Print Edition: February 03, 2014

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nMohammad Al-Masum Molla

If an election was held today, 41.5%would vote for the Awami League and37.6% for the BNP, a survey has revealed.

However, with a margin of errorof 2.53% and a significant amount of13.9% still undecided or refusing toreveal who they would vote for, theelectoral environment remained com-petitive, the survey report concluded.

The survey was conducted by aUS-based organisation Nielsen and

endorsed by Democracy Internation-al Inc, which provided analytical andtechnical services to the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID)and other development partners.

The Democracy International con-ducted the survey across Bangladeshafter the January 5 poll funded jointlyby the US and the UK.

The nationwide opinion poll, con-ducted from January 11-15, was based on

face-to-face interviews of 1,500 Bangla-deshi adults of various ages. The surveyrevealed that although it has not yet beena month that the Awami League had as-sumed power for the second time in arow, its popularity was already sliding.

When asked whether they wouldhave voted for the Awami League hadthe January 5 election been fully par-ticipatory, 42.7% said they would have.However, when asked whether theywould vote for the Awami League if

there was an election right now, only41.5% said they would marking a slideof more than 1%.

About 37.6% of the respondentssaid they would vote for the BNP if anelection was held right now. Howev-er, 35.1% of the respondents said theywould have chosen BNP if the January5 poll was fully participatory markinga 2.5% rise in popularity for BNP.

The survey marked a more than 8%rise in the number of voters who didnot know or were yet to decide who to

vote for.Some 13.9% of the respondents saidthey were not sure who they wouldvote for if an election was held rightnow. About 5.1% of them said theywere undecided during the election.

Demanding restoration of the caretak-er government system for overseeing thenational election, the BNP boycotted thepoll, virtually giving its arch rival Awami PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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7 | THE THIRD FORCE6 | JAMFREE CITY NOT ANYTIME SOON

BusinessB1 Finance Minister AMA Muhith

yesterday underscored the need

of strong coordination among the

concerned countries for a successful

South-South cooperation.

Nation6 Vegetables growers are down as they

are not getting fair prices of their agri-

produces this year for lack of customers.

INSIDE

9 | PROTESTS MAR THAI POLLS 13 | PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

AL and BNP neck and neckPoll puts AL at 41%, BNP 38% with balance of power held by undecided 14%

nRU Correspondent

The Rajshahi University authority yes-terday at an emergency meeting decid-ed to close the university sine die fromtoday and asked its students to vacatethe dormitories by 8am.

The decision came after at least 100students were injured in yesterdaysclash between students, police and ac-tivists of Chhatra League.

Of the injured, around 20 were bul-let- and rubber bullet-hit.

The bullet-hit injured are Parag, Ra-biul, Mousum, Ashiq, Abdur Rashid,Abdul Latif, Saju (marketing depart-ment third year), Ashiqur Rahman,(statistics second year), Zahir Raihan,(management second year), SohelRana (MBA), Abu Sufian, Rubel, Parvez,(mass communication MSS final year),Anwar (Botany third year), Touhid (po-

litical science third year), Ragib (masscommunication second year), Nazrul(applied chemistry first year), Hamidul,Rana and Rakhi.

They were all admitted to RajshahiMedical College Hospital.

The Chhatra League activists opened

fire on the agitating students while po-lice tear shells and rubber bullets.Moreover, at least 10 journalists,

including our RU correspondent, wereinjured when the newsmen were tryingto cover the incident.

The incident took place around 12noon while the agitating students wereholding a sit-in in front of the universi-tys administrative building.

From the early morning, the stu-dents marched on the campus fromdifferent halls and private messes andtook position in front of all academic

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Seven out of ten wantimmediate dialoguenMohammad Al-Masum Molla

Irrespect ive of their politic al affi lia-tions, most of the respondents of a sur-vey have opined that the ruling AwamiLeague and the BNP must immediatelyenter into a dialogue.

The Democracy International Inc.survey, conducted by research bodyNielsen from January 11-15, inter-viewed 1,500 adult Bangladeshis ofvarious ages from ac ross the country.

Seven out of 10 of both BNP and Awa-mi League supporters want their partyto compromise and immediately enterdialogue in order to end the politicalstalemate, the survey report said.

In reply to the query on whether thecurrent government should engagein a dialogue with the BNP and cometo an agreement on new elections ar-rangement, 57% of the interviewees

responded in the positive, while 24%said the opposite.

Before the January 5 election thisyear, the Awami League and the thenmain opposition BNP held at least threerounds of talks under the mediation ofUN envoy Oscar Fernandez-Taranco.However, just like the secretary gen-eral level talks back in 2006, these lat-est rounds also failed to produce anymeaningful outcome.

The respondents were asked a num-ber of questions about what shouldbe the next course of action of the

two parties. One of the questions waswhether the BNP should give in to theAwami Leagues proposal and seat fora dialogue; 74% of the respondents saidBNP should give in.

Another question was whether theAwami League should give into theBNPs proposal and seat for a dialogue;83% of the respondents said yes.

The survey report did not specify

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Awami League MPs defy HasinanEmran Hossain Shaikh

Ahead of the upazila elections, AwamiLeague MPs across the country are de-

fying strict orders from the party chiefto pressurise the grassroots leadershipinto picking candidates of their choice.

Awami League in Chhatak upazila,Sunamganj took the decision to backAbru Miah as chairman candidate but

local MP Muhibur Rahman Manik ispressurising the grassroots leadership toback his favourite, one Fajlur Rahman.

Similarly, although Shariatpur

district Awami League has finalisedMubarok Ali Sikder as their Jajira upazi-la parishad candidate, local lawmakerBM Mojammel has already declaredTanay Molla as the party-backed can-didate.

The first phase of upazila parishadelections will be held on February 19.According to the Election Commis-sions schedule, today is the last day of

withdrawal of nomination papers forthe first phase.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

warned her party lawmakers not to in-terfere in upazila elections on January 28

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

2 Bangladeshiskilled, 5 injuredin UAEnRabiul Islam

Two Bangladeshi migrant workerswere stabbed to death and five wereinjured when they squabbled with fel-

low workers over a pair of shoes in theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday.The deceased were identified as

Azad Rahman, 25 and Dulal, 26 whilethe injured were Abdus Salam, Mo-hammad Saddam Hossain and NazmulHaque who are receiving treatment atthe Kuwaiti Hospital in Sarjhah in acritical condition.

The two other victims were nowin police custody for investigation,therefore their identities could not beconfirmed, Mizanur Rahman, first sec-retary (labour) of Bangladesh consulatein Dubai told the Dhaka Tribune overphone yesterday

All the victims are constructionworkers hailing from Comilla, he said.

On Friday night, the workers quar-reled over possession of a pair of shoesat their labour camp in the Sharjah in-dustrial area. At one stage, the attack-ers stabbed the victims with kitchenknives, leaving two dead and three se-

verely injured.Mizanur Rahman said: At a timewhen a possibility for resuming themarket was growing, such a violent in-cident has set us back.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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WRONG DONT KNOW RIGHT

Do you think things in Bangladesh are headed in the right direction orare they headed in the wrong direction?

Police, BCL attack students; 100 hurt, RU closed sine die

A Chhatra League activist open fire on general students and teachers, who were demonstrating against tuition fee hike and introducing

evening masters courses, on Rajshahi University camp us yesterday. More photos on Page 3 DHAKA TRIBUNE

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News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, February 3, 2014DU studentsprotest RU attacks

nTribune Report

Students of Dhaka University yester-day protested the attacks conductedby police and Chhatra League activistson Rajshahi University students, whowere demonstrating against the ex-tended tuition fees.

Anti-Imperialist Students Union andProgressive Student Union brought outseparate processions yesterday after-noon at the campus and organised ral-lies condemning the attack.

The two associations demandedimmediate resignation of Rajshahi Uni-versity vice-chancellor and announcedprogrammes for today in this regard.

PSU organiser and DU BangladeshChhatra Union President Maruf Billaslammed Chhatra League and police forattacking general students who weredemonstrating for a valid demand.

DU Bangladesh Chhatra Federationchief Samia Rahman said: We are alsomoving against the extended tuitionfees at Dhaka University and expresssolidarity with the movement at Ra-jshahi University.

AISU convener and Bangladesh Ch-hatra Federation chief Samiul Alamsaid the movement was part of a biggermove against the commercialisation ofeducation throughout the country.

He said the attacks proved the ruleof fascism and partisanship of the ad-ministration under it and called stu-dents all over the country to join themovement.l

Survey supports ECclaim about 40% votesnMohammad Al-Masum Molla

A survey of the Democracy Interna-tional Inc. has reconfirmed the ElectionCommissions claim that around 40%votes were cast in last months 10thgeneral election amid boycott from theBNP.

Of those interviewed in the areaswhere there was voting, 40.7% saidthey had cast their votes.

This corre sponds wi th the offi cialnumbers released by the BEC [Bangla-desh Election Commission], the sur-vey report said.

As lawmakers were elected uncon-tested in a total of 153 seats, voters inonly 146 constituencies got chance toexercise their franchise. The BNP al-leged that less than 5% votes were castin the January 5 election.

The nationwide opinion poll, basedon face-to-face interviews with 1,500Bangladeshi adults, also said 77% of

the respondents did not cast theirvotes in the election.

Democracy International Inc. re-leased the results of the opinion surveyconducted by famous research organi-sation Nielsen from January 11-15.

The survey also said 10% of theinterviewed BNP supporters casttheir votes in the election althoughthe party had boycotted and threat-ened to resist it. None of the surveyedsupporters of Jamaat-e-Islami casttheir votes.

About BNPs boycott, 52% said itwas not successful. 42% thought thatthe new government did not have anymoral or constitutional ground to rulethe country.

