited their resources and 

imposed their culture and language. 

A similar uprising in 2007 saw 

Gorkhas granted some administrative 

powers. • 

IS threat in 

Southeast Asia 

raises alarm in 

Washington 


WORLD 

Southeast Asia’s jihadists who 

fought by the hundreds for the Islamic 

State group in Iraq and Syria 

now have a different battle closer 

to home in the southern Philippines. 

It’s a scenario raising significant 

alarm in Washington. 

The recent assault by IS-aligned 

fighters on the Philippine city of 

Marawi has left more than 300 people 

dead, exposing the shortcomings 

of local security forces and the 

extremist group’s spreading reach 

in a region where counter-terrorism 

gains are coming undone. 

Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told 

Congress last week a long-running 

US military operation to help Philippine 

forces contain extremist fighters 

was cancelled prematurely three 

years ago. Small numbers of US special 

forces remain in an “advise and 

assist” role, and the US is providing 

aerial surveillance to help the Philippines 

retake Marawi, an inland city 

of more than 200,000 people. 

But lawmakers, including from 

President Donald Trump’s Republican 

Party, want a bigger US role, 

short of boots on the ground. They 

fear the area is becoming a new hub 

for Islamist fighters from Southeast 

Asia and beyond. 

US intelligence and counter-terrorism 

officials note that IS has publicly 

accepted pledges from various 

groups in the Philippines. In a June 

2016 video, it called on followers in 

Southeast Asia to go to the Philippines 

if they cannot reach Syria. 

About 40 foreigners, mostly 

from neighbouring Indonesia and 

Malaysia, have been among 500 

involved in fighting in Marawi, 

the Philippine military says. Reports 

indicate at least one Saudi, 

a Chechen and a Yemeni killed. In 

all, more than 200 militants have 

died in the standoff, now in its 

fourth week. 

US officials are assessing whether 

any of the estimated 1,000 

Southeast Asians who travelled 

to Iraq and Syria in recent years 

are fighting in Catholic-majority 

Philippines. They fear ungoverned 

areas in the mostly Muslim region 

around Marawi could make the 

area a terror hub as in the 1990s. 

Other nations share the fear. 

Singapore recently warned of IS exerting 

a radicalizing influence “well 

beyond” what that of al-Qaida and 

Jemaah Islamiyah ever mustered. 

Jemaah Islamiyah carried out major 

terror attacks around the region 

in the 2000s. IS already has been 

linked to attacks in Indonesia and 

Malaysia, and foiled plots in Singapore, 

this past year. •

DT 

12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

The many narratives 

of our Liberation War 

It is painful to see that our Liberation 

War could not arrest the attention of 

international researchers, as the World 

Wars, the Vietnam War, or even the Gulf 

War have 

PAGE 13 

A devil quoting 

from scripture 

Trump loves the authoritarian rulers of 

Saudi Arabia, Erdogan in Turkey, and 

Abdel Fattah el Sisi in Egypt. This love is 

misplaced when it comes to the topic of 

eradicating terrorism 

PAGE 14 

How can we be of assistance? 

BIGSTOCK 

Killing them 

with kindness 

In the Qur’an, Zakat has been stated as 

an indisputable right of the poor 

PAGE 15 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

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DhakaTribune. 

The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

If the National Helpline Centre is not providing actual help to the 

citizens of this country, then what’s the point? 

The Dhaka Tribune has found that, time and again, various 

helpline centres have been woefully inadequate in providing 

satisfactory service, either because they lacked the initiative to do so 

at best, or by being utterly clueless about the problem at hand at worst. 

Often, citizens find themselves being bounced from one branch of 

the government to another. 

This is unacceptable. 

Much of the problem seems to stem from the fact that the on-duty 

dispatchers are ill-equipped to handle the calls they receive. 

Even worse is the fact that some of the officers at these help centres 

are unaware of the services they should be providing. 

This is a serious issue that the government needs to deal with, and 

it needs to be dealt with immediately. 

These helplines are meant to not only provide emergency 

assistance to our citizens, but to also provide information regarding 

the various aspects of daily life such as filing taxes, utility billing, and 

other government services. 

If there is no source of information for the citizens of this country, 

those who cannot afford lawyers and assistants, and those who are 

not educated enough, how does the government expect the common 

citizen to abide by its various rules and regulations? 

We understand that, in a country like Bangladesh, calls such as 

these are all too common and can be overwhelming. 

But that is no excuse. 

As such, this is what needs to happen: The dispatchers need to 

be trained properly, not only in being able to provide necessary 

information, but also in knowing how to deal with the people who air 

their complaints. 

An efficient and effective helpline is crucial for any nation to 

function, especially one aspiring to achieve middle-income status in 

the next few years. 

An efficient and 

effective helpline is 

crucial for any nation 

to function, especially 

one aspiring to achieve 

middle-income status 

in the next few years

The Liberation War as we 

don’t know it 

Opinion 13 

How we have failed to offer an unbiased story to the rest of the world 

DT 


• Mamun Rashid 

A 

few months ago I was 

watching an Indian 

movie called Ghazi 

Attack. Like many 

other recent Indian movies, it 

was dramatised to a great degree 

and based on the Indian Navy’s 

fight against the Pakistan Navy in 

sinking a naval ship called the PNS 

Ghazi. 

Incidentally, the story had a 

lot to do with our Liberation War 

of 1971 -- even though someone 

watching the film, who is not fully 

educated on our liberation, would 

have been led to believe that the 

war had more to do with Indo-Pak 

conflict than the bloody fight for 

liberation between the two former 

sides of Pakistan that it was in 

reality. 

The need for an objective and 

unbiased view of our Liberation 

War has never been greater. 

Others are of the opinion it 

was all a part of a war between 

two super powers, ie America 

and Russia. Many even think that 

the creation of Bangladesh was 

nothing but the outcome of an 

speaking Biharis in East Pakistan. 

According to the author, the 

allegations of genocide and rape 

at the hands of the Pakistan army 

were greatly exaggerated. Many 

historians ignored the atrocities 

against the Biharis in East Pakistan 

to be false and self-promoting. 

Although I thought the book 

was not a well-articulated one, I 

do agree with what Ian Jack said 

in his critique of the book: “A 

truth about the Bangladesh war is 

that, remarkably, few scholars and 

historians have given it thorough, 

independent scrutiny. 

“Bangladeshis are prone to 

melodrama and self-pity.” 

I have to emphasise what 

Sarmila Bose said, that there is a 

need for “research to be conducted 

by a credible team of international 

scholars in a systematic and 

verifiable manner.” 

It does not matter to me 

whether it was political killing 

by the West Pakistan army or 

genocide.However, it is painful 

to see that our Liberation War 

could not arrest the attention of 

international researchers, as the 

World Wars, the Vietnam War, or 

Will we ever know the true tale of the war that gave us our nation? 

BIGSTOCK 

It is painful to see that our Liberation War 

could not arrest the attention of international 

researchers, as the World Wars, the Vietnam 

War, or even the Gulf War have 

age-old hatred between Pakistan 

and India. 

Scholarly perspectives 

I skimmed through three 

interesting books on Bangladesh’s 

independence: Dead Reckoning 

by Sarmila Bose, 1971 by Srinath 

Raghavan, and The Blood Telegram 

by Gary J Bass. 

My friends didn’t like Dead 

Reckoning and a few of them 

even declined to lend me a copy. 

They thought it failed to tell the 

true story of our liberation; that it 

leaned more towards the Pakistan 

occupation forces, and, more 

importantly, favoured the Urdu- 

even the Gulf War have. 

Even people in the West don’t 

talk much about the 1971 killings 

nearly as much as they talk about 

Rwanda or other atrocities. 

I quite liked the book 1971: A 

Global History of the Creation of 

Bangladesh by Srinath Raghavan. 

The writer thought the 1971 war 

was a significant geo-political 

event for India and Pakistan since 

Partition. 

He thought the war tilted the 

balance of power between India 

and Pakistan steeply in favour of 

India, and that the line of control 

in Kashmir, the nuclearisation of 

Pakistan and India, the conflicts 

of Siachen glacier and Kargil, the 

insurgency in Kashmir, and the 

political travails of Bangladesh can 

all be traced back to the intense 

nine months of 1971. 

Raghavan also contends that, 

far from being a pre-destined 

event, the creation of Bangladesh 

was the product of conjuncture 

and contingency, choice and 

chance. 

He thought the breakup of 

Pakistan and the emergence of 

Bangladesh can be understood 

only in a wider context of the 

period: Decolonisation, the Cold 

War, and incipient globalisation. 

