e_Paper, Sunday, August 20, 2017

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017 | Bhadra 5, 1424, Zul-qaadah 26, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 5, No 104 | 24 pages plus 8-page businesss supplement | Price: Tk10 

Flood situation 

worsens in 

Gaibandha, Natore 

and Rajshahi › 6 

Myanmar 

raids spark 

fresh influx of 

Rohingyas › 24 

Biman’s carousel 

of incompetence › 2 

City loses millions on cattle markets › 3 

Ousted chief strategist Bannon declares 

Trump’s presidency is over › 5 

Little relief for flood-hit people › 6 

BUSINESS SUPPLEMENT 

Is 7.4% GDP target achievable without a 

smoothly functioning port? › 2 

CAB accuses Commerce Ministry of being 

silent spectator in curbing onion price › 4 

Stocks fall on profit-taking › 6

2 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017 

DT 

News 

Biman’s carousel of incompetence 

Dozens of bags go missing at Shahjalal International Airport every day, CAAB promises to act 

• Ishtiaq Husain and 

Esha Aurora 

SPECIAL 

Having gained her law degree in 

London, 28-year-old Alipha headed 

home to Bangladesh with a head 

full of dreams and a suitcase full of 

her worldly possessions, the most 

valuable of which was a brand new 

gold graduation ring. She never imagined 

she had anything to worry 

about as her plane touched down 

at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International 

Airport. The luggage, 

however, took two hours to arrive, 

and when hers finally did, she saw 

it had been broken open and the 

contents ransacked. 

“My mother forgot to put the 

padlock through the appropriate 

gap between the zippers and the 

lovely folks at the airport pulled 

them back as far as they could, cut 

open the plastic bag that was covering 

everything inside, and took 

my brand new iPod and the gold 

ring,” Alipha said. 

Incidents like this are all too 

common at the country’s main international 

airport, where ground 

handling services are provided by 

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national 

flag carrier. Industry insiders 

say that baggage handling at the 

airport has been mismanaged by 

Biman for years, with the ground 

staff gaining an infamous reputation 

for carelessness and even 

downright theft. 

According to a report compiled 

by the airport authority, everyday 

over 100 passengers file for lost 

baggage at the Lost and Found section 

of the airport. Either their suitcases 

went entirely missing after 

arriving in Dhaka or their belongings 

were stolen from the suitcases 

at the airport. Legally, they receive 

a compensation of just $20 for each 

kg of luggage that has been lost. 

A blatant lack of accountability, 

say critics, has gotten to the point 

where ground handlers routinely 

pick out suitcases from flights 

they know are bound to be filled 

with valuable goods, such as flights 

from the Middle East and India. 

“It took 5 hours for our baggage 

to arrive at the carousel although 

it took 45 minutes to get to Dhaka 

from Kolkata,” said Farnaaz Mahbub, 

a passenger. “When we asked 

them what was taking so long, an 

official said they were tired and 

taking a break, although we could 

see them manually checking the 

bags one by one before they let it 

on to the carousel.” 

The worsening situation has 

compelled the Civil Aviation Authority, 

Bangladesh (CAAB) to act. 

The Dhaka Tribune has learned that 

CAAB is preparing a new ground 

Passengers push luggage carts at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka 

Every day over 100 passengers file for lost baggage at the Lost and 

Found section of the airport. Either their suitcases went entirely 

missing after arriving in Dhaka or their belongings were stolen from 

the suitcases at the airport 

handling policy after decades of 

complaints about theft and careless 

handling by Biman staff. The new 

policy will lead to CAAB inviting 

fresh tenders from companies for 

ground handling. Biman has monopolised 

ground handling at all of 

the country’s airports for decades. 

The Civil Aviation and Tourism 

Ministry on August 13, formed an 

eight-member committee led by 

AHM Ziaul Haque, additional secretary 

(Biman & Civil Aviation) to 

form new regulations on ground 

handling. 

The committee will include representatives 

from the Ministry of 

Law, Customs, NBR, Civil Aviation 

Authority, Biman Bangladesh Airlines 

and private airlines. 

Wing Commander Ziaul Kabir, 

director (Flight Safety) of CAAB 

said as a regulator, CAAB has drafted 

the new ground handling policy 

to provide better services at the 

airport. 

This problem of theft has gone 

beyond affecting ordinary passengers, 

as LGERD Minister Ashraful 

Islam, Health Minister Mohammad 

Nasim and Former Civil Aviation 

Minister GM Quader also lost their 

suitcases at Hazrat Shahjalal International 

Airport. 

Despite setting up CCTV cameras, 

Biman has still been unable to 

stop its own staff from stealing. 

Seeking anonymity, a Biman staff 

member said the suitcases were now 

being broken into while being transported 

from the plane to the airport 

building: “They pick the locks on 

suitcases, steal what they want and 

lock it back again, in seconds!” 

Kauser, a traffic helper employed 

by Biman, was recently arrested 

by the airport law enforcement 

for breaking into suitcases. 

“Considering the out of control 

situation, we desperately need an 

experienced, organised company 

to manage the ground handling 

at the airport at this point,” said a 

CAAB official. 

Biman Bangladesh declined to 

comment for this story. 

Light at the end of the tunnel? 

Every day around 200 flights take 

off and land at Dhaka airport. Nearly 

4 million people pass through 

the airport on 25 international airlines 

every year. 

Each international flight on average 

has 400 passengers travelling 

into or out of the country. This has 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

already proved to be too much for 

Biman to handle with insufficient 

number of equipment and employees. 

According to the Civil Aviation 

Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) draft 

policy, they will soon send out tenders 

for ‘Ground Handling Service 

Providers Licence’ for two years. 

There would be three types of 

licences on offer. Whichever company 

acquires them must also pay 

a licensing fee and will also have to 

pay 25% royalty to CAAB. 

Although critics have questioned 

whether or not the company 

best suited for the job will win the 

tender and finally break Biman’s 

monopoly. 

The Category A licence holder 

will be able to provide ground 

handling services to all the airports 

(both domestic and international 

flight). Category B licence holder 

will be able to provide ground handling 

services to only local airliners 

and category C licence holder will 

be able to provide services its own 

flight ground handling services – a 

service that already exists. 

According to the daft policy, the 

fees and charge to provide ground 

handling service to Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport for a Category 

A has been set at Tk10 crore 

and the renewal fee has been set at 

Tk5 crore. Fee and charges at Sylhet 

Osmani airport, Chittagong Shah 

Amanat and Cox’s Bazar have been 

fixed Tk5 crore and the renewal 

fee has been set at Tk2.20 crore. 

License fee to provide services 

to others airports in the country 

would be Tk1 crore and the renewal 

fee has been set at Tk50 lakh. 

To get the Category B licence, 

the fee and charges to provide 

ground handling service at Hazrat 

Shahjalal International Airport has 

been set at Tk5 crore and the renewal 

fee at Tk1.5 crore. Fee and 

charges at Sylhet Osmany Airport, 

Chittagong’s Shah Amanat and 

Cox’s Bazar Airport fees has been 

fixed Tk3 crore and the renewal fee 

at Tk1.50 crore. License fee to provide 

services to others airport in 

the country would be Tk1 crore and 

the renewal fee at Tk50 lakh. 

The draft policy said all the service 

providers will have to pay 25% 

royalty to CAAB. The paid up capital 

for Category A is Tk200 crore 

and for Catagory B is Tk50 crore 

out which they must pay CAAB 5% 

as a security guarantee deposit. 

CAAB sources said that after 

the draft ground handling policy 

gets approval from Civil Aviation 

and Tourism ministry, Biman will 

finally lose its monopoly but General 

Manager and spokesperson of 

Biman, Shakil Meraj declined to 

comment on the issue. 

Requesting anonymity a Biman 

official said he highly doubts any 

other company could survive doing 

business at such a high cost. 

However, Imran Asif, CEO, 

US-Bangla Airlines told the Dhaka 

Tribune that the draft ground handling 

policy is much better than the 

existing system. 

CAAB will monitor and the services 

provider by the new ground 

handling operator every year. The 

draft also states that no operator 

will be allowed to purchase or sell 

any equipment. They will need 

approval to appoint high ranking 

officials and no employee would 

be allowed to join labour unions or 

organisations. 

The Dubai based ground handling 

services company Dnata, 

Swiss company Swissport and a 

Chinese company SATS expressed 

their interest in partnering with Biman 

for ground handling services. 

Historically, it has been very hard 

to remove Biman from this monopoly. 

In 2006, there was a proposal 

to form an independent company 

to operate the ground handling services 

but failed to get approval from 

the government because pressure 

from Biman, which earns the government 

Tk500 crore yearly. •

News 

SUNDAY, 

3 

AUGUST 20, 2017 

DT 

This year, DSCC has almost finalised the leasing. It has already leased out 12 haats for Tk8.75 crore, officials say. Most of the DSCC cattle markets have been leased out for less than the targeted rate 

RAJIB DHAR 

City loses millions on cattle markets 

The haats become money spinners ahead of Eid, but city corporations lose out 

• Abu Hayat Mahmud 

SPECIAL 

An Eid cattle market in the capital 

is a massively profitable business. 

Put up Tk1 crore at any of the two 

city corporations to lease a haat, 

and you can make Tk10-12 crore in 

three days. 

The 22 temporary cattle markets 

that open before Eid-ul-Azha are 

all on the city corporations’ land. 

Although the haats are meant to 

be leased out through an open bidding 

process, the Dhaka Tribune 

has found that only a handful of 

people, either ward councillors of 

the Dhaka south and north city corporations 

or local ruling party leaders 

get the leases every year. 

On top of that, people involved 

in the cattle trade say the city corporations 

could be making much 

more money from the haats but instead 

they take a policy that maximises 

the profits of the lease-holders 

at the expense of taxpayers. 

To meet the demands for sacrificial 

animals in Eid-ul-Azha, apart 

from the permanent cattle market 

in Gabtoli, 22 other markets or 

haats will be set up in the city, nine 

in Dhaka North and 13 in Dhaka 

South. 

A bargain price 

The city corporations leased out 

the haats last year for a total of 

Tk9.46 crore. 

This year, DSCC has almost finalised 

the leasing. It has already 

leased out 12 haats for Tk8.75 crore, 

officials say. Most of the DSCC cattle 

markets have been leased out 

for less than the targeted rate. The 

haat at Sadek Hossain Khoka playground 

has not been leased out yet 

as bidders are offering prices that 

are too low. 

This year the DSCC and DNCC 

aimed to earn around Tk23 crore 

from leasing the haats. 

Sources say the officials set initial 

bids too low, not taking market 

prices into consideration, for the 

benefit of the prospective bidders. 

The DSCC asked for Tk4.86 crore 

for the haat in Armanitola, and in 

return got a bid of Tk1.33 crore. 

Cattle traders say the average 

price for an animal in last year’s 

haats was about Tk40,000. According 

to official sources around 

500,000 cattle were sold last year 

in the haats, which means buyers 

spent about Tk2,000 crore. 

As per the city corporation’s regulations, 

the lease-holders collect 

a 5% hasil (purchase tax) on each 

animal. So according to this estimate, 

they made Tk100 crore from 

the buyers alone, on top of the payment 

they take from cattle traders. 

Price of a cattle will be higher 

this year, therefore it is likely that 

the profits of the lease-holders will 

be even higher. 

A meat trader seeking anonymity 

said: “The city corporation officials 

either do not know math or 

are involved in corruption. Otherwise 

how are they asking for only 

Tk23 crore from the haats? These 

people will earn at least Tk100cr.” 

Who gets the leases? 

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune a 

number of city corporation officials 

said Awami League leaders and 

Awami League leaders and leaders of Awami League affiliated bodies 

such as Jubo League, Chhatra League or Swechchhasebak League are 

getting the leases - if not in their own names, then in the name of their 

family members or friends 

leaders of Awami League affiliated 

bodies such as Jubo League, Chhatra 

League or Swechchhasebak 

League are getting the leases - if 

not in their own names, then in the 

name of their family members or 

friends. 

In the DSCC area, Ward 3 AL 

leader Muhammad Sharif got the 

Meradia Bazar cattle market in Khilgaon, 

Ward 11 AL President Abdul 

Latif got the Shahjahanpur Moitri 

Shangha ground, local AL leader 

Wahidur Rahman Wakib got the 

Jigatala-Hajaribagh cattle market, 

local AL activist Mohammad Shaheed 

Uddin got the Gopibagh cattle 

market. 

Dhaka City Awami League Dhaka 

South unit leaderHazi Shafi 

Mahmud got the Rahmatganj Playground 

cattle market, local AL General 

Secretary Abul Hossain Sarkar 

got the Kamrangirchar Chairmanbari 

cattle market, Shyampur unit 

AL leader Moin Uddin Chishti got 

the cattle market near Postogola 

Shashanghat. 

In the DNCC area, Khilkhet 

AL President Hazi Mohammad 

Keramot Ali Dewan got the cattle 

market on Khilkhet 300-feet 

road and Bashundhara residential 

area, former Chattra League leader 

Abdur Rahman Rubel got the 

Badda-Aftabnagar cattle market, 

local AL General Secretary Mohammad 

Shafiq got the cattle market at 

Number 1 intersection in Sector 15 

of Uttara Residential Model Town, 

Gulshan AL leader Mojaffar Hossain 

got Bhatara (Sayeednagar) cattle 

market. 

Dhaka City AL North Unit Jubo 

League Vice-President Md Shah 

Alam and Central Unit Organising 

Secretary Salahuddin Mahmud 

got the cattle market at free space 

of Eastern Housing in Mirpur 6, local 

AL leader Imran Uddin Mollah 

got the cattle market near Mirpur 

DOHS. 

The lessees could not immediately 

be reached for comment. 

When contacted, DSCC Chief 

State Officer Kamrul Islam told the 

Dhaka Tribune that they had leased 

out all the temporary markets after 

inviting tender and following all 

city corporation rules and regulations. 

DNCC Chief Estate Officer 

Aminul Islam said they also maintained 

all the formalities, so it does 

not matter who got the lease. •

4 


DT 

News 

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16th Amendment 

verdict: Awami 

League awaits 

president’s 

response 

• Pavel Haider Chowdhury 

POLITICS 

The ruling Awami League has 

placed its hopes in the president’s 

ability to resolve the ongoing 

crisis over the Supreme 

Court’s 16th Amendment verdict. 

“We have shared our stance 

on the verdict with the president 

and Chief Justice. We 

informed them that the people 

of the country have not 

accepted the verdict. We hope 

the president will come up 

with a solution,” several senior 

leaders of the Awami League 

told the Bangla Tribune. 

The president has the opportunity 

to provide a solution 

as he is the guardian of the 

state, the Awami League leaders 

said, adding that the Chief 

Justice can also recall the verdict 

or invoke the suo moto 

rule to resolve the matter. 

“We want an acceptable 

solution,” they said. 

Awami League Presidium 

Member Mohammad Nasim 

said: “The people rejected the 

16th Amendment verdict and 

we have conveyed their sentiments 

to the president. He will 

definitely end this crisis.” 

According to ruling party 

policymakers, the president 

has advised the Chief Justice 

to recall the verdict. 

Party sources said that the 

Chief Justice has the jurisdiction 

to recall the verdict and he 

can declare that the ambiguity 

in the verdict’s observation 

will be cleared by recalling it. 

“This is the easiest way to 

resolve the crisis. The alternatives 

are too complex,” Awami 

League policymakers said. 

Sources have hinted that the 

Awami League may review the 

verdict if there are any assurances 

of a positive outcome. 

Awami League stalwarts 

and stakeholders have been 

criticising the verdict while 

the Bangladesh National Party 

says the verdict had exposed 

the misdeeds of the government. 

