253 more Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) jawans jailed for mutiny,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

A special court of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Saturday sentenced 253 jawans of BGB Hospital Unit of 36 Battalion to different terms of rigorous imprisonment between four months and seven years in a mutiny case for their involvement in the February 2009 mutiny at Pilkhana headquarters.

A three member Special Court-10, led by Col Khandaker Obaidul Ahsan, also fined each of the convicts Tk 100 and acquitted two others as charges levelled against them were not proved.

Of the convicts, 34 jawans were sentenced to seven years, 15 to six years, 11 to five years, 10 to four years, 38 to three years, two to two years and six months, 111 to two years, 26 to one years and six to four months.

The court which continued for nearly two-and-a-half-hour starting from 10:00am also exonerated an accused, who died during the trial, from the charges.

Lt Col Mohammad Ayub and Maj ANN Fazlul Alam are the two other members of the court.

Niazi threatened East Pakistan that he would let his soldiers loose on Bengali women,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

General AAK Niazi threatened that he would let loose his soldiers on the women of East Pakistan till the lineage/ethnicity of the Bengali race was changed, according to a recently published book by late Maj Gen (retd) Khadim Hussain Raja.

Khadim Hussain Raja who was general officer commanding of 14 Division in East Pakistan gave this account in his recently published book 'A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan, 1969-1971' (OUP, 2012), Pakistan based 'The Express Tribune' reports on July 8.

The book is posthumously published probably because it was a hot potato in the times it was actually written.

Oxford University Press published the book.

We come to the climax: “[Enter] Commander East Pakistan General Niazi, wearing a pistol holster on his web belt. Niazi became abusive and started raving. Breaking into Urdu, he said: Main iss haramzadi qaum ki nasal badal doon ga. Yeh mujhe kiya samajhtey hain. He threatened that he would let his soldiers loose on their womenfolk. There was pin drop silence at these remarks. The next morning, we were given the sad news. A Bengali officer Major Mushtaq went into a bathroom at the Command Headquarters and shot himself in the head” (p.98), The Express Tribune which is with the International Herald Tribune reports.

The report also said Pakistan’s name has been blackened by just one man: General AAK ‘Tiger’ Niazi.

The book also said, commander East Pakistan, General Tikka Khan, disagreed with Raja that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman be secretly despatched to West Pakistan. He wanted to “publicly try Sheikh Mujib in Dhaka and hang him” (p.93).

"Niazi surrendered to Indian General JFR Jacob in 1971. Niazi handed over his personal pistol at the famous Race Course ceremony. Jacob examined the weapon: the lanyard was greasy and frayed, and the pistol was full of muck as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a long while." (Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation; by Lt. Gen JFR Jacob; Manohar Publishers 1997).

General Ayub Khan, whose decade of rule caused the jurisprudence of separatism to evolve, gets the treatment he deserved through the testimony of another not-too-civilised general named Gul Hassan.

“Gul Hassan openly criticised Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s sons who, according to him, were letting their father down by amassing wealth by unfair means. Gul Hassan blurted out that ‘I have told the old cock that this time we will impose Martial Law and take control ourselves but not protect Ayub and his henchmen’. The reference [old cock] was to General Yahya Khan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army” (p.8).

The only leadership criterion was brutality riding on low IQ. The exception was General Yaqub Khan, the commander who insisted that General Yahya not postpone the session of the National Assembly elected after the 1970 election.

The author writes: “All of a sudden, General Yaqub Khan was bundled off as a student on the Imperial Defence College course. This clumsy and unceremonious action was obviously taken to get him out of the way” (p.7).

Major General Rahim Khan was the other officer Pakistan can’t be proud of: “Rahim started to criticise the senior commanders in Dhaka, especially me, although I happened to be a friend of his. He was of the opinion that the Bengalis were timid people and should have been subdued long ago. The reader can judge for himself the ignorance and lack of understanding of the East Pakistan situation among the hawks in the armed forces” (p.97).

Rahim ran away from East Pakistan when things became too hot.

Niazi also asked Raja for phone numbers of his Bengali girlfriends: “Abhi tau mujhey Bengali girlfriends kay phone number day do” (p.99).

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology crisis takes new turn

BANGLADESH NEWS

The crisis of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has taken a new dimension since a group of Buet teachers, students and employees on Saturday termed teachers association's demands irrational.

Prof Dr Munhaz Ahmed Noor of civil engineering told that they urged the chancellor, President Zillur Rahman, to formulate a judicial commission to investigate allegations against the vice-chancellor.

"We do not want to consider a person guilty before conducting an inquiry into the incident. If the Buet VC and Pro-VC are found guilty, they should step down," Munhaz Ahmed told.

The VC could not sit with the agitating teachers despite the direction from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to solve the crisis through mutual discussion shortly.

the VC said, "I asked them to sit for a discussion with my people to find out a proper solution but I did not send them any formal proposal."

He said they will also hold discussion with the university chancellor soon to find out a good solution to the ongoing crisis.

In the meantime, a number of teachers, students and employees of the university gave a showdown on the campus in the afternoon under the banner of Buet Teachers, Students and Employees Forum.

At a press conference at the Buet cafeteria, they alleged that the Buet teachers' association motivated the students to join their protest informing them incorrectly.

He also said his forum members do not support suspending the academic activities in the name of agitation.