In a narrative populated by the 

likes of Nixon, Kissinger, Zhou 

Enlai, Indira Gandhi, Zulfikar Ali 

Bhutto, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 

George Harrison, Tariq Ali, Ravi 

Shankar, and Bob Dylan, Raghavan 

vividly portrayed the prominent 

international cast that shaped 

the origin and outcome of the 

Bangladesh crisis. 

In The Blood Telegram, we 

get to see Kissinger deliberately 

hiding the atrocities done by 

the Pakistan armed forces on 

innocent Bangladeshis. Nixon 

always admired Yahya Khan and 

considered him a friend. While 

Kissinger may have privately 

not thought much of him, he 

saw in him a supremely useful 

instrument to pursue America’s 

geo-political interests. 

The author was right to say: 

“The months of killings were 

sustained by schemes radiating 

out from Washington.” 

The War in movies 

I have also seen two movies on 

Bangladesh’s independence -- 

Gunday, and Shongram made by 

British-Bangladeshi Munsur Ali. 

In the movie Gunday, apart 

from the touching story of two 

young boys, torn from their 

families by the partition that 

created the nation of Bangladesh, 

and unceremoniously dumped in 

Kolkata with few options, we also 

get to see the long-drawn Indian 

version of the Liberation War. 

In fact, most global stories on 

our liberation are the outcome 

of how the Indians perceived it. 

There’s very little we could have 

done. 

Shongram is a romantic 

drama set in the backdrop of 

our liberation struggle. A daring 

reporter in London interviews 

a British-Bangladeshi freedom 

fighter on his deathbed in London, 

who finally shares his account 

from four decades ago. 

While the movie nicely 

brought in the NBC news loops 

and Major Zia’s declaration of 

our independence on behalf of 

our Father of the Nation Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman, what I liked 

most was the way the movie 

ended -- spoiler alert -- the 

editor throwing the Bangladesh 

genocide story into the bin as the 

story is not yet marketable to the 

international community. 

Unless Bangladesh matters 

significantly to the rest of the 

world, we may not get a true and 

more acceptable history of the 

emergence of the country beyond 

the story of Bangladesh being the 

outcome of an Indo-Pak war. 

There are stories beyond that 

of a respectable nation-in-themaking, 

fighting an unjust war 

forced onto them and most of us 

being a part and parcel of that 

story. • 

Mamun Rashid is a leading economic 

analyst in Bangladesh.

14 


DT 

Opinion 

A devil quoting from scripture 

What Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia is really going to accomplish 

An unlikely brotherhood about to wreak havoc onto the world 

REUTERS 

• Abdul Hannan 

The Saudi king Salman 

hosted an Arab-Islamic 

American summit in 

Riyadh recently to 

provide a forum for US President 

Donald Trump to address the 

Arab Muslim countries to fight 

what he variously describes as 

“radical Islamic terror,” “Islamic 

extremism,” and “Islamic terror.” 

This is, in effect, an indictment 

of the entire religion of Islam by 

identifying it with extremism 

and terror. This is Islamophobia 

-- the blurred distinction between 

religion and terror. 

Yet, Trump made no secret of 

his malice, hatred, and animosity 

against Islam in his campaign 

trail when he said: “I think Islam 

hates us, Islam has tremendous 

hatred for us.” Soon after assuming 

office, he insulted and humiliated 

Islam by issuing his outrageous 

executive order of a Muslim travel 

ban to America from six Muslim 

countries. 

A fatal attraction 

Yet, regardless of Trump’s attitude, 

55 Arab and Muslim countries 

lined up to attend the summit 

responding to the Saudi king’s 

invitation. The Muslim Umma 

are generous and large nations 

indeed. But there is no doubt that 

by attending the summit they 

betrayed self-respect, dignity, and 

honour. 

Maybe they were lured by the 

disgraceful and fatal attraction 

of the petro dollars of Saudi 

Arabia and the power grandeur of 

America. 

Apparently, the summit 

was organised at the behest of 

President Trump to forge a unity 

between Sunni Arab and Muslim 

countries against Shia Muslim 

countries, particularly Iran, which 

Trump considers as a nation which 

funds and harbours terrorists. 

The summit was forged as an 

anti-Iran alliance to isolate Iran -- 

which Trump, the Saudi king, the 

Gulf states (Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, 

Bahrain, and Oman), and Israel 

consider a sworn enemy spreading 

its influence in Syria, Lebanon, 

and Yemen. 

Yet, Iran recently elected 

a liberal-minded president, 

Rouhani, for the second time. 

It is not Iran which is 

responsible for spreading terrorism 

but the lack of political freedom 

and economic opportunities. It 

is the injustice and human rights 

violation in authoritarian Middle 

East countries like Saudi Arabia 

which make it the breeding 

grounds of terrorism. 

Misplaced love 

Trump (an autocrat) loves the 

authoritarian rulers of Saudi 

Arabia, Erdogan in Turkey, and 

Abdel Fattah el Sisi in Egypt. This 

love is misplaced when it comes to 

the topic of eradicating terrorism. 

It is significant that Trump 

made no mention of democracy, 

freedom, human rights, and rule of 

law to woo his host in the speech 

he delivered at the summit. 

Trump did not acknowledge 

that it is Wahhabism that 

gives legitimacy to the Saudi 

Arabia royal family, but, more 

importantly, which has inspired IS 

and most other terrorist groups. 

It would be fair to say that 

Trump’s visits to Saudi Arabia, the 

Pope in Rome, and Jerusalem are 

nothing short of the devil quoting 

from scripture. 

His first foreign tours were 

to shore up his fast dwindling 

Trump loves the authoritarian rulers of Saudi Arabia, Erdogan in Turkey, 

and Abdel Fattah el Sisi in Egypt. This love is misplaced when it comes to 

the topic of eradicating terrorism 

popularity at home and to 

divert the attention of American 

public away from an ongoing 

investigation of his alleged 

collusion with Russia. 

Guns and glory 

Trump, in his speech, spoke of 

shared interests and values with 

Arab and Muslim countries. Do not 

be fooled, that shared interest is 

Middle Eastern oil and arms deals. 

Trump signed a $350 billion arms 

deal with Saudi Arabia. 

These arms will be used to 

suppress democratic dissent in 

Saudi Arabia and against Yemeni 

Muslims, you can quote me on 

that. 

His words are nothing 

but a charade -- deceit and 

dissimulation thought up in order 

to promote further Shia-Sunni 

conflict in the Arab world and to 

spread his deep-seated hatred for 

Islam. 

It is still rather baffling why 

Arab and Muslim countries would 

allow themselves to be sucked 

unwittingly into an Americaninduced, 

intra-Muslim, sectarian 

conflict in the Middle East. • 

Abdul Hannan is a former diplomat.

Opinion 15 

Killing them with kindness 

How to pay Zakat the right way and not get anyone killed in the process 

DT 


In its aftermath, the then 

government didn’t take any 

punitive action against the culprits 

nor did the Islamic scholar society 

initiate any sort of awareness 

programs to prevent such 

malpractice. As a result, people 

continued to die due to similar 

reasons -- the worst incident took 

place in 1990 in Chittagong, where 

35 people died. 

Who is responsible for taking 

away Eid from these people, 

who have died or were severely 

injured? Were these 251 deaths 

collateral damage for rich man’s 

charity? Doesn’t the ostentatious 

distribution of Zakat negate 

the teachings of Islam? Is it so 

important to be known as the 

“benefactor” of the locality, even 

if it means death of people? 

In this context, I blame Islamic 

scholars for not bringing out any 

processions against such deaths. 

Why do they not deliver any 

statement about the tragic and 

cruel deaths of people trampled 

underfoot in a rush to collect saris 

and lungis (donated as Zakat)? 

More importantly, why haven’t 

there been awareness programs to 

prevent such kinds of accidents? 

In Bangladesh, the distribution 

of Zakat clothes and money by 

individuals has become a social 

practice for rich people. Although 

the direct contribution of Zakat 

by wealthy locals is often helpful 

for the poor, it causes serious 

problems when the distribution 

process is held on the contributor’s 

premises with an announcement 

Zakat? Generally in the month of 

Ramadan, particularly on Day 27, 

when Shab-e-Qadr is observed, 

that’s when people opt to 

distribute Zakat. 

I think Islam is a religion where 

everything has been made very 

clear. Many verses in the Qur’an 

clarify how to perform Zakat 

properly. 

What’s the point of Zakat? 

The main purpose of paying Zakat 

is elevation from poverty but the 

present rituals in Bangladesh in 

regards to distribution of Zakat 

don’t translate to elevation from 

poverty. How many people did the 

current system of paying Zakat 

save from poverty? 