A seven-member bench 

of the Appellate Division, 

led by Chief Justice Surendra 

Kumar Sinha, had upheld a 

High Court judgment that had 

scrapped the amendment, rejecting 

an appeal filed by the 

state back on July 3. 

The Supreme Court on August 

1 released the full text of 

the verdict. Following the full 

text’s release, several government 

stakeholders, including 

many ministers and Awami 

League office bearers expressed 

their discontent with 

the verdict. • 

This article was first published 

on banglatribune.com

News 5 


DT 

Ousted chief strategist Bannon 

declares Trump’s presidency is over 

• Tribune Desk 

WORLD 

Ousted White House strategist Steve 

Bannon has declared the Donald 

Trump presidency “over”, following 

his departure from the billionaire’s 

administration. 

Bannon, a right-wing ideologue 

who co-founded the Breitbart 

News website, pronounced himself 

“free” and said he now had “my 

hands back on my weapons” at the 

outlet. 

He and Trump’s new chief of 

staff, John Kelly, agreed he would 

leave the White House. Bannon 

said he had given his resignation 

earlier in the month, though it was 

also reported Trump had decided 

to let him go. 

He told the Weekly Standard, a 

conservative opinion magazine: 

“The Trump presidency that we 

fought for, and won, is over. 

“We still have a huge movement, 

and we will make something 

of this Trump presidency. But that 

presidency is over. It’ll be something 

else. And there’ll be all kinds 

of fights, and there’ll be good days 

and bad days, but that presidency 

is over.” 

During Trump’s “America 

first” campaign and his early 

days in the Oval Office, Bannon 

was considered a key influencer 

and was even awarded a place on 

the National Security Council’s 

principals committee, the top 

inter-agency group overseeing 

national security—though he was 

later removed. 

His nationalist stances on issues 

like immigration, trade and society 

were reflected in Trump’s speeches 

and policies, and are widely 

seen as having drawn together the 

New Yorker’s support base after he 

joined the struggling campaign as 

chief executive last August. 

But once in power he was forced 

to compete for influence with other 

advisers including members of 

Trump’s family. Ivanka Trump and 

her husband Jared Kushner, seen 

as being able to soften the President’s 

tone and actions, both occupy 

official White House posts. 

Bannon said he believed the Republican 

Party would now begin 

to impose a moderating influence 

on the President, despite his public 

clashes with senior figures like 

Senate majority leader Mitch Mc- 

Connell. 

He added: “The path forward on 

things like economic nationalism 

and immigration, and his ability to 

kind of move freely ... I just think 

his ability to get anything done— 

particularly the bigger things, like 

the wall, the bigger, broader things 

that we fought for, it’s just gonna 

be that much harder.” 

And he vowed to “crush the opposition”—liberals, 

the Washington 

and Republican “establishments”— 

Tanneries move, waste doesn’t 

• Rashid Al Ruhani 

FEATURE 

It has been five months since rawhide 

processing was suspended in Hazaribagh, 

but the area is yet to be rid of 

tannery waste. 

The bulk of the waste has remained 

there for the last five months as no authority 

has taken any initiative for their 

disposal. 

Besides, new waste is making ways 

to the open spaces as some leather factories 

have resumed producing finished 

leather goods in the area, apparently 

without any planned waste disposal. 

Residents of Hazaribagh area have 

complained that the older tannery 

US President Donald Trump talks to chief strategist Steve Bannon during a 

swearing in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, US 

January 22, 2017 

REUTERS 

wastes have started decomposing in 

the rain water and spread bad odour all 

the time. 

New waste is also showing up on the 

roadside and ditches as the factories 

that have resumed production are disposing 

the waste everywhere in a haphazard 

manner, they added. 

Asked about the waste disposal 

from Hazaribagh, Dhaka South City 

Corporation (DSCC) Chief Executive 

Officer Belal Hossain said: “The waste 

in Hazaribagh is mainly industrial 

waste. One is not allowed to dump 

this waste anywhere. It is the factory 

owners who were required to arrange 

for the disposal of the waste. The city 

corporation mainly cleans household 

waste.” 

During visits to the area on Wednesday 

and Thursday, the Bangla Tribune 

correspondent discovered stacks of 

rawhide waste lying on the roadside at 

several points on the way from Hazaribagh 

Bazar to Beribadh. 

Some factories were also in operation. 

The employees and workers 

claimed that after the wholesale snapping 

of the power supply to the tanneries 

on April 8, the authorities had 

permitted some of the factories to get 

the power supply back two months later 

for resuming the production on some 

conditions. 

Contacted, Bangladesh Tanners 

Association (BTA) President Shaheen 

Ahmed said: “Although the connections 

(gas, electricity line) were cut off on 

by using the influence and reach of 

Breitbart. 

Breitbart colleague Joel Pollak 

suggested the site would now go 

to “war” with the Trump White 

House following a perceived shift 

by the President away from the values 

the outlet espouses. 

Bannon’s departure came after 

a liberal magazine published an 

interview in which he detailed his 

behind-the-scenes battles with opponents 

in the administration and 

appeared to contradict Trump’s 

public rhetoric on North Korea. 

He told The American Prospect 

he was “fighting” internal opposition 

to his belief the US was locked 

in “an economic war with China”. 

He claimed officials at the Treasury 

and the National Economic 

Council were “wetting themselves” 

over his plans to address the fact 

that “they’re crushing us”. State 

and Defence Department staff felt 

similarly because they wanted China’s 

help to reign in Pyongyang, he 

said. 

Trump has repeatedly and publicly 

threatened military action 

against North Korea if it continues 

to menace the US or its allies. 

But Bannon told the Prospect: 

“Until somebody solves the part of 

the equation that shows me that 

10 million people in Seoul don’t 

die in the first 30 minutes from 

conventional weapons, I don’t 

know what you’re talking about, 

there’s no military solution here, 

they got us.” • 

April 8, we received a High Court order 

the next day that said pollution-free factories 

can go on with production. Later, 

we got the power supply back through 

the Department of Environment (DoE), 

for pollution-free work.” 

DoE Assistant Director Saiful Ashraf 

said: “Power connection has been given 

only to those factories that can operate 

without creating pollution.” 

In keeping with a Supreme Court 

order, the Department of Environment 

(DoE) cut off the power, water and gas 

connections to Hazaribagh tanneries on 

April 8. The tannery units are being relocated 

to the Savar Tannery Estate. • 

This article was first published on 

banglatribune.com 

Spain hunts 

suspect over 

Barcelona 

carnage 

• AFP, Barcelona 

WORLD 

Spanish police expanded a manhunt 

Saturday for a Moroccan man 

believed to be one of the perpetrators 

of twin terror attacks in Barcelona 

and another seaside resort 

that killed 14 and wounded around 

100. 

With the country in shock after 

two vehicles ploughed into crowds 

of pedestrians, Interior Minister 

Juan Ignacio Zoido said the cell 

behind the carnage claimed by the 

Islamic State group had been “dismantled”. 

Police were still hunting for 

22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub 

without confirming reports he was 

the driver who smashed a van into 

people on Barcelona’s busy Las 

Ramblas boulevard on Thursday. 

Thirteen people died at the 

scene and scores more were injured 

in scenes of horror witnessed 

by terrified friends and relatives, 

with locals and tourists laying 

flowers, candles and teddies in 

their memory. 

Investigators meanwhile were 

busy unravelling the terror cell of at 

least 12 young men – some of them 

teenagers – behind the Barcelona 

rampage and a second ramming attack 

with a car in the seaside town 

of Cambrils early Friday. 

One woman was killed and six 

other people wounded in that attack, 

with police killing five “suspected 

terrorists” who were in the 

car and arresting four others. 

Police also identified another 

three suspects linked to the attacks, 

two of whom are thought to 

have died in a blast on Wednesday 

night as they tried to make explosives 

at a house in Alcanar, a town 

some 200km south of Barcelona. 

On Saturday, police searched 

the home of an imam in Ripoll, a 

small town further north at the 

foot of the Pyrenees where some 

of the suspects lived, his flatmate 

Nourddem said, without wanting 

to identify him. 

The El Pais daily, quoting police 

sources, said the imam could be 

one of the dead in the explosion. 

As the hunt for Abouyaaqoub 

gathers pace, Spanish police 

tipped off their French counterparts 

about a white van linked to 

the attacks that may have crossed 

the border, a French police source 

said. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

HEAVY RAINFALL 

LIKELY 


Dhaka 34 27 Chittagong 33 27 Rajshahi 33 26 Rangpur 32 26 Khulna 32 26 Barisal 33 27 Sylhet 33 25 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 6:28PM 

SUN RISES 5:36AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

35ºC 24ºC 

Sylhet 

Rangamati 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Cox’s Bazar 31 26 

Fajr: 5:00am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:41pm 

Esha: 8:30pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

Little relief for flood-hit people 

• Abu Siddique 

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

Though the government’s emergency 

relief supplies apparently 

put a little bit of smile on the faces 

of people badly affected by the 

ongoing floods in northern and 

north-eastern regions of the country, 

the amount of aid an individual 

victim receives is too scanty to 

meet their needs. 

The government has allocated 

3.18kg rice and Tk10 as general relief 

to a victim. 

According to the Department of 

Disaster Management (DDM), the 

flooding has left 1,140,849 families 

– involving a total of 5,018,706 

people — severely affected in 27 

districts in the regions. 

Asked if the amount of relief allotted 

to a victim would suffice to 

meet his or her needs, DDM Director 

Abu Sayed Mohamamd Hashim 

told the Dhaka Tribune: “It may 

seem to you that we have allocated 

a small amount of relief supplies, 

but the people are getting more 

than allocated.” 

“Not all of the affected will 

come to take the aid because 

many do not feel comfortable with 

taking relief and assistance from 

the government or other agencies 

thanks to their social status. 

Hence, those who are going to take 

the relief supplies are certainly 

getting much more than expected,” 

he explained. 

The government allocated 

16,004 tonnes of rice 

(16,004,000kgs) and Tk49,881,950 

as relief. The district authorities 

concerned said they had already 

distributed a considerable amount 

of the emergency relief, but our 

district correspondents found a 

large number of the flood victims 

complaining that they had not received 

relief materials yet. 

Asked about this, Hashim said: 

“The government has been distributing 

relief supplies through elected 

public representatives at the 

union parishad level. They are distributing 

the materials according to 

the people’s needs. 

“Some people may be missed 

out. In such case, they should contact 

the local authorities involved 

in the distribution process.” 

The money and rice apart, the 

government allocated some 36,500 

packets contacting dry food items, 

drinking water, matchboxes and 

candles. 

So far, 77 people died and 14 

others went missing in the devastating 

floods that have been continuing 

for over a week. 

Agricultural Damage 

According to the DDM data, the monsoon 

floods, trigged by incessant 

downpours in catchment areas of 

the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers, 

caused damage to 618,709 hectares 

of cropland. The damaged crops include 

Aman on 8,000 hectares and 

Aush on 8,000 hectares of land. 

Flood situation 

According to Flood Forecasting 

and Warning Centre (FFWC), floodwaters 

have been receding into different 

areas from the northern districts 

including Gaibandha, Bogra 

and Sirajganj. 

A FFWC bulletin yesterday said 

water levels are rising in the Ganges 

and Kushiyara and falling in 

the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Surma 

rivers. 

It added that water levels in 

the Ganges are likely to further increase 

in the next 48 hours. 

“Floodwaters have started flowing 

into the Brahmaputra and Surma 

rivers. As of yesterday, it was receding 

at a rate of one foot per day, 

which indicates that the flooding 

will not continue for a longer period 

as expected,” said Sazzad Hossain, 

executive engineer of the FFWC. 

However, water is still flowing 

above the danger level at 28 out of 

90 measuring stations in all three 

basins including the Ganges, Brahmaputra 

and Meghna. At the same 

time, water levels have risen at 36 

points in rivers across the country. 

Water is flowing 75cm above 

the danger level at Bahadurabad 

points of the Jamauna river, 76cm 

at Sariakandi points, 116cm at Kazipur 

points and 118cm at Sirajganj 

points of the Jamuna, and 106cm 

at Goalanda poits and at 49cm at 

Bhagyakul points of the Padma. • 

Flood situation worsens in three districts 



Though flood situation in northern 

districts showed signs of improvement 

with water level in all major rivers falling 

below the danger mark, the situation 

of Gaibandha, Natore and Rajshahi 

deteriorated till Saturday morning. 

In Gaibandha, overall situation of 

Sadullapur, Gobindaganj, Palashbari 

and Sadar upazilas in the district deteriorated 

inundating fresh areas as the 

Karatoa river marked rise during the 

period, reports our correspondent. 

The officials of Water Development 

Board said with the rise of water level in 

the Karatoa, 12 unions and Gobindaganj 

municipality of Gobindaganj upazila 

were flooded and 29,000 families had 

been marooned and many of them had 

taken shelter on the nearby embankment, 

said M Zahirul Islam, upazila 

project implementation officer (PIO). 

Five unions including Kishorgari and 

Hossainpur of Palashbari upazilas were 

also submerged and as many as 17,000 

families were marooned and passing 

their days and nights in trouble, said M 

Shahinur Alam, PIO of the upazila. 

A portion of Karatoa Flood Control 

Embankment at Cherenga area of Darbasta 

union of Gobindaganj upazila had 

been washed away due to the pressure of 

the river water resulting fresh areas of the 

union had been inundated, said executive 

engineer of BWDB M Mahbubur Rahman. 

Due to flood, a total of 13,860 

hectares of land of standing crops particularly 

T-Aman paddy, Aman seed bed 

and summer vegetables of the upazilas 

went under flood water, said deputy 

director of Department of Agriculture 

Extension AKM Ruhul Amin. 

As many as 118 government primary 

Flood victim people of Ratanpur village at Phulchhari in Gaibandha take shelter on boat as their homes inundated in recent 

flood across the country. The picture was taken yesterday 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

schools of the upazilas had been closed 

and the academic activities had also 

been suspended there temporarily as 

the flood water entered the schools, 

said M. Aminul Islam Mondal, district 

primary education officer. 

In Natore, the situation in Singra 

upazila deteriorated as the water of the 

Atrai River was flowing 70cm above the 

danger mark. Paddy in 800 bighas of 

land in Temuk Nowdapara beel went 

under water as gushing water was 

entering through a damaged dam on 

the Sidhakhali River. 

According to reports of our Rajshahi 

correspondent, the floodwater engulfed 

Tanore, Mohanpur and Bagmara 

upazilas of the district when an embankment 

of the Shiba River collapsed 

in Bhimnagar area under Mohanpur 

upazila inundating around 350 ponds. 

The devastating flood washed fishes 

worth around Tk1.17 crore way from 

350 commercial fish farming ponds in 

the district. 

“The loss caused by the deluge in 

Tanore, Mohanpur and Bagmara is 

worst,” said Subhash Chandra Saha, 

District Fisheries Officer. 

Around 53.25 metric tons of fishes 

worth about Tk1.17 crore in 320 ponds 

in Bagmara,Mohanpur and Puthiya 

upazilas were inundated by the 

floodwater, Besides, 1.12 tons of fish 

fingerlings valued at around Tk11 lakh 

were affected badly, he added. 

Shubhash Saha said 208 commercial 

hatcheries of 156 fish farmers were 

totally inundated washing out 22 metric 

tons of fishes and 70 metric tons of 

fingerlings in only Bagmara upazila. 

Meanwhile, standing crops on 

around 6,132 hectares of land were 

inundated by the floodwater in four 

upazilas of the district, said Deb Dulal 

Dhali, Deputy Director of Department 

of Agriculture Extension (DAE). 

According to official report, Disaster 

Management and Relief Secretary 

Shah Kamal revealed yesterday after 

an inter-ministerial meeting that 27 

districts have been affected by flood in 

country’s northern region, leaving 57.19 

lakh people marooned and 93 dead. • 

Government to 

build T-gryones 

to fortify flood 

protection 

embankments 

• Ariful Islam, Kurigram 


Water Resources Minister Anisul 

Islam Mahmud has said that the 

government is considering taking 

up a new strategy to construct 

T-gryones along the flood protection 

embankments for their better 

maintenance. 

