24-08-2020

Monday, Dhaka, August 24, 2020, Bhadra 9, 1427 BS, Muharram 4, 1442 Hijri
Three years in review
No end in sight to Rohingya crisis
Although the water level of Bangali river has decreased, river erosion has increased. Houses and crop lands
along the river are at risk. The picture is taken from Dhunat upazila of Bogura on Sunday. Photo: PBA
DHAKA : Three years in review: No end in
sight to Rohingya crisis Dhaka, Aug 23
(UNB) - Myanmar has not taken a single
Rohingya back home till date although the
crisis enters the fourth year within a couple
of days amid "lack of conducive conditions"
in Rakhine required for a safe and
sustainable return of Rohingyas, officials
said, reports UNB.
"Myanmar is yet to do anything concrete
till date for the repatriation of Rohingyas,"
an official told UNB mentioning that the
humanitarian disaster created by
Myanmar must not be the sole responsibility
of Bangladesh in the world to shoulder
it. In August 2017, the military launched a
campaign of mass atrocities against the
Rohingya that forced over 740,000 to flee
Myanmar to Bangladesh.
The 600,000 Rohingyas who remain in
Rakhine State are essentially confined to
camps and villages, said the Human
Rights Watch (HRW).
They are there without citizenship or the
ability to vote this November. Myanmar's
leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be a candidate
in this November's general election.
Officials said the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic and Myanmar's internal issues
further delayed talks on Rohingya repatriation.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul
Momen said until the international community
"exerts more pressure" on
Myanmar, including by putting trade and
investment moratorium, the Rohingya crisis
will not be resolved.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has
called for renewed support and solutions
for displaced and stateless Rohingya communities
both within and outside of
Myanmar.
"Three years on from the latest exodus of
Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar and
sought sanctuary in Bangladesh from
August 2017 onwards, challenges persist
and continue to evolve," said UNHCR
spokesperson Andrej Mahecic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has added
additional complexities to the crisis.
"The international community must not
only maintain support for refugees and
their host communities, but adapt to critical
needs and expand the search for solutions,"
Mahecic said.
Rohingya communities estimate that up
to three-quarters of the Rohingya people
are today living outside of Myanmar.
UNHCR and the government of
Bangladesh have individually registered
over 860,000 Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar
Rohingya camps.
The UN says Bangladesh has demonstrated
a profound humanitarian commitment
to Rohingya refugees and ensured
their protection and extended lifesaving
humanitarian support, and now hosts nine
out of ten Rohingya refugees registered in
the Asia-Pacific region.
This generosity must be acknowledged
through continued investment in both
Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host
communities, said the UN agency.
Ultimately, the UN Spokesperson said,
the solution to the plight of the Rohingya
lies in Myanmar, and in comprehensively
implementing the recommendations of
the Advisory Commission on Rakhine
State, to which the government of
Myanmar has committed.
Creating conditions that are conducive
to the Rohingya people's safe and sustainable
return will require whole of society
engagement, resuming and enhancing the
dialogue between the Myanmar authorities
and Rohingya refugees, as well as other
measures that help inspire trust, the
UNHCR said.
Aritri suicide case
Arrest warrant issued
against 2 teachers
DHAKA : A Dhaka court yesterday
issued warrant to arrest two teachers
of Viqarunnisa Noon School
and College in the case lodged for
allegedly instigating one of their
students, Aritri Adhikary, to commit
suicide.
Dhaka 3rd Additional
Metropolitan Sessions Judge
Robiul Alam passed the order, cancelling
their bail in the case.
Sunday was fixed for recording
deposition of the witness and the
accused needed to be present at the
court for this. But the accused
teachers Nazneen Ferdous and
Zinat Akhtar failed to appear before
it, making the court to cancel their
bail and issue arrest warrant.
The same court on July 10, 2019,
framed charges against the two
teachers.
Earlier on April 30, 2019, Dhaka
Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir
Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury accepted
the charge sheet filed in the case.
The court also allowed the investigation
officer's plea to drop the
name of Aritri's class teacher Hasna
Hena from the case as allegations
brought against her were not found
true in the probe.