If done properly, by means of 

Zakat, poverty can be eliminated 

from our society. Everyone will 

be able to repay their debts. Once, 

during the rule of Hazrat Umar, 

there was a time when there was 

no one in need of Zakat because 

Umar was able to establish this 

proper practice of Zakat under his 

tenure. 

Zakat should be distributed in 

such a way so that the receivers 

can bring significant changes to 

their lives and livelihoods. One 

shouldn’t consider Zakat as tax, 

alms, or donation. 

In stead, in the Qur’an, Zakat 

has been stated as an indisputable 

right of the poor. Allah has said: 

“You must give Zakat, and, in the 

long run, I will give you more and 

more.” 

Zakat is an obligatory duty for 

In the Qur’an, Zakat has been stated as an 

indisputable right of the poor. Allah has said: 

‘You must give Zakat, and, in the long run, I will 

give you more and more’ 

Charity does not have to be complicated 

LATIF HOSSAIN 

• Md Sharifur Rahman Adil 

Zakat is the third 

fundamental pillar of 

Islam. 

All Islamic scholars 

unanimously agree that, to be a 

Muslim, it is mandatory to pay 

2.5% of you’re your wealth as 

Zakat when one gains a certain 

amount of wealth. 

It is a mandatory process 

for Muslims for their spiritual 

purification to donate a portion 

of their annual income or wealth 

to the poor and needy. According 

to the Qur’an’s Surah Al-Tawbah, 

ayah 60, there are eight ways 

to distribute Zakat: “Zakat 

expenditures are only for the poor 

and for the needy; and for those 

employed to collect Zakat; and 

for bringing hearts together for 

Islam; and for freeing captives or 

slaves; and for those in debt; and 

for the cause of Allah; and for the 

stranded traveller.” 

But, some people prefer to 

ignore this and try to present 

themselves as very generous 

individuals. In doing so, they 

cause more harm than good. 

Death by numbers 

Zakat-related tragedies have 

become an annual occurrence. 

251 people have reportedly died 

in Zakat-related accidents over 

the last 35 years. One of the 

first incidents was reported in 

1980, when 13 people (including 

children) died in a similar disaster. 

across towns and villages. 

Because, this way, hundreds (or 

even thousands) of poor people 

rush to the venue but such venues 

are often not large enough to 

accommodate such a huge number 

of people. 

As a result, the rush leads to 

injuries or even death. 

The method of giving Zakat in 

our country follows no rules or 

regulation. Otherwise, why do 

most people consider Ramadan 

as the only month to distribute 

the well-to-do Muslims to benefit 

poor widows, orphans, travellers, 

non-Muslims, and others. 

Moreover, the Qur’an instructs its 

followers to be discreet about the 

charity work they perform. 

Due to a severe lack of 

awareness, the concept of Zakat 

is often misunderstood in our 

society. Now is the time for 

change. • 

Md Sharifur Rahman Adil is a researcher 

and a writer.

16 


DT 

Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

1 Marine map (5) 

5 Bring up (4) 

8 Portions (6) 

9 Pancake (5) 

10 Minute particle (4) 

11 Show amusement (5) 

12 Utilise (3) 

15 Repair (4) 

18 Regretful (5) 

21 Extinct bird (3) 

22 Bearing (4) 

24 Slender shoot (4) 

25 Trembling poplar (5) 

28 Bite gently (6) 

29 Of various colours 

(4) 

30 Church assembly (5) 

DOWN 

1 Desert plant (6) 

2 Monkey (3) 

3 Tears (4) 

4 Rain heavily (4) 

5 Kingdom (5) 

6 High regard (6) 

7 Spirit (3) 

13 As indicated (2) 

14 Prized fur (6) 

16 Denial (2) 

17 Became light (6) 

19 Unbending (5) 

20 You (Bib) (2) 

23 Seizes suddenly (4) 

24 Faucet (3) 

26 Arch (3) 

27 Female swan (3) 

CODE-CRACKER 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 3 represents D so fill D 

every time the figure 3 appears. 

You have two letters in the control 

grid to start you off. Enter them in the 

appropriate squares in the main grid, then 

use your knowledge of words to work out 

which letters go in the missing squares. 

Some letters of the alphabet may not be 

used. 

As you get the letters, fill in the other 

squares with the same number in the 

main grid, and the control grid. Check 

off the list of alphabetical letters as you 

identify them. 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

CALVIN AND HOBBES 

SUDOKU 

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the 

numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must 

contain all nine digits with no number repeating. 

PEANUTS 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

Ramadan Special 

17 


DT 

Ramadan: of dates and cacao 

• Shireen Pasha 

We live on a delicious planet. 

From peppers to bitter gourds to 

mustard greens to mangos to the 

hundreds of eggplants indigenous 

to Bangladesh - we are incredibly 

blessed. 

Two fruits that are magical for 

me in particular are dates and raw 

chocolate. 

I think I love dates not just for 

their fibrous sweetness that comes 

in various textures and shapes but 

also because of the metaphysical 

attachment of dates to beloved 

Mohammed (pbuh) and Rabia 

Basri. 

The Prophet (pbuh) used to 

carry dates in his pocket to share 

with friends and wayfarers, 

whomever he thought needed a 

little lift. 

Dates used to appear in the 

forest for little Rabia Basri when 

she used to escape there at night 

to meditate with other sentient 

beings (deer, trees, critters). 

Chocolate didn’t enter the 

parables of our West Asian Seers. 

Wrong climatic conditions for the 

growth of cacao plants, which 

needs moist soil and a cloudy sky. 

If there is one book you ought 

to have for your curiosity on 

origins of food and its chemistry, 

I recommend On Food and 

Cooking: The Science and Lore of 

The Kitchen by Harold McGee. I 

had this book on my dining table 

for a number of years just in 

case something we were eating 

aroused a question by anyone at 

the table. Harold McGee never 

ceases to put a smile on your face. 

For example, in elaborating on the 

art of cooking, he delves into it at 

the molecular level: “It was the 

ancient Greeks who gave us the 

idea of atoms, fundamental and 

invisibly small particles of matter, 

and also the word atom, which 

means ‘uncuttable,’ ‘indivisible’. 

Greek philosophers proposed that 

there are just four basic kinds of 

particles in the world - atoms of 

earth, air, water, and fire - and that 

all material things, our bodies and 

our food and everything else, are 

built from these primary particles. 

The modern scientific view of 

matter’s invisible innards is more 

complicated, but also more precise 

and illuminating. All matter on 

earth is a mixture of around 100 

pure substances, which we call 

the elements: hydrogen, oxygen, 

nitrogen, carbon, and so on. 

An atom is the smallest particle 

into which an element can be 

subdivided without losing its 

characteristic properties. Atoms 

are very small indeed: several 

Atoms are very small indeed: several million 

would fit into the period at the end of this 

sentence. 

million would fit into the period at 

the end of this sentence. 

As for dates, Harold tells us 

that dates are a fruit of Phoenix 

dactylifera, a desert palm 

indigenous to the oases of Western 

Asia and Northern Africa, where 

they have been cultivated for 

more than 5,000 years. Dates 

have four stages of development: 

“1. green and immature; 2. 

mature but unripe, when they’re 

yellow or red and hard, crunchy, 

and astringent; 3. ripe (Arabic 

‘rhutab’), when they’re soft, 

golden brown, and delicate; 4. dry, 

when they’re brown and wrinkled 

and powerfully sweet.” Although 

we only see two or three varieties 

in the market, there are thousands 

of dates that differ in shape, 

size, colour, fragrance, ripening 

schedule and flavour. “Date comes 

from the Greek word for ‘finger,’ 

daktulos.” I wish I could trace 

the origin of the word we use in 

Bengali, ‘kedjoor’. I bet some of 

you can! 

I think chocolate is a personal 

favorite of Harold’s because he 

begins with beatific enthusiasm 

and continues for about 20 pages 

as he writes “Chocolate is one 

of our most remarkable foods… 

The story of chocolate begins in 

the New World with the cacao 

tree, which probably evolved in 

the river valleys of equatorial 

South America. The tree bears 

large, tough seed pods that also 

contain a sweet, moist pulp, and 

early peoples may have carried 

the pods into Central America and 

southern Mexico as a portable 

source of energy and moisture. 

