United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon shocked

BANGLADESH NEWS

Heads of state and government of different countries and international dignitaries have expressed deep shock at the death of President Zillur Rahman and extended their sympathy to his family members and Bangladeshis.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday offered his “condolences to the bereaved family of the president, the government and the people of Bangladesh”.
Zillur Rahman made important contribution to his country’s democratic transition throughout his political life, Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement, according to the UN’s official website.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on behalf of the government and the people of India, in a statement said Zillur was a patriot and a man of high ideals. An ardent advocate of friendly relations between India and Bangladesh, he was held in high esteem by the people of India, said Manmohan.
“On this tragic occasion, we extend our deepest condolences to the people of Bangladesh. We pray for the peace of his departed soul…,” the statement said.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, in a statement addressed to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said, “With his passing, the people of Bangladesh have lost a man of vision and a true son of the soil who rose to the highest office.”
Pranab, in a separate statement addressed to the president’s son Najmul Hassan, said, “His demise is a personal loss to us…. We offer you, your sister and the other family members of President Zillur Rahman our heartfelt condolences and stand by you in this hour of grief.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the president, from his early days as a history student and political activist, dedicated his life to the Bangladeshi people. His efforts helped lead to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 and his subsequent decades of public service helped Bangladesh establish itself as the democracy it is today.
“As Bangladesh nears the 42nd anniversary of its independence, President Rahman’s death offers a moment for all Bangladeshis to come together in mourning and reflect on what unites them as a nation,” Kerry added.
Australian High Commissioner in Dhaka Greg Wilcock said Zillur’s life was interwoven with Bangladesh’s history. His four years as the president of Bangladesh followed decades of service to his nation.
“Our thoughts are with President Rahman’s family and the people of Bangladesh as they mourn their loss,” Wilcock added.
Afrasiab, Pakistani high commissioner to Bangladesh, said the government of Pakistan has postponed the country’s National Day celebrations scheduled for March 23 in the capital to mourn the president’s demise.
The president of Russia, president and prime minister of Singapore, prime minister of Malaysia, foreign minister of Canada, prime minister and foreign minister of Japan, president of Nepal, president and foreign minister of Maldives, king and prime minister of Bhutan, president of Pakistan, president of China, president and foreign minister of Iran and king of Thailand have also sent condolence messages.
Besides, the flag was kept at half mast yesterday in Bhutan.
Secretaries general of the OIC, commonwealth, D-8, Swedish embassy, Dutch ambassador and country representative of the UN Women in Dhaka also condoled the death.
Meanwhile, the 111 member arms treaty meeting presided over by the Australian foreign minister yesterday paid respects to the Bangladesh president in New York by observing two minutes’ silence.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman trial at final stage Closing arguments begin Sunday