The survey report also said 45%people thought that the Election Com-mission did not act neutrally in theelections. 48% said the election wasnot held freely and fairly and there wasfraud everywhere.l

TIB expresses concern over laying

foundation of bridge by ACC chiefStresses effective steps to inquire into wealth of lawmakers

nTribune Report

The Transparency International Ban-gladesh yesterday expressed concernover laying foundation of a bridge inLakshmipur by the Anti-CorruptionCommission Chief M Bodiuzzaman andalso called upon the ACC high-ups toavoid such practice to keep the imageof the commission untainted.

Inauguration of bridges and par-ticipation in political programmes bythe anti-graft body chief can createconflict of interest of ACC and be a barto smooth functioning of the anti-graftactivities from an independent and im-partial view, TIB Executive DirectorIftekharuzzaman said.

In a written statement, he said theanti-graft body should be aware that itwas an organisation established by the

government, but it was not a govern-ment one.

The ACC had to keep away from allsorts of party influences, added he.

If the ACC chief failed to stay awayfrom conventional behavior of suchtraditions, which were usually made bythe lawmakers or government employ-ees, it would curb its professionalismand mar its image, he said.

Iftekharuzzaman also expressedconcern over the ACCs role in linger-ing the probe into wealth of former and

current lawmakers.If the ACC can initiate inquiry

against a suspected one, it can also ini-tiate inquiry against others, followingthe same procedure, TIB said.

It also called upon the ACC to initi-ate inquiry into the wealth of all can-didates of 10th parliamentary electionwith professionalism.

The ACC Chief M Bodiuzzaman onFebruary 1 laid foundation stones oftwo bridges in Lakshmipur district.

He also participated in a dinner or-ganised by Lakshmipur Municipalitymayor.

The ACC representatives shouldavoid such programmes, TIB observed,adding that the an ti-graf t offi cialsshould only attend programmes relat-ed to inquiry into graft allegations andanti-graft campaigns. l

49% not botheredabout BNPs tieswith Jamaat

nMohammad Al-Masum Molla

Around half of the people said it didnot matter to them who BNPs politi-cal allies were, according to an opinionpoll carried out by Democracy Interna-tional.

On the other hand, 32% people saidBNP must cut its alliance with Bangla-desh Jamaat-e-Islami while 19% peo-ple were undecided, said the surveyreport.

The nationwide opinion poll basedon face to face interviews of 1,500 re-spondents of different ages startingfrom 18 years also says 52% of AwamiLeague supporters were of the viewthat the BNP should cut ties with Ja-maat while 17% BNP supporters alsohad the same view.

The survey was conducted by Niel-sen. The fieldwork of the survey washeld from January 11 to 15, a few daysafter the 10th general elections whichthe BNP boycotted.l

Majority thinksgovernment not

crediblenMohammad Al-Masum MollaA majority of the respondents of a sur-vey are of the opinion that the new gov-ernment, formed through the 10th gen-eral election, is not credible and thereshould be re-elections in less than fiveyears from now.

Of the 1,500 adult Bangladeshi respon-dents interviewed by Nielsen on behalfof Democracy International Inc. for thesurvey, 59% think that there should beanother election before five years. 41%of the respondents believe that the cur-rent will be in power for less than a year.About 38% believe that the governmentwill be able to carry on for 4-5 years.

From the areas where voting washeld in the January 5 election, 49% ofthe respondents said the election wascredible. 38% of the respondents from

the areas where candidates were elect-ed uncontested said the election wasnot credible.

While nearly all BNP supporters,who responded to the survey question-naire, said there should be a re-election,27% of the interviewed Awami Leaguesupporters also felt the same need.

According to the survey report, 55%of the respondents think that the Janu-ary 5 election was a farce, while 41%say the election was necessary/credi-ble because it was conducted in linewith the countrys constitution.

Of the one and a half thousand re-spondents, who were interviewed face-to-face from January 11-15, 44% believethat the 153 uncontested parliamentaryseats was a proof that the election wasfarcical. 36% of the interviewees saidthere was no competition in those seatsbecause the then opposition voluntari-ly pulled out of it.

The survey report also stated thataccording to 48% of the people inter-viewed, the current situation was differ-ent from 1996 when the Awami Leagueboycotted the national election heldunilaterally by the BNP government.l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina receives a letter from Iranian Ambassador to Bangladesh Hossein Aminian Tousi on behalf of Iranian

President Hasan Rouhani, at her offi ce yesterday PMO

44% believe thatthe 153 uncontestedparliamentary seatswas a proof that theelection was 'farcical'

Seven out of ten wantimmediate dialoguePAGE 1 COLUMN 6what BNPs proposal and AwamiLeagues proposal meant.

The BNP has been demanding thatthe government reinstalled the care-taker system in the constitution beforeentering any dialogue, while the AwamiLeague wants BNP to cut ties with Ja-maat-e-Islami before talks.

The survey report also said: 52%of the respondents think BNP shouldimmediately enter a dialogue with thegovernment and cease agitation.

When asked whether they agreed tohold election under elected members ofall-party government headed by SheikhHasina, 51% of the respondents repliedin the negative.l

Two Bangladeshis killed,five injured in UAEPAGE 1 COLUMN 6

UAE, one of the prospective over-seas labour markets for Bangladesh,stopped issuing visas since August 20,2012.

Offi cials in Dhaka said the marketwas shut down because of criminal ac-tivities of Bangladeshi migrant workers.

According to the Bangladesh mis-sion in UAE, around 8,00,000 to9,00,000 Bangladeshi workers are cur-rently residing in the oil rich country.

Around 23,00,000 Bangladeshishave left for UAE for work since 1976,according to the Bureau of Manpower,Employment and Training.l

AL and BNP neck and neckPAGE 1 COLUMN 4

League a walkover to form the 10th par-liament with absolute majority. 153 outof the 300 parliamentary seats saw rep-resentatives elected uncontested.

Apart from the face-to-face inter-views, the survey also constituted tele-phone interviews.

That section of the opinion pollalso showed that the Awami League,with 37% responding in its favour, wasslightly more popular than the BNP,who clinched favourable opinions from31% of the respondents, if votes wereheld right now.

Out of the 1,044 surveyed overphone, 23% said they were not surewho to vote for in case there was anelection right now.

Of those surveyed face-to-face, 69%felt that the country was heading in thewrong direction because of political

conflicts, too many hartals and price

hike. In a survey conducted in Novemberlast year, about 62% thought the same way.

According to the opinion poll report,72% of the people identified politicalinstability as the biggest problem forthe country.

When asked about immediate di-alogues, 70% of the respondents saidthe two parties, namely Awami Leagueand BNP, should engage in immediatetalks to resolve the prevailing politicalstalement.

Some 57% of the respondents saidthe current Awami League governmentwas not credible.

The Democracy International Inc.survey also reconfirmed that 40% voteswere cast in the 10th parliamentaryelection as was claimed by the ElectionCommission despite boycott by the BNP.

According to the survey report,40.7% of the respondents said they had

practiced their voting rights.l

Police, BCL attack RU students; 100 injured, 20 bullet-hitPAGE 1 COLUMN 2

buildings, padlocking their gates to ob-serve strike enforced for the third con-secutive day.

Later, over 5,000 students joinedthe sit-in in front of the universitys ad-ministrative building at 11am.

Around 12noon, Chhatra League ac-tivists drew a procession led by its RUunit President Mizanur Rahman Ranaand General Secretary Touhid-al-Hos-sain Tuhin.

The party activists allegedly en-tered the students demonstration andlaunched an attack on them.

During the attack, BCL activists al-legedly fired bullet at random at thestudents. Police also started firing rub-ber bullets and tear shells to dispersethe agitating students.

After dispersion, the general stu-

dents took position at different pointson the campus and kept chanting slo-gans.

The Chhatra League activists laterchased after the students while alleged-ly opening fire at them at the same timeto oust them from the campus.

Around 2pm, a large number of ag-itating students assembled in front ofthe universitys central library.

The protesters declared that theywould continue movement till theirthree-point demand were met.

They also added two more demandthat includes exemplary punishmentto the BCL attackers and bearing of allmedical expenses of the injured by theuniversity authorities.

The general students had beencontinuing their movement from Jan-uary 16 this year under the banner of

Teachers-Students against increasedfees and evening courses to push fortheir three-point demand.

The three were withdrawal of the re-cently taken decision to introduce eve-ning masters courses under the SocialScience Faculty, putting a stop to theongoing evening masters courses atthe BBA and Law Faculty and decreasein the recently hiked fees.

The RU students also abstained fromjoining classes and examinations fromThursday. Asked about the police role,the deputy commissioner of RajshahiMetropolitan Police (East) said the law-men fired rubber bullets and tear shellsas the students went on the rampage.

Proctor Tarikul Hasan told thenewsmen that the situation was undercontrol.

Chhatra League President Mizanur

Rahman Rana gave the version thatthey went into action as the studentswere trying to make the situation of theuniversity unstable.

A five-member probe team has beenformed to investigate the yesterdaysincident on the campus.

Prof Khalequzzaman of ZoologyDepartment heads the investigationteam.

RU Vice-Chancellor Prof Mizanud-din on Saturday at a press briefingpostponed the decision to hike fees fol-lowing a continuous strike and demon-stration by the students on the campuswhile two others demand of the stu-dents were yet to be settled.

The agitated students, however,declared that they would continuetheir campaign till all their demandwere met.l

Awami League MPs defy HasinaPAGE 1 COLUMN 5at an Awami League Parliamentary Partymeeting at the Sangsad Bhaban.

A single candidate will be chosenthrough discussion with the partysgrassroots level, including ward, unionand upazila unit. All MPs will coordi-nate it but no interference will be al-lowed, Hasina, the party president,warned the MPs.