It appears that the first people to 

cultivate the tree were the Olmecs 

of the southern Gulf coast of 

Mexico. They in turn introduced 

it sometime before 600 BCE to 

the Maya, who produced it in 

the tropical Yucatan peninsula 

and Central America, and traded 

it to the Aztecs in the cool and 

arid north. The Aztecs roasted 

and ground cacao seeds and 

made them into a drink that was 

served in religious ceremonies… 

The seeds were valuable enough 

to serve as currency. The first 

Europeans to see the cacao 

bean were probably the crew 

of Columbus’s fourth voyage in 

1502, who brought some back to 

Spain.” I think Harold can speak 

eloquently for hours on the history 

and chemistry of chocolate. 

The chocolate we usually eat is 

cooked with sugar and milk. But 

there is another form of chocolate 

you might like to try, which is 

ground raw chocolate. When 

chocolate is not cooked with milk 

or sugar, it retains the full benefits 

of its divine nature. It contains a 

mood enhancing amino acid called 

tryptophan, which increases your 

level of seratonin, encouraging 

joy and relaxation. (Bananas, 

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK 

avocados, durian fruit, pumpkin 

seeds and pecan nuts also have 

tryptophan.) 

Cacao also has a bliss molecule 

known as anandamide (ananda 

from Sanskrit, meaning bliss), a 

substance produced by the brain 

after cardiovascular exercise, 

which makes you feel “high”. 

Another chemical found in cacao is 

phenethylamine, making you feel 

in love, beautiful and rapturous. 

(This substance is also found in 

blue-green algae.) Not to mention 

that it is one of the highest sources 

of flavonoids (antioxidants). 

Finally, it has theobromine (food of 

the gods), which opens the heart, 

increases circulation, provides a 

feeling of well being, as well as 

being a natural aphrodisiac. (It may 

also make you rush to the toilet, as 

it can be a diuretic when taken in 

large doses.) 

The Hopi say that one cannot 

be a Hopi. One can only strive 

to be a Hopi. I think that is a 

healthy way to approach a path 

of seeking. In striving to be a 

Muslim, we become more open to 

the deliciousness and wonders of 

the infinite within the finite, the 

cosmos with the planet - of which 

we are all stewards, whether near 

or far.•

DT 

18 

Sports 


2017 CHAMPIONS TROPHY MOMENTS 

MD MANIK 

From Navy to 

Champions 

Trophy glory 

• AFP, London 

Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman responded to the pressure of 

opening against arch-rival India in the Champions Trophy 

final at Kennington Oval yesterday with a brilliant 

maiden one-day international hundred before falling 

for 114. 

Nicknamed “soldier” by his team-mates - he was 

once a sailor in the Pakistan navy - Fakhar, might have 

been out on three when caught behind but Jasprit 

Bumrah was denied a wicket by a no-ball after replays 

showed the pace bowler had over-stepped. 

Fakhar, in just his fourth match at this level after making 

an ODI debut against South Africa earlier in the tournament, 

went on to play a series of fine strokes and completed 

a 92-ball hundred including two sixes when he 

swept off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for his 12th four. 

He was, however, partly responsible for the run out 

of Azhar Ali (59) when his failure to respond to his partner’s 

call for a single ended an opening stand of 128. 

The 27-year-old left-hander was eventually out when 

he sliced paceman Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, 

running back from point, held a well-judged catch. 

Pakistan, however, were well-placed to set a challenging 

total at 200 for two off 33.1 overs after a second-wicket 

stand of 72 between Fakhar and Babar Azam. 

Fakhar, who made his reputation in the Twenty20 

Pakistan Super League, was called into the side after 

Ahmed Shehzad was dropped following Pakistan’s 124- 

run thrashing by title-holder India in the Asian giants’ 

Champions Trophy opener in Birmingham’s Edgbaston 

on June 4. 

That match saw Pakistan bowled out for just 164 in 

what coach Mickey Arthur labelled a “shambolic display”. 

• 

Mahmudullah-Shakib partnership 

against New Zealand 

Perhaps one of the biggest turnarounds, 

and also one of the best 

match-winning partnerships of the 

Champions Trophy is Mahmudullah 

and Shakib al Hasan’s 223- 

run stand against the Kiwis in the 

group stage. It was a do-or-die encounter 

for both the teams in order 

to remain in the hunt for a place in 

the semi-finals but the Tigers were 

in a critical position coming into 

their chase of 266, reeling on 33/4 

inside 12 overs. But the Mahmudullah-Shakib 

pair added a record 

partnership for the fifth wicket as 

both the batsmen struck hundreds 

to snatch a magnificent win for the 

Tigers, keeping alive their hope of 

progressing to the last four. Shakib 

however, was dismissed just nine 

runs away from the famous win 

for 114 but Mahmudullah remained 

unbeaten on 102. 

South Africa’s early departure 

Despite their record of choking in 

ICC events in the recent and distant 

past, South Africa entered the 

tournament as one of the favourites. 

But once again, for the umpteenth 

time, it was a rather sorry 

departure for AB de Villiers and his 

troop. Many would have expected 

South Africa to at least reach the 

last four from Group B but after 

winning their first game against Sri 

Lanka convincingly by 96 runs, the 

Proteas went on to lose the next 

two against Asian powerhouses 

Pakistan and India by 19 runs and 

eight wickets respectively. Their 

capitulation in the Champions Trophy 

surprised a lot of cricket lovers 

across the world, as they didn’t 

choke this time around but were 

outplayed thoroughly. 

Tigers’ maiden appearance in an 

ICC semi-final 

Two years prior to the Champions 

Trophy, there were a lot of speculations 

whether Bangladesh would 

be able to qualify for the flagship 

ICC event by securing a place in 

the top eight-ranked teams within 

the cut-off time. The Tigers not 

only managed to qualify for the 

tournament but went on to create 

headlines by reaching the semi-final 

in an ICC event for the first time 

in history. Mashrafe bin Mortaza 

and his troop played some fearless 

cricket and of course, luck was 

also a major factor behind their 

journey to the last four. Bangladesh 

posted over 300 against host 

England in the tournament opener 

but felt short at the end, while 

rain came in as a blessing for the 

Tigers against Australia. The point 

achieved against the Aussies eventually 

proved to be vital. Later, 

the memorable victory over the 

Kiwis secured the Tigers’ passage 

to last four. Bangladesh were up 

against an in-form team India in 

the semi-final which they went on 

to lose by nine wickets. But overall, 

the Tigers’ performance in the 

Champions Trophy will go down as 

one of the most significant achievements 

in the history of Bangladesh 

cricket, and undoubtedly, one of 

the most top moments of the tournament. 

Fakhar, Amir steal final win for 

Pakistan 

Since making his ODI debut in their 

first game against South Africa, 

Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar 

Zaman has shown glimpses of his 

talent right from the word go. The 

left-hander got starts, scoring backto-back 

fifties against Sri Lanka 

and host England in the semi-final, 

but still, he had a lot to offer 

yet. The 27-year old did step up in 

just the right time, in the final of 

the tournament against arch-rival 

India. It was a treat to watch for 

the full house spectators present 

at Kennington Oval yesterday as 

he punished the Indian bowling 

line-up with great authority. The 

cricketer from Mardan, the northwest 

frontier province of Pakistan, 

played some delightful strokes all 

over the park. 

Fakhar was eventually dismissed 

after scoring 114 off 106 

balls, featuring a dozen fours and 

three sixes, thus laying the foundation 

for the huge total of 338/4 

from 50 overs. The same can be 

said about Mohammad Amir, who 

broke the backbone of the Indian 

batting line-up with his three-wicket 

burst early in the innings. One by 

one, Amir dismissed Rohit Sharma, 

Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan 

as India never really recovered in 

their chase of 339. 

A perfect India-Pakistan final after 

a long time 

Before the start of the Champions 

Trophy, being a true cricket lover, 

one could have only dreamt of 

a India-Pakistan final. The dream 

scenario eventually happened as 

millions of fans got to witness the 

epic final battle between the Asian 

arch-rivals. This was the first time 

in the history of 50-over cricket 

that these two teams contested 

the final of an ICC tournament. In 

the recent past, probably the 2007 

World T20 final is the most exciting 

encounter between the two teams 

where India were triumphant by 

five runs. • 

Mazhar Uddin from Kennington Oval

Sports 19 

DT 


Pakistan players celebrate with the trophy of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy following their win over India in the final at Kennington Oval yesterday 

Siddikur 

finishes 15th at 

Queen’s Cup 

• Tribune Report 

Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman 

finished 15th in the Queen’s 

Cup after carding a par score of 

72 in the fourth and final round at 

Santiburi Samui Country Club in 

Thailand yesterday. 