T-gryones are hydraulic structures 

built on sea shores and riverbank 

areas to interrupt the water 

current and sediment movement. 

This would be a strategic shift in 

the management of flood control 

embankments because the gryones 

would ensure reclamation of 

lands as well as provide extraprotection 

to the embankments, said 

the minister. 

Anisul told this to reporters 

while inspecting a damaged flood 

control embankment in Bangtur 

Ghat area under Kurigram Sadar 

upazila yesterday. 

“The funds that are allocated 

each year for the maintenance 

of the embankments usually run 

out in the repair works after the 

floods. That is why the strategy of 

embankment protection has been 

changed,” he added. 

State Minister for Water Resources 

Mohammad Nazrul Islam 

Bir Pratik and Bangladesh Water 

Development Board Chief Engineer 

Aziz Muhammad Chowdhury were 

also present on the occasion. •

News 

SUNDAY, 

7 

AUGUST 20, 2017 

DT 

Flood victims suffering from lack of safe 

drinking water 

• Afrose Jahan Chaity 


Health risks may hit an alarming 

level in 20 flood-affected districts 

in the country as around 1.7 million 

people are having a very hard 

time making their living in the areas 

where they are starving for food 

and safe drinking water. 

Rocked and displaced by the 

devastating floods, some 322,000 

people have taken shelter at 1,330 

centres in the districts, while many 

are living in the open in elevated 

areas or on school premises without 

food, drinking water and medicines. 

Drinking water and sanitation 

inaccessible 

Over 12,700 tube wells have submerged 

in Kurigram alone, according 

to the Department of Public 

Health Department (DPHE). 

Explaining the lack of access to 

safe drinking water, flood victim 

Samosto Begum from Char Parbatipur 

in the district told the Dhaka 

Tribune: “No one is getting food 

and drinking water. Women are 

suffering a lot as toilets are unusable. 

We have to walk a long way to 

fetch water. 

“People have no choice but to 

defecate in open spaces” 

The dearth of sanitation facilities 

and safe water has already 

started to cause water-borne diseases 

among the affected people in 

the districts. 

Ayub Ali, chairman of Jatrapur 

union parishad in Kurigram, said: 

“Though some tube wells have 

been installed to supply safe drinking 

water to victims, they are unable 

to meet the people’s needs.” 

Nearly 600 dead in South Asia floods 

Indian villagers wade through flood waters with a raft made from gas canisters in 

Balurghat in West Bengal on August 17, 2017 

AFP 

More tube wells are needed, he 

said. 

Conceding that district lacks 

basic sanitation facilities, Ayub 

said: “I informed the government 

authorities concerned of the issue 

and hope that some makeshift toilets 

would be arranged within a 

short time.” 

In Dinajpur, some 144,553 tube 

wells have gone under floodwaters, 

forcing locals to drink unsafe, polluted 

water. 

The government has allocated 

16,004 tonnes of rice and 

Tk49,881,950 as general relief to 

the people. The district authorities 

concerned said they had already 

distributed a considerable amount 

of the disaster aid, but our district 

correspondents found a large number 

of the flood victims complaining 

that they had not received relief 

materials as yet. 

consecutive day following large 

scale damage to the tracks. 

Authorities in West Bengal state 

said the flood waters were receding 

after a lull in the rains but 52 so far 

deaths were reported. More than a 

million people have been affected. 

‘Humanitarian crisis’ 

At least a hundred people have 

died in neighbouring Bangladesh 

with close to six million affected by 

the floods. 

The government has opened 

nearly a thousand shelters in 

schools and colleges where nearly 

300,000 people have taken shelter, 

the country’s disaster management 

department said. 

But there are still pockets of the 

country where help has yet to reach. 

Poresh Mondol, a farmer in the 

northern district of Kurigram, one 

of the worst hit areas, has been 

camping with his family on the 

roof of his tin-shed house, most of 

which was submerged. 

The International Red Cross 

called it a humanitarian crisis and 

said urgent action was needed. 

“Millions of people across Nepal, 

Bangladesh and India face 

Health Facilities 

Some 1,219 local medical teams 

have been deployed in the districts 

to address the resultant health 

problems. Currently, 116 medical 

teams are working in Dinajpur. 

The victims complained, however, 

that the teams are supplying 

medicines for only diarrhoea, cold 

and fever, while they are suffering 

from numerous diseases and lack 

of water purification tablets. 

Civil Surgeon of Lalmonirhat 

Dr Amiruzzaman said: “In order to 

ensure health services in the district, 

we have deployed 54 medical 

teams.” 

Patient with different water-borne 

diseases are taking treatment 

from the teams, he said. 

Speaking to our correspondent 

in the district, locals, however, said 

they did not see any medical team 

render services to the affected people 

and that the medical teams are 

on papers only. 

People are taking health services 

from the teams run by the army 

Border Guard Bangladesh, they 

added. 

Awareness campaign programmes 

Dr Md Khairul Islam, executive director 

of WaterAid Bangladesh, highlighted 

the need for running awareness 

campaigns through media. 

Putting emphasis on pure drinking 

water, Khairul Islam said: “To 

prevent water-borne diseases, we 

need to focus on ensuring access to 

safe drinking water, and clean water 

must be used for all purposes.” • 

Our Lalmonirhat correspondent 

Moazzem Hossain, Kurigram 

correspondent Ariful Islam and 

Dinajpur correspondent Faruk Hossain 

contributed to this report. 

severe food shortages and disease 

caused by polluted flood waters,” 

said Martin Faller, deputy regional 

director for Asia Pacific, International 

Federation of Red Cross and 

Red Crescent Societies. 

Every year hundreds die in landslides 

and floods during the monsoon 

season that hits India’s southern 

tip in early June and sweeps 

across the South Asia region for 

four months. 

A massive landslide in India’s 

Himachal Pradesh state swept two 

passenger buses off a hillside, killing 

46 people on Sunday. • 

• AFP, New Delhi 

WORLD 

Nearly 600 people have died and 

millions have been affected by 

monsoon floods in South Asia, officials 

said Saturday, as relief and 

rescue operations continued. 

The latest floods and landslides 

in the subcontinent began in the 

second week of August, as the 

annual monsoon strengthened its 

grip over the northern and eastern 

parts of the region. 

Indian authorities sought military 

help in two districts of northern 

Uttar Pradesh state after fresh 

heavy rains left hundreds of villages 

marooned. 

As many as 33 out of 75 districts 

in the most populated Indian state 

are reeling from floods that have 

left 55 people dead. 

Nearly 100,000 people have 

moved to shelters, with authorities 

estimating another two million 

have been hit by the deluge. 

In India’s worst hit Bihar state 

the death toll reached 153 following 

one of the deadliest floods to 

hit the region since 2008. 

Nearly 400,000 people have 

sought shelter in relief camps and 

an estimated 10 million have been 

affected by the flood. 

Anirudh Kumar, a top disaster 

management agency official in the 

state, said more than 5,000 emergency 

workers including 2,000 

soldiers were supporting relief and 

rescue operations. 

Both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh 

border Nepal, which was hit by 

floods at the weekend and where 

the death toll is 123. At least 20 

percent of the 28 million population 

is affected in what the United 

Nations has called the worst flood 

to hit the country in 15 years. 

Further east in India, at least 

60 people have died in floods that 

hit Assam state a second time in 

less than four months and nearly 

425,000 remain in relief camps. 

Railway connectivity between 

the remote region and mainland 

remained suspended for the sixth 

MONSOON FLOODING 

More than 600 killed across India, Nepal and Bangladesh 

PAKISTAN 

100 km 

INDIA 

HIMACHAL 

PRADESH 

Landslide swept 

2 packed buses 

into gorge 

Areas most affected 

by floods, landslides 

(as of Aug 17) 

More than 8,000 security forces 

deployed for search and rescue 

operations 

Around 46,000 people displaced, 

9,600 houses totally damaged, 

22,200 partially damaged 

70% of agricultural 

area in Tarai region 

inundated 

NEPAL 

100,000 

in relief 

camps 

Source: UN Reliefweb/IFRC/Nepal, India, Bangladesh government/Nepal Red Cross 

BIHAR 

WEST 

BENGAL 

10,000 in 

relief camps 

CHINA 

170,000 

in emergency 

camps 

ASSAM 

BANGLADESH 

Up to 4.5 million 

affected, 

200,000 houses 

destroyed

8 


DT 

‘Power, gas prices 

fixed for sustainable 

development’ 

News 

• Aminur Rahman Rasel 

ENERGY 

State Minister for Power, Energy 

and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid 

said the prices of electricity 

and gas are set keeping sustainable 

development in mind. 

As electricity and gas are both 

directly and indirectly linked to 

all sectors, their prices are fixed 

considering the purchasing capacity, 

income and expenditure, and 

overall situation of the people, he 

claimed. 

Currently, the per 

capita income is 

around $1600, 

which will reach 

the $6,000-mark 

in a few years if the 

ongoing trend of 

growth continues 

The junior minister made the comments 

while addressing, as the 

chief guest, a seminar on Energy 

Tariff and National Economy organised 

by the Forum for Energy 

Reporters Bangladesh at Biduyt 

Bhaban in Dhaka yesterday. 

“Currently, the per capita income 

is around $1600, which 

will reach the $6,000-mark in a 

few years if the ongoing trend of 

growth continues,” he hoped. 

According to Nasrul, the countrymen 

will not find it tough to consume 

gas or electricity at a higher 

prices as the government has made 

long-term plans analysing their advantages 

and inconveniences. 

In order to keep in line with 

global market, change in plans is 

a must, he opined, suggesting the 

people to be aware of the issue and 

use alternative energy, which he 

said would ensure energy security. 

“Considering all the issues, the 

government is providing subsidy 

on energy and power sector for the 

people. The annual demand of electricity 

is increasing by 16-20%, causing 

the change in plans to help meet 

the growing demand,” he said. 

The state minister said the government 

would manage to provide 

power connection to 100% household 

consumers by December 2018. 

Meanwhile, Prof M Tamim, who 

presented the keynote paper in the 

seminar, mentioned how electricity 

and gas prices should be determined 

and said the gas prices will 

be tripled in 10 years. 

Urging the people concerned 

to be aware of the matter, he underscored 

the need for increasing 

manpower and technology in the 

power and energy sectors. 

Power Development Board Chairman 

Khaled Mahmud, Power Cell 

Director General Mohammad Hossain, 

Energy Adviser to Consumers 

Association of Bangladesh (CAB) 

Prof M Shamsul Alam, CPD Research 

Director Dr Golam Moazzem 

and Bangladesh Independent Power 

Producers Association Vice President 

Imran Karim, among others, 

addressed at the event. • 

A boy carries his sister, as he walks on rubble of a house after it was destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, 

August 11, 2016 

REUTERS 

UN report claims Saudi coalition killed 

hundreds of children in Yemen 


WORLD 

The Saudi military coalition – 

which receives logistical support, 

weapons and political backing 

from the US and UK – has been accused 

of killing hundreds of children 

in Yemen, according to a confidential 

UN report. 

The report, which has yet to 

be made public and could still be 

changed, says that 51% of all child 

deaths and injuries in Yemen last 

year were the result of the Saudi-led 

military operation. It says 

the deaths were “unacceptably 

high”. Saudi Arabia has insisted it 

is operating within international 

law, The Independent reports. 

“Attacks carried out by air 

caused over half of all child casualties, 

with at least 349 killed and 333 

injured,” said the report. 

“The UN was informed of measures 

taken by the coalition in 2016 

to reduce the impact of conflict on 

children. However, despite these 

measures, grave violations against 

children continued at unacceptably 

high levels in 2016.” 

Saudi Arabia has always insisted 

that its operations follow international 

guidelines. Its UN mission said 

in a statement there was “no justification 

whatsoever” for including the 

coalition’s name on the blacklist. 

“We trust that the United Nations 

will make the appropriate decision 

on this matter, and the positive exchange 

of information” on the coalition’s 

activities, the statement said. 

It declined to comment on the findings 

in the draft report for 2016. 

Saudi Arabia is leading a nine-nation 

coalition in a bombing campaign 

that started in March 2015 to 

defeat Iran-allied Houthi insurgents. 

The US and UK have offered logistical 

and political support. 

Support from US, UK 

Britain has also continued to sell 

weapons to Saudi Arabia despite 

mounting worries over civilian 

deaths, believed to total around 

3,000. Last month, a British 

court ruled that such sales could 

continue despite humanitarian 

concerns and rejected an appeal by 

the Campaign Against Arms Trade 

to stop them. 

The role of the UK and US in 

supporting Riyadh has come under 

mounting scrutiny as concern 

about civilian deaths has grown. 

Reports suggest it will be up 

to UN Secretary-General Antonio 

Guterres to decide whether the 

report, which blamed the Saudi 

coalition for more than 680 child 

casualties and three-quarters of the 

attacks on schools and hospitals, is 

made public. 

The Saudi-led coalition had 

been named on the blacklist last 

year after the UN report blamed it 

for 60% of child deaths and injuries 

in Yemen in 2015 and half the 

attacks on schools and hospitals. • 

Meet UK’s first British-Bangladeshi Justice 


FEATURE 

Akhlaq Ur-Rahman Choudhury has 

become the first British person of 

Bangladeshi origin to have been 

appointed as a Justice of the British 

High Court. 

In an official statement on Friday, 

the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary 

of UK said: “The Queen 

has been pleased to approve the 

appointment of Mr Akhlaq Ur-Rahman 

Choudhury QC to be a Justice 

of the High Court with effect from 2 

October 2017.” 

Akhlaq will be addressed as the 

Honourable Mr Justice Choudhury. 

The 50-year-old was called to 

the Bar in 1992 and became a Recorder 

in 2009. He was appointed 

Akhlaq Ur-Rahman Choudhury 

as a Queen’s Counsel in 2015. In 

2016, he was appointed as a deputy 

judge with the High Court. 

Akhlaq achieved his Bachelor’s 

degree in chemistry from 

Glasgow University. He is also a 

Bachelor in Law from University 

of London. 

His parents migrated to the 

UK from Zakiganj, Sylhet in 

what was then known as East 

Pakistan. Akhlaq’s father Azizur 

Rahman Choudhury was the 

first Bangladeshi to open a 

restaurant in Scotland located in 

Aberdeen by the name of “The 

Bengal.” During the Liberation 

War, Akhlaq’s father and mother 

Sultana Choudhury helped raise 

funds for the war effort and were 

recognised by General MAG 

Osmani. •

News 

9 


DT 

‘Bangabandhu started protesting 

injustice during school life’ 

• Fazlur Rahman Raju 

EVENTS 

Recalling the early days of 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman, University 

Grants Commission (UGC) 

Chairman Professor Abdul 

Mannan has said the Father 

of the Nation had been vocal 

against injustice even when 

he was merely a schoolboy. 

The UGC chief, as the guest 

speaker, was addressing a programme 

titled “Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib: Ekjon Protibadi 

Manusher Protikriti” in Dhaka 

yesterday, which was chaired 

by eminent historian Professor 

Muntasir Mamoon. 

Abdul Mannan said: 

“Bangabandhu did not wait 

until his university life to 

protest any injustice. He had 

raised his voice during the 

non-cooperation movement 

against the British rule, when 

he was only at school in Tungipara, 

Gopalganj.” 