On the other hand, the agitating teachers, students and the employees carried out their demonstration as usually for the fourth day demanding the removal of the university VC Prof SM Nazrul Islam and his deputy Prof Habibur Rahman.

They brought out a silent procession in front of the Buet Council Building that paraded campus streets at around 11:00 am.

Later, they went to the capital's Central Shaheed Minar and stayed there for a while and came back to the campus.

A number of Buet employees also brought out a procession on the campus in the morning under the banner of Buet employees’ association.

The agitating students launched a website to draw attention of the former students of the institution living abroad and also launched a mass signature collection campaign to strengthen their protest.

But the many students of the Buet expressed their resentment over the agitation and counter-agitation of the teachers, students and the employees.

$1b credit can be used for Padma bridge: New Delhi Indian official,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Indian officials on Friday said New Delhi does not have any objection to the diversion of its $1 billion credit line for constructing the Padma bridge as the World Bank scraped loan exposing the project to a difficult state.

"We earlier said the credit could be used for any purpose suitable to your need. Bangladesh can use the fund for the Padma bridge project," a senior foreign ministry official told BSS as he was approached for comments about the possible diversion.

But, the official, preferring anonymity, said Padma bridge was a big project requiring more amounts "but you can start with the Indian credit".

The economic relations division officials in Dhaka, however, called the Indian foreign office comment a "difficult proposition" as much of the credit amount was already channelled for different infrastructure projects, mostly in railway sector.

"Moreover, there are some technical aspects which need to be resolved for the diversion," ERD Joint Secretary Asifuzzaman, who deals with the foreign credit affairs of the division, told BSS.

He, however, said Bangladesh so far did not approach India for the fund diversion or received any proposal from New Delhi in this regard.

Indian officials said under the $1 billion credit line, the two countries until now finalised nine projects while ERD officials in Dhaka said process was underway to finalise more projects which would require half of the credit amount.

Dhaka and New Delhi signed the $1 billion loan agreement to finance infrastructure development in Bangladesh two years ago while the amount was the biggest credit package by India to any nation.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology agitators firm on demand; sit-in continues,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Hundreds of students, teachers and employees of Buet continued their demonstration in front of the administrative building on Friday to press home their 16-point demand including resignation of the VC and pro-VC.

As the sit-in programme entered into 3rd day, the agitating students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology were passing their times by singing, gaming and chanting slogans against the duo when the report was filed at 2:00pm.

Dr Md Ashraful Islam, general secretary of Buet Teachers' Association, said they will continue their agitation until the two top officials resign, our correspondent covering the incident said.

“Until and unless the vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellor are removed, the agitation will continue,” Ashraful said.

Reiterating the association’s last night press briefing Ashraful said, “The door was closed for talks.”

The teachers, students and employees have been continuing their sit-ins since last Wednesday to press home their demands.

They vowed to continue their agitation until the demands were met.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor Prof Nazrul Islam said he would not bow down to such an “unethical demand” as there was no allegation of irregularities against him.

The movement spearheaded by the teachers' association began following a 44-day vacation announced by the authorities on Tuesday night. It gained momentum when a large number of students joined them. The Buet Alumni Association also expressed solidarity with the agitation.

The mass resignation by the heads of all faculties, institutes and departments at Buet added a new dimension to the movement.

However, the vice-chancellor on Thursday termed the resignation a farce.

Meanwhile, being summoned by the prime minister, Prof Nazrul Islam and eight other syndicate members on Wednesday met and informed the PM about the developments of the recent crisis of Buet.

Asked whether the PM had told him to resign, he replied in the negative.

One of the syndicate members, however, quoted the PM as saying she would take the next step after discussions with the education minister.

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) finds new gas reserve in Comilla,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) has discovered new gas reserve in No. 2 well of Srikail gas field in Comilla.

Contacted, Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hussain Mansur confirmed UNB about the discovery and said test drilling started on Friday morning to be sure whether the reserve is extractable or not.

“It will take at least two days to get the results,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Petrobangla chairman and Bapex Managing Director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque visited the drilling work at Srikail.

World Bank fund cancellation an artificial crisis: Minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta has said that the cancellation of Padma bridge funding by the World Bank is an artificial crisis created with political motive.

“The country’s politics and economy are now much better than before,” he said while addressing a discussion on Friday.

Criticising the World Bank for cancelling the funding after three years of signing the loan agreement, Suranjit said “This is really unfortunate and mysterious. The role of the opposition is more shameful than that (of WB).”

Bangabandhu Sanskritik Jote organized the discussion, titled ‘Felicitating Prime Minister for her announcement to construct the Padma Bridge with own fund and the negative politics of BNP’, held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital.

Referring to Dr Yunus, Suranjit said “We don’t disregard Dr Yunus. He is an asset for our impoverished country. But when the country is moving forward we don’t want the name of Dr Yunus get involved in an international matter.”

Addressing the meeting, State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam said “A vested quarter is engaged in conspiracy about the Padma Bridge for tarnishing the image of the government.”

He demanded that the names of those involved with the conspiracy be found out and made public.

Gazipur train derailment kills one Rail link resumed after 6 hrs, 2 committees formed,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

A youth was killed and at least 20 people including a driver were injured as the engine along with two compartments of a train derailed and plunged into a ditch in Gazipur Sadar upazila on Friday morning.

Railway authorities, witnesses and police said the accident occurred around 9:30pm when the compartments of Sundarban Express