But violating these stern instruc-tions, many lawmakers are meddlingand pressurising the local committeesto pick their preferred candidates. Someare pressurising local leaders to choosetheir relatives as chairmen candidates.

The president and secretary of Su-namganj district unit Awami Leagueclaimed local MP Manik was puttingpressure on local leaders to select hispreferred candidate.

We have finalised one candidateeverywhere except Chhatak, becauseof local MP Muhibur Rahman Manik,Secretary Nurul Huda Mukut told theDhaka Tribune.

In Shairatpur, the local committee

took the decision to back Mubarok Ali

Sikder as chairman candidate of Jaji-ra upazila pasrishad, but local AwamiLeague MP BM Mojammel Hossain de-clared Tanay Molla as the partys can-didate.

We finalised that we would be sup-porting Mubarok Sikder at a joint meet-ing, as instructed by party PresidentSheikh Hasina. He is our candidate forthe election. But if the local MP wantsto support another person what can wedo? Abdur Rab Munshi, the presidentof Shariatpur district unit, said.

There is a huge support for AwamiLeague in Jajira upazila. But why doesthe MP want a terrorist like Tanay Mol-la? he said.

BM Mojammel Haq MP of Shariatpur1 constituency said the party grassrootswould back Tanay Molla as chairmancandidate for Jajira.

In a meeting of the party upazilaunit meeting on January 23, they fi-nalised Tanay Molla as chairman can-didate, Mojammel, the central organ-ising secretary of Awami League, said.

On January 23 I was in Jessore for

offi cial tour an d I did not join the meet-

ing where Tanay Molla was chosen asthe party-backed candidate, he added.

Rezaul Islam Reza and TozammelHaque, brothers of Bogra 5 MP Md.Habibur Rahman, have filed nomina-tion papers as upazila parishad chair-man candidates in the district.

Reza, who filed nomination for Dhu-nat, told the Dhaka Tribune: We twobrothers have submitted nominationpapers, but being the brother of the lo-cal MP, I was criticised by many quar-ters. So I have decided to withdraw mynomination.

He claimed that the president andsecretary of the district unit had pickeda candidate ignoring the grassrootsopinion.

Md. Momjat Uddin, the president ofBogra district unit, said the pa rty grass-roots had finalised the units GeneralSecretary Mujibur Rahman Majnu aschairman candidate for Sherpur upa-zila. Many people have tried to influ-ence this decision, he alleged.

Tozammel Haque, who filed nom-ination for Sherpur upazila, said hewould contest the upazila election.

Filing his nomination as an inde-pendent candidate in the last nationalelection, Mujibur Rahman Majnu losthis membership of the party. So howdid he become the party-backed candi-date? Tojammel said.

He said, I have filed my nominationand I will contest the election.

MP Habibur Rahman told the Dha-ka Tribune that as the local MP he hadjoined the meeting where the candidatewas picked, but did not play any role asper the instructions of the party chief.

I went there like a volunteer ob-server, he said.

Kazi Jafrullah, a presidium memberof Awami League, told the Dhaka Tri-bune that he had no information of anyinterference from party lawmakers inthe selection of upazila polls candidates.

As a local party leader, lawmakerscould play a role in picking candidatesby helping organise.

We hope the candidates will be cho-sen in the way party President SheikhHasina has instructed. If anyone inter-feres with the process, necessary mea-sures will be taken, he said. l

'Inauguration of bridgesand participation inpolitical programmes bythe ACC chief can createconflict of interest...'

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Bangladesh to seek US help toaddress Rohingya issuenSheikh Shahariar Zaman

Bangladesh would seek help from theUS to resolve the Rohingya issue withMyanmar.

The issue will be discussed withSenior Adviser for Burma at the StateDepartment Judith Beth Cein whileinteraction with State Minister forForeign Affairs Md Shahariar Alamand Foreign Secretary Md ShahidulHaque. Cein arrived in Dhaka yes-terday and is scheduled to fly to My-anmar today.

Washington would like to de-velop relationship with Naypyidawfor strategic reasons and Bangladeshwants to take the leverage by request-

ing US to solve the problems, said asenior diplomat, seeking anonymity.

We would like to convey ourmessage to the senior adviser andex-pect that she would pass it on to My-anmar, he said.

Bangladeshs stance is clear. Ro-hingya issue was not generated inthis country and Bangladesh wantedMyanmar to resolve this issue, thediplomat said.

Bangladesh is doing more thanit should have done for last 30 yearsto help the Rohingyas, who werepushed inside the boundary but nowit is overburdened with manifoldproblems, he said.

Offi cially around 30,000 Rohingya

refugees reside in two camps in CoxsBazar while about half a million un-documented Myanmar nationals areestimated to reside in Bangladesh.

Dhaka wants to provide assistanceon humanitarian grounds to the ref-ugees but one must understand thatit has limitations, the diplomat said.

Rohingyas, the Myanmar nation-als, started to come to Bangladeshsince there was first influx in late1970s following sectarian violenceand ethnic cleansing began in theRakhine state close to Bangladeshborder by the Myanmar government.

Last year in December, in a tes-timony given to the Senate, Judithsaid: The US government coordi-

nates closely with the in-ternational community tosend unified messages tothe government of Burmaon Rakhine State.

She said after tensionsspiraled into violence inJune and October 2012,nearly 200 people werekilled and approximately140,000 people, mainlyMuslims, displaced and upto 60,000 Rohingyas fledRakhine State by boat, thehighest number in over

20 years.l

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, February 3, 2014

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT

Chhatra League activists bring out a procession,

led by its President Mizanur Rahman Rana and

General Secretary Touhid-al-Hossain Tuhin

(on motorcycle), on RU campus before the

attack l Protesters run for safety after Chhatra

League activists attacked them in front of the

administration building. Police also fired tear shells

and rubber bullets l Students rush an injured

female to the hospital lChhatra League activists

pelting brickbats on protesters l Students escort

an injured to the hospitallA man carries a student

hit by rubber bullets to the hospital DHAKA TRIBUNE

Qaisar Bahini chief indicted for 1971 crimesTrial against the former Jatiya Party state minister begins on March 4nUdisa Islam

The International Crimes Tribunal yes-terday indicted Syed Mohammad Qais-ar, a former state minister for agricul-ture during HM Ershads tenure, on 16charges of crimes against that includegenocide, torture, murder and rapeduring the 1971 Liberation War.

The charges are based on 16 separateincidents of crimes against humanity,in which more than 150 unarmed peo-ple were killed and two women raped.After framing of the charges againstQaisar, the tribunal set March 4 for be-ginning the trial with the opening state-ment of the prosecution.

In its order, the tribunal directed the

defence side to submit a list of witness-es along with the documents it intend-ed to rely upon on or before the date.

Qaisar, now 73, formed a groupnamed Qaisar Bahini with 500 to 700men, who committed crimes againsthumanity in Habiganj and Brahman-baria during the War of Independence,according to prosecution.

Tribunal Chairman Justice ObaidulHassan read out the charges withoutany introduction. Justice Mozibur Rah-man Miah and Md Shahinur Islam arethe other members of the three-mem-ber tribunal.

On charge 16, the tribunal said Qaisarwas charged for participating, abetting,facilitating and substantially contribut-

ing in the actual commission of killingof 108 unarmed civilians belongingto Hindu community constituting theoffence of genocide, or in the alter-native, for participating abetting, facil-itating and substantially contributingthe actual commission of offence of ex-termination as crime against humanity.

In charge 12, the tribunal said atnoon of any day in mid-August, Qaisar,his companions in Qaisar Bahini andmembers of razakar force had broughtMazeda Begum, her father Atab Mia anduncle Ayub Mia to the army camp set upat Jagadishpur High School at Madhab-pur, on capture from their house.

Qaisar had handed Mazeda overto the army, despite protest on her fa-

thers part. The army men thus com-mitted successive rape upon Mazeda.She managed to return home some-how and received necessary medicaltreatment. Few days later, she felt herpregnancy that resulted from the forci-ble sexual invasion caused to her at thearmy camp.

After the charges were read out, thetribunal chairman asked Qaisar wheth-er he pleaded guilty or not.

At that stage, the accused, now onbail, stood up from his wheelchair andfolding his hands said he had not beeninvolved in any crimes and not guilty.

Then the tribunal announced thedate of beginning trial.

Qaisar had fled to London after

Bangladesh gained independence in1971 and returned in 1975. In 1979, hetook part in the national election as anindependent candidate and was electedas a lawmaker. He then joined the BNPunder the leadership of Ziaur Rahman.

During the regime of military dicta-tor HM Ershad, Qaisar joined the JatiyaParty and became the state minister foragriculture.

The prosecution submitted the for-mal charges on November 10 last year.He was arrested on May 16 last year,just a day after the tribunal had or-dered his arrest, and was admitted toa private hospital in the capital. Thetribunal later granted him conditionalbail considering his age.l

Witness: Mir Kashem orderedto kill people in ChittagongnUdisa Islam

A witness in the war crimes case againstJamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Alialias Bangla Khan said yesterday thatthe accused had ordered his followersin al-Badr force to abduct, torture andsubsequently kill innocent civilians forsupporting the Liberation War.

Mir Kashem, now Executive Com-mittee member and key financier ofthe party, with the other collaboratorshad helped the Pakistani occupationforces to commit atrocities in Chit-tagong during the war, said the thirdwitness, freedom fighter Nasir UddinChowdhury.

The witness also works as a jour-nalist. He said he had fought the waras a member of Bangladesh Liberation

Force (BLF) which is also known as Mu-jib Bahini.

After his deposition, defence coun-sel Mizanul Islam asked him four ques-tions and pleaded for an adjournment.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2,headed by Justice Obaidul Hasan, thenadjourned the proceedings until today.

