Sunday, March 11, 2012

Capital Cut From Rest of The Country


DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka has virtually been severed from other parts of the country since Sunday morning as buses were kept off roads and launches barred to anchor at terminals ahead of the March 12 rally in the capital.

Visiting Gabtoli Bus Terminal, our reporter found that thousands of people were waiting there since the morning as transport union leaders forced the bus owners to keep the vehicles off the road.

Meanwhile, most of the long-distance buses were seen parked inside Sayedabad bus terminal in the morning.

Making stopover at different city bus stoppages, our correspondents report that almost all the operators kept their buses off roads for 'fear of anarchy' as well as safety concerns.

State-run BRTC buses were also kept off roads. The main entrance of Mohammadpur depot of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation was seen closed Sunday afternoon.

Due to take off buses in the city, the traffic movements almost remain one of hartal days.

On both sides of the streets in the city, thousands of people were seen waiting for transports.

Commuters standing along the city streets were seen to rush for a travel whenever a bus arrived.

Failing to get any bus, they were trying to go to their destinations by alternative vehicles like trucks and human haulers.

GABTOLI BUS TERMINAL

The transport union leaders were seen beating some bus drivers at Gabtoli bus terminal when they were trying to operate some inter-district buses.

They also vandalised two long-route buses around 8:30am at the bus terminal, bringing a total halt to the transport movement.

After that, no long-distance buses were seen leaving or entering the terminal.

The union leaders were also seen to force commuters to vacate several long-route buses at the terminal.

Motaleb, an elderly person, who came to Dhaka from Sylhet with his wife and three sons Saturday night, was seen waiting at Gabtoli Bus Terminal for buses for Pabna.

"I have an urgent work to do in Pabna. Now, I don't know what I will do," saying this he sat on road in his utter despair.

Talking to another young lady whose name was not available, our correspondent reports, the lady first went to Sadarghat Launch Terminal for a launch ticket for Barisal.

As she failed to get one, she rushed to the bus terminal and was waiting when this report was filed around 10:00am.

KALYANPUR BUS STAND

Sharif Miah, an office staff of Hanif Paribahan at Kalyanpur branch, told our correspondent that a single bus of their company has not left or entered the city this morning.

Hafiz, manager of Shyamoli Paribahan at Kalyanpur branch, also echoed Sharif.

The lone bus that left the terminal in the morning is for Kolkata, Hafiz said.

SADARGHAT LAUNCH TERMINAL

After visiting Sadarghat Launch Terminal our correspondent reported that Awami League-backed workers obstructed some launches to anchor at the terminal.

At around 6:00am, when three launches -- Kalam Khan-1, Sundarban-8 and Parabat -- reached the launch terminal carrying the people from Barisal, Bhola, Bagerhat, Patuakhali and other southern districts, the ghat workers barred those to anchor.

Seeking anonymity owner of a launch said, “The Awami League-backed workers are obstructing the launches to anchor at the launch terminal.”

Passengers of the three launches however managed to get down by boats.

Another correspondent adds that the ghat labourers also pelted brickbats on the passengers who tried to get off the launch.

The workers also chased the three launches with boats and trawlers when those headed towards Shyambazar and Postogola to offload passengers.

SAVAR SITUATION

Bus services on Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Tangail highways came to a halt since Sunday morning, causing immense sufferings to the commuters.

A very few buses were seen plying on the highways but those were not allowed to enter Dhaka city.

The bus drivers were seen to drop their passengers near the entry point of the capital, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reports.

Commuters standing at the highways rushed to a bus whenever they got one.

Failing to get any bus, they were trying to go to their destinations through alternative vehicles like trucks, human haulers.

A number of transport workers said the bus owners kept their vehicles off the road fearing clash and vandalism.

Police however claimed that they did not impose any restriction on bus movement.

SAYEDABAD & COMILLA BUS TERMINALS

Our reporter, who is covering the transport situation of Dhaka-Chittagong highway, found most of the buses parked inside Sayedabad bus terminal in the morning.

Luckily, he got a bus for Comilla around 6:30am. On his way back to Dhaka, he went to Shashangachha bus stand in Comilla town around 8:30am and found around 100 Dhaka-bound passengers were waiting there for transport.

In their despair bid to go to the capital, some of the commuters hired microbuses and private cars while others were seen to return home.