Siddikur, the two-time Asian 

Tour winner, had a terrible start to 

the final day and the worst morning 

comparing to the previous three 

rounds as he began with three bogeys 

in the first four holes. 

He later went on to play one more 

bogey but three birdies meant his final 

output for the day remained the 

same as the previous day. 

The country’s iconic golfer 

scored a total of four-under-par 280 

to share 15th spot along with five 

others, including two Indians, two 

Thais and one American golfer. After 

two consecutive 68s in the first 

two rounds which took him into 

the top nine, Siddikur played a par 

score of 72 in the latter half. He was 

placed 14th after the third round. 

Meanwhile, Nicholas Fung of 

Malaysia emerged as the champion, 

claiming his first ever Asian 

Tour title with an overall aggregate 

of 15-under-par 269. • 

Tigers fitness camp starts July 10 


Bangladesh cricketers are to 

regroup on July 10 for a fitness 

camp following a 24-day long 

break. 

In the process, Bangladesh 

will begin their preparation for 

the two-Test match series at 

home against Australia in August 

this year. 

National chief selector Minhajul 

Abedin informed that the 

selection panel will announce a 

29-member squad for the camp. 

“We have a lot of matches 

to play in the coming months. 

There is a home series against 

Australia, followed by a full 

series in South Africa this September. 

We want to observe few 

cricketers who will be named in 

the squad for the fitness camp, 

which is set to start on July 10,” 

Minhajul told the media in Mirpur’s 

Sher-e-Bangla National 

Stadium yesterday. 

Bangladesh cricketers returned 

to Dhaka on Saturday 

morning following a 50-day long 

tour of England and Ireland. 

The Tigers first underwent 

a 10-day conditioning camp at 

Sussex before travelling to Ireland 

for a tri-nation series involving 

New Zealand and the 

home side. 

They then travelled back to 

England for the 2017 Champions 

trophy where they wrote history 

by qualifying for the semi-final 

in an ICC event for the first time 

ever. 

Bangladesh’s glorious run 

came to an end after losing to defending 

champion India by nine 

wickets in the second semi-final 

at Edgbaston on Thursday. • 

Daniel Mamai 

of the Maasai 

Cricket Warriors 

plays against 

the British Army 

Training Unit 

cricket team 

during a charity 

tournament 

called the ‘Last 

Male Standing 

Rhino Cup’ at 

the Ol Pejeta 

Conservancy in 

Laikipia, Kenya 

yesterday 

REUTERS 

MD MANIK 

SCORECARD 

PAKISTAN R B 

Azhar run out (Bumrah/Dhoni) 59 71 

Fakhar c Jadeja b Pandya 114 106 

Babar c Yuvraj b Jadhav 46 52 

Malik c Jadhav b Bhuvneshwar 12 16 

Hafeez not out 57 37 

Wasim not out 25 21 

Extras (lb 9, w 13, nb 3) 25 

Total (4 wickets; 50 overs) 338 

Fall Of Wickets 

1-128 (Azhar), 2-200 (Fakhar), 3-247 

(Malik), 4-267 (Babar) 

Bowling 

Bhuvneshwar 10-2-44-1, Bumrah 9-0-68- 

0, Ashwin 10-0-70-0, Pandya 10-0-53-1, 

Jadeja 8-0-67-0, 

Jadhav 3-0-27-1 

INDIA R B 

Sharma lbw b Amir 0 3 

Dhawan c Sarfraz b Amir 21 22 

Kohli c Shadab b Amir 5 9 

Yuvraj lbw b Shadab 22 31 

Dhoni c Wasim b Hasan 4 16 

Jadhav c Sarfraz b Shadab 9 13 

Pandya run out (Hafeez/Hasan) 76 43 

Jadeja c Babar b Junaid 15 26 

Ashwin c Sarfraz b Hasan 1 3 

Bhuvneshwar not out 1 8 

Bumrah c Sarfraz b Hasan 1 9 

Extras (lb 2, w 1) 3 

Total (10 wickets; 30.3 overs) 158 

Fall Of Wickets 

1-0 (Sharma), 2-6 (Kohli), 3-33 (Dhawan), 

4-54 (Yuvraj), 5-54 (Dhoni), 6-72 (Jadhav), 

7-152 (Pandya), 8-156 (Jadeja), 9-156 

(Ashwin), 10-158 (Bumrah) 

Bowling 

Amir 6-2-16-3, Junaid 6-1-20-1, Hafeez 1-0- 

13-0, Hasan 6.3-1-19-3, Shadab 7-0-60-2, 

Wasim 0.3-0-3-0, Fakhar 3.3-0-25-0 

Pakistan won by 180 runs 

BCB High 

Performance team 

to tour Australia 


A 16-member BCB High Performance team 

is set to leave Dhaka for Australia for one 

three-day match and five one-day games. 

Following the Australia tour, the HP 

squad will return home for a short break 

before travelling to England. 

Chief of the national selection panel 

Minhajul Abedin informed that they have 

already submitted a 16-member squad for 

the tour of Australia to the BCB. It will be 

announced following approval. 

“We have submitted a 16-member team 

which will tour Australia. The team there 

will play one three-day game and five oneday 

matches. The squad has been formed 

keeping two things in mind. Firstly, prepare 

them for the national team and secondly, 

get the players ready for the development 

squad,” Minhajul told the media yesterday. 

“There are a few experienced players in 

the HP squad like Anamul Haque, Mehedi 

Maruf, Liton Das and Abul Hasan, alongside 

the developing cricketers. We believe 

the combination is good enough. We are 

expecting good feedback to be honest, 

which will benefit the national team and 

Bangladesh A team,” he said. 

All the matches in the tour will be played 

in Darwin. The tour is under the BCB’s development 

programme and the itinerary is 

yet to be finalised. •

20 


DT 

Sports 

Russia’s Fedor Smolov scores against New Zealand during their Confederations Cup Group A match at Saint Petersburg Stadium on Saturday 

Zidane pleads 

with Ronaldo 

after ‘I quit’ 

bombshell 

• AFP, Madrid 

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane 

broke off his holiday to call Cristiano 

Ronaldo in a bid to persuade 

his unsettled star not to quit the 

club, Spanish sports daily Marca 

claimed on Sunday. 

Ronaldo, on Confederations Cup 

duty in Russia with Portugal, is reportedly 

furious over a tax probe 

into the off shore accounts dealing 

with his image rights, and has reportedly 

vowed to leave Spain. 

“I am leaving Real Madrid,” 

Marca claim Ronaldo told his Portuguese 

colleagues. “I have made a 

decision. There is no turning back,” 

the daily sports paper reported. 

According to Marca when Zidane 

heard Ronaldo had sworn to quit he 

broke off from his family holiday 

and called his No 7 to tell him Madrid 

“needed him for his goals, and 

also his winning mentality”. 

Marca also reported that club captain 

Ramos had called Ronaldo to 

ask him to stay. In just 265 games for 

Real Ronaldo has scored 285 goals, 

winning three Champions League 

finals in four seasons. • 

Host Russia 

see off New 

Zealand in 

Confederations 

Cup opener 

• Reuters 

Host Russia eased to a 2-0 win over 

New Zealand on Saturday in the 

opening match of the Confederations 

Cup, a tournament seen as a 

test for the country before it stages 

next year’s World Cup. 

RESULT 

Russia 2-0 New Zealand 

Boxall 31-og, Smolov 69 

Midfielder Denis Glushakov 

flicked the ball over goalkeeper 

Stefan Marinovic in the 31st minute 

as New Zealand defenders rushed 

back to try to clear it off the line. 

New Zealand’s Michael Boxall got a 

touch on the ball and was credited 

with an own goal. 

Scoring chances came early for 

Russia, a powerful header by defender 

Viktor Vasin bouncing off 

the inside of the post before being 

cleared by New Zealand’s Michael 

McGlinchey. Weak defending allowed 

Russia’s Fedor Smolov to slip 

past the New Zealand defence and 

tap in a low cross by team mate Alexander 

Samedov in the 69th minute. • 

Why are Spanish football stars in legal trouble? 

• BBC 

Spain has attracted arguably the 

three brightest lights of world 

football, with Cristiano Ronaldo of 

Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Lionel 

Messi and Neymar all plying their 

skills in La Liga. 

Over the past year, football fans 

have become used to seeing the 

trio caught up in accusations of tax 

fraud and other financial crimes by 

the Spanish courts. 

And they are not the only players 

in the crosshairs of the Spanish 

judiciary. In 2016, Messi’s Argentina 

and Barcelona team-mate, Javier 

Mascherano, received a one-year 

suspended prison sentence for tax 

fraud. 