“During his college days in 

Kolkata, Bangabandhu was 

actively involved in forming 

a student organisation,” 

said Abdul Mannan, adding, 

aiming to save the lives of innocent 

people, Bangabandhu 

also voluntarily worked 

during the Direct Action Day, 

on August 16 in 1946, when 

a massive Muslim-Hindu riot 

had sparked in Kolkata.” •

10 


DT 

Finnish police 

investigating 

stabbing spree as 

terror crime 

• Reuters, Helsinki 

WORLD 

Finnish police are investigating Friday’s 

knife attacks that killed two 

and wounded eight in the city of 

Turku as terrorism-related crimes, 

they said on Saturday. 

The suspect arrested on Friday 

was an 18-year-old Moroccan, police 

said, adding that the two people 

killed were Finns and an Italian 

and two Swedish citizens were 

among the injured. 

The attacks shocked the Nordic 

country where violent crime is 

relatively rare and which has been 

named as the world’s safest place 

to visit by the World Economic Forum. 

Following the attacks on Friday, 

police shot the suspected attacker 

in the leg and arrested him. 

“Due to information received 

during the night, the Turku stabbings 

are now being investigated as 

murders with terrorist intent,” the 

National Bureau of Investigation 

said in a statement. 

Security was reinforced nationwide 

with increased patrols and 

more surveillance in case more 

people were involved. • 

News 

BNP: Polls under current 

EC won’t be fair 

• Manik Miazee 

POLITICS 

BNP leaders have reiterated that 

polls held under the current Election 

Commission (EC) will not be 

free and fair. 

In separate programmes held in 

Dhaka yesterday, top BNP leaders 

made the statements with many of 

them heavily criticising the EC. 

They alleged that the EC was 

working to ensure the ruling Awami 

League’s victory in the next 

general election and help the party 

fulfill its agenda. 

Questing the role of the EC, BNP 

Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir said: “Is the implementation 

of the government order 

their (EC high officials) main task?” 

According to the BNP leader, the 

country is going through a political 

crisis and in such a situation, holding 

an acceptable election under the 

present government is not possible. 

“The national elections will not 

be impartial without any neutral 

polls-time government,” he feared. 

On a separate note, Fakhrul said 

the ruling party was trying to create 

anarchy in the country over the 

16th Amendment verdict. 

He, however, said the government 

had the right to seek review of 

the verdict to help restore the 16th 

Amendment to the constitution. 

“Not only Awami League forcibly 

met the president, but also the 

prime minister sat with him over 

the verdict, which left the people 

worried,” he further said. 

Meanwhile, BNP standing committee 

member Moudud Ahmed 

Teen girl raped by ruling party leader 

• Md Serajul Islam, Sylhet 

CRIMES 

A teenage girl has been raped allegedly 

by a local Awami League 

leader at Maijkandi village under 

Zakiganj upazila in Sylhet. 

Quoting victim’s family, local 

journalist Abdul Hasib Tapader said 

Zakiganj municipality ward unit AL 

General Secretary Koysor Ahmed 

raped the girl on 12 August while she 

was home alone. 

termed the EC’s dialogues with 

political parties and civil society 

merely an eyewash. 

“The chief election commissioner 

(CEC) himself has a political 

identity. So, it is not impossible to 

hold a fair election under such a political 

figure,” he said in a party programme 

at the National Press Club. 

“Though the CEC has been talking 

about a credible election ever 

since taking office, he is not focusing 

on creating a level-playing field 

for all political parties ahead of the 

polls,” he alleged. • 

Chhatra Dal leader expelled for paying tribute 

to Bangabandhu on Facebook 


CURRENT AFFAIRSN 

The Central Committee of the Chhatra 

Dal, the student wing of the BNP, 

has expelled its Liberation War and 

Research Affairs Secretary Sardar 

Amirul Islam Sagar after he paid 

tribute to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman in a Facebook post. 

The status was posted on August 

15 remembering the day when Bangabandhu 

and most of his family 

members were assassinated in 1975. 

“Chhatra Dal President Rajib Ahsan 

and General Secretary Akramul 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

A human rights organisation 

rescued the girl and admitted to 

Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College 

Hospital, who returned home 

Thursday from the hospital. 

Koysor remained absconding and 

his mobile was switched off. But his 

family members forced the victim’s 

family to arbitrate the matter. 

Zakiganj police station’s Oficerin-Charge 

Habibur Rahman Patwary 

said he heard about the incident 

from locals and no case was 

filed in this regard as yet. 

Virtual Bangabandhu 

Memorial Museum to 

go online soon 

• Shohel Mamun 

FEATURE 

The Bangabandhu Memorial Museum 

will soon have a virtual version 

online, according to the curator of 

the museum. 

“Most of our work is complete 

or near completion,” said Curator 

of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum 

Nazrul Islam Khan. 

This will be the second virtual 

museum in Bangladesh, after the 

Bangladesh National Museum was 

virtually launched on April 25. 

Virtually, a visitor can get up 

close and personal to objects at the 

museum that most people cannot 

do, such as the staircase where the 

Father of the Nation was shot and 

killed. 

They can also see Bangabandhu’s 

bedroom where the calender 

still shows the page for August 

1975. The room is still kept the way 

it was the day he died, with Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman’s belongings like 

his transistor, three telephones, his 

Hasan took the decision as Sagar 

breached organisation discipline,” 

Abdus Sattar Patwari, office secretary 

of the BNP front wing, confirmed 

on Thursday (August 17). 

In his Facebook, Sagar wrote: 

“Humble tribute to Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman, one of the valiant soldiers 

of Bangladesh’s freedom fight, on 

his 42nd death anniversary.” 

The Chhatra Dal leader faced stiff 

criticism from fellow party leaders 

and activists, prior to being expelled 

for the social media post paying respect 

to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

However, he posted another status 

on his Facebook wall deleting 

the previous one. 

“I posted the status as a way 

of expressing political courtesy. 

Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia and 

even Tarique Rahman never deviated 

from extending this courtesy. 

I should follow them,” said the 

shocked Chhatra Dal leader, Sagar, 

in his new Facebook post. 

He also added: “I removed the 

previous status out of respect to 

my fellow leaders and activists 

who were hurt by the post. No autocrat 

or autocratic government 

will be spared, but there should be 

no individual conflict.” 

armchair and bed. 

The house where the entire family 

was killed on August 15, 1975 is 

perfectly preserved and has been 

open to the public as a memorial 

museum since 1994. 

With the help of technology, 

people from around the world can 

now get a better more intimate 

look at how the Father of the Nation 

lived and also how he was 

killed in that house. 

The private quarters of the 

prime minister and her sister, the 

only surviving members of the 

family are however inaccessible to 

the public both at the physical and 

virtual museum. 

The drawing room, dining room, 

Bangabandhu’s study and the bedrooms 

of the rest of the family 

is open to the public, with some 

scenes that might to be too graphic 

for young eyes, such as the bloodied 

floors and walls of the house where 

the family was gunned down. 

The Museum is currently open 

to all from 10am to 5pm six days a 

week, except Wednesdays. • 

A fraction of Chhatra League 

thinks that the order expelling 

Sagar went against the grain of 

party Chairwoman Khaleda Zia’s 

directives in this regard. 

In her speech during the BNP 

Council on March 19, 2016, Khaleda 

Zia said: “I remember the contribution 

of Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq, 

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Huseyn 

Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman and other national leaders. 

Their movements paved the way for 

the independence of Bangladesh.” • 

The article was first published on 

banglatribune.com 

In Bogra, a five-year girl was violated 

reportedly by a six grader at 

Kalerpara village in Dhunat upazila 

on Friday. 

Sub-Inspector Khokon Kunda of 

Dhunat police station said the boy 

lured the girl with a chocolate and 

took her to his house, where he allegedly 

sexually abused her. 

Locals rescued her in a critical 

condition and admitted to hospital. 

Victim’s mother later filed a case 

in this connection. Meanwhile, the 

rape accused’s mother was arrested 

to help her son flee. 

In Chuadanga, a housewife was 

raped by her neighbour Imran on 

Friday night at Jibannagar upazila, 

our correspondent Mehedi Hasan 

reported. 

SI Mokbul Hossain of Jibannagar 

police station said Imran entered 

the house of the woman and raped 

her at night while she was asleep. 

Police arrested the mother of 

Imran while he went into hiding. 

A case was filed over the rape 

incident. •

News 11 


Lebanese army, Hezbollah announce 

offensives against IS on Syrian border 

DT 

• Reuters, Beirut 

WORLD 

The Lebanese army launched an offensive 

on Saturday against an Islamic State enclave 

on the northeastern border with Syria, as the 

Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah announced 

an assault on the militants from the Syrian 

side of the frontier. 

The Lebanese army operation got underway 

at 0200 GMT, targeting Islamic State positions 

near the town of Ras Baalbek with rockets, 

artillery and helicopters, a Lebanese security 

source said. The area is the last part of the Lebanese-Syrian 

frontier under insurgent control. 

A security source said the offensive was 

making advances with several hills taken in 

the push against the militants entrenched on 

fortified high ground, in outposts and in caves. 

The operation by Hezbollah and the Syrian 

army targeted the area across the border 

in the western Qalamoun region of Syria. 

Hezbollah-run al-Manar TV said that its 

fighters were ascending a series of strategic 

heights known as the Mosul Mountains that 

overlook several unofficial border crossings 

used by the militants. 

A Hezbollah statement said the group was 

meeting its pledge to “remove the terrorist 

threat at the borders of the nation” and was 

fighting “side by side” with the Syrian army. 

Sensitive 

Any joint operation between the Lebanese 

army on the one hand and Hezbollah and the 

Syrian army on the other would be politically 

sensitive in Lebanon and could jeopardise 

the sizeable US military aid the country 

receives. 

In a recent speech, Hezbollah leader 

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Lebanese 

army would attack Islamic State from its side 

of the border, while Hezbollah and the Syrian 

army would simultaneously assault from the 

other side. 

Last month, Hezbollah forced Nusra Front 

militants and Syrian rebels to leave nearby 

border strongholds in a joint operation with 

the Syrian army. • 

Lebanese soldiers fire artilleries in Ras Baalbek, Lebanon August 17, 2017 

REUTERS 

Daraz offers massive discount 

on their 3rd anniversary 


METRO 

The popular e-commerce platform daraz. 

com.bd is celebrating its third anniversary of 

launching in Bangladesh through a massive 

anniversary sale campaign to run from August 

20 to 26, 2017. 

The sales campaign will offer discounts 

up to 70% on more than a hundred thousand 

products, along with free delivery. 

Limited stocks of products like Unilever’s 

PureIts, fidget spinners, men’s watches, 

camping gear, beard trimmers and many 

more will be available at Tk3 only. 

The first three days will see the anniversary 

celebrated by mark-downs in various 

categories. The first day will see discounts on 

appliances, televisions, and in the home and 

living and baby, kids and toys departments. 

Discounts in fashion, health and beauty departments 

will be available on the second 

day, while products in phones and tablets, 

computing and games and sports and fitness 

departments will have their prices slashed 

on the third day. 

Alongside the discounts, Daraz will also 

hold seven flash sales during the seven-day 

campaign. These flash sales will be held between 

3pm and 12am. 

Those banking and payment partners that 

are supporting the campaign, City Bank, 

Standard Chartered Bank, Bank Asia, UCB 

Bank, NRB Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, BRAC 

Bank and Eastern Bank are also offering 0% 

EMI over the seven-day period. City Bank 

and bKash will also offer up to 10% and 20% 

cash back respectively. 

Daraz, founded in 2012, is one of the leading 

e-commerce platforms in South Asia, operating 

in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, 

Nepal and Pakistan. Begun as an online fashion 

marketplace in Pakistan, the company 

has since diversified to selling a wider range 

of products. •

DT 

12 

Editorial 


TODAY 

When water is 

a weapon 

Water has always been used as a 

medium of control by powerful 

countries over weaker ones 

PAGE 13 

RAJIB DHAR 

Anxiety in the 

Korean peninsula 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also 

urged North Korea to be more cautious 

about its tests and about attacking 

Guam 

PAGE 14 

Your licence, please 

As terrifying as it may sound, something 

like 80% of drivers of BRTA-registered 

vehicles do not have the appropriate 

licence to be behind a wheel. 

Many are driving heavy vehicles while they are 

licensed for only light to medium vehicles, or have 

no licence at all. 

And it should come as no surprise to anyone who 

has seen the tender faces of many of these drivers, 

that the roads are filled with drivers not old enough 

to even qualify for licences. 

Is it any surprise, then, that Bangladesh’s road 

fatality rate is so high? 

It is appallingly irresponsible of the authorities to 

let untrained, unlicensed hands endanger the lives 

of all those who travel on our roads and highways. 

These unfit drivers need to be taken off the street 

immediately. 

It is appallingly 

irresponsible of the 

authorities to let 

untrained, unlicensed 

hands drive buses 

Wake up and smell 

the Nazis 

Anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-Islam 

positions and economic nationalism 

are the key ideals advocated by these 

parties 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

Send us your Op-Ed articles: 

opinion.trib@gmail.com 

www.dhakatribune.com 

Join our Facebook community: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

DhakaTribune. 

The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

PAGE 15 

You call this punishment? 

The arrest of Tufan and his accomplices, 

convicted in the recent high-profile rape 

and torture case, seems to have been a 

parody of justice -- a mere masquerade. 

It has been revealed that instead of paying 

for their heinous crimes against two innocent 

victims, who nearly lost their lives and suffered 

irreversible trauma, the perpetrators are living in 

luxury in prison. 

The idea of justice requires that the offender’s 

punishment should be, at least, proportionate 

to the suffering he has inflicted on the victim, 

but taking recreational drugs and being on 

the phone with friends hardly seem like 

punishment, let alone proportionate. 

Punishment needs to send a strong message 

to would-be rapists, and in this case, the wrong 

message is being sent. 

Punishment needs to 

send a strong message 

to would-be rapists

When water is a weapon 

Is the flood in Bangladesh an outcome of trans-boundary harm? 

Opinion 13 

DT 


No way to live 

• Aiman R Khan 

Every monsoon, the dam 

that divides the river 

Ganges between India 

and Bangladesh becomes 

the reason for mass suffering. We 

brace ourselves for a massive flood 

as the water enters Bangladesh 

through the Farakka barrage. 

Crops are destroyed, lives are 

lost, causing a huge impact on 

Bangladesh’s economy. This has 

been the case for a long while now, 

and little has been done to solve it. 

Water has always been used as 

a medium of control by powerful 

countries over weaker ones. The 

less powerful countries have little 

or no choice but to comply and 

negotiate if a powerful one uses its 

water as a manipulative tool. This 

is exactly what has been going on 

between India and Bangladesh 

over its shared waters. 

Politics and treaties 

The sharing of the trans-boundary 

water accelerated political tension 

over the years. Hence, dispute 

related to it is not new in this 

part of the world. With 53 transboundary 

rivers shared by the 

two countries, tensions related to 

water have been prevalent for the 

last 50 years. 

The Treaty of Friendship, 

Cooperation, and Peace with 

India in 1972 contributed to the 

construction of the Farakka 

barrage with a view to cooperate 

in the field of flood management 

in both India and Bangladesh. 

A series of bilateral agreements 

followed and finally in 1996 the 

Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was 

signed. It was largely expected 

that the issues will finally be 

settled. 

The 1996 Treaty appeared 

promising, incorporating many 

international environmental 

law principles like “mutual 

accomodation” and “optimum 

utilisation.” 

It also talked about flood 

management like its predecessor. 

Article II (iii) of the treaty talks 

about the principles of equity, 

fairness, and No-Harm which is 

also in line with the International 

Environmental Law. 

However, critics found the 

treaty faulty as it lacks a guarantee 

clause and arbitration clause as 

means of dispute resolution. 

Doubts have arisen on the treaty’s 

efficiency to tackle emergency 

situations even after its ambitious 

provisions. 

The only remaining treaty 

governing the water issue between 

the two countries now lacks 

proper enforcement mechanism. 