BANGLADESH NEWS

The trial of war crimes accused Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is set to enter the final stage as the International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday fixed next Sunday for beginning of the closing arguments of the case.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam fixed the date as the defence for the third consecutive date yesterday failed to produce their last witness.
The court, however, gave another chance to the defence saying it would allow their witness if they could produce him/her on Sunday.
As per relevant laws, after hearing the closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, the tribunal will set a date for delivering the verdict.
Meanwhile, the tribunal directed the police to submit an execution report by April 10 on the arrest warrant it had issued earlier against three Jamaat leaders in connection with a contempt of court rule.
The court gave the directive after the defence of Selim Uddin, one of the three Jamaat leaders who was arrested following the arrest warrant, submitted explanation to the tribunal over the rule issued on February 7.
KAMARUZZAMAN’S CASE
The tribunal had fixed yesterday as the last chance for recording the testimony of the fifth and last defence witness in the case as the defence had failed to produce the witness on Monday and Wednesday.
On Monday, neither the witness nor any senior defence counsels appeared before the court citing “unavoidable situation”. The main opposition BNP-led 18-party combine enforced hartal that day.
On Wednesday, the defence sought an adjournment saying their witness could not come from Sherpur due to the two-day hartal enforced on Monday and Tuesday.
Kamaruzzaman’s counsel Ehsan A Siddiq yesterday told the tribunal that their witness could not appear due to health condition and prayed for an adjournment.
The tribunal fixed Sunday for hearing the closing arguments from the prosecution and said it would allow defence testimony if the defence could produce their witness that day.
On June 4, 2012, the tribunal indicted the Jamaat assistant secretary general on seven charges which include murder and torture of unarmed civilians during the Liberation War in 1971.
As many as 18 prosecution witnesses including the investigation officer of the case gave their testimony against the Jamaat leader, while four defence witnesses have testified in the case.
CONTEMPT RULE AGAINST JAMAAT LEADERS
Yesterday’s proceeding started at 10:42am and Tajul Islam, on behalf of Jamaat leader Selim Uddin, submitted written explanation in connection with a contempt of court rule.
On February 7, the tribunal asked three Jamaat leaders including Selim Uddin to explain as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them for making “provocative and derogatory remarks” about the tribunal.
Two other leaders are Jamaat acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan and central executive council member Hamidur Rahman Azad.
The tribunal issued the notice on the basis of reports published in The Daily Star and Bangla daily Prothom Alo on February 5 on a Jamaat rally held in the capital the previous day.
The Prothom Alo quoted Selim Uddin as saying: “There is no scope for the controversial tribunal to deliver any verdict if the country is to be saved from a civil war.”
Azad was quoted as saying at the same programme, “This tribunal cannot exist anymore.”
quoted Rafiqul Islam as saying, “Don’t push the country into a civil war by delivering one-sided verdicts against our leaders. If anything happens to Quader Mollah, every house will be on fire.”
On March 6, the tribunal ordered the police to arrest the three Jamaat leaders and produce them before the court for “deliberately avoiding” appearance before the tribunal.  The trio missed their day in court four times.
Following the warrant, law enforcers arrested Selim Uddin on March 8 and produced him before the tribunal on March 10. On that day, the tribunal asked him to give explanation yesterday.
The tribunal, however, granted bail and exempted him from personal appearance. Selim was kept detained in other criminal cases.
After Tajul Islam submitted Selim’s explanation, the tribunal fixed April 10 for further order in this regard and asked the police to give an execution report on the arrest warrant within the date.
PETITION FOR TWO JAMAAT LEADERS REJECTED
Meanwhile, the tribunal rejected a petition filed by Tajul Islam on behalf of the two other Jamaat leaders for modifying the February 7 order so that they could be exempted from personal appearance before the court.
Submitting the petition, Tajul said Jamaat leaders Rafiqul Islam Khan and Hamidur Rahman Azad wanted to appear before the court but could not for “unusual circumstances” and sought their exemption from personal appearance.
The tribunal said it was not possible as three lawyers of the Jamaat leaders had withdrawn their power of attorney and the tribunal had already issued arrest warrant against them for“violating “its order.
“Besides, how could you file power of attorney [vocalatnama] for fugitives?” the tribunal questioned Tajul.
Tajul said the tribunal could consider his prayer as it was a matter of contempt of court rule.
“We consider the matter [of filing power of attorney for fugitives] leniently and that’s why we are not sending you to Bar Council,” the tribunal said and rejected the petition.
Bangladesh Bar Council is licensing authority to lawyers of the country for practising law.
The tribunal closed its day’s proceeding at 10:55am.
Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday rejected war crimes accused Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s petition to join parliament session as the concerned act does not allow the tribunal to do so.
SQ Chowdhury filed a petition saying according to a section of East Pakistan Assembly Members’ Privileges Act, 1965, he was entitled to join parliament session.
The tribunal yesterday also disposed of SQ Chowdhury’s another petition.
SQ Chowhdury in his petition prayed to the tribunal to ask the authorities of Kashimpur Jail-1 to investigate how and by whom his conversation of December 16, 2012 was uploaded in YouTube.
He also prayed to the Tribunal-1 to take step as the jail authorities did not let him take legal action for defamation.
The tribunal said the matter was not related to the case and was rather an internal matter of the jail authorities.
Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, chairman of Tribunal-1, however directed the jail authorities to take step so that SQ Chowdhury could sign on power of attorney for filing a defamation suit.
The tribunal yesterday also rejected bail prayer in two cases against war crimes convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee as the case documents were never submitted by the prosecution to the tribunal.
Defence counsel Mizanul Islam said two cases filed with Pirojpur Sadar Police Station and Zianagar Police Station were transferred to the Investigation Agency of the International Crimes Tribunal. The cases are still under investigation.
Yesterday was fixed for hearing the closing argument of the defence in the war crimes case against former Jamaat ameer Ghulam Azam at the Tribunal-1.
But, following the declaration of a public holiday to mourn the death of president Zillur Rahman, the tribunal adjourned proceeding at about 11:30am.

Speaker Md Abdul Hamid likely to be 20th president Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Speaker Md Abdul Hamid is likely to be sworn in as the 20th president of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, two highly placed government sources confirmed last night.
Hamid, who has been discharging the presidential responsibilities since March 14 during to President Zillur Rahman’s absence due to his deteriorating health, has already been forwarded the message.
A freedom fighter Hamid hails from Kishoreganj district, the very place from where Zillur Rahman had come.
The Election Commission will shortly hold an election in parliament to elect  the next president.
As per the constitution, in the case of a vacancy in the office of the president due to death, resignation or removal, the EC must hold elections to elect new president within the period of 90 days after the occurrence of the vacancy.
AL insiders said the government high command had a mental preparation that it might need to elect a new president, as Zillur Rahman’s condition deteriorated over the last few days,
After talking to close circles like Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Matia Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, and a few others in and out of the government and the Awami League, the prime minister picked Hamid, insiders added.
Hamid, who was the chairman of freedom fighter recruiting camp at Meghalaya in India and the commander of a sub-sector of Bangladesh Liberation Force (Mujib Bahini), was elected member of parliament six times — in 1973, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008 — from Kishoreganj-5 constituency.
In the National Assembly Election of 1970, he was elected as the most junior member from Mymensingh-18 constituency.
Hamid was the president of Kishoreganj district Awami League before being elected as the Speaker of the 9th Parliament. Earlier in the seventh Parliament of 1996, he was unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker and later became the Speaker. In the Eighth Parliament he served as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
As the present government finishes its tenure in January 2014, Hamid will be in office for most of the tenure of the next government, no matter whichever party or parties forms it.
He will also have to go through a crucial political situation ahead of the next general polls, as the ruling AL and opposition BNP are at loggerheads over the mode of the poll-time government.
According to the constitution, the president shall hold office for a term of five years from the date of his joining office.
Sources said deputy Speaker Col (retd) Shawkat Ali might be made the Speaker at the next parliament session and then a new deputy Speaker would be picked to fill Ali’s place.