Lionel Messi and father Jorge 

were last year convicted of defrauding 

the Spanish state of €4.1m 

(£3.6m; $4.6m) in unpaid taxes 

on the striker’s image rights, controlled 

by offshore companies in 

Belize and Uruguay. The pair were 

both handed 21-month jail terms 

in a ruling recently confirmed by 

Spain’s supreme court. 

Now Ronaldo has become the 

third and final member of the elite 

La Liga trio to face criminal accusations, 

after prosecutors announced 

they were pursuing the 32-year-old 

former Manchester United man on 

REUTERS 

four counts of tax fraud. 

A source close to Ronaldo told 

the BBC that “he’s very sad and really 

upset” about the allegations. 

“He doesn’t want to stay in Spain. 

At this moment, he wants to leave,” 

the source said. 

Spain was in the midst of an 

unprecedented economic boom, a 

perfect playground for “galacticos” 

of the likes of Zinedine Zidane and 

Luis Figo, before the arrival of Ronaldo 

and the emergence of Barca 

prodigy Messi. 

But in 2010 the Beckham Law 

was scrapped for salaries of more 

than €600,000, and since then tax 

inspectors have begun to wise up 

to the use of complex financial operations 

using offshore shell companies 

to get around tax laws. 

Neymar is the odd one out. His 

case involves alleged wrongdoing 

towards a contractual party regarding 

his transfer fee, but the forward 

has been found guilty in his native 

Brazil for tax fraud on money 

earned while playing for Santos. 

The Messi and Ronaldo cases are 

similar. Both are accused of avoiding 

tax on sale of image rights by 

using offshore companies. However, 

the Portuguese was registered 

as a non-resident taxpayer under 

the Beckham Law, while the Argentine 

has spent his entire adult life 

registered in Spain. 

Prosecutors accuse the Real Madrid 

star of evading tax of €14.7m 

between 2011 and 2014 via an alleged 

shell company called Tollin 

Associates, registered in the British 

Virgin Islands. 

Prosecutors also claim that 

money earned from image rights 

was incorrectly described as capital 

gains, to benefit from a lower 

tax rate. Neymar and Messi look set 

to be spared prison due to Spain’s 

unwritten two-year-sentence rule, 

even if Neymar is eventually found 

guilty. 

Ronaldo may be a different matter. 

Three of the four accusations of 

tax fraud are considered by prosecutors 

to be “aggravated”, so they 

carry a minimum sentence of two 

years each. Four guilty verdicts 

and he could face as many as seven 

years. 

However, an investigating judge 

needs to ratify the prosecutors’ 

accusations, and that could take 

many months or even years. 

Even if the investigating magistrate 

does take up the case, the 

Portuguese will have several options 

and a guilty verdict would 

not necessarily mean jail. He could 

admit guilt, pay taxes and fines in 

advance and reduce any eventual 

jail term to a half or quarter of the 

statutory minimum. That way he 

would slip under the standard twoyear 

bar for first-time offenders 

and see his sentence suspended. •

Sports 

21 


DT 

Pouille bounces 

back to win 

Stuttgart title 

• AFP, Stuttgart 

Frenchman Lucas Pouille came 

from a set down and needed a second 

set tie-break to beat Spain’s Feliciano 

Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, to 

claim the grass-court title at Stuttgart 

yesterday. 

“That’s my first title on grass,” 

said the 23-year-old, who has now 

won three ATP Tour titles and sits 

16th in the world rankings. 

“I had a tight match in the first 

round and from there I took it one 

match at a time,” he added, looking 

back to his win over Jan-Lennard 

Struff in which he saved a match 

point. 

Pouille suffered from the power 

of Lopez’s serve early on but gradually 

got the measure of the 35-yearold, 

who faded towards the end of 

the third set. 

It was his third final of the season 

after a defeat to Jo-Wilfried 

Tsonga at Marseille and a victory 

over Aljaz Bedene in Budapest. • 

Green Germany expect tough Confed Cup start 

• AFP, Sochi 

World champion Germany will 

field an inexperienced line-up 

against Australia in their Confederations 

Cup opener today with striker 

Timo Werner fearing a robust 

challenge from the Socceroos. 

With an average age of just 24 

years, four months, and a combined 

total of 179 international appearances, 

Germany have the most 

youthful squad of the eight Confed 

Cup teams. 

Only three of the squad - Arsenal’s 

Shkodran Mustafi, Matthias 

Ginter and Julian Draxler - lifted 

the World Cup in Brazil three years 

ago, but none of the trio played in 

the Rio de Janeiro final. 

On the back of his breakthrough 

season with RB Leipzig, striker 

DAY’S WATCH 

FOOTBALL 

TEN 2 

9:00PM 

FIFA Confederations Cup 

Australia v Germany 

HOCKEY 

STAR SPORTS 2 

Men’s FIH Hockey World League 

Semifinals 2017 

4:45PM 

Scotland v Pakistan 

7:00PM 

Netherlands v Canada 

11:00PM 

Korea v Malaysia 

1:00AM 

Argentina v China 

France’s Lucas Pouille returns the ball to Spain’s Feliciano Lopez during the final of the ATP Mercedes Cup tennis tournament in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany 

yesterday 

AFP 

Timo Werner, 21, expects a fiery 

start in Sochi for the untested, 

green Germans. 

“We don’t all know how fit we 

are after a long and hard season,” 

admitted Werner. 

“Now comes an unpleasant 

game in which the Australians 

will try, with their physiques and 

toughness, to take us on. 

“But we have a duty to win the 

three points. We need to get a quick 

goal and then exert some dominance.” 

A year out from the World Cup 

in Russia, there has never been a 

better time for the Socceroos to 

poach a first win over Germany at 

a major competition at the fourth 

attempt. 

“The key for us is to believe in 

the way we play,” said Australia’s 

veteran midfielder Tim Cahill, 37, 

in yesterday’s press conference. 

“We know they are a young side, 

but we also know they have a lot of 

great players. 

“There is a lot of pressure on 

them as a country to do well here 

and on their players, who are fighting 

for a spot hopefully at (next 

year’s) World Cup for Germany. 

“They know they have to produce. 

If we play the style (that) we 

know, we can definitely beat them.” 

The world champion have made 

no secret of the fact their goal is not 

to win the Confederations Cup, but 

to blood their next generation of 

stars. 

“The first priority is to develop 

the team, the second to win here,” 

said team manager Oliver Bierhoff 

bluntly. 

With the likes of key midfielders 

Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos rested, 

the pressure falls on 23-year-old 

captain Draxler. 

With 30 caps, the Paris St-Germain 

star has the most experience 

and is expected to lead by example 

in the attacking midfield role. 

World-class goalkeeper Neuer 

is recovering from foot surgery, so 

Bayer Leverkusen’s shot-stopper 

Bernd Leno is tasked with keeping 

Australia’s attack at bay. 

Australia have held their heads 

high against Germany in their last 

two meetings in friendlies. 

The Socceroos shocked the below-strength 

Germans 2-1 in Moenchengladbach 

in 2011. 

Then two years ago, the 2015 

Asian Cup champions drew 2-2 

against Germany in Kaiserslautern. • 

Maldini to star in Milan again - at tennis 

• AFP, Rome 

Over a glorious quarter of a century he starred for AC 

Milan on the football pitch, now at 49 years of age Paolo 

Maldini has qualified for a tennis tournament in Milan. 

Maldini, now working as a director at Miami FC, 

qualified by wild card in the doubles in the weekend 

long Aspria Tennis Cup, part of the challenger circuit, 

the level below the ATP. 

“He’s got a good service, he doesn’t have a speciality 

shot but he has no weak points either,” his partner and 

coach Stefano Landonio told local media. 

Maldini won 26 trophies with AC Milan including 

five Champions Leagues before finally hanging up 

his boots in 2009 aged 41. He also played 126 times for 

Italy. • 

Parma climb 

back to Serie B 

• Reuters, Milan 

Parma, demoted to the fourth tier 

of Italian football after being declared 

bankrupt two years ago, will 

play in Serie B next season after 

winning promotion for the second 

time in a row on Saturday. 

The former Uefa Cup winner 

beat Alessandria 2-0 in the playoff 

final of Lega Pro, the third tier of 

Italian football. Parma were forced 

to postpone two games because 

they could not pay for stewards or 

security, while the players had to do 

their own laundry. They were only 

able to complete the season after 

Serie A set up a special fund. Parma 

lifted the Uefa Cup in 1995 and 1999, 

the 1993 European Cup Winners’ 

Cup and three Italian Cups.•

22 


DT 

Showtime 

The 

heat is 

on 

• Showtime Desk 

The fans asked for it and they’re 

getting it. For the first time Dhaka 

Comicon will be hosting its first 

summer event. Dhaka Comicon 

Summer 2017 will be taking place 

at Topkapi, in Gulshan 2, on July 

7 and 8. Gates will open at 11am 

daily and close at 9pm. Tickets are 

priced at Tk200. 