Surprisingly, none of the five 

major environmental instruments 

in Bangladesh talks about transboundary 

harm by water. 

However at a global level, the 

rights therein may be extracted. 

There are international laws that 

would acknowledge the opening 

of Farakka to be the cause of transboundary 

harm to Bangladesh. 

International Environmental 

Law is comprised of a set of 

principles from customary 

international law. Among the few, 

two important principles relevant 

to our concern are “Equitable and 

Reasonable Utilisation” and the 

“No-Harm” principle. 

Historically, these doctrines 

emerged to urge nations to protect 

the environment even if it is a part 

of another territory. 

For a better understanding of 

the theory, it must be clarified 

what equity means in international 

law. According to the International 

Court of Justice in the Tunisia- 

Libya Continental Shelf Case: 

“Equity as a legal concept is a 

direct emanation of the idea of 

justice.” Therefore in our context, 

an equitable utilisation would 

mean the responsibility of a state 

in using of a shared resource with 

another state, justly. 

No harm, no foul 

The No-Harm Principle suggests 

every state is duty-bound to 

prevent, reduce, and control the 

risk of environmental harm to 

other states. According to this 

principle, states must ensure that 

activities within their jurisdiction 

do not cause significant crossboundary 

environmental damage. 

A classic example of this doctrine 

can be seen in the Trail Smelter 

Case (United States v Canada). 

The no-harm rule has been 

incorporated in various law and 

policy documents. For instance, 

Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm 

Declaration provides that: “States 

have, in accordance with the 

Charter of the United Nations and 

the principles of international law, 

the sovereign right to exploit their 

own resources pursuant to their 

own environmental policies, and 

the responsibility to ensure that 

activities within their jurisdiction 

or control do not cause damage to 

the environment of other states 

or of areas beyond the limits of 

national jurisdiction.” 

Article 194 of the 1982 United 

Nations Convention on the Law of 

the Sea (UNCLOS) states: “States 

shall take all measures necessary 

to ensure that activities under 

their jurisdiction or control are so 

conducted as not to cause damage 

by pollution to other states and 

their environment.” 

Similarly, the 1992 Rio 

Declaration on Environment and 

Development (Principle 2), the 

Convention on Biological Diversity 

(Article 3), and the UNFCCC (in 

recital 8 of its preamble) all talk 

about the No-Harm Principle. 

Water has always been used as a medium of control by powerful 

countries over weaker ones 

These customary international 

rules have made its way into 

many international treaties and 

conventions regarding shared 

waters: 

1. The Madrid Declaration 

on the international regulation 

regarding the use of international 

watercourses for purposes other 

than navigation 1911 talks about 

any river or stream between two 

states. 

2. Articles on Flood Control, 

New York, 1972, states that 

co-operation with respect to 

flood control may, by agreement 

between basin states, include 

execution of flood control 

measures, among others. 

3. The Helsinki Rules on the 

Uses of the Waters of International 

Rivers 1966 of the International 

Law Association talks about the 

principle of equitable utilisation 

of the waters of an International 

drainage basin. 

FOCUS BANGLA 

4. The Convention on the 

Protection and Use of Transboundary 

Watercourses and 

International Lakes 1997 or the 

UN Watercourses Convention 

talks about the scope of Equitable 

Utilisation and the No-Harm 

principle. 

5. The Articles on Responsibility 

of States for Internationally 

Wrongful Acts 2001 talks about 

the international responsibility 

of a state for doing a wrongful 

act. Intentional flooding or not 

using trans-boundary waters 

reasonably may be considered to 

be a wrongful act. 

6. The Berlin Rules on Water 

Resources 2004 supersedes 

International Law Association’s 

previous water laws, the Helsinki 

Rules 1966. 

The new law has been 

revised to include statements 

advocating public participation, 

environmental sustainability, 

equitable and reasonable water 

utilisation, and causing no 

significant harm. 

Although, neither India nor 

Bangladesh is a signatory to any of 

the conventions mentioned above, 

they are parties to the Stockholm 

Declaration of 1972, the Rio 

Declaration 1992, Convention on 

Biological Diversity (CBD), and the 

UNCLOS 1982. 

Currently, there is no binding 

international agreement on transboundary 

water in force. 

But since both the countries 

are parties to the conventions that 

talk about the No Harm Principle, 

there is still a ray of hope for 

Bangladesh. 

Under these instruments, the 

flooding of Bangladesh as a transboundary 

harm is highly likely to 

be recognised at an international 

level. • 

Aiman R Khan is a trainee lawyer at 

Dhaka Judge Court.

14 


DT 

Opinion 

Anxiety in the Korean peninsula 

Will more sanctions against North Korea be effective? 

P O S T 

BREAKFAST 

• Muhammad Zamir 

David Wright, an 

international expert on 

the technical aspects of 

arms control, particularly 

those related to missile defense 

systems, missile proliferation, 

and space weapons, recently 

made an interesting analysis on 

North Korea and its reckless use of 

missiles to draw attention to itself. 

He pointed out that on July 28, 

Pyongyang demonstrated that it 

is not only acquiring expertise but 

also has the ability to potentially 

strike a US State. 

The July 28 test apparently 

demonstrated that Pyongyang can 

now fire a missile almost straight 

up to an altitude of about 2,300 

miles and that on a standard 

trajectory it would have the range 

to reach a number of major cities 

in the US from the east to the west 

coast. 

To be fair, not all of North 

Korea’s missile launches have been 

successful. 

There were three failures in 

April after the failed test in March. 

Little is known about why those 

launches failed or even what 

missile was fired in March. 

At any rate, the United States 

along with Japan and South 

Korea, have decided to adopt 

a more hands-on response as a 

consequence of these long-range 

missile tests, with a re-think in 

tactics. 

Nations unite 

The US is taking the lead in the 

UN towards the adoption of a 

Resolution by the UN Security 

Council for unanimously imposing 

new sanctions on North Korea. 

Even Russia and China, two 

countries that have previously 

differed with others on how to 

handle Pyongyang, participated 

in this vote and joined in calls for 

North Korea to stop its missile 

tests; however, they also urged 

the US and South Korea to halt 

military drills. 

The sanctions include the 

following: (a) A ban on imports 

of coal, seafood, iron and iron 

ore, lead and lead ore from North 

Korea; (b) countries won’t receive 

new North Korean workers; (c) a 

ban on further joint ventures with 

North Korean entities or individuals; 

(d) no new investment in existing 

joint ventures; (e) targeting 

more individuals with travel bans 

and asset freezes; and (f) member 

states have to report to the 

Security Council within 90 days on 

how they have implemented this 

resolution. 

North Korea has yet to officially 

respond to the new sanctions. 

However, a senior official has said: 

“We will make our stance clear 

when things are determined.” 

An alternative approach 

On the other hand, North 

Korea’s ruling party newspaper 

-- Rodong Sinmun -- has bluntly 

stated that nuclear action or 

sanctions taken by Washington 

would lead to an “unimaginable 

sea of fire” engulfing the US. 

Analyst Alexander Gillespie 

has made some interesting 

observations in this regard. 

He has pointed out that Trump 

and his allies could choose to 

expand the THAAD system of 

missile air defence but the risk 

with this approach is that it will 

lead to both North Korea and 

China rattling their sabres even 

louder. 

Although the chances of 

these planned events leading to 

intentional war is very small, “the 

risks of unplanned events caused 

by paranoia, accidents, mistakes, 

or uncontrolled anger make 

this one of the most dangerous 

situations facing humanity since 

we almost had a nuclear war over 

Cuba in 1962.” 

The world needs to remember 

that North Korea is the country 

that the 2014 Commission 

of Inquiry by the UN Human 

Rights Council accused of 

crimes of extermination, 

murder, enslavement, torture, 

imprisonment, rape, forced 

abortions, persecution on political, 

racial, and gender grounds, 

enforced disappearance of 

persons, and prolonged starvation 

-- and that did not bother them 

at all. Nevertheless, despite 

the sanctions and international 

warnings and the stubbornness 

on the part of the North Korean 

authorities, there has been a faint 

glimmer of hope in the evolving 

dynamics. 

Informally, North Korea is 

supposed to have remarked that 

South Korea’s offer of talks was 

The North Korean dictator is a headache for many countries 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also urged North Korea to be more 

cautious about its tests and about attacking Guam 

“insincere.” This possible rejection 

has been interpreted as being 

connected with the mounting 

sanctions on North Korea. The 

Foreign Minister of China, 

Pyongyang’s closest ally (also 

present in the ASEAN meeting) 

was however more optimistic. 

He told journalists on August 7: 

“My feeling is that the North did 

not entirely reject the positive 

proposals raised by the South.” 

Wang Yi added that China also 

supported the South’s initiatives. 

This was the first high-level 

encounter between the two Koreas 

since South Korean President 

Moon Jae-in took office in May 

this year. Moon has long been a 

proponent of greater dialogue 

with Pyongyang in order to diffuse 

tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 

He helped craft the so-called 

“Sunshine Policy,” which called 

for increased engagement in the 

political and economic spheres. 

Unresponsive and uncooperative 

In July, South Korea’s Defence 

Ministry also proposed talks 

between the representatives of 

the two countries’ militaries at 

Tongil-gak on the North Korean 

side of Panmunjom, the so-called 

truce village in the De-militarised 

Zone (DMZ) that separates the 

two rivals. North Korea has yet to 

respond to the overtures. 

BIGSTOCK 

US Secretary of State Rex 

Tillerson, in a recent discussion 

with the Russian foreign minister 

on growing tensions between the 

USA and Russia, also urged North 

Korea to be more cautious about 

its tests and about attacking Guam. 

He reiterated that the US hopes 

North Korea will choose a different 

path, and “when the conditions 

are right, we can sit and have a 

dialogue around the future of 

North Korea so that they feel 

secure and prosper economically.” 

The US has long said it would 

agree to talk only if North Korea 

agrees to denuclearisation -- 

something many analysts believe 

is unlikely. • 

Muhammad Zamir, a former 

Ambassador and Chief Information 

Commissioner of the Information 

Commission, is an analyst specialised in 

foreign affairs, right to information and 

good governance, He can be reached at 

muhammadzamir0@gmail.com.

Opinion 15 

Wake up and smell the Nazis 

The politics of hatred are everywhere 

DT 


off as he managed to impress 

ultra-conservative catholic and 

evangelical voters as well as 

college-educated voters aspiring 

for a less competitive job market. 

And, meanwhile, in Germany, 

Chancellor Angela Merkel received 

backlash after announcing to 

welcome refugees from war-torn 

Syria. 

Keeping it in the family 

Another key characteristic of 

these right-wing populist parties 

is the promotion of economic 

nationalism. They are the 

promoter of “mercantilist” or 

protectionist economic policies. 

UKIP, National Front, Freedom 

Party all are anti European Union 

parties. UKIP had the front-line 

role for the “Leave” campaign in 

Brexit referendum. 

Donald Trump repealed TPP 

agreement after his presidential 

win. He deliberately repeated, 

somewhat in a loop, that he was 

not a supporter of “free trade” 

their political advantage to fuel 

Islamophobia and raise fear among 

their voters about “Islamisation.” 

Telling tales 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi used his ultra-nationalist 

and pro-Hindu policy to bring a 

“saffron storm” in state election 

of Uttar Pradesh, the biggest 

province of India during February- 

March 2017. Without giving a 

single nomination to Muslim 

candidate in a state where 20% of 

the population are Muslims. And 

so, Modi and his BJP party sent 

a clear signal that BJP will not 

appease minorities. 

Populist parties of Europe and 

America promote each other in 

direct and indirect manners. 

1. Liberals believe that 

Russian President Vladimir Putin 

authorised the hacking of DNC and 

influenced the election. 

2. Donald trump himself 

promoted Brexit and stands 

against EU. 

Anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti-Islam positions 

and economic nationalism are the key ideals 

advocated by these parties 

There should be no room for such overt racism in the 21st century 

REUTERS 

• FM Arafat 

The right-wing populist 

movement has become 

a dominant force in 

Western politics in the 

recent past. 

Following Brexit and victory of 

Donald Trump in the US election, 

the surge of right-wing populists 

is facing a test in wake of the 

election in France and upcoming 

German federal election. 

The manifesto of right-wing 

populist parties the world over 

has shaken the core institutional 

and pluralist values of Western 

liberal democracies. The antiestablishment 

populist movement 

is bound to challenge the status 

quo of the liberal political order 

for the first time in the post WWII 

period after the demise of Adolf 

Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and 

Francisco Franco -- all of whom 

spearheaded Nazi and fascist 

parties. 

Anti-immigration, anti-EU, anti- 

Islam positions, and economic 

nationalism are the key ideals 

advocated by these parties. 

Sometimes, they propagate 

“disinformation” or “fake news” 

to create an axis of fear and 

fuel insecurities and grievances 

among people. There is a strong 

assumption among Western 

liberals that the spread of “fake 

news” is orchestrated by Russia. 

You aren’t welcome here 

One of the focal points of the surge 

of populist movements is its antiimmigration 

motto. Because of the 

economic recession of 2008-14, 

people in the West were frustrated 

and angry with their respective 

governments. 

In the meantime, major 

terrorist attacks such as 9/11 

and 7/7 perpetrated by illegal 

or temporary immigrants made 

people intolerant of immigrants. 

The negative perception about 

the immigrants fueled the rightwing 

politics as many populist 

parties like UKIP of UK, Freedom 

Party of the Netherlands, and the 

Tea Party movement of the US 

were founded in the early 2000s. 

Donald Trump, in his campaign, 

accused migrants of stealing jobs 

and prescribed building a wall 

in US-Mexico border to prevent 

illegal trespassing. Ultimately, 

his anti-immigration policy paid 

and that the US was being cheated 

by codifying treaties like TPP or 

TTIP. Such policies are getting 

popularity among people because 

of the false promise of creating 

more jobs by populist leaders 

as well as ultra-nationalistic or 

patriotic message circulated by 

them. 

Divide and conquer 

Growing “Islamophobia” is another 

essential factor which led to the 

surge of right-wing populism. After 

the 9/11 attacks, Islam was seen 

as the root of all evil by some who 

did not understand the religion. 

Subsequent terror attacks carried 

out by Islamist fundamentalists 

and the rise of IS consolidated the 

general fear and hatred against 

Islam. 

On the other hand, the 

Muslim population in Europe 

is growing faster than the 

Christian population because 

of immigration. A report by the 

Pew Research Centre predicted 

that Muslim population in 

Europe will be doubled by 2050 

(up to more than 10% of total 

population). Populist parties took 

this information and used it as 

3. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage 

visited the US during Trump’s 

presidential campaign. 

4. French far right leader, 

Marine Le Pen visited Russia 

to meet Putin in March which 

invoked suspicion of Russian 

involvement in French and 

German elections. 

Another integral part of the 

populist surge which could not be 

ignored is the leadership quality 

of the leaders. The charismatic 

leadership of Donald Trump 

played a pivotal role in his victory. 

To listen to what liberals claim to 

be outright lies in his campaign 

speeches, millions of people 

attended his campaign rallies. 

With growing Islamist and 

Christian fundamentalism, 

European and American politics 

is passing a period of substantial 

change. 

It is apparent that the reality 

of right-wing populism cannot 

be ignored, and we can no longer 

overlook how xenophobic or 

bigoted it is. • 

FM Arafat is a graduate student of 

international relations at the University 

of Dhaka.