Jahangir Alam, a resident of Comilla and an engineer of the Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED), returned to his house fearing chaos after waiting at the bus stand for an hour. He was on the way to his Narayanganj office via Dhaka.

“Life is more valuable than attending office in such a situation. I would rather take a two-day leave,” Jahangir Alam said.

"Neither Awami League nor BNP is affected by such types of activities while only the general people become the worst sufferer, he added.

One Momena Begum of Comilla and her son managed to get up a Dhaka-bound bus at the bus stand but soon they got down from the bus apprehending violence ahead of the March 12 rally of the opposition.

Another Dhaka-bound passenger Hamidur Rahman, who was waiting at Comilla Cantonment Bus Stand, said it seems that the government has called a transport strike.

Meanwhile, a conductor of Asia Line which operates on Dhaka-Comilla route told our reporter that they will halt operation for Sunday and Monday fearing vandalism.

Md Uzzal, a Teletalk employee who was waiting at Chandina bus stand, told the reporter that he went to Comilla from Dhaka on Saturday on a official tour and boarded at a hotel at Comilla Biswa road.

MANIKGANJ SITUATION

Visiting Manikganj our reporter added that the launch owners have been asked by local administration to halt the launch services till the evening of March 12.

Several launch drivers seeking anonymity told The Daily Star that the local administration asked them to keep all the vessels anchored at Paturia and Aricha ghats so that no one could come from Daulatdia and Kazirhaat crossing the Padma river.

People however were seen to cross the river by ferry or taking alternative way.

Our Manikganj correspondent adds: The road and river communications between Dhaka and Manikganj were also disrupted.

The launch services on Paturia-Daulatdia route remained suspended since Saturday afternoon.

Paturia-Daulatdia route is the key route of communications between the capital and southwestern districts of the country.

The Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) ferries were only seen to carry good-laden trucks. Only three buses were seen to cross the river till the report was filed at 11:45am Sunday.

Hundreds of people who had gone their village home during the two day weekend, could not return to their working place in Dhaka as no long-route buses were plying on the Dhaka-Manikganj highway.

Meanwhile, security was beefed up in Manikganj ahead of the March 12 mass rally of BNP.

Md Nurul Islam, inspector of Manikganj traffic police, told The Daily Star that several additional police check posts were set up in the town fearing anarchy ahead of the opposition rally.

All for People's Sake: Shahara

DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, Mar 11 Home minister Shahara Khatun has said the people are scared ahead of BNP's Mar 12 rally and that the measures the government has taken are just to ensure their security.

"It is not the government but the people who got panicked due to opposition's Mar 12 programme. It is our responsibility to assure people that all necessary steps have been taken for their security," she said.

The minister admitted organising rally or programme is the right of any political party in a democratic system, but said the people got panicked due to statements issued by the opposition leaders.

Alleging that BNP's ally Jamaat-e-Islami is planning to create anarchy, Shahara showed newsmen a news item ran by a Bengali daily regarding this. Quoting the news reports she said, "BNP warned Jamaat against any subversive activities. It proves that there could be attempts to create anarchy on Mar 12.

She rejected an allegation that government took steps to cut off communications to Dhaka from the rest of the country.

The minister said government did not slap any ban on plying of vehicles.

"Better ask them (transporters)...," she said when newsmen asked her who gave the order to snap communications.

When asked how many have been detained ahead of the opposition's Mar 12 programme, she said, "I don't have the exact number. I can tell you after checking it with the people concerned."

To a question whether BNP would give permission to hold the rally, the home minister said, "BNP didn't come to me for the permission. People concerned will look into the matter."

Shahara expressed her satisfaction over the security situation when asked if she was going to resign to a deteriorating law and order situation marked by the killing of a journalist couple and then a Saudi embassy official.

"The prime minister will tell me if she finds out that I am not working properly. Once she said that I won't have any right to hold on to the position," she added.

She once again assured journalists that commendable progress has been made in the investigation of the killing of the journalist couple. But she could not tell when the investigation findings are going to be made public.

Mujaheed Indictment Hearing Pushed to Mar 20


DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, Mar 11  Frequent requests from the defence on Sunday led the war crimes tribunal to adjourn Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed's indictment hearing to Mar 20.

The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to deal with crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, saw the prosecution get through about a fifth of the 109-page formal charge before the adjournment came.