Like every year, this year’s 

event is action-packed with lots of 

content. The annual Cosplay, Fan 

Art and ActionFigure Photography 

Contest will all be taking place 

in this two-day extravaganza. 

Adding to the attraction would 


Films often explore and examine 

delicate relationships between 

people. One of the more difficult 

relations to portray on the 

celluloid is certainly that of 

fathers and sons, and about how 

emotions, sins and conflicts 

are passed down and carried 

on. On the occasion of father’s 

day we round up some of the 

contemporary films revolving 

around fathers and sons. 

Here are eight memorable films 

on fathers plus Chas Tenenbaum. 

be Dhaka Museum Of Toys, the 

food corner and live music to 

keep the audience entertained 

throughout the day. Along with 

Dhaka Comicon, the stalls selling 

merchandise will also be running 

daylong contests. In other words, 

reconnect with his two troubled 

daughters, Shailene Woodley and 

Amara Miller, after an accident 

leaves his wife in a coma. The 

father tries to be a good one to his 

young daughters, as they too try to 

cope with their mother’s possible 

death. 

Fences (2016) 

The rousing film version of 

August Wilson’s play is directed 

by Denzel Washington who gives 

an indelible performance as Troy 

Maxson, a working-class man in 

1950s Pittsburgh. As Troy recalls 

not only do cosplayers and 

photographers get to win stuff 

but the audience can win prizes 

as well. 

Don’t forget to visit the 

massively interactive booth of 

event radio partner Radio Foorti, 

Essential films on fatherhood 

his family, however his relation 

with his son deteriorates when he 

squashes his son’s chance to meet 

a college football recruiter. 

The Squid and the Whale (2005) 

In this semi-autobiographical film, 

director Noah Baumbach tells the 

story of a broken family. When 

Bernard, played by Jeff Daniels, 

and Joan, played by Laura Linney, 

split up, their sons Walt and Frank 

also part ways. Walt goes to live 

with his dad, while Frank stays 

with Joan. He claims to love his 

sons, but Bernard, a supreme 

narcissist, really seems to love 

himself most. As he tries to control 

his children, they rebel in peculiar 

ways. 

and of course all the vendor 

booths bringing you international 

merchandise from brands such 

as Lego, Neca, Hasbro, and 

many more. Dhaka Comicon has 

promised its fans that every year 

they will have medium-scale 

events, which would ultimately 

lead up to the main event, the 

winter edition. Happening right 

here in the city, the first summer 

edition of Dhaka Comicon 

promises to be a lot of fun and 

more. • 

Captain Fantastic (2016) 

Viggo Mortensen received an Academy Awards nomination for his 

performance as a father who raises his six children away from the 

modern world. But when his wife dies, he’s forced to bring them 

into that world to attend the funeral, and his family questions the 

morality of his parenting decisions. 

Finding Nemo (2003) 

The Academy Awards winning 

animation revolves around Marlin, 

a clown fish, worried about and 

overprotective of his only son, 

Nemo. When Nemo is caught by 

a diver and placed in a dentist’s 

fish tank, Marlin searches for him, 

aided by the forgetful Dory. As 

father and son struggle to reunite, 

they develop a deep love, trust and 

understanding for each other. 

Boyhood (2014) 

The astonishing coming-of-age drama which was filmed in real time 

over a 12-year period chronicles Mason Jr slowly learning to bond 

with his divorced dad. Directed by Richard Linklater, the film depicts 

the dad played by Ethan Hawke who helps his son forge a path that 

allows him to face the world and meet life’s challenges head-on. 

The Descendants (2011) 

Directed by Alexander Payne, 

the film depicts a father played 

by George Clooney who tries to 

a story about his abusive father, it 

is clear how Troy became such a 

flawed and obstinate father. Troy 

demands respect for caring for 

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) 

Single father Chris Gardner (Will 

Smith) and his son, Christopher 

Gardner (Jaden Smith), are 

evicted from their apartment 

and they find themselves out of 

places to go. The father and the 

son must find a shelter and fight 

many hardships. Chris (Smith) 

refuses to give in to despair as he 

struggles to make a better life for 

himself and his son. 

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 

An ageing dad Royal Tenenbaum, 

played by Gene Hackman, devises 

to produce a news that he’s 

suffering from terminal stomach 

cancer with a view to patching 

things up with his estranged wife 

and three gifted, fragile grownup 

children. Wes Anderson and 

the co-writer Owen Wilson tell 

a hilarious and detailed story of 

paternal dysfunction on screen. 

The film tells story of another 

father, Chas Tenenbaum --an 

overprotective safety-obsessed, 

who lost his wife in a plane crash, 

and now tries to protect his two 

boys. •

Showtime 

‘LUX Chirochena Shourobher Golpo’ 

to air 7 drama episodes this Eid 

23 


WHAT TO WATCH 

DT 


In celebration of Eid-ul-fitr, 

LUX is presenting seven 

drama episodes inspired 

by seven timeless classic 

Bangla literature pieces. The 

episodes are being made 

and broadcast under the 

brand’s special promotional 

feature titled “LUX 

Chirochena Shourobher 

Golpo”. 

Rabindranath 

Tagore’s Shesher Kobita 

and Nastanirh served 

as inspirations for the 

dramas Shesher Golpo 

and Chutir Nimontron, 

respectively. Sarat Chandra 

Chattopadhyay’s Datta 

and Parineeta have been 

re-imagined as Engaged 

and Poroshpor. The drama 

Obhiman is a retelling 

of Kapalkundala by the 

great Bankim Chandra 

Chattopadhyay. And lastly, 

the dramas Shaheb Memshaheb 

and Mukhosher Arale 

are modern interpretations 

of Nimai Bhattacharya’s 

Mem-shaheb and Samaresh 

Majumder’s Gorvodharini, 

respectively. 

The classic characters 

will be brought to life by an 

ensemble cast consisting 

of LUX stars and other 

renowned celebrities, 

including Mehazabien, 

Momo, Mou, Nadia Mim, 

Aparna, Tisha, and Sarika. 

The dramas have 

been directed by 

the likes of Md 

Mostofa Kamal 

Raj, Tuhin 

Hossain, Abu Hayat 

Mahmud, Goutam Koiri, 

Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul, 

Ashfaque Nipun, and 

Mabrur Rashid Bannah. 

After its phenomenal 

success last year, LUX 

Chirochena Shourobher 

Golpo is expected to 

open to an equally wide 

audience and critical 

acclaim this year as well. 

The feature will be aired on 

RTV at 10pm over the first 

seven days of Eid.• 

Blitz 

9:30pm, Zee Studio 

A tough cop is dispatched to 

take down a serial killer who 

has been targeting police 

officers. 

Cast: Jason Statham, Paddy 

Considine, Aidan Gillen, David 

Morrissey, Zawe Ashton 

The Hangover Part II 

5:28pm, HBO 

Two years after the bachelor 

party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, 

Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand 

for Stu’s wedding. Stu’s plan for 

a subdued pre-wedding brunch, 

however, goes seriously awry. 

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Zach 

Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin 

Bartha, Ken Jeong 

Amitabh remembers 

DiCaprio 

Aajob Records to release 

assortment of Eid music 


Bollywood mega star, 

Amitabh Bachchan 

took a walk down 

memory lane, and 

remembered the 

time he shot with 

Hollywood star 

Leonardo DiCaprio, 

whom he calls the 

“most humble and 

down to earth” person. 

Amitabh shared a 

photograph of himself, 

along with DiCaprio 

from the premier of the 2013 

film The Great Gatsby on his blog 

and wrote: “The Great Gatsby 

premier at Cannes and with the 

star Leonardo DiCaprio at the 

red carpet and then on stage. Me 

giving introduction speech in 

Hindi. 100 years of Indian Cinema. 

He a most humble and down to 

earth co-star.” 

He also added that DiCaprio 

was “caring and considerate 

through out the making of the 

film.” 

The Great Gatsby was an 

adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s 

novel of the same name. DiCaprio 

played the protagonist Jay Gatsby 

in the lauded film, while Amitabh 

Bachchan donned the role of 

his friend Meyer Wolfsheim, a 

gambler in a cameo. 