One night in the month ofNovember, I was captured by the al-Badr men and taken to Daleem Hotelin the city where al-Badr membershad confined and tortured the pro-liberation people.

There they tortured me severe-ly and asked me repeatedly about myarms and ammunition and wherea-bouts of my fellow freedom fighters.At one stage, Mir Kashem came and ashe came to know that I did not give any

information, he asked them to tortureme more, Nasir said adding that hehad been beaten up every day.

My fellow fighters told me that MirKashem was the main organiser of al-Badr in Chittagong. Members of thisauxiliary force of the Pakistani armyabducted, tortured and killed unarmedcivilians on his order, he added.

The witness further added that onDecember 6 of 1971, there was a bomb-ing at the Chittagong airport and MirKashem had been injured at that time.After that, they became more viciousand started to torture the confinedpro-liberation people more.

The formal trial against Mir Kashembegan On November 18 last year. He isfacing 14 charges of crimes against hu-manity. l

Hasina-Manmohanmeet likely in March

nSheikh Shahariar Zaman

The third Bimstec summit will be heldon March 4 in Myanmars capital Nay-pyidaw to boost regional cooperation, itwas confirmed on Thursday.

Heads of governments and states willattend the meeting of the Bay of BengalInitiative for Multi-Sectoral Technicaland Economic Cooperation (Bimstec).

It is expected that Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina and Indian Premier Man-

mohan Singh would have a meeting on the

sidelines of the summit. In all previous

multilateral programmes including the

UN General Assembly where Hasina and

Manmohan attended, they had a sideline

meeting and we expect that there will be

no exceptions this time, said a diplomat.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, In-

dia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the

member countries of Bimstec and current-

ly Naypyidaw is the chair. Bimstec was

formed in Bangkok in 1997 and had its first

summit in 2004 in Bangkok and the second

one in New Delhi in 2008. It has 14 sectors

and Bangladesh is the lead country in trade,

investment and climate change issues.

AT the summit, the countries are likelyto sign a deal to set up the Bimstec Sec-retariat in Dhaka and also a weather andclimate centre in New Delhi, said anotherdiplomat. An agreement on cultural in-dustries commission to be set up in Thim-pu is also in the pipeline, he said.

All countries agreed to set up the sec-retariat in Bangladesh but the formalitiesare yet to be completed and we hope toconclude them in the summit, he said.The government has already allocated abuilding in Gulshan as an interim head-quarter for the secretariat. Renovation ofthe building is expected to complete innext three or four months.

Sri Lankan diplomat Sumith Nakandala

would be the first secretary general of Bims-

tec. He would visit Dhaka after the comple-

tion of the headquarters. A declaration will

be also adopted in the summit, he said.l

Poba: Ban chemicalfactories in residential areasnTribune Report

Environmentalist group PoribeshBachao Andolan (Poba) yesterdaydemanded that the government banchemical factories, store houses andshops of chemical products in residen-tial areas for the sake of public safety.

We saw the tragic Nimtali Tragedyat Nabab Katra of Old Dhaka in 2010which caused from a chemical facto-ry. However, the situation did not im-prove as last Saturday, Pali Plastic andSoap Factory at in Old Dhakas Kosaitu-li of Bangshal f aced the same incident,Poba said in a statement.

Alongside the demand for ban, thegroup placed three other demandswhich include shifting of the chemicalfactories, godowns and shops to a par-

ticular place.Poba also demanded formulation of

a policy and its implementation in thisregard.

The fire originated at the soap fac-tory housed in a tin-shed building andlater it caught a neighbouring hangerfactory and then the four-storey resi-dential building.

The Nimtali fire that broke out onJune 3, 2010 in the densely populatedolder part of Dhaka claimed 117 livesand injured hundreds.

Following the incident, the author-ities formed task forces, mobile courtsand probe committees to prevent re-currence of such incidents. However,after three years, the chemical facto-ries and warehouses are still being builtin Old Dhakas residential areas. l

Anwar, Miah getbail, Moudud,Mahbub deniednNazmus Sakib and

Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

BNP leaders MK Anwar and Rafiqul IslamMiah can be released from jail as they ob-tained bail in all cases against them whileMoudud Ahmed and Khandker MahbubHossain have to remain in prison as theywere denied bail in two separate cases.

The Appellate Division of the SupremeCourt yesterday upheld the bails of fourBNP leaders in two cases Moudud, An-war, Miah and Shimul Biswas by dis-missing the appeal of the state against theHigh Court order of January 21.

The five-member bench headed byChief Justice Md Muzammel Hossainpassed the order yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, the High Court bench ofJustice M Enayetur Rahim and JusticeMohammad Ullah yesterday afternoongranted a three-month bail to Moudud,Miah and Anwar in an explosives caselodged with Motijheel police station, Eh-sanur Rahman, a lawyer of the BNP lead-ers, said.

Ehasanur said, as Anwar and Miahwere granted bail in all five cases againstthem, they were no legal bars to releas-ing them. Shimul was released from jailon January 28 .

However, Moudud would have to re-main in prison as Dhaka MetropolitanSessions Judges Court yesterday refused

to grant him bail in a corruption case.l

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Sylhet hawkers, traders fight for spacenOur Correspondent, Sylhet

Hawkers and businessmen in the citywere locked in a battle yesterday cen-tering an eviction drive to keep thefootpath hawker-free.

The hawkers brought out a pro-cession protesting the eviction pro-gramme taken by the authorities ofSylhet City Corporation (SCC) recently.

Eye-witnesses said police had dis-persed the procession while hundredsof hawkers brought out demonstrationin the city demanding rehabilitation.

On the other hand, businessmenwere locked in a clash with the hawk-ers and called upon the locals to makethe city clean and beautiful.

Zidan Al Musa, additional deputycommissioner of Sylhet metropolitanpolice, said: Everyone wants to builda clean city. But, the two groups are inconflicting positions. We are trying tosolve the matter through mutual un-derstanding. In reply to a question, he

said: The police did not stop hawkersfrom holding processions. We advised

them to submit a memorandum to thepolice commissioner.

The businessmen on behalf of SylhetMohanagar Hawker Sangram Parishadsubmitted a memorandum to the policecommissioner. It mentioned that thereare about 20,000 hawkers in the city.But they were evicted to enhance thebeauty of the city after SCC Mayor Ari-

ful Haque Ch owdhury took the offi ce.On the other hand, the hawkers re-

quested the authorities to give them theopportunity to sell items from 12pm-12am from Saturday to Thursday andfrom 4pm-12am during the other fourdays before rehabilitation.

They also requested the police com-missioner to allow them to sit in Jalala-bad Park, owned by the City Corporation.

On Saturday night, the hawkers at a

meeting said they were always ready tomake the footpath free.l

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, February 3, 2014

City High Low

PRAYER TIMES

Fajar 5:21am

Sunrise 6:38am

Zohr 12:12am

Asr 4:10pm

Magrib 5 :46 pm

Esha 7:04pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Dry weather likely

nUNB

Weather may remain dry with tempo-rary partly cloudy sky over the countryuntil 6pm today.

Moderate to thick fog may occurover the country during midnight tillmorning, Met Offi ce said.

Mild cold wave is sweeping over Ra-jshahi, Pabna, Jessore, Kustia and Sri-mangal and it may continue.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:46pmtoday and rises at 6:38am tomorrow.

Countrys highest temperature 30.2

degrees Celsius was recorded yester-day in Sylhet and lowest 8.8 degrees inSrimangal and Ishwardi. Highest andlowest temperature recorded in somemajor cities yesterday were:

Dhaka 27.5 13.3

Chittagong 26.4 16.4

Rajshahi 23.0 9.5

Rangpur 19.5 11.0

Khulna 26.2 12.2

Barisal 26.4 12.4

Sylhet 30.2 13.0

Coxs Bazar 28.4 18.0

Government batsfor coal, Rampalpower plantnAminur Rahman Rasel

The Rampal coal-based plant is a chal-lenge for the government but it would beimplemented fast, said Towfiq-e-ElahiChowdhury, power and energy adviserto the prime minister, yesterday.

He claimed that the locals around theplant site in Bagerhat disrict were happyabout establishment of the Maitree Su-per Thermal Power Project, which ispopularly known as Rampal Power plant.

The adviser was speaking at a seminartitled Coal Power Generation in Bangla-

desh: Worlds Best Practices at BidyutBhaban in the capital. The Power Cellunder the energy, power an dmineral re-sources ministry arranged the event.

Towfiq said the chimney of the plantwould be 275 miters high. So, the smoketo be emitted from burning coal wouldnot harm the Sundarbans, one theworlds largest mangrove forests. Besidesthis, the ambient atmosphere would notbe affected because of using supercriticaltechnology at the plant.

On January 29, 2012, the governmentstruck a deal with India for installing the1,320MW coal-based power plant on thebank of Poshur River of the Sundarbans.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugu-rated the construction work in Octoberlast year.

The Indian state-owned power com-pany is implementing the project where

they will use imported coal to generate

electricity. The government has plansto construct another coal plant of simi-lar capacity at the same site and severalothers across the country, mainly in thecoastal areas.

An India-Bangladesh joint venture,the Rampal plant has been facing strongcriticism from conservationists as it fallswithin the vicinity of the Sundarbans, aUnesco World Heritage Site.

Power Division Secretary MonowarIslam said the government had targetedproducing around 20,000MW of electric-ity by 2030 from coal.

The country would require to pro-duce 24,000MW electricity by 2021 and40,000MW by 2030, as per the powersector roadmap.

Anjuman Islam, an environmental en-gineer, and Kazi Ahmad Pervez, facultymember of Eastern University, jointly pre-sented the keynote paper at the seminar.