16 


DT 

Downtime 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

1 Bathroom item (4) 

4 Giver (5) 

8 Breed of sheep (6) 

9 Avoid (4) 

11 King with the Golden 

Touch (5) 

12 Otherwise (4) 

14 Bishop’s territory (3) 

15 Mountains (6) 

19 Changes (6) 

21 Consume (3) 

22 Fasteners (4) 

24 Servants (5) 

27 Slender support (4) 

29 Sale to consumer (6) 

30 Poor (5) 

31 Prophet (4) 

DOWN 

1 Distress call (3) 

2 Talisman (6) 

3 Female swans (4) 

4 Obscure (3) 

5 Vegetable (5) 

6 Indicate assent (3) 

7 Oppose (6) 

10 Part of the foot (4) 

13 Do wrong (3) 

14 Fish (6) 

16 Serpent (3) 

17 Mild (6) 

18 Comfort (4) 

20 Concluded (5) 

23 Egyptian goddess (4) 

25 Anger (3) 

26 Pigs’ enclosure (3) 

28 Spoil (3) 

CODE-CRACKER 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 17 represents Q so fill Q 

every time the figure 17 appears. 

You have two letters in the control 

grid to start you off. Enter them in the 

appropriate squares in the main grid, then 

use your knowledge of words to work out 

which letters go in the missing squares. 

Some letters of the alphabet may not be 

used. 

As you get the letters, fill in the other 

squares with the same number in the 

main grid, and the control grid. Check 

off the list of alphabetical letters as you 

identify them. 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

CALVIN AND HOBBES 

SUDOKU 

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the 

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

contain all nine digits with no number repeating. 

PEANUTS 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

What’s on 

17 


DT 

EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY 

THEATRE 

MOVIE 

Fashion show and exhibition 

at Prem’s Collections 

STAR CINEPLEX (August 

20) 

HORGOJ 

When 7-9:30pm 

Where Experimental Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala 

Academy, Shegun Bagicha Road, Dhaka 

What Written by Selim Al Deen, the play depicts stories of 

the working class, different professional groups and ethnic 

communities living in Bangladesh and their age-old cultures. 

RUPCHAN SHUNDORIR PALA 

When 7:30-9pm 

Where Studio Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, 

Shegun Bagicha Road, Dhaka 

What A mono-drama written and directed by Sayik 

Siddiquee, the play depicts the tragic story of a rural woman 

named Rupchan, who falls in love with Sujon, a man from 

the same village. 

EXHIBITION 

A THOUSAND TALES 

When 5-8pm 

Where Gallery Chitrak, Road 6, House 4, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 

What A group exhibition of artworks with their own diverse 

stories by young artists of today, where renowned artist 

Mustafa Monwar will be present as the chief guest. 

CONCEALED 

When 5-8pm 

Where Kala-Kendra, 1/11, Iqbal Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka 

What Conceptual photography by Habiba Nowrose. 

SOLO ART EXHIBITION 

When 5-8pm 

Where EMK Center, Midas Center, Road New 16 Old 27, 

Dhanmondi, Dhaka 

What Artist Syed Nazmus Sakib explores human emotions, 

people and nature in his first solo art exhibition. 

Viceroy’s House (2D): 11:30am, 

2:10pm, 4:40pm, 7:10pm 

Dunkirk (2D): 1pm, 7:20pm 

Spiderman Homecoming (3D): 

10:50am, 1:45pm, 4:40pm, 7:30pm 

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature 

(3D): 10:50am, 3:20pm, 5:20pm 

Atomic Blonde (2D): 11:10am, 

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

Voyangkor Sundor (2D): 11am, 

1:50pm, 4:10pm, 6:50pm 

Annabelle: Creation (2D): 11:20am, 

2pm, 5pm, 7:30pm 

BLOCKBUSTER CINEMAS 

(August 20) 

Transformers-The Last Knight (3D): 

11:30am, 4:30pm, 7:30pm 

Spider-Man Homecoming (3D): 

1:45pm, 4:30pm, 7:20pm 

The Mummy (3D): 12:10pm, 5pm 

Baywatch (2D): 12pm, 2:30pm 

Despicable Me 3 (3D): 11:40am, 

2:30pm 

The Glass Castle (2D): 11:45am, 

2:05pm, 2:20pm, 5pm, 7:10pm, 

7:35pm 

Voyangkor Sundor (2D): 7:30pm 

Raiyan (2D): 2:20pm, 5pm 

Annabelle: Creation (2D): 11:45am, 

2:35pm, 4:45pm, 7:30pm 

Viceroy’s House (2D): 12pm, 5pm, 

7:25pm 

• Features Desk 

Prem’s Collections, a fashion mall in Dhaka, held an exhibition and 

sales yesterday on August 19. Rituparna Sengupta, the Indian film 

star, inaugurated the exhibition. 

The exhibition will showcase sarees from sixteen different states 

of India and Bangladesh. Earlier on August 18 Prems Collections 

organised fashion show featuring the Tollywod superstar Rituparna 

Sengupta to exhibit the new cloths available for the upcoming Eid. • 

Harriken Happy Hour 

Harriken Happy Hour is 

in town with a bunch of 

exciting deals for all food 

enthusiasts out there. 

Popular restaurants 

around the city have 

collaborated with 

Harriken to offer some 

lucrative deals on certain 

offerings between 

4-7pm, everyday till 

August 27, 2017. 

Happy hour is a 

globally accepted 

concept where 

restaurants have special 

deals available during off-peak hours (usually after lunch and before 

dinner time) when business is relatively slower. Harriken came up 

with the idea of giving exciting deals to all Harrikenators to ease their 

tiredness, as well as to increase the traffic to the restaurants. 

All customers have to do is display the Harriken app at the 

restaurant. The following is a list of all partner restaurants: 

Absolute Thai, Banani 

• Ci Gusta, Banani 

• Chaap Shamlao, Khilgaon and Uttara outlets 

• Dipsydo’s, Lalmatia 

• Salam’s Kitchen, Banani 

• The Dining Lounge, Khilgaon 

• The Juice Factory, Malibagh 

• Rizq Restaurant, Khilgaon 

• Eat & Enjoy, Khilgaon 

• Cafe 5 Six 7, Khilgaon 

• Grilled, Dhanmondi 

• Cox’s Bazar Fish Market, Banani 

For more information on Harriken Happy Hour, visit: 

www.harriken.com/collections/harriken-happy-hour 

Harriken for Android: 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.harriken 

Harriken for iOS: 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/harriken/id1064003113?mt=8 •

DT 

18 

Sports 


Smith wary of 

Tigers threat 

• Tribune Report 

The last time Bangladesh played a 

Test series against Australia, around 11 

years ago, current Aussie captain Steven 

Smith was playing age-level cricket 

and was finding his way into the men’s 

league. 

But what is more amazing is the fact 

that the two sides have faced each other 

only four times in the longest format 

since Bangladesh achieved Test status 

in the year 2000. 

The long wait however, will soon 

be over as Australia reached Dhaka on 

Friday night for the two-match Test 

series, a series initially scheduled for 

2011. 

The first Test gets underway in Mirpur 

on Sunday. 

What has drastically changed in 

these 11 long years is Bangladesh progressing 

in the format, making one 

mark after another. 

The Tigers’ most talked about win 

in recent times came when they last 

played a Test in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla 

National Stadium, against England in 

2016. 

As a result, the Tigers levelled the 

two-match series 1-1. 

Host Bangladesh will be keen to 

stick to the routine against Australia, 

kicking off from the same venue. 

As for the visiting side, the Aussies 

have struggled whenever they travelled 

to the sub-continent for Test series, 

winning only two matches in their 

six visits to Asia in the last 10 years. 

Their most recent win came against 

India in February this year. 

The Aussies started the four-match 

series against the Indians with a win, 

only to end the series with a 2-1 defeat. 

The other Test concluded in a draw. 

Such facts have only made the Bangladesh-Australia 

Test affair interesting 

and tourist captain Smith understands 

well their three-week long stay here 

will be challenging. 

“It will be a challenging series. 

Bangladesh have played some brilliant 

cricket here. They beat England in a 

Test match here not too long ago. We 

are going to see it as a bit of a challenge. 

Hopefully we can come with the thing 

we learned from India and bring that 

into the game here,” said Smith in his 

on-arrival press conference at the SBNS 

yesterday. 

“They have played some very good 

cricket here off late. Conditions are 

always foreign to us when we are in 

the sub-continent. The wickets are always 

not what we get at home. I hope 

we can learn from the last Test series 

in India. I expect we will come up to 

some pretty similar wickets, similar 

amount of spin. Hopefully we can learn 

from what we did there (in India),” the 

all-rounder added. 

In comparison to India and Sri Lanka, 

Bangladesh are still a weak proposition 

more often than not, despite playing 

at home. • 

Australia captain Steve Smith and David Warner inspect the Mirpur SBNS pitch yesterday 

Aussies refuse to 

play practice match 

• Minhaz Uddin Khan 

The two-day practice game between 

Australia and the BCB XI is uncertain 

after the visiting side told the BCB that 

they prefer regular training sessions 

instead of the warm-up match. 

It is understood that the Australia 

team management has already informed 

of their decision to the BCB 

through a letter yesterday evening. 

Before going into the two-match 

Test series against host Bangladesh 

starting from Sunday, the Aussies were 

scheduled to play a two-day game on 

Tuesday and Wednesday. 

However, it is understood that Australia 

team management found logistical 

complications in the alternative 

venues after the initial venue for the 

game, Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman 

Ali Stadium, was hit by severe waterlogging 

problem. 

The Fatullah issue emerged due to 

heavy rainfall over Dhaka in recent 

weeks. 

The BCB proposed three alternate 

venues to Cricket Australia – Sylhet, 

BKSP and University of Liberal Arts 

Bangladesh ground, located in central 

Dhaka. 

It took only moments for Sylhet to 

get ruled out of contention and ULAB 

ground to fall at the bottom of the list, 

considering vital facts, thus leaving 

BKSP as the only option. 

The Australia delegation visited 

BSKP yesterday to inspect facilities for 

the practice game. 

It is understood that the visiting 

side are not comfortable with the travel 

time as the venue is located almost 

35kms from the Australia team hotel. 

The BCB however, was confident of 

hosting the game in Fatullah, informed 

its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury to 

Dhaka Tribune yesterday. 

“The venue for the practice game is 

still undecided. We are hoping to have 

the match in Fatullah as the venue will 

have no issues if there is no rain,” said 

Nizamuddin. 

The second Test between the two 

teams will start from September 4. 

The Aussies are scheduled to leave 

Bangladesh on September 9. • 

Mahmudullah set for 

CPL with Jamaica 

• Minhaz Uddin Khan 

Bangladesh all-rounder 

Mahmudullah is set for his 

maiden participation in the 

CPL T20 for Jamaica Tallawahs. 

The right-arm all-rounder, 

who missed a berth in the Test 

squad against Australia, is understood 

to have confirmed a 

deal with the franchise. 

Mahmudullah will be the 

second Bangladesh cricketer 

to appear for Jamaica this season 

after all-rounder Shakib al 

Hasan. 

Shakib, who returned home 

on Monday to join the national 

camp for the two-match Test 

series against Australia, won 

two out of three matches while 

at Tallawahs. 

Shakib performed to the best 

of his ability against Barbados 

Tridents as he took a wicket and 

then added 44 to guide his side 

to victory by 12 runs. 

Mahmudullah is likely to 

obtain the No Objection Certificate 

from the BCB by today 

RAJIB DHAR 

and catch the flight to the Caribbean 

on Tuesday. 

He will be available for his 

first game on Friday when Jamaica 

take on Saint Lucia Stars. 

Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, 

Mahmudullah said, “The opportunity 

is big for me. I am 

thankful to those who gave me 

the opportunity. I hope I will be 

able to perform my best if given 

a chance. This is the first time I 

will be participating in the tournament 

so I hope I will be able 

to justify the aim of my team.” 

The 31-year old will be available 

for Jamaica for the rest of 

the CPL. 

The grand finale of the tournament 

is scheduled to be held 

in Trinidad on September 9. 

Mahmudullah is the fourth 

Bangladeshi to participate 

in the CPL T20 after Shakib, 

Tamim Iqbal and Mehedi 

Hasan Miraz. 

Miraz had a short stint with 

Trinbago Knight Riders this 

season but returned home 

without playing a game. •

AUSTRALIA TOUR OF BANGLADESH 

Sports 

Mahmudullah, Mominul 

dropped as Nasir returns 

• Ali Shahriyar Bappa 

All-rounder Mahmudullah and 

left-handed batsman Mominul 

Haque have been dropped from 

the 14-member Bangladesh squad 

for the first Test match against 

Australia, starting in Mirpur from 

August 27. 

National selectors Minhajul Abedin 

and Habibul Bashar announced 

the squad at the media centre of 

the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket 

Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. 

Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, 

who is a member of national 

selection committee, was also 

present at the press meet. 

Five changes have been made 

to the squad from their last Test 

against Sri Lanka earlier this year. 

Alongside Mominul and 

Mahmudullah, pacers Subashish 

Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Rubel 

Hossain have also been axed from 

the side. 

Mominul’s exclusion was a surprise 

call as he is regarded as one of 

the best Bangladesh Test batsmen 

over the past few years. 

Mominul’s recent form however, 

has gone a bit downward, 

compared to the blistering start he 

made in his Test career. 

With that said, being dropped 

from the side in a home series is 

probably a bit harsh for the top-order 

batsman. 

“Mahmudullah’s exclusion was 

expected as he was not in the last 

Test and we are playing back-toback 

series. And as for Mominul, 

he has been dropped due to his 

off-form. From January-August he 

has played six Test innings where 

he scored one half-century. That’s 

why he has been dropped. But he 

is in contention,” said chief selector 

Minhajul to the media. 

Three cricketers returned to the 

Test squad in the form of left-handed 

batsman Imrul Kayes, all-rounder 

Nasir Hossain and paceman 

Shafiul Islam. 

“Imrul and Soumya Sarkar are 

playing well in Mominul’s position 

at the batting order recently. 

Soumya scored four centuries in his 

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin addresses the media yesterday in Mirpur alongside 

selector Habibul Bashar and coach Chandika Hathurusingha 

RAJIB DHAR 

1ST TEST SQUAD 

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul 

Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib al Hasan, 

Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, 

Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, 

Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Shafiul Islam, 

Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman 

and Taskin Ahmed 

last eight innings with an average of 

45.75. And Imrul has an impressive 

record on home soil. Hence, Mominul 

had to go down as preference. 

But that does not mean Mominul’s 

career is over. Soumya scored lots 

of runs recently and we are planning 

to send Imrul as the No 3 batsman. 

That’s why Mominul has been 

dropped,” Minhajul informed. 

Mahmudullah’s exclusion from 

the squad was predictable as he 

was not in the playing XI in Bangladesh’s 

last Test. 

He was excluded ahead of Bangladesh’s 

100th Test back in March 

in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

The experienced right hander 

played brilliantly in the shorter formats 

since then, scoring a magnificent 

century against New Zealand 

in the Champions Trophy. 

The chief selector however, informed 

that good form in ODIs was 

not considered for Tests. 

“We are not counting ODI form 

for Tests. We are considering three 

formats differently. The decision has 

been taken after judging the overall 

situation,” Minhajul explained. 

All-rounder Nasir Hossain returned 

to the side after playing the 

last of his 17 Tests against South Africa 

in 2015. 

He has been in terrific form in 

the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket 

League this year and eventually 

earned a Test recall. 

The chief selector stated that 

the right-handed batsman and 

off-spinner has been included due 

to his additional off-spin ability. 

“We have counted Nasir slightly 

differently. Australia have plenty of 

left-handers in their batting lineup. 

We were looking for a player 

who can bat well and also have 

good off-spinning ability, just like 

Shuvagata [Hom] in the England 

series. Hence Nasir has been chosen,” 

said Minhajul. 

Shafiul has been called up to the 

Test format after his impressive performance 

in the practice match. • 

19 


DT 

Hathurusingha: 

Bangladesh not 

about Mominul only 


Mominul Haque’s exclusion from 

the Bangladesh Test squad against 

Australia created buzz all around 

as the left-hander has often been 

considered as one of the best Tigers 

batsmen in Tests in the last 

few years. 