Bangladesh president Zillur Rahman body arrives

BANGLADESH NEWS

The body of President Zillur Rahman arrived in Dhaka Thursday noon, a day after he died at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

A flight of Bangladesh Biman Airlines carrying the body of the 84-year-old president touched the ground of Shahjalal International Airport around noon.

He will be laid to the eternal rest by his wife at the Banani graveyard around 5:00pm Friday.

His first namaz-e-janaza would be held at the Jatiya Eidgah Maidan at 2:30pm and the second janaza at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban at 3:30pm Friday.

The president went to Singapore on March 10 for treatment for his respiratory problems and other complications.

Farewell, Mr. President! Zillur Rahman

BANGLADESH NEWS

Zillur Rahman was truly the last of a generation of politicians who taught us the value of idealism and led us to freedom. His passing removes from the scene, to all intents and purposes, an individual who for those of us growing into teenage and then adulthood in the 1960s and 1970s was a symbol of democratic struggle. There were his peers with whom he waged battles against the forces of exploitation and darkness in pre-1971 Pakistan. And there were the heroic figures, Bangabandhu for instance, he was inspired by and under whose leadership he blossomed into a full-blooded participant in politics, in that modern sense of the meaning.

Of course, there were the shocks which came our way when as president, Zillur Rahman went ahead to provide pardon to an inordinately large number of people. It was unprecedented for a head of state, given that no occupant of Bangabhaban had earlier gone for such a step. But then you remember the nature of the presidency in a political system where parliamentary government is supreme. And you understand the compulsions a president must go through. Or you try to understand.

But none of that takes away from Zillur Rahman the experience and wisdom he brought into his exercise of politics. Add to that the huge personal tragedy that came his way when his spouse, the activist politician Ivy Rahman, was pushed to a sudden, unnatural death through medieval mayhem in August 2004. It was devastation that could have broken a stronger man. For Zillur Rahman, grief only strengthened his resolve to carry on the war against the elements of anti-history, those who have for decades undermined secular democracy in this Bengali republic.

Zillur Rahman’s mettle was put to the test in the post-2007 emergency times. His grip on the Awami League, owing to the incarceration of his party chief, demonstrated his command of the situation, indeed was an instance of how a thoroughly political being could bring his experience into dealing with difficult times. The difficulties were many. On the one hand, the caretaker government was intent on humiliating politicians. On the other, there were all the happenings around reforming the parties from within, with obvious backing from the administration. It was against these odds that Zillur Rahman struggled, in his firm and decent way. He had his way.

In more ways than one, Zillur Rahman was the last of the tribe which did us proud through the 1950s and well into the mid-1970s. His loyalty to Bangabandhu was beyond question. More significantly, his adherence to the principles on which Bangladesh was founded in 1971 remained unchanged. His was a voice ready to listen to dissenting opinion, but was absolutely unwilling to countenance any deviation from the heritage upon which rested the sublimity of Bengali nationalism. Respect came his way, an instance of which was the readiness of the leader of the opposition (and former prime minister) to respond to his invitation to talks at Bangabhaban.

Consider this: Zillur Rahman was that rare president of the republic who went to Bangabhaban with the substantive experience of politics behind him. Between him and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a good number of heads of state, with backgrounds in such fields as the army, medicine, judiciary and academia (one politician ascended to the office through assassination), have occupied Bangabhaban. It is a pity that there have not been more politicians occupying the presidential home.

Zillur Rahman brought dignity to politics and to life. As general secretary of the Awami League, first under Bangabandhu and then under Sheikh Hasina, he proved his indispensability to his party. He was part of the tragic Baksal experiment and was to be penalised for it through being carted off to prison by a military regime. And then he came back, with no sign of weakness, with no reason to go easy in politics. All around him, politicians were caving in, switching parties, sidling up to dictators. Zillur Rahman was made of sterner stuff. Principle was the thing.

Men like Zillur Rahman are never afraid of speaking up for the truth. Like the generation he belonged to, Zillur Rahman was not to be intimidated by a succession of autocrats, beginning with Ayub Khan and going all the way down to Hussein Muhammad Ershad. He walked through fire and came out of it even more determined to uphold the cause of the masses.

To Zillur Rahman goes our tribute and our gratitude as the earth prepares to claim him. His politics was cast in the mould of men like Sher-e-Bangla, Bangabandhu, Tajuddin Ahmed and Moulana Bhashani. His political beliefs came wrapped in the tender firmness of democracy.

Farewell, Mr. President! May the angels carry you on their wings to a sphere nobler and higher and fairer than the one we inhabit!