They said coal was a key fuel usedfor generating electricity worldwide. In

2012, coal was used to generate 41% ofthe worlds total electricity.

Bangladesh should diversify its elec-tricity generation scheme by establish-ing more coal-fried mega power plants tosolve the countrys electricity demand inthe future, they said.

They said clean coal technology withhighly-effi cient supercritic al boiler wasa proven technology used worldwide ingenerating power with minimal disrup-tion of ambient air and water quality.With proper monitoring of the effl uentparameters and maintenance of thepower plant, there was no other majorenvironmental concern.

State Minister for Power, Energy andMineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, PowerCell Director General Mohammad Hos-sain and Prof Ijaz Hossain of Buet alsospoke on the occasion.l

Buet studentsstage demonAshif Islam Shaon

Students of Bangladesh University ofEngineering and Technology took to thestreets after a fellow student sustainedinjuries in a road mishap in Palashi in-tersection of the capital yesterday.

They also vandalised and torcheda microbus, and burnt tires on theroad, bri nging the traffi c in Pa lashiintersection to a halt for more than fourhours.

Anika Farzana, a third year studentof Architecture Department of the uni-versity, was injured when the microbushit a rickshaw that was carrying heraround 9am, sai d Sirajul Islam , offi cer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station.Her fellow students later took her toDhaka Medical College Hospital.

As soon as the news spread, over300 angry students took to the street infront of the university, the OC said.

The students demonstrated de-manding limited public transport move-ment on the campus and constructinga roundabout to stop haphazard move-ment of vehicles at the intersection.

Later, SM Nazrul Islam, vice-chan-cellor of Buet, visited the spot and as-sured the students of restricting entryof public vehicles to the campus.

In the face of the demonstration,a makeshift roundabout was beingbuilt at Palashi intersection by Buetauthorities to control the vehicularmovement there.l

Government to send probe team to MalaysianSheikh Shahariar Zaman

The government is planning to send aprobe team to Kuala Lumpur to inves-tigate a case where over 500 passportshad gone missing from the BangladeshHigh Commission in Malaysia.

We have learnt about the incidentand it is the usual practice to send aprobe team whenever an issue arises atthe high commission. The team wouldbe sent soon, said a senior diplomat,seeking anonymity.

The high commission had formeda committee to investigate the issue

which is expected to submit a report bynext week, Bangladesh High Commis-sioner to Malaysia AKM Atiqur Rahmantold the Dhaka Tribune on Friday.

After getting the report, the missionwould inform the foreign ministry andtake action in line with the report, he said.

The mission in early December re-ceived some passports which belongedto a series that should still be in the stock.The missing came to light at that time.After getting the news, we started theinvestigation, he said.

When asked if the mission authoritiessuspected Suchona Rani Halder, the cus-

todian of the passports, the high com-missioner refused to comment beforegetting the report.

However, the high commissionthrough a mail asked Suchona, a for-mer Chhatra League leader, to reportto the mission. The Dhaka Tribune ob-tained a copy of the email.

Suchona, posted to the mission lastOctober, went on leave for 10 days andwas supposed to report to the missionby December 15. But she is yet to return.

When contacted, she told the DhakaTribune that she had been sick and shewould go back after completing her

medical treatment.Regarding the missing passports, she

said a racket of o ffi cers and staff wa s re-sponsible for the incident, adding thatpassports go missing frequently.

However, she denied naming any-one involved in the racket. She said shewanted to be posted in the Australianmission but she did not get it and latershe was posted to Malaysia.

I do not want to stay there [Malaysia]and I want posting in Kolkata or Delhiand I will meet HT Imam [political ad-viser to the prime minister] about thematter, she said.l

Mashiur: BNP violated constitutionnAbu Bakar Siddique

BNPJamaat violated the constitution,as their programmes were harmful fordemocracy, secularism, equal citizen-ship right and equality of women.

Mashiur Rahman, adviser to theprime minister, made the commentwhile addressing a discussion titled Re-thinking Political Development in theInternational Political Science (IPSA)Conference.

The two-day long programme wasjointly organised by IPSA, Policy Re-search Institute and Bangladesh Enter-prise Institute at PRI offi ce in the capital.

The BNP failed to make any credibleoffer for making the countrys politicspeaceful as the party is yet to decidewhether it will cut the ties with Jamaat,Mashiur said.

Terming the BNPJamaat initiativesunrealistic, he also said the BNPJa-maat alliance had not taken any real-istic initiatives to ensure the countrysdevelopment. There is no indicationof BNPs policies for socio-economicdevelopment and it has also failed tosever ties with Jamaat-e-Islam.

Replying to the questions from jour-nalists about imposing ban on Jamaatspolitics, he said that the issue was in

the hands of the court, though the ECcancelled the partys registration.

The discussion was arranged to re-view the ongoing political turmoil inthe region where the researchers andexperts from different countries joined.

Regarding womens empowerment,Maneeza Hossain, senior fellow ofHudson Institute said that Bangladeshwas a bit ahead than many other Mus-lim majority countries in the regiondue to the huge presence of womenworkforce in the readymade garmentsfactory.

Terming the present situation un-fortunate, she also said incidents of

violence against women had takenplace in spite of the country being ledby women in the last two decades.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, chair-man of Centre for Policy Dialogue, ex-pressed the need for a dialogue to fixthe procedure of 11th national parlia-ment election as early as possible.

Regarding the rivalry between thecountrys two major political partiesAwami League and BNP, former am-bassador Humayun Kabir said both theparties should come to a common un-derstanding about the countrys devel-opment by overcoming their individualinterest.l

Hindu coupletortured for

ransomnOur Correspondent, Jhenaidah

Identified criminals have tortured aHindu couple at Dakatia village underJhenaidah sadar when they failed torealise ransom from the house owner.

The injured were admitted to Jhe-naidah sadar hospital for treatment,said locals. Victim Phanibhushan Roy,who is a small businessman, said thegang were creating pressure on him fora long time. Recently they demandedTk50,000.

On Saturday afternoon, failing to re-alise the money, some eight criminalsswooped on the inmates of the house.They started beating up Phanibhushanand his wife Madhuri Roy, he told theDhaka Tribune at the hospital.

The criminals also looted gold or-naments and cash worth at least Tk2.1lakh from their house, said the couple.

Phanibhushan filed a case with Jhe-naidah sadar police station. l

Former Rajshahi University students form a human chain in front of Raju Bhashkarja pleding support for the ongoing protets at Rajshahi University over higher tuition fees and evening

masters courses, on Dhaka University campus yesterday RAJIB DHAR

12-year-old boyrescued, 2 held

nKailash Sarkar

A 12-year-old boy who had been report-edly kidnapped by a gang of criminalson January 31 was rescued and two ofthe alleged abductors were arrestedfrom the capitals Green Road yesterday.

According to RAB 2 offi cials, t he twowere arrested when they tried to collectTk19 lakh as ransom against their de-mand of Tk30 lakh. The arrestees wereMd Sujon, 19, and Russell Sarkar, 18.

Yiasir Arafat, son of Kamrul Islam,was kidnapped from in front of Bas-hundhara Shopping Mall around 6pm.After an hour of the incident, one of theabductors called the boys mother anddemanded Tk30 lakh as ransom.

Senior Assistant Superintendent ofPolice Raihan Uddin Khan, also the opera-

tion offi cer of Rab 2, said four more youthswere also involved with the abduction.l

7 doctors suspendedfor absence at worknTribune Report

The government has suspended seven

physicians because of their unauthor-ised absence at workplaces.

The suspended doctors are Dr MdRajib Mahmu d, medical offi cer of Shib-pur upazila health complex of Narsing-di; Dr Mohammad Mahamudul KabirBashar, assistant surgeon of Jessoresub-health centre of the same upazila;Dr Pobina Afroz Parvin, junior consul-tant at Palash upazila health complexin Narsingdi; Dr Nahida Begum, medi-cal offi cer of Gojaria sub -health centr e;Dr Md Sharif Ahmed, assistant surgeonof the same health sub-centre; andDr Nurun Nahar, assistant surgeon ofDanga sub-health centre, according toa press release.

During a sudden visit on Thursday,Basu Dev Ganguly, joint secretaryof the health ministry, and Dr ShahNewaz, director (administration) of theDirectorate General of Health Services,found them absent at their workstations.l

The ambientatmosphere of theSundarbans will notbe affected becauseof using supercriticaltechnology at the plant

3,000 sued for attack on NadvinTarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Police yesterday arrested 54 more Ja-maat-Shibir activists in connection withthe assault of ruling partys Abu RezaMohammad Nezamuddin Nadvi MP inLohagara of Chittagong on Friday.

They were arrested from different ar-eas of Lohagara after an overnight drive,Offi cer-in-Charge Mohammad Shahja-han of Lohagara police station said.

After a case was filed on Saturdaynight, the police arrested 22 Jamaat-e-Islami activists and its student bodyIslami Chhatra Shibir. SI Abdul Awal ofLohagara police lodged the case accus-ing 3,000 Jamaat-Shibir men, naming

125 people including ANM Shamsul Is-lam, ameer of Jamaats city unit.

At a press briefing at Chittagong PressClub yesterday morning, Nadvi claimedthat the Jamaat-Shibir men had attempt-ed to kill him that night.

Nadvi and other local Awami Leaguelawmakers said the Jamaat-Shibir menhad been conducting attacks in Satkaniaand Lohagara upazilas since last year, af-fecting the local people especially thosefrom the minority communities.