The question in everyone’s mind 

was why Mominul was dropped. 

The national selection panel 

had to answer a series of questions 

regarding Mominul in the press 

conference during the squad declaration. 

Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha 

is also part of the selection 

panel. 

The coach thinks consistency is 

the only factor behind Mominul’s 

exclusion. 

“He was very good at the beginning. 

But now, not scoring runs is 

the only problem for Mominul. I 

think Mominul is doing everything 

possible to get back in the team. He 

has scored good runs in the practice 

match. But unfortunately, the 

guys in the team are scoring runs 

as well,” Hathurusingha told the 

media. 

“So Bangladesh is not about 

Mominul only. It’s about 11 players 

trying to win a game. We are not 

marginalising any player. I said before 

that everyone have been treated 

fairly. But you are concerning 

about one or two players. We have 

given everybody a fare chance, and 

it will happen in future. 

“Selection is done by consistency. 

Some of the guys were dropped 

for our last Test. I won’t mention 

name because the team is more important. 

Consistent selection gives 

a lot of confidence to players who 

perform. We have reason to make 

good calls because we have been 

consistent on selection. 

“The guys who played in the 

last game after losing the first Test 

(in Galle) came back and did well. 

Although the other guys are doing 

well in limited-overs cricket, unfortunately 

they have to wait for 

their time. Good thing is we are in 

a rich vein of form in the last few 

series. Players who got dropped - 

they have to wait. 

“As a coach, you have 

responsibility. But the player also 

knows what he has to do. They are 

working very hard on it. Somebody 

has to go out of the team when 

they are not performing,” he 

added. 

During the England Test 

series last year, it was learnt 

that Soumya Sarkar was in the 

squad as the team management 

thought including the left-hander 

might help him to maintain his 

confidence, despite being in a 

poor run of batting form. 

As for Mominul, when asked if 

the same process is being followed 

or not, Hathurusingha informed 

that the fairness factor has been 

applied for every player. 

“Those players who are not 

in the squad, are still practising. 

Confidence comes when we communicate 

with the player. There is 

no rule but fairness is applied for 

everybody. I don’t think we have 

any preference for any player. 

What we are trying to get is pulling 

the best out of the player, who are 

in form or who got opportunity to 

play,” he said. 

“Creating pressure is not for 

only this team. It’s for about the 

whole cricket of Bangladesh. If 

players are fighting for places, then 

I think our team is getting better. 

Because there is competition for 

places. 

“I want 11 players in the playing 

XI performing. My priority is not 

the individual player. My priority 

is the national team of Bangladesh 

and try to win matches for them,” 

he explained. 

Hathurusingha also admitted 

that he is confident Bangladesh 

will do well in the upcoming series 

if the players can play according to 

their potential. 

“We are very confident. We respect 

every team. But we never 

fear any team. We are confident 

that our team will play good cricket 

against Australia,” he concluded. •

20 


DT 

Sports 

MD MANIK 

OPINION 

What next for Mominul? 


2013 -2015 

Mominul Haque has been dropped from 

the first Test match squad against Australia. 

It must be hard for the fans to 

digest Mominul’s exclusion as he was 

compared with the legendary Sir Don 

Bradman just 12 months ago . 

The left-handed batsman’s recent loss 

of form is the reason behind his axing. 

But the question remains, did the Tigers 

team management carry out the proper 

approach for the batsman, who was once 

considered the most consistent and one 

of the best Bangladesh batsman in Tests? 

Let us consider Mominul’s situation. 

The start of his career was like a dream 

for him. He scored 10 consecutive Test 

half-centuries in his first eleven matches. 

At one stage of his career, in the late 2015, 

the average rose to 56. 

But from 2016 onwards, the scenario 

changed for Mominul. He played two 

Tests in 2016 and three this year. In fact, 

Bangladesh only played seven Tests in 

these two years. Mominul got injured 

ahead of the second Test against New 

Zealand in Christchurch in January, 2017, 

while he was dropped from the Colombo 

Test in March against Sri Lanka. So in two 

years, Mominul averaged only 23.2 as he 

scored 232 in 10 innings. Definitely a drop 

in standard from the top for Mominul. 

Among these five Tests, Mominul 

played two matches against England 

(scoring nought and 27 in the first Test 

and 66 and one in the second) at home 

Mats Inns Runs Ave HS 100s 50s 

17 30 1456 56.00 181 4 9 

2016 - 2017 


5 10 232 23.20 66 0 2 

OVERALL 


22 40 1688 46.88 181 4 11 

while he contested one Test against New 

Zeland away (making 64 and 23). He 

played once against India (scoring 12 and 

27) away and contested one against Sri 

Lanka (making seven and five) away. 

As a Test playing nation, question 

arises as to why Bangladesh play so less 

Tests compared to the other teams? 

That’s a topic for another day, but the 

point is when the Tigers’ best Test batsman 

(statistically until 2015) gets the 

opportunity to play only seven matches 

over the next two years, then it becomes 

extremely difficult for him to stay focused, 

both technically and mentally, in 

order to compete at the very top level of 

professional cricket. 

So it is the duty of the Tigers team 

management to keep the momentum 

right for a player like Mominul so that 

whenever a call comes up, he can perform 

well at the top level. One can’t just 

expect a guy playing Test cricket after 

eight-10 months and always score tons of 

runs straightaway. 

The problem for Mominul is that he 

was tagged as a Test specialist. If we look 

at other young players like Sabbir Rahman, 

Mosaddek Hossain and Mehedi 

Hasan Miraz, they have been gradually 

introduced in the different formats of the 

game, while Mominul always has to wait 

between different Bangladesh Test series’. 

One fifty in the last six innings is not 

enough for a player like Mominul to retain 

his place in the Test team, such logic 

is legitimate enough. But the question 

remains, is he given 100% gametime 

and other facilities to score half-century 

in every two or three innings against 

top-quality opposition? 

Chief national selector Minhajul Abedin 

informed that the team management 

has specific plan regarding Mominul. He 

is also under consideration for the tour 

of South Africa in September this year, 

which is Bangladesh’s next Test mission 

after the Australia series. 

Lets say Mominul is selected for that 

tour; it is highly unlikely for him to go 

there and score fifties and centuries on 

fast and bouncy pitches against the likes 

of Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and 

Kagiso Rabada, among others. But for 

Momnul, such kind of scenario is happening 

quite regularly as there was no 

“A” team tour for almost two years. 

So what next for Mominul? What is 

the solution? That answer must be solved 

soon but one thing’s for sure, the BCB has a 

tough task in its hand to preserve the talent 

and confidence of a player like Mominul. • 

ASCENT CORPORATE FIVE-A-SIDE SOCCER CUP 

Bando, Meena Sweets and City Bank win big 

• Tribune Report 

The action was fast and furious in 

the opening match of day three as 

IPDC and Gemsclip locked horns. 

This was a high intensity encounter 

as both teams were matched in 

every part of the pitch. Gemsclip 

took the impetus with Matiur, who 

displayed some stunning skills and 

scored a brace for the online stationary 

supplier. 

BRAC BANK 7-1 EUROVIGIL 

It wasn’t however, the best of starts 

for newbie Euro Vigil, who were on 

the receiving end of a 7-1 thrashing 

by Brac Bank. The banker’s experience 

was clear as they released 

a swarm of bees on the security 

firm’s goalkeeper. 

GE 0-7 MARICO 

Meanwhile, Marico also made their 

debut appearance memorable by 

hammering General Electric in a 

seven-goal rout. It was a splendid 

display by a newcomer in this 

tournament as they rampaged 

the GE goalkeeper in countless 

attacks. 

BONGO 3-4 ENERGYPAC 

This was a match for the neutrals 

as both Bongo and Energy Pac went 

at each other with hammers and 

tongs. In fact the two teams were 

so evenly matched that it took a 

strike by Shamim of Energypac in 

injury time to settle the score. 

LAL TEER 1-0 BITOPI 

Patience and perseverance always 

pay dividends in the end and Anik 

Action from the Ascent Corporate Soccer Cup in Dhaka yesterday COURTESY 

of Lal Teer scored literally with the 

last kick of the game. 

NEO ZIPPER 8-0 IDLC 

Neo Zipper are looking ominous in 

the group stage and could well be 

another dark horse emerging from 

Group K. They humbled IDLC in 

a 8-0 drubbing as Adnan of Neo 

Zipper netted six times while Joni 

and Rashed added to the goal 

spree. 

AAMRA COMPANIES 1-7 MTB 

Aamra’s miseries continued after 

they were systematically taken 

apart by the veteran Team MTB. 

CHEVRON 1-2 MULTIMODE 

Multimode looked a far better side 

after their defeat on Friday by Ascent 

as they narrowly beat Chevron 

in an enthralling 2-1 encounter. 

Raju and Mizan had an exceptional 

match for Multimode netting one 

each. 

CITY BANK 9-0 FOGG 

Fogg found out first hand how 

cruel the Ascent Cup can be to 

newcomers as they succumbed to 

a nine-nil hammering. However, 

their country director was in good 

spirit to see his team having a fun 

outing on the pitch and be a part of 

this prestigious tournament. 

STERLING 3-1 RAHIMAFROOZ 

Group E otherwise known as the 

“Group of Death” had the last remaining 

match as Sterling and 

Rahimafrooz went head to head. 

All three teams in this group have 

been evenly matched, even though 

Dhaka Tribune have topped the 

group. 

MEENA SWEETS 8-2 BAT 

BAT’s introduction to this year’s 

edition was not a kind one as Meena 

Sweets made small work of 

them. Punel had a glorious fivegoal 

haul and was seen running 

rings around the BAT defense. 

BANDO 11-0 ROBI 

Bando’s annihilation of Robi was 

made more spectacular by an exceptional 

performance from Shakil. 

He may well be a contender for 

the Most Valuable Player though 

it’s too early to tell.

Sports 

21 


DT 

Man Utd hit four again, Mane lifts Liverpool 

• AFP, London 

Romelu Lukaku was on target again 

as Manchester United continued 

their fine early-season form with a 

second successive 4-0 win yesterday, 

this time at Swansea City. 

Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba and substitute 

Anthony Martial also found 

the net at the Liberty Stadium, 

giving Jose Mourinho’s side their 

second big win after last weekend’s 

4-0 victory over West Ham United. 

RESULTS 

Bournemouth 0-2 Watford 

Richarlison 73, Capoue 86 

Burnley 0-1 West Brom 

Robson-Kanu 71 

Leicester 2-0 Brighton 

Okazaki 1, Maguire 54 

Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace 

Mane 73 

Southampton 3-2 West Ham 

Gabbiadini 11, Hernandez 45, 74 

Tadic 38-pen, Austin 90+3-P 

Swansea 0-4 Man United 

Bailly 45, Lukaku 80, 

Pogba 82, Martial 84 

Sadio Mane struck in the 73rd 

minute to give Liverpool a 1-0 

home win over Crystal Palace and 

get Jurgen Klopp’s side up and running 

after their 3-3 draw at Watford. 

“The team was confident from 

the first minute,” said Mourinho after 

a result that means United have 

scored four goals in their first two 

DAY’S WATCH 

FOOTBALL 

STAR SPORTS SELECT 1 

English Premier League 

6:30PM 

Huddersfield v Newcastle United 

9:00PM 

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea 

SONY TEN 1 

Italian Serie A 

10:00PM 

Atalanta v Roma 

1:00AM 

Inter Milan v Fiorentina 

SONY TEN 2 

French Ligue 1 

7:00PM 

Losc Lille SA v Caen 

Spanish La Liga 

10:00PM 

Athletic Bilbao v Getafe 

12:00PM 

FC Barcelona v Real Betis 

2:00AM 

Deportivo v Real Madrid 

CRICKET 

STAR SPORTS SELECT 2 

7:00PM 

West Indies Tour of England 

1st Test, Day 4 

SONY SIX 

3:00PM 

India Tour of Sri Lanka 

1st ODI 

Manchester United's Anthony Martial scores their fourth goal against Swansea City during their Premier League match yesterday in Wales 

league games for the first time in 

110 years. 

Having had to work hard to break 

Swansea down, United went in front 

just before half-time when Bailly 

stabbed in his first goal for the club 

after Lukasz Fabianski had pushed 

Pogba’s header against the bar. 

Henrikh Mkhitaryan teed up 

Lukaku for his fourth goal in three 

United games in the 80th minute 

and then freed Pogba to beat Fabianski 

with a delightful dinked 

finish before Martial tucked in a 

fourth. 

At Anfield, Liverpool manager 

Klopp made five changes to the 

team that won 2-1 at Hoffenheim 

in their Champions League play-off 

round first leg in mid-week. 

Dortmund: Dembele can 

join Barca for right price 

• AFP, Berlin 

Borussia Dortmund will sell wantaway 

winger Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona 

if their price is met, the German club said 

yesterday. 

“We have a clear position and a clear 

idea (of the price). If this idea is met, then 

he will transfer this summer,” Dortmund 

director of sport Michael Zorc told Sky before 

their match at Wolfsburg on the first 

weekend of the new Bundesliga season. 

“Otherwise he will stay with us - it’s as 

simple as that.” 

The 20-year-old Dembele attempted to 

force Dortmund into selling him to the Spanish 

giant by boycotting training last week, 

which led to him being indefinitely suspended, 

after Borussia rejected an initial bid. 

Barca are eager to sign Dembele and 

Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho to replace 

Neymar, who left for top-flight side Paris 

Saint-Germain. 

Frenchman Dembele has a contract until 

2021 with the German club. 

Reports claim Dortmund want 130m euros 

($152m) for the player they paid Rennes 

15m euros for last year, after rejecting an 

initial offer of 80m, plus a 40m bonus. 

Should Barcelona fail to meet the asking 

price, Dembele will have some bridges to 

build at Dortmund. 

“Of course there is a way back and that 

will be on September 1 when a transfer is 

no longer possible,” said Zorc. 

“The decision will not be met on transfer 

deadline day, it will be before that. 

“The situation is very challenging, we 

haven’t said it was easy.” 

Zorc confirmed reports Dembele has left 

Dortmund. 

“We know where he is, he’s in France. 

We had contact with his staff and his advisors,” 

he added. • 

Beaten 3-0 at home by Huddersfield 

Town on the opening 

weekend, Palace produced a much 

more solid display, but were undone 

with 17 minutes to play when 

Mane seized upon a loose ball to 

fire home. 

Narrowly beaten 4-3 by Arsenal 

in the season’s opening match, 

2016 champions Leicester City hit 

REUTERS 

back to beat Brighton and Hove 

Albion 2-0 at the King Power Stadium. 

Shinji Okazaki broke the deadlock 

after just 52 seconds, tapping 

in after Mathew Ryan saved from 

Riyad Mahrez, and Mahrez’s corner 

set up Harry Maguire to head 

in Leicester’s second early in the 

second half. • 

Anderson and Roland- 

Jones dominate Windies 

• Reuters, Birmingham 

James Anderson took three wickets and pulled off a fine 

run-out as England tightened their grip on the day-night 

Test match by reducing the West Indies to a sorry 145 for 

eight at lunch on the third day yesterday. 

Toby Roland-Jones also continued the fine start to his 

Test career by chipping in with two wickets as only Jermaine 

Blackwood showed any resistance with an unbeaten 

half-century in the visitor’s response to England’s mammoth 

514 for eight declared. 

Anderson, who had set the ball rolling with the first 

wicket on Friday, continued where he left off after a false 

start when the players had to come off after just one ball 

because of rain. 

On the resumption, England’s all-time leading wicket 

taker produced a sharp, rearing delivery off a length that 

had Kyle Hope helplessly steering the ball to Ben Stokes at 

gully. 

Anderson then ran out Kieran Powell, who had 

embarked on a calamitous quick single, with a direct hit 

before he got rid of Roston Chase, inducing him to play 

on. 