Police on March 28, 2019, filed
the charge sheet against the then
principal of Viqarunnisa Noon
School and College Nazneen
Ferdous and morning shift incharge
of the school's Bailey Road
branch Zinat Akhtar.
Investigation officer (IO) inspector
Qazi Qamrul Islam of detective
branch (DB) of police submitted the
charge sheet.
Aritri was found hanging from a
ceiling fan of her residence in capital's
Shantinagar area on December
3, 2018, hours after she and her
parents were allegedly insulted by
the teachers. She was rushed to
Dhaka Medical College Hospital
(DMCH) where doctors declared
her dead.
Aritri's father Dilip Adhikary on
December 4 filed the case with
Paltan Police Station against the
three teachers.
In recordings, Trump's sister says
he 'has no principles'
BNP's link to grenade
attacks is as true as
daylight : Quader
DHAKA : Awami League General
Secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday
said BNP's involvement in the gruesome
grenade attacks on the AL rally on
August 21, 2004 is true like daylight and
none can hide the truth.
"BNP cannot conceal the truth by hiding
their heads in the sand like ostrich.
BNP's involvement in the August 21
grenade attack is true like daylight and
they will not be able to hide it," he said.
Quader, also minister for road transport
and bridges, was addressing a virtual
discussion, joining it from his official
residence on parliament premises,
arranged by Southeast University marking
the National Mourning Day.
He said BNP gets angered when it
faces the truth as patrons of evils of
darkness cannot accept it.
Southeast University Vice-Chancellor
Prof AFM Mafizul Islam chaired the virtual
discussion while Bangladesh Bank
former Governor Dr Atiur Rahman and
the university's board of trustees
Chairman Md Rezaul Karim addressed
it among others.
The minister said many people are
seen not abiding by health guidelines in
proper manner at this stage of coronavirus
outbreak and showing negligence
in wearing facemasks but this laxity
could push the nation to risk and "We
may have to pay heavy price for that".
California fires force thousands
to flee as more blazes feared
Some of California's largest-ever fires are
raging across the state, forcing tens of
thousands from their homes as forecasters
warned of further blazes sparked by
lightning.
Several thousand lightning strikes in
recent days ignited fires that left thick
smoke blanketing the region on
Saturday, reports BSS.
The total area burned for all the fires in
California this week is "close to one million
acres (400,000 hectares)," according
to CalFire public information officer
Jeremy Rahn.
"More lightning is anticipated tomorrow
(Sunday) and into Tuesday -everyone
must remain alert and have an evacuation
plan," the agency said on Twitter.
The National Weather Service added:
"With severe drought and exceptionally
dry fuels present, dry thunderstorms
could spark additional wildfires this
weekend."
"The western US and Great Plains are
shrouded under a vast area of smoke
due to ongoing wildfires that extend
from the Rockies to the West Coast."
About 2,600 firefighters are tackling
the two largest blazes, out of 13,700 battling
"nearly two dozen major fires,"
according to Rahm.
"If you don't believe in climate change,
come to California," tweeted state
Governor Gavin Newsom alongside a
dramatic photograph of huge clouds of
smoke rising from fires.
"This is from today. And is just a small
part of the nearly 600 fires we are battling
this week."
He had earlier tweeted an ABC News
video showing apocalyptic images of
smoldering orange roadsides thick with
smoke, with sparks flying as trees
burned ferociously.
Wineries in the famed Napa and
Sonoma regions, which are still reeling
from blazes in recent years, are under
threat.
"Many of these firefighters have been
on the lines for 72 hours, and everybody
is running on fumes," Assemblyman
Jim Wood of the Healdsburg district in
Sonoma told the Los Angeles Times.
"Our first responders are working to
the ragged edge of everything they
have."
The two largest blazes - dubbed the
SCU Lightning Complex and the LNU
Lightning Complex - have burned about
660,000 acres and destroyed more than
840 structures.
The SCU fire had burned nearly
340,000 acres by early Sunday, making
it the second-largest fire in California
history. It was 10 percent contained.
The LNU blaze covered 325,000 acres
and was the third largest in state history.
It was 15 percent contained.
According to the Los Angeles Times,
the 1.2 million acres burned in California
in the past month is far higher than the
259,000 acres destroyed in the whole of
last year. It was "an astonishing toll so
early in fire season," the paper said.