Protesting the attack, the local ALunit will hold a protest rally in Chunatiarea in Lohagara today. A long-marchfrom the port city to Satkania will also beorganised by district AL on February 8. l

Rana Plaza owner denied bailnNazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday declined togive bail to Sohel Rana, the key accusedin a case filed under the Building Con-struction Act and Building Code in con-nection with the Rana Plaza collapsethat killed more than 1,130 people onApril 24 last year.

The bench of Justice Nizamul Huqand Justice Jahangir Hossain passed theorder rejecting the bail petition of Rana,a Jubo League leader in Savar, his lawyerNajmul Huda told the Dhaka Tribune.

The High Court earlier granted bailto Abdul Khalek, father of the buildingowner, the lawyer said.

Ranas counsel told the court that hisclient was entitled to bail consideringthe offence. In the hearing, Deputy At-torney General Amit Talukdar said Ranacould not be granted bail as the collapseof the building had killed many people,and for which, the USA suspended GSPfacilities for Bangladesh.

The collapse of nine-storey RanaPlaza claimed the lives of at least 1,134people mostly workers of the five gar-ment factories housed in the buildingand left around 2,500 others injured.

Police filed four criminal cases whilethe Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkhalodged one for constructing the build-ing in violation of the related laws. l

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News 5DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, February 3, 2014

Urban planners see no hope of jam-free cityLack of coordination between government agencies holding back progress

nAbu Hayat Mahmud

Traffi c congesti on in th e capit al hasbecome unbearable as different gov-ernment agencies have failed to imple-ment different projects in an integratedway to tackle problem.

Urban planners said city congestionwould not checked if urbanisation,including development of transpor-tation an d traffi c system, is not don ewith coordination among RajdhaniUnnayan Kartipakskha (Rajuk), CityCorporation, Bangladesh Road Trans-port Authority (BRTA) and respectiveministries.

Although the government has im-plemented a few mega p rojects, includ-ing Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover and Kurilflyover in the city, townspeople are stillstruggli ng with traffi c congestion everyday.

During a visit to different routes ofthe city this correspondent found thatnone of city roads was jam-free. Thecongestion not only hits roads, but alsoflyovers.

Prof Nazrul Islam, chairman of Cen-tre for Urban Studies, said, Since ur-banisation and traffi c mismanagementin Dhaka city is completely unplanned,there is no abatement of congestion. Itmay intensify in future if the govern-ment does not take fitting steps for de-centralisation.

Nazrul said Dhaka city was reelingunder the heavy pressure of populaceand traffi cs as most of governm ent andprivate offi ces headqua rters, different

industries, educational institutionsand offi ces of different sec tors are situ-ated in the capital. He said Dhaka itselfhad the highest rate of urbanisation at

90%. He blamed illegal parking, run-ning of rickshaws on thoroughfares,auto-rick shaw, private c ars for tra ffi cjam.

The government should estab-lish separate lanes for buses, as mosttownsfolk use buses, he suggested.

After winning the ninth general

polls, the ruling party Awami Leaguehad taken different steps differentspecial bus services, CCTV aided sur-veillance system, banning old vehicles,setting up new timing for school andoffi ce, imp lementati on of au tomatedtraffi c signals - to reduce traffi c jam andpublic harassment in the capital.

The government has also takensteps to construct link roads, flyover,bus-rapid-transit system, elevated ex-pressway, and metro rail transit in thecity, and launched water bus service inthe rivers surrounding the city.

Since the early 1990s, several stud-ies have been taken up by the govern-ment and other funding agencies toevaluate the transport improvements.The Strategic Transport Plan for Dhaka(STP 2006) is the most recent and com-prehensive one. The STP, which has aplanning horizon of 20 years (2004 to2024), recommends an improved pub-lic transportation system coupled withimproved roadway system.

Professor Dr Sarwar Jahan, Depart-ment of Urban and Regional Planning,Buet, reiterated what Professor NazrulIslam had earlier said: The capitalhas become unfit for living because ofenormous rates of migration to the cap-ital. About 1.5 crore people are living inand around the city.

If the government does not takestrict measures for decentralisation,none of the traffi c developments - over-pass, underpass, elevated expressway,metro rai- will be fruitful for reducingtraffi c congestio n, he added. l

Court orders release ofInquilab materialsnMd Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered policeto release the seized materials of theBengali daily Inqilab to its authority.

Dhaka Metropolitan MagistrateShamsul Arefin passed the order af-ter hearing a petition filed by DefenceCounsel Abdullah-Al-Monsoor on be-half of Senior Reporter of the newspa-per Afzal Bari.

In the petition, Afzal sought custodyof the seized items.

During the hearing, the defencecounsel said the seized items wereneeded to continue publication of thedaily newspaper.

On January 16, the Detective Branchof police picked up three Inqilab jour-nalists, sealed off the press, plate-mak-ing and server rooms, and seized three

computers on charges of publishing afabricated news item.

On the other hand, the DB police onSaturday night opened the main gateof Inqilab building, around two weeksafter the offi ce of the Bengali n ewspa-per had been sealed off for publishinga controversial report over the presenceof Indian army in Bangladeshs territory.

On January 29, Diplomatic Corre-spondent Ahmmed Atique gave hisconfessional statement before the chiefmetropolitan magistrate court under164 of criminal procedure code andapologised for producing the report.

On January 20, a Dhaka court grant-ed two days remand for questioningAhmmed Atique, and News Editor Ra-biulla Ulla Robi and Deputy Chief Re-porter Rafiq Mohammad and sent themto jail. l

Private medicalcollege admissionsextended toFebruary 15

nMoniruzzaman Uzzal

Ministry of Health and Family Welfarehas again extended the deadline ofadmission at private medical collegesyesterday.

Motiur Rahman, joint secretary(medical education) of health ministry,said the deadline had been extendedup to February 15, and added that topoffi cials of t he ministr y had made thedecision.

Sources said this is for the sixth timethat the health ministry had extendedthe admission deadline for the privatemedical colleges.

Seeking ano nymity, several offi cialsof Directorate General of Health Ser-vices (DGHS) told the Dhaka Tribunethat usually the DGHS makes such de-cisions.

They also said this year the healthministry had been making decisions inthis regard, adding that they [DGHS of-ficials] did not know about the decisionbeforehand.

Meanwhile, health ministry sourcessaid most of the private medical col-leges could not fill up their seats yetbecause of political unrest.

According to Bangladesh PrivateMedical College Association sourcesaround 20%-25% seats were yet to befilled up.l

Human chaindemandspunishment forMonis killers

nOur Correspondent, Gazipur

Schoolmates, teachers and guardiansof Moni formed a human chain in Gazi-pur town yesterday, demanding arrest-ed and exemplary punishment of herkillers.

The human chain was formed at theschool field of Beraiderchala Abed AliGirls School of Sreepur municipality.

Mamun Mia, paternal cousin of Ma-suma Akter Moni, said she had gonemissing on January 22 after she left forschool in the morning.

After six days she was found dead inthe adjacent pond of her home on Jan-uary 28, he added.

Headmaster of the school MotiurRahman said: Moni was a gentle andbrilliant student of our school. I alongwith the students demand exemplarypunishment of the killers.

Following the human chain, the par-ticipants prayed for the salvation of thedeparted soul.l

Five including three devotees killedin bus, train accidents across citynKailash Sarkar

At least five people including three Ijte-ma devotees were killed in separateroad and train accidents in the capitalyesterday. A speeding bus ran over threedevotees at Turag while they were goingto attend the Ijtema on a rickshaw.

The deceased were identified as MdGiaus Uddin, 37, his son Md Yiasin, 17,and Md Ripon, 15, of Ashulia.

Quoting the witnesses, police saida bus hit the rickshaw from behind at

Rustompur in Turag around 10:30am.Being hit by the bus, the devotees

skidded off the rickshaw and fell underthe wheels of the bus, they added.

Locals caught the bus but the drivermanaged to flee, police said.

Locals rushed them to Pongu Hos-pital in the capital where they suc-cumbed to their injuries around 4pm.

Sheikh Farid, offi cer-in-c harge ofTurag police station, said the bus lostcontrol and hit the rickshaw.

In another incident, the helper of a

bus was crushed under the same bus inthe capitals Malibagh in the afternoon.

Md Yiasin, 30, was killed on the spotafter he fell down under the wheels of aTurag Paribahan bus while he was get-ting into the bus.

Kripa Sindhu Bala, offi cer-in-charge ofRampura police station, said they had ar-rested the bus driver and seized the bus.

Besides, an elderly man, 55, waskilled after he skidded off the roof of aTongi bound train at Khilkhet around1:30pm.l

National Poetry Festival endsnArif Ahmed

With the theme Kobita Shohey NaDanob Jatona, a two-day long 28thJatiya Kabita Utshab, inauguratedon Saturday at the premises of Cen-tral Library of Dhaka University,ended yesterday.

According to sources, earlier onSunday morning, the festival start-ed with second part of the seminarKabita Sahena Danab Jatana, pre-sided over by Borhan Uddin KhanJahangir.

The third part of the seminarKabita O Manobotar Mukti San-gram was held where noted au-thors and scholars addressed theprogramme.

Poetry recitation programmewas participated by several poetsfrom home and abroad.

The 9th part of the recitationwas for the Europeans poets presid-ed over by Nirmelendu Goon.

A programme titled Kobitar Ganwas held presided over by KamalLohan along with prize announce-ment ceremony, where prominentpoet Mohammad Rakiq had been

awarded.

Poet Habibullah Shirazi, presi-dent of the festival, presided overthe programme.

Among others, Rafiq Azad, Rabi-ul Husain, Belal Chowdhury, AslamSani, Mohammad Nurul Huda,Asim Saha, Mohammad Samad,Tarik Sujat, Kazi Rosy, Abed Khan,Rafiqullah Khan, Nuh-ul-Alam Le-nin, Shahriar Kabir and Kajal Ban-dopaddhay attended the function.