Roland-Jones bowled Shai Hope and trapped Shane 

Dowrich lbw in quick succession before Moeen Ali had 

captain Jason Holder caught behind on review and Stuart 

Broad sent Kemar Roach’s off-stump cartwheeling to cap 

the seven-wicket session. 

Only Jamaican Blackwood, who struck a six just before 

lunch to go with his seven fours, stood firm, his counter-attacking 

unbeaten 60 coming off just 56 balls. •

22 


DT 

Showtime 

Remembering 

Zahir Raihan 

• Showtime Desk 

Zahir Raihan, the legendary 

Bangladeshi novelist, writer and 

filmmaker, was born on August 

19. To commemorate the birth 

anniversary of the frontrunner of 

the progressive cultural movement 

in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Udichi 

Shilpigosthi has undertaken a 

two day long Zahir Raihan Film 

Festival, with the motto, “Camera 

ready to resist”. 

Commenced at the early 

morning of August 18 at 

Bangladesh Shilpokola Academy 

by Dr. Safiuddin Ahmed, the 

president of the central parliament 

of Udichi, the festival remembered 

the rebellious auteur through 

an array of activities, including, 

discussions on the life of Zahir 

Raihan and the film movement in 

Bangladesh, songs, film screening 

and many more. 

Udichi music troupe performed 

songs from the Zahir Raihan Films 

at the event, Anal Raihan, the son 

of Zahir Raihan took part. 

The film screening session 

featured Zahir Raihan’s 

magnum opus Stop Genocide, 

Tauquir Ahmed’s Oggatonama, 

Kamar Ahmed Simon’s Ekti 

Sutor Jobanbondi and Tanvir 

Mokammel’s Jibon Dhuli, among 

others. 

Projonmo Talikes’ director 

Saleh Sobhan Anim’s short film 

Punorabritti, Sayed Ahmed Saki’s 

Upasanghar, Zahidur Rahim 

Anjan’s full-length feature film 

Meghmollar were screened on 

the closing day of the festival. 

The two-day event was open 

for mass audience and has been 

participated by a large number of 

Zahir Raihan fans, who joined the 

festival to pay their tribute to the 

untimely lost film auteur. 

Born in the village Majupur 

of Feni District, Zahir Raihan 

returned to his village from 

Calcutta after the partition of 

Bengal in 1947 along with his 

parents. He obtained a Bachelor 

of Arts (Honours) in Bengali from 

Dhaka University. 

Starting his career as a 

journalist in 1950, Zahir 

Raihan’s first collection of short 

stories, titled Suryagrahan, 

was published in 1955. His first 

direct involvement in film was 

with Jago Huya Sabera in 1957, 

in which Raihan worked as an 

assistant. Later, he went on to 

assist Salahuddin in the film Je 

Nodi Morupothay. The filmmaker 

Ehtesham also employed him on 

his movie A Desh Tomar Amar, for 

which he wrote the title song. In 

1960, Zahir made his directorial 

début with his film Kokhono 

Asheni, which was released in 

1961. In 1964, he made Pakistan’s 

first colour movie, Sangam, and 

completed his first CinemaScope 

movie, Bahana, the following year. 

Aside from his artistic 

identities, Zahir Raihan was 

actively engaged with politics. 

He was an active supporter of 

the Language Movement of 1952 

and was present at the historical 

meeting of Amtala on 21 February 

1952. The effect of the Language 

Movement was so strong on him 

that he used it as the premise of 

his landmark film Jibon Theke 

Neya. 

In 1971 he joined in the 

Liberation War of Bangladesh and 

created documentary films on the 

subject. Raihan went to Calcutta 

during the liberation war, where 

his film Jibon Theke Neya was 

screened. Legendary directors like 

Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan 

Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak, lauded 

Raihan’s work. 

Raihan disappeared on 30 

January 1972, while trying to 

locate his brother, the famous 

writer Shahidullah Kaiser, who 

was captured and killed by 

the Pakistan army and/or local 

collaborators during the final days 

of the liberation war. 

Although, nothing much about 

Raihan could be known after his 

disappearance, it is believed that 

he was killed with many others 

by armed Bihari collaborators and 

soldiers of the Pakistan Army.• 

Kareena will 

not walk for Manish 


Manish Malhotra and Kareena Kapoor Khan 

have been the best of friends for a long time. 

Every year, Kareena graces the catwalk at Lakme 

Fashion Week as Malhotra’s showstopper, but 

this year fans of Kareena will miss her at the 

ramp of LFW. It is speculated that Alia Bhatt will 

walk for Manish this year. The early rumours 

stated that Kareena refused Malhotra on 

account of baby Taimur Ali Khan. A close source 

dismissed the rumour, saying that the young 

Begum has declined because a different brand 

than Lakme is sponsoring this year’s event, and 

Bebo’s appearance is exclusive to Lakme. 

Having already made a stunning catwalk 

comeback within months of giving birth to 

Taimur last year, it is unlikely that her baby boy 

was the reason she turned down the project.• 

Ferdous Bappy joins Miss 

World judging panel 


Anchor and entrepreneur 

Ferdous Bappy is set to 

join the judging panel 

for the Lovello Miss 

World Bangladesh 2017 

beauty pageant. He 

will be judging all the 

beautiful and talented 

girls and help choose 

one from thousands of 

participants. The winner 

will represent Bangladesh 

in Miss World 2017. 

“It’s an honour for me to be 

there as a judge. Because we, 

the judges have to choose the 

best one who will become a face 

of Bangladesh. I am excited. It’s 

a great honour to sit as a judge 

in this most prestigious beauty 

pageant,” Bappy said. 

Singer Shuvro Dev, model Emi, 

model and choreographer Azra 

Mahmood, filmmaker Debashish 

Biswas and model Khalid Mahmud 

Shujon will be filling in as the 

other judges.•

Showtime 

23 


DT 

Naila Nayem: 

the glamorous 

nurse 


Model and actor Naila Nayem, who had made 

it to the headlines several times for her bold 

appearances, is returning with a buzz for her 

aficionados. 

Over the years, Naila appeared in item songs 

for films and occasionally, in music videos 

and TV dramas. But for the first time ever, the 

celebrity dentist is going to act in a special web 

series. 

Titled The List, the series consists of seven 

episodes and will be directed by RB Pritam. 

Naila will be playing the role of a glamorous 

nurse in the series. Popular TV artists, Tousif 

and Tamim Mridha will also be featured in the 

series. Aside from Naila, film actor Toma Mirza 

will also act in The List. 

“This is the first time I am working in a 

web series. I’ll act in a special character in the 

series. I liked working in it, and I hope my webfriends 

will also like it,” said Naila Nayem. 

Made under the banner of CMV with the 

technical assistance of Motion Rock, The List 

will be released in the official Youtube channel 

of CMV, from the day of Eid at 7pm, everyday. 

It will also be available to stream on the VoD 

site, Banglaflix. • 

WHAT TO WATCH 

The Dark Knight 

6:47pm, HBO 

When the menace known as 

the Joker emerges from his 

mysterious past, he wreaks 

havoc and chaos on the people 

of Gotham, the Dark Knight 

must accept one of the greatest 

psychological and physical 

tests of his ability to fight 

injustice. 

Cast: Christian Bale, Michael 

Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary 

Oldman, Aaron Eckhart 

Cultural ministry halts 

discussion program featuring 

Tisha amidst criticism 


PHOTO: KABIR HOSSAIN 

The discussion program on the 

life and works Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman featuring 

actor Nusrat Imrose Tisha, writer 

and journalist Anisul Haque and 

jorunalist Naimul Islam Khan has 

been halted. 

Hosted by the cultural 

ministry, the program 

was slated to take place 

on August 20. Upon 

the invitation, Tisha 

expressed her gratitude 

and excitement to several 

media, saying, “I am really 

proud to be able to talk on 

Bangabandhu in such a 

program.” Cultural minister 

Asaduzzaman Noor was to 

be the chief guest of the 

event. 

The chosen panellists 

weren’t welcomed by 

the social media users 

in Bangladesh, however. 

Many were vocal in their 

criticism of the choice 

of speakers. Amidst the 

ongoing dispute regarding 

the speakers panel, invitations 

sent out on August 17 to the 

guests, have been revoked, stating 

“unavoidable reasons”. 

When asked for clarification 

behind the cancellation of the 

program, Md Ibrahim Hossain 

Khan, secretary of the ministry, 

stuck to the official reason and 

declined to elaborate.• 

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha enters 

100 crore club 


Akshay Kumar and 

Bhumi Pednekar’s buzz 

making film, Toilet: Ek 

Prem Katha entered the 

coveted 100-crore club in 

India. At a time when the 

B-Town box office was 

going through a dry spell, 

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is a 

much-needed hit, stated 

India Today. 

Directed by Shree 

Narayan Singh, the film 

was made on a budget of 

Rs18 crores and turned 

out to be a blockbuster 

already. 

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha 

revolves around Keshav 

(Akshay) and Jaya (Bhumi 

Pednekar), who fall in love and 

get married. But all hell breaks 

loose when Jaya discovers that 

there is not a single toilet in the 

village, and the women go into 

the fields while it is still dark 

to relieve themselves. Jaya 

refuses to answer nature’s call 

in the open, and walks out of 

her marital home until Keshav 

builds a toilet for her. 

The film has been receiving 

mixed reviews from critics 

after the release, but it seems 

the social drama has met the 

audience’s demand, who are 

helping a steady run for the 

film at the box office. 

Besides, Bareilly Ki Barfi, 

which was expected to create a 

monetary strife with Toilet: Ek 

Prem Katha, has failed to do so. 

The Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann 

Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao 

starrer film has released today 

and reportedly failed to beat 

the Akshay Kumar and Bhumi 

Pednekar starrer as of now. • 

Kung Fu Hustle 

7:21pm, Star Movies 

In Shanghai, China in the 

1940s, a wannabe gangster 

aspires to join the notorious 

“Axe Gang” while residents 

of a housing complex exhibit 

extraordinary powers in 

defending their turf. 

Cast: Stephen Chow, Yuen Wah, 

Yuen Qiu, Chan Kwok Kuen, 

Bruce Leung 

Modern Times 

7:45pm, Movies Now 

The Tramp struggles to live in 

modern industrial society with 

the help of a young homeless 

woman. 

Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette 

Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny 

Sandford, Chester Conklin 

Killing Them Softly 

8:30pm, Zee Studio 

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer 

hired to restore order after 

three dumb guys rob a card 

game, causing the local 

criminal economy to collapse. 

Cast: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, 

Ben Mendelsohn, Richard 

Jenkins, James Gandolfini •

24 


DT 

SPAIN HUNTS SUSPECT OVER 

BARCELONA CARNAGE › 5 

Back Page 

AUSSIES REFUSE TO PLAY 

PRACTICE MATCH › 18 

NAILA NAYEM: THE 

GLAMOROUS NURSE › 23 

Renewed military crackdown in Myanmar 

sparks fresh influx of Rohingyas 

• Adil Sakhawat, Teknaf 

SPECIAL 

A fresh crackdown by Myanmar’s 

military in the country’s troubled 

Rakhine state has caused a new 

wave of Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh, 

as they continue to fear 

persecution in their home country. 

Speaking to new Rohingya refugees 

in Teknaf, who arrived on 

August 18 and 19, this correspondent 

found that reports of military 

operations in nearby villages were 

enough to send them fleeing across 

the border. 

Although the Rohingya families 

are not carrying tales of atrocities 

of the kind that shocked the 

world last year, they consistently 

expressed fear that a new wave of 

repression is about to be unleashed 

by the military. 

Solim Ali told the Dhaka Tribune 

that he left his village, Rohingyadong, 

without his family after his 

wife informed him that it was already 

surrounded by the army. 

Solim, however, added that his 

family will cross the Naaf river into 

Bangladesh on August 20 and are 

already en route. 

Rasheda, who came from the 

Jamuinna area of Maungdaw township 

in Rakhine state with her 

husband and five children, said: 

“I have never come to Bangladesh 

before, but when we heard that the 

military will again raid our houses 

and detain the men on suspicion 

of them being extremists or giving 

shelter to extremists, we fled our 

house.” 

She added that the boatman 

who helped get them across the 

river did not even take them all the 

way, forcing them to disembark in 

neck-deep water. 

Another of the new arrivals, 

Sanaullah, claimed he made up his 

Coast Guard sends back 31 Rohingyas 

• Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar 


The Coast Guard has sent 

back 31 Rohingyas who were 

trying to illegally enter Bangladesh 

through the Naf River. 

Around 4am Saturday, 

Coast Guard members intercepted 

a boat carrying 

Rohingyas on the river near 

Shahparir Dwip in Teknaf 

Upazila and sent them back 

to Myanmar, said Lt Commander 

Sheikh Fakhr Uddin, 

operations officer of Coast 

Guard Chittagong East Zone. 

Among the Rohingyas 

there were 18 men, nine 

The latest Rohingya refugees to arrive in Teknaf undertook a long and arduous journey , avoiding villages that are being raided 

women and four children, he 

said. 

Lt Commander Sheikh 

Fakhr Uddin said two of the 

men were seriously injured. 

Earlier this month, the 

Myanmar government deployed 

more troops to the 

Arakan state bordering Bangladesh 

and imposed new 

curfews there. The ethnic 

Rohingya Muslims there 

have remained stateless for 

decades and face persecution 

by their majority Rakhine 

neighbours and the Myanmar 

government. 

Last year in October after 

a Rohingya militant group 

attacked police posts, the 

mind to come to Bangladesh at all 

costs after the Myanmar military 

tortured him the previous week. 

“The military raided our house 

and mercilessly beat my brother 

and I. Thank God we were not arrested, 

as usually the Myanmar military 

arrests the male person from 

the Rohingya villages on suspicion 

government cracked down 

on the community, forcing at 

least 70,000 people to flee to 

Bangladesh. The refugees reported 

thousands of murders, 

rapes, arson and destruction 

by the Myanmar army. 

The persecution had subsided 

after widespread international 

criticism, but the 

Myanmar government continues 

to dismiss the claims 

of abuse and refuses to let the 

United Nations conduct an 

independent investigation. 

Authorities fear that the 

renewed military operations 

may push more Rohingyas to 

try to enter Bangladesh illegally. 

• 

ADIL SAKHAWAT 

of them being militants,” he said. 

He added that it took them three 

to four days to arrive in Bangladesh, 

despite the distance being 

very short. This was on account 

of military raids in villages along 

the most direct route, which the 

Rohingya refugees avoided at all 

costs. 

“If they find us while we are 

fleeing to Bangladesh, they will detain 

us, torture us or shoot on sight, 

like what happened last October,” 

Sanaullah said. 

This atmosphere of fear created 

by the raids in the Rakhine state 

and consequent exodus of Rohingya 

people has caused some of their 

villages to become little more than 

ghost towns. 

Sanaullah’s wife Achiya said: “In 

the last year, the military has burnt 

most of the houses in our village, 

Jambuniya. 

“At best, a hundred or so 

people remain, and the military 

is doing their best to wipe them 

out.” 

Meanwhuile, on early August 

19, the Teknaf Coast Guard pushed 

back 31 more Rohingyas while they 

were trying to enter Bangladesh 

territory at the Naf river in Teknaf’s 

Shah Porir Dwip area. 

Among the 31 Rohingyas, 18 

were male, 9 were female and 4 

were children, confirmed Coast 

Guard Chittagong East Zone Operations 

Officer Lieutenant Commander 

Fokor Uddin. 

When contacted, Sanjukta Sahany, 

head of International Organisation 

for Migration Cox’s Bazar, 

told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are 

monitoring the situation. Some 

new families have been seen in the 

Balukhali makeshift area, but we 

are not sure whether they came to 

the makeshift area by crossing the 

border or from others makeshift 

areas.” • 

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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