Shahed sent to
jail in money
embezzlement
case
DHAKA : A Dhaka court on Sunday sent
Regent Group Chairman Md Shahed
alias Shahed Karim to jail in a case
lodged over alleged embezzlement of
Taka 2.71 crore from Padma Bank (then
The Farmer's Bank).
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special
Judge KM Imrul Qayes passed the order
as police produced Shahed before the
court after the end of his seven-day
remand in the case.
In today's hearing, Investigation
Officer (IO) and Deputy Assistant
Director of Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) Mohammad
Shahjahan Miraz pleaded to keep the
fraudster behind the bars till the end
of the probe in the case.
The same court on August 10 placed
Shahed on seven-day remand in the
case as the IO pleaded to give the
accused on 10-day remand.
The anti-graft body official on July 27
filed the case against four including
Shahed and Dhaka Metropolitan
Magistrate Court the next day accepted
the ejahar and set August 16 for submitting
a probe report in the case.
The other accused are former
Chairman of Padma Bank audit committee
Mahbubul Haque Chishti,
Managing Director of Bakshiganj Jute
Spinners Limited Rashedul Haque
Chishti, Regent Hospital Chairman Md
Shahed and its Managing Director Md
Ibrahim Khalil.
WASHINGTON : President Donald
Trump's older sister, a former federal
judge, is heard sharply criticizing her
brother in a series of recordings released
Saturday, at one point saying of the president,
"He has no principles."
Maryanne Trump Barry was secretly
recorded by her niece, Mary Trump, who
recently released a book denouncing the
president, "Too Much and Never
Enough: How My Family Created the
World's Most Dangerous Man." Mary
Trump said Saturday she made the
recordings in 2018 and 2019.
In one recording, Barry, 83, says she
had heard a 2018 interview with her
brother on Fox News in which he suggested
that he would put her on the border
to oversee cases of immigrant children
separated from their parents.
"His base, I mean my God, if you were
a religious person, you want to help people.
Not do this," Barry says.
At another point she says: "His goddamned
tweet and lying, oh my God."
She adds: "I'm talking too freely, but you
know. The change of stories. The lack of
preparation. The lying. Holy shit."
Barry can also be heard saying that she
guesses that her brother has never read
her opinions on immigration cases.
"What has he read?" Mary Trump asks
her aunt.
Barry responds: "No. He doesn't read."
The recordings were first reported by
The Washington Post. The Associated
Press then obtained the recordings.
The recordings came to light just a day
after the late Robert Trump, brother to
Maryanne and the president, was
memorialized in a service at the White
House. Later, the president was dismissive
of the recordings.
"Every day it's something else, who
cares. I miss my brother, and I'll continue
to work hard for the American people,"
Trump said in a statement. "Not
everyone agrees, but the results are obvious.
Our country will soon be stronger
than ever before."
In the weeks since the release of Mary
Trump's tell-all book about her uncle,
she has been questioned about the
source of some of its information.
Nowhere in the book does she say that
she recorded conversations with her
aunt. On Saturday, Mary Trump
revealed that she had covertly taped 15
hours of face-to-face conversations with
Barry.
"Mary realized members of her family
had lied in prior depositions," said Chris
Bastardi, a spokesman for Mary Trump.
He added: "Anticipating litigation, she
felt it prudent to tape conversations in
order to protect herself."
The president has frequently spoken
highly of his sister; the recordings are the
first time a family member, outside of
Mary Trump, has been critical of him.
The recordings illuminate the tension
between the president and his sister. At
one point Barry says to her niece: "It's the
phoniness of it all. It's the phoniness and
this cruelty. Donald is cruel."
Mary Trump's book was filled with
attacks on her uncle, including the assertion
- he denied it - that he paid someone
to take the SATs for him as he sought to
transfer into the University of
Pennsylvania.
Flames surround Lake Berryessa during the LNU Lightning Complex fire in Napa, California on August 19, 2020.
Thousands of people fled their homes in northern California on August 19 as hundreds of fast-moving wildfires
spread across the region, burning houses and leading to the death of a helicopter pilot. Photo : Internet
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