This year, a large number of poetsrecited their poems at the festivalfrom home and abroad.

Ashish Sanyal, Uttam Das,Shyamal Kanti Das, Shankar

Chakrabarty, Dilip Das, Akbar

Ahmed, Anubhab Tulsi and SamirTati were from India.

Swedish poet Kristian Carlsson,Norwegian poet John Y. Jones; Aus-trian poet Dorothea Muller-Ott; andSwidish poets Anre Ruth, HaidehDaragahi, among others participat-ed in the festival.

On 1 February, 1987, Jatio KabitaParishad was founded to organisethe Jatio Kabita Utsab (NationalPoetry Festival) during the militaryregime of 1980s with the sloganPoetry for Breaking Chains un-der the leadership of eminent p oetsincluding Sufia Kamal, ShamsurRahman and Faiz Ahmed and thevigorous initiatives of young poetsof Bangladesh.

Since the debut in 1987, JatioKabita Parishad has been organis-ing National Poetry Festival on 1stand 2nd February every year withslogans and themes focused on thecontemporary culture and socio-po-litical situation of the country.

The festival is now a major annu-al event not only in Bangladesh butalso in South-Asia and is recognisedas a unique reunion of poets fromhome and abroad. l

Tk8 lakh snatched by gunmennKailash Sarkar

A gang of armed criminals snatchedTk8 lakh by shooting two employeesof a private firm at a place in betweenthe High Court and Jatiya Press Club onSaturday night.

Bullet-injured Mohammad SohagKhan, 21, and Dowlat Gazi, 35, of pri-vate firm Siddiq Enterprise, a mobilebanking centre, were admitted to theDhaka Medical College and Hospital.

Of them, Sohah sustained a bulleton his left leg and Dowlat sustainedtwo shots on his thigh and leg.

The muggers snatched the money

when Sohag and Dawlat were going Ar-ambagh from the High Court by a rick-shaw around 7:15pm.

The victims said they had come un-der the attacks near Kadom fountainjust a few minutes after they had start-ed for Arambagh.

When the rickshaw carrying usreached the fountain, a white-colouredcar hit us from the behind and twocriminals came out of the car with fire-arms, said Sohag.

He said the criminals first had triedto snatch the bag containing the moneyand fired gunshots when they had triedto resist the muggers.

As we did not want to give themthe bag, they fired at me and Dowlat. Atthat point, we let go of the bag and thecriminals sped away with it in their car.

Sirajul Islam, offi cer-in-c harge ofShahbagh police station, said local peo-ple and pedestrians took the bullet hitpeople to the DMCH.

After we got information, forc-es have been engaged to find out thecriminals and we are trying to recoverthe money, said the OC.

Md Siddiq Ulla, managing directorof Siddiq Enterprise, said the bullet hitpersons were returning Arambagh withmore than Tk8 lakh. l

Memo No. T-4/936 Date: 29/01/2014

Invitation for e-Tender

Note: e-Tender publication date in in e-GP portal: 04/02/2014.

Special Condition:

a. Work order will be issued on the basis of sanctioned estimate and work authorization for

which no claim will be entertained.

b. Payment will be made after availability of fund from authority for which no claim will be

entertained. But the work must be continued and completed within schedule time and pro-

portionate progress must be achieved. If the work completion time is reduced to the span

as decided by the authority, this shall be binding upon the contractors.

c. The work may be totally dropped, decreased or increased. No claim or extra rate will be

entertained for cancellation of the tender or issuance of work order with decreased quantity

of work.

Md. Rafiqul Alam Executive EngineerPANI-477/13-14 BRE (Sp1.) O&M DivisionDG 11/14 (5x3) BWDB, Sirajganj.

Bangladesh Water Development BoardTelephone No : 0751-62462 (Off) 0751-62465 (Res)Fax : 0751-62463E-mail: [email protected]

Office of the Executive EngineerBRE (Specialized) O&M Division

BWDB, Sirajganj

Invitation reference no. Memo No. T-4/936; Date: 29/01/2014.Tender ID (from e-GP Portal) 6049Name of work Repair & Maintenance of Tugboat (Replace-

ment of Propeller, Bush, Gear box etc. and

Repair & making of Raddar), Supply Barge

and Work barge at Sirajganj during the FY:

2013-2014.This is an online tender where only e-tenders will be accepted in e-GP portal and no offline

and hard copy will be accepted. To submit e-tender please register on e-GP system. For

more details, please contact support Desk contact number (01762625528-31).

The recently taken photo shows a huge traffi c snarl on MIrpur-Airport route namely late president Zillur Rahman flyover despite different

measures taken by the government MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Agitated students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology run amok at the capitals Palashi intersection after a female

fellow student was injured after being hit by a microbus at the area yesterday. Story on page 4 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The festival is nowa major annualevent not only inBangladesh but alsoin South-Asia andis recognised as aunique reunion ofpoets from home andabroad

3 held for releasingobscene video

nOur Correspondent, Narsingdi

Police arrested three people yesterdayon allegations of releasing an offensivevideo of a school girl on the internet inMonohordi upazila of the district.

The arrested were Roman Mia, 19, sonof Khoka Mia and a tenth grade studentof Monohordi Pilot High School, ShohagMia, 20 owner of Khidirpur SR DigitalStudio and Sujon, a computer operator.

The victims mother had filed a caseagainst the three with Monohordi po-lice station as a complainant underthe Pornography Act. Police arrestedRoman with the help of locals and thevictims family. Shohag and Sujon werearrested after interrogating him.

During police interrogation, Romanclaimed that he had been involved ina relationship with the girl for the lasttwo years but recently, the video oftheir intimate moments was leaked onthe internet.

He claimed he had kept the video inSohags computer so that he could useit against the victims family if they re-fused his marriage proposal. But thevideo was leaked on the internet with-

out his knowledge, he added.l

7/22/2019 Print Edition: February 03, 2014

6/21

Making time for the Dhaka Art SummitThe countdown begins for the worlds largest South Asian art event, February 79

nTasnuva Amin Nova

Mystified about the clocksthat have suddenly sprungup on billboards all overthe capital?

They are part of a public art pro-ject titled Meanwhile Elsewhere bythe Delhi-based Raqs Media Collec-tive, commissioned by the SamdaniArt Foundation for the 2014 Dhaka ArtSummit.

This is their largest public art pro-ject to date, said Nadia Samdani, theFounder and Director of Dhaka ArtSummit.

Competed yesterday, the projectcovered ten billboards and 150 road-side signs with the image of a clock but contrary to traditional clocks,these show Bangla words instead ofnumbers, representing a subjective in-terpretation of time.

The billboards feature clocks whose

minute-hands show one word and thehour-hand another. These words orphrases complement each other, hint-ing towards a deeper meaning. When

all the billboards are seen collectively,it is meant to reveal a combination ofdifferent states of mind and being dur-ing different times of the day, craftedinto a poem.

The final piece is the Crazy Clockvideo installation, to be unveiled at theDhaka Art Summit. The hands will spinaround pause on a crazy message.

The Summit will be taking over thefour floors of the Shilpakala Academyfrom February 7-9. Billed as the worldslargest South Asian art event, the Dha-ka Art Summit will highlight the re-gions contemporary art scene.

The concept behind the clocks is toexamine the way we look at billboards,and subjective experience of time andduration, the artists said.

Research suggests that readingwords on walls or commercial sign-posts can create a strong effect on thesubconscious. It captures the readersmoments between awareness and una-

wareness after reading certain words.Despite being present in the situation,our minds can wander off somewhereelse. Hence, the project title.

Meanwhile Elsewhere is part ofthe Untimely series, one of Raqs Me-dia Collectives experiments with timeand the metaphorical possibilities oftime.

Other installations of the series havebeen exhibited around the world.

In Birmingham, UK, in 2012, RaqsMedia Collective did a similar installa-tion of clocks billboards with Englishwords, called: Whenever the HeartSkips a Beat, as part of the 48 Sheetsproject.

The first of such clocks by the Raqswere seen in Emoo Art.ficial Exhibi-tion, Ita Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo,Brazil in 2002.

The theme there has remained thesame for this installation in Dhaka: tonudge our mental state of being or feel-ing with words, representing emotionswe contemporaneously feel within:epiphany, panic, remorse, nostalgia,fear, ecstasy, awe, fatigue, guilt, indif-

ference, anxiety.Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, who designedthe project, are practitioners of con-

temporary art and through Raqs MediaCollective. They have participated inmany major international shows, in-cluding The European Biennial of Con-temporary Art in 2008.

Diana Campbell Betancourt, artisticdirector of Samdani Art Foundation, iscurator of the initiative. l

6 FeatureDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, February 2, 2014

Grace under fireAn interview with Rumana Monzur, as part of our weekly serieson One Billion Rising Bangladesh, in support of justice forviolence against women

nSyeda Samira Sadeque

Inever thought it would hap-pen to me. And then it did,Rumana Monzur, iconicsurvivor of severe domestic

abuse, told the Dhaka Tribune in a n ex-clusive interview earlier this week.

To survive is to have a story to tell,to have the chance to show others what

they didnt see. Or ignored. Rumana,having enrolled in law school aftercompleting her Masters degree, is do-ing just that: surviving gracefully, andtelling her story.

Rumana was attacked by her hus-band in June 2011, when he gouged out

her eyes and bit off parts of her nose.Rumana, a former University of DhakaAssistant Professor of InternationalRelations, was visiting Dhaka on breakfrom Vancouver, where she was a grad-uate student at that time.

The brutal act triggered protestsboth at home and in Canada.

Rumana survived to tell her story,and to completely turn her fate around.After extensive medical treatment, sheenrolled as a law student at Univer-sity of British Columbia in Vancouver,where she lives with her parents andeight year old daughter Anusheh.