Jamaat secretary general Mujaheed's lawyer Munshi Ahsan Kabir came up with a few petitions requesting the court to direct the prosecution to provide him with some missing documents and readable copies of certain documents that were not 'clear enough'. The counsel also petitioned for a further adjournment introducing a newly appointed defence lawyer, Nazrul Islam.

Chairman of the three-judge tribunal, Justice Nizamul Huq, told the defence that he needed not bring petitions for copies of missing documents or legible copies, which has become a regular feature on the appointed dates of indictment hearings.

"You don't even have to come to the court with these applications. Contact the prosecution, the moment you find a missing document and they will provide you the copies." Justice Huq did not issue any order on the petitions related to the missing documents or the illegible copies and asked the defence and prosecution to settle the matter between them.

Justice Huq told Kabir to be candid and free with the tribunal and ask for time if he was not prepared. However, the judge pointed out that counsels came to the court seeking missing documents at the last moment although they had gotten the volumes much before.

"We are marking this trend, but we have not yet said anything about this. It seems that there are ulterior motives behind this," said the tribunal chief said.

The defence counsel wondered if the judge thought it was a delay tactic of some sort. The judge said, "We don't want to call it that."

Kabir added that he had not so far asked for too long a time and the fact of the matter was that he had not been able to prepare fully. "Besides that, the new counsel has not had much time to acquaint himself with the case details."

Justice Huq said the defence would certainly get sufficient time for preparation but the tribunal was inclined to let the prosecution begin the hearing, which basically means a reading of formal charges. "This will be followed by arguments of the prosecution. We will fix a date for you after that," Justice Huq told both the defence counsellors, who kept up their meek protests.

The tribunal chairman agreed that Kabir had not asked for too many adjournments while Kabir kept insisting that it would become very tough for him. He then said, "At least let the records show that it has begun from today."

Prosecutor Mukhlesur Rahman began reading the formal charge and got through 21 pages before Justice Huq told him to stop for the day.

The tribunal is expected to hear defence arguments against Ghulam Azam's indictment on Mar 12.

The prosecution had submitted formal charges against Mujaheed on Dec 11, 2011 which the tribunal returned to them on 17 days later on Dec 28 saying that the charges ought to be resubmitted in a more organised fashion.

The prosecution complied on Jan 16 proposing to charge Mujaheed on 34 counts of war crimes including murder, rape, loot and arson. Mujaheed was arrested Jun 29, 2010.

The court took cognisance of charges against Mujaheed for perpetrating crimes against humanity on Jan 26.

During 1971, the current number two of Jamaat held the same post in Jamaat's student wing, called East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha, while Matiur Rahman Nizami, also behind bars on war crimes charges, headed the student wing at that time.

Mujaheed later went on to become the chief of the student wing and doubled as a commander of Al Badr, a militia group mobilised by the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 as part of its active efforts to thwart and oppose the liberation forces.

Currently six top Jamaat leaders are behind bars charged with war crimes including the current and former chiefs of the party. Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, a BNP policymaker and an MP from Chittagong, has been detained on similar charges.

Another BNP leader, Abdul Alim, an old guard who had been in the cabinet of a previous BNP government, is the only one on bail. His next hearing is on Mar 15.

Megh now Takes to Street


DHAKA NEWS

The only child of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi took to the streets Sunday to voice the demand for arrest of his parents' killers.

Mahir Sarowar Megh participated in a human chain formed by journalists in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.

Runi, a senior reporter at the private TV channel ATN Bangla, and her husband Sagar, a news editor at private TV station Maasranga, were murdered at their West Rajabazar flat in the capital on February 11.

Taking part in the human chain, Runi's brother Nawsher Noman expressed his disappointment that even one month after the murder, the killers are still at large. He demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

Expressing disappointment at the failure to arrest the killers, journalist leader Manjurul Ahsan Khan Bulbul said, "We have been tired of having patient."

"We, the colleagues, cannot stand before the mother of Runi. We cannot stand before the son of Sagar-Runi," he added.

Another journalist leader, Shah Alamgir, said, "We have come here to express our hatred as the murders have not been arrested in a month."

Journalist JE Mamun questioned the government's sincerity in arresting the perpetrators. He said, "The government has to prove its sincerity with work."

Journalists from both the print and electronic media will organise a rally in the capital on March 18 to press home their demand.

The journalist leaders on Sunday threatened of tougher movement if the killers are not arrested by that day.