On the work front, the Piku 

actor, Amitabh is busy with the 

upcoming Vijay Krishna Acharya 

fi l m Thugs Of Hindostan, which 

also stars superstar Aamir Khan, 

making it the first venture of 

the two iconic Bollywood actors 

together. Amitabh will also be 

seen in the role of Rishi Kapoor’s 

father, a 102-year-old man, in an 

upcoming film titled 102 Not Out, 

with veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.• 


Aajob Records, a prominent 

record label of the country, is 

all set to release ten singles 

and four musical 

albums of distinct taste 

on the occasion of Eidul-Fitr. 

Encompassing 

different genres of 

music, the albums will 

be exclusively available 

on GP Music and Aajob 

Record’s Youtube 

channel. 

The singles include, 

Subir Nandi’s “Amar 

Du Haate”, lyrics by 

Kazi Siraj and tuned by 

Joy Shahriar; “Violin” 

Rupankar’s lyric, tune and 

voice; “Bhalobashar Kono 

Mane Nei”, Joy Shahriar’s 

lyric, tune and voice, DJ Aks 

featuring Imran’s “Beyara” and 

Kona’s “Abdar”, band Koral’s 

“Obhimani”, Gaankobi’s 

“Jochna Raite”. 

The albums include, Poran’s 

first ever solo venture, Roder 

Chele, Prema’s first solo 

venture, Onekdin Por Jano?, 

Avro’s Rabindrasangeet EP 

Phagun Haway Haway and 

mixed album The Top Chart 2, 

voiced by Joy Shahriar, Parvez, 

Imon Chakraborty, Ronti, Puja 

and Mohua.• 

City Lights 

4:15pm, Movies Now 

With the aid of a wealthy 

erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed 

tramp who has fallen in love 

with a sightless flower girl 

accumulates money to be able 

to help her medically. 

Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia 

Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry 

Myers, Al Ernest Garcia, Hank 

Mann 

Rocky 

7:28pm, WB 

Rocky Balboa, a small-time 

boxer, gets a supremely rare 

chance to fight heavy-weight 

champion Apollo Creed in a 

bout in which he strives to go 

the distance for his self-respect. 

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, 

Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl 

Weathers, Burgess Meredith•

24 


DT 

HUGE FOREST FIRES KILL 

62 IN PORTUGAL › 4 

Back Page 

4 WAYS MONEY IS LAUNDERED 

OUT OF THE COUNTRY › 10 

THE HEAT 

IS ON › 22 

2017 CHAMPIONS TROPHY FINAL 

Dominant Pakistan thrash India 

• Mazhar Uddin from 

Kennington Oval 

SPORTS 

The majority of the Indian supporters 

were seen leaving the stadium 

even before the halfway stage of 

the Indian innings and it perfectly 

described their disappointment, 

and at the same time Pakistan’s 

dominance, in the grand finale 

of the 2017 Champions Trophy at 

Kennington Oval yesterday. 

A solid Pakistan side, against all 

odds, managed to outclass one of 

the biggest contenders for the title, 

India, by a comprehensive margin 

of 180 runs to lift the Champions 

Trophy for the very first time in 

history. 

Sarfraz Ahmed’s side were right 

on top of the Indians after being 

asked to bat first as Fakhar Azam, 

playing his fourth ODI, announced 

himself as the next big thing in 

what was a blockbuster clash between 

the Asian powerhouses. 

The left-handed opening batsman 

struck his maiden hundred 

and had no mercy on the Indian 

bowlers as he smashed a blistering 

114 off 106 balls, featuring a dozen 

fours and three sixes, thus laying 

the foundation for a huge total in 

the all-important final. 

Fellow opener Azhar Ali also 

Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir celebrates dismissing India captain Virat Kohli during their Champions Trophy final at 

Kennington Oval yesterday 

MD MANIK 

provided good support as Pakistan 

added 128 for the opening wicket 

stand while Babar Azam added 46 

and the experienced Mohammad 

Hafeez played a quickfire knock of 

57 off just 37 balls, with three sixes 

and four boundaries. 

It was the highest ever target set 

by Pakistan in the history of Champions 

Trophy finals as India were 

up against their biggest chase away 

from home with their previous 

successful pursuit of 331 coming in 

Sydney. 

The Indian bowlers faced some 

brutal hammering at the hands 

of the Pakistan batters with Bhuvneshwar 

Kumar’s bowling figure 

of 1/44 in 10 overs, including two 

maidens, the best display in what 

was a sorry performance by the Indians. 

With the ball, it was Mohammad 

Amir who stole the show as the 

left-arm speedster broke the backbone 

of the Indian top-order, immediately 

forcing the opposition 

onto the back foot. The 25-year old 

probably reserved his best for the 

biggest stage as he dismissed all 

the three in-form Indian top-order 

batters. 

First, it was Rohit Sharma who 

was trapped in front in the very 

first over and he was soon followed 

in the dressing room by skipper Virat 

Kohli, who had no idea when he 

mistimed an Amir delivery, which 

he only managed to top-edge to the 

slip cordon. 

Amir did not stop there as he 

went on to pick up the wicket of 

another in-form batsman, Shikhar 

Dhawan, who was caught behind 

for 21. By then, it was already a 

tough ask for the batting side who 

were struggling on 33/3 inside nine 

overs. 

Experienced campaigners Yuvraj 

Singh (22), MS Dhoni (four) and 

Kedar Jadhav (nine) all departed in 

no time, leaving India struggling 

on 72/6. 

Hardik Pandya fought a lone 

battle in the latter stages of their 

innings, striking some lusty blows, 

but it was too little, too late for India 

to script a return to the game as 

the all-rounder ended up scoring 

the highest 76 off 46 balls. 

Amir ended up with staggering 

bowling figure of 3/16 while paceman 

Hasan Ali also bagged three 

scalps. • 

Mashrafe most popular cricketer in Bangladesh 


SPORTS 

MD MANIK 

Who is your most favourite cricketer? 

There are quite a few options. 

Along with Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur 

Rahman, Tamim Iqbal and 

Mahmudullah Riyad, there is the 

emergence of young bowlers such 

as Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin 

Ahmed. Even so, there seems to 

be no confusion about the most 

popular cricketer of Bangladesh. 

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, that is. 

He did not play Test cricket since 

2009 because of his injury and has 

already retired from Twenty20. His 

One Day International career is also 

nearing an end. Nonetheless, he 

continues to be the most popular 

cricketer of Bangladesh, putting 

everyone behind, or at least that 

is what has been revealed in a recent 

Bangla Tribune survey on the 

youths of Bangladesh. 

In answer to the question who 

their most favourite cricketer was, 

Mashrafe came out on top with 617 

votes and Shakib came second with 

476 votes. Tamim received 213 votes, 

Mustafiz 208 and Mushfiqur 158 votes. 

It was an open-ended question 

and a total of 2,000 respondents 

answered to it. The other questions 

were mostly about what the 

youth of the country think about 

the country’s current political and 

economic conditions. 

In Test cricket, Mashrafe led the 

team only in one match in which 

Bangladesh won. He has led the 

team through thick and thin, dedicating 

himself fully and ensuring 

Bangladesh has an edge over the 

other team on many occasions. • 

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE 

PLAYER IN BANGLADESH 

CRICKET AT PRESENT? 

PLAYER VOTES (%) 

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza 30.85% 

Shakib Al Hasan 23.8% 

Tamim Iqbal 10.65% 

Mustafizur Rahman 10.4% 

Mushfiqur Rahim 7.9% 

Taskin Ahmed 3.95% 

Mahmudullah Riyad 3.6% 

Sabbir Rahman 3.4% 

Mehedi Hasan Miraz 2.5% 

Rubel Hossain 1.5% 

Soumya Sarkar 1.45% 

Note: A total of 2,000 people took 

part in the survey 

Shashi Tharoor a 

Mashrafe fan 


Indian lawmaker of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuraman 

Shashi Tharoor 

has praised Bangladesh cricket team 

skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on 

twitter. 

In a tweet posted hours before 

the ICC Champions Trophy 

final match between India and 

Pakistan, he tweet: “A brilliantly 

sane perspective on cricket from 

Bangladesh’s philosopher-captain 

Mashrafe @IamMortaza. Applaud 

the real heroes, enjoy the game.” 

Shashi Tharoor also added a photo 

with Mashrafe’s quote: “The labourers 

are the stars, they build the country. 

What have we built using cricket? Does 

paddy grow on the cricket field? Those 

who make courtyards using bricks, 

make things at factories, grow crops in 

the fields – they are the stars.” • 

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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