I am studying law because it makesme legally empowered. I wonder nowif I had had this education, if it wouldhave been easier for me to fight my le-gal battles.

Despite the obvious nature of thecrime, her husbands family has beentrying to claim custody of her daugh-ter, accusing her of faking her blind-

ness, or saying that she will not be ableto take care of Anusheh. She has tosubmit documents to prove that she isvisually impaired.

Vicious cycle of abuse

Domestic abuse in Bangladesh isnothing new. A recent survey by BBS

and UNFPA suggests a staggering90% of women face abuse by their

husbands.Those being abused need to un-

derstand that showing patience tomonsters and demons is wrong. Theymistake our commitment to be ourweakness. No one needs to go throughthis to save their marriage.

Even after being married to herabusive husband Hasan Sayeed for tenyears, Rumana used to be reluctant toreveal her secret.

I used to think talking about itwould be a matter of shame, so I keptquiet instead.

But we must realize it is not us whoought to be ashamed but them, those whoinflict abuse on us who should be held ac-countable, who should be shamed.

Rumana says society also has a roleto play to create a safe haven for thoseliving in a system of abuse. Instead offacing the judgement and stigma of so-ciety, Rumana braved the challenges in-side her abusive home, as many still do.

The societys attitude must change.If they were supportive of those tryingto leave abusive systems, it would be alot easier for girls to do so.

Saving grace

After it happened in June 2011, the in-ternational media was quick to pick up

the story, largely due to the fact thatRumana had an international sup-

port system from her friends and col-leagues in Canada.

In Bangladesh, what stood outabout Rumanas case was the factthat she was an educated, financiallyindependent woman in the society.This incident broke the previouslyheld assumption that domestic abusetakes place primarily in lower incomehomes, to women who are illiterateand unaware of their rights.

I never thought despite having aMasters degree, despite my financialindependence, I would face this, Ru-mana says.

After the incident, her husband jus-tified his attack by accusing her of hav-ing an affair with an Iranian man. Somelocal media agencies also capitalisedon the controversy, falsely reporting orvalidating rumours - mostly triggeredby her husbands family - that soon af-ter the attack she had remarried or thatshe was faking her blindness.

But she was lucky that this time, so-ciety took the side of the woman.

The support that poured out aftermy attack was overwhelming. It showedme that for the 10% of people who be-lieve in these false rumours and thought[the incident] was justified, there is theother 90% who supported me.

Regaining equilibriumThree years since the attack, Rumana is

still trying to come to terms with whathappened.

I really dont know why this hap-pens. But I know that a relationshipmust be about mutual respect. I usedto hear news of acid attacks, wives be-ing burnt.

But we never realize just how trau-matising it is until it happens to us,Rumana says.

But today she is coping.Ive igured out alternative ways

to communicate with my daughter,she laughs adding that she playswith her, cooks for her among otherthings.

She is the reason I am trying togo back to a normal life. I always tryto stay positive because I know I haveto bring her up. I know I have to live ameaningful life.

A meaningful life indeed, for a vic-tim who turned herself into a survi-vor. A survivor who, now that she has

come out of the abuse system, says wemust be careful about our society, andnot overlook any derailments in thesystem.

We mustnt look at domestic abuseas news anymore: its not news, its asituation that any one of us can be inany day.l

8OUT OF EVERY 10 WOMEN IN BANGLADESH SUFFER FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, ACCORDING TO THE SURVEY

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH

Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, designers of the

project

RAPED BYHUSBANDS

NEEDEDMEDICAL HELP

ABUSED BYCURRENTOR PASTHUSBANDS

Raqs Media Collectives installation Now Elsewhere (2009) at the Faurschou Foundation

in Copenhagen

One of the Meanwhile Elsewhere billboards reading: fuzzy/logic, sharp/intense outside

Shilpakala Academy, the venue for Dhaka Art Summit MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Raqs Media Collective, commissioned

for 48Sheet in partnership with the Ikon

Gallery, Birmingham

Dhaka Art Summit

Shilpakala Academy

February 79

Featuring South Asian

artwork from 33 galleries, 14

installation art projects, 13

experimental films, 9 artist

performances, and 5 talks and

speakers panels.

To register for a VIP pass

to Dhaka Art Summit, visit:

dhakaartsummit.com/register

UBC student Rumana Monzur speaks to the media upon her return from India

Rumana Monzur with daughter Anusheh in 2013

A survey conducted in 2011, which was published on the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics website in 2013, has revealed

that 9 out of 10 Bangladeshi women are subject to domestic violence. The survey, titled Report on Violence Against

Women (VAW) Survey 2011, was designed by BBS, the Institute for Statistical Research and Training at Dhaka University,

and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

98 % 33 % 50 %

7/22/2019 Print Edition: February 03, 2014

7/21

7Long Form Monday, February 3, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

nYusuf Choudhry

In the heart of old Dhaka sur-rounded by pencil high-riseapartments is a house withcrumbling yellow plaster thatsays a lot about its inhabitant

whose age can be anybodys guess.His mind is still sharp, reminiscing thedays of the past and the country in itswholesome days.

In our time, he muses, we voted forpolitical stars, not a bunch of silly nicknames like Montu or Jhontu. Namesmattered because they told us wherethey came from and where they couldtake us. Sadly, all that is in the past andtoday we only have brands like AwamiLeague, BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, etc.

People vote for symbols ratherthan character, symbols that havelong lost the meanings of their origin.What have we become as a nation?Mere sleepwalkers in a world of vainpromises and futile hopes? Why arewe asked to vote for nationalismwhere none exists and for service tothe people which comes as periodickillings and street terror?

What happened here can perhapsbe understood by a recap of how welost touch with the very democraticspirit we were trying to create at thebirth of the country. In our eupho-ria of liberation from an oppressivepartner we became so indebted to theliberators who had released us f rombondage that we overlooked the factthat bondage could reappear in otherforms too. The flames of devotionwere so bright that we forgot altogeth-er that descent needs to be sustainedto preserve the essence of democracy.

We let it die slowly.The countrys infrastructure at that

time was far from shambles, not thetypical post-conflict situation. All thatwas needed was good governance toget the machineries running again.What did we do instead? We got lostin political adulation and looked awayfrom many things that just didnt lookright.

In other words we did not helpcreate the effective opposition thatcould keep the party in power to thestraight and narrow. The outcome wasnot very pleasant. Every governmentthat came to power subsequentlyhad to wrestle it from the incumbentwith threat or bloodshed or both.Every time there was a switch ofgovernment the oppressor became theoppressed, hell bent upon putting itsnemesis out of business from day one.

The same spirit persists today. Thepolitical fall-out of this is that a sub-

stantial part of the energy of any gov-ernment is now deployed to keep theopposition at bay instead of attendingto the needs of the nation. Bi-partisan-ship has become a dirty word, the p ar-liament does not function, and streetthugs determine the economic futureof the country. The play goes on andon with extraordinary predictabilitywhile the bewildered polity watchespassively from the sidelines.

So where is the salvation? How longwill this game between the two polit-ical adversaries go on? Can the pres-ence of a strong third party break thisvicious cycle? I mean a forceful thirdparty with real teeth whose leaderdoes not have to check into a hospitalevery time he sees a c risis coming.

There are many ways in which asizable third party could provide abreak in the oppressive atmosphere.It can help the opposition deny thegoverning party votes that they need

in the parliament to pass ill-conceived

legislations. It could force the opposi-tion to compromise when it is needed.

Of course it has its downsides too, butthe overall positives it could deliver inthe context of this politically volatilenation should lead us to judgment.

Third parties exist in manycountries and their effectivenesshas differed from country to coun-try depending upon the system ofgovernment. If we look briefly at howthey have fared in some of the moredeveloped democracies and some lessdeveloped ones we could get a betterunderstanding of its value for us.

First case in p oint is the United Stateswith a presidential form of govern-ment. Even though the American con-stitution allows for third parties, theElectoral College system (i.e. winnertakes all) ma kes it diffi cult for thirdparties to be consequential exceptmaybe take some votes away from themajors.

This deficiency, however, is madeup to a large extent by the constitu-tional division of power between theexecutive and the legislative branchesand the electorates usually make surethat both dont simultaneously residewith one party. Once in a while, how-ever, when the Americans are caughtin a political morass, they start havingsecond thoughts about their duo-par-ty system, as we saw in the 1992election (the Ross Perot revolt) and

the 2012 election (the dysfunctionalgovernment crusade).

High level of dissatisfaction withboth parties rekindles debate for thirdparty prominence. Some states haveeven tried to correct the representa-tion imbalance by dividing the totalElectoral College votes rather thangiving it outright to the winner. Al-though these efforts have not amount-ed to much (except in two states) theyhave kept the debate alive. The statesown independent policies that havemore profound impact on peopleslives have kept the idea in the backburner.

The second case in point is theUnited Kingdom, a parliamentarydemocracy. It also has a two partysystem with the majoritarian principle(first-past-the-post principle) wherea candidate from any party receivingthe highest votes in a single seat con-stituency wins.

Some exceptions take place in mul-

tiple seat constituencies where otherprovisions of the system may kick in

including alternate vote, bloc vote,etc. The country, however, has notalways felt at ease with this arrange-ment and time and again voices ofdissent have arisen for a more egalitar-ian proportional representation (PR)system.

The main reason for this is thatFPTP often provides a win for a partyin the parliamentary elections withless than 50% of the popular votes,thereby diminishing its moral positionfor majority rule. Even when sizeable

national support is amassed by thesmaller parties in an election it comesto nought and in effect is wasted asthe recipients do not qualify f or anyseat in the parliament. Smaller partiesdo not fare well under the FPTPsystem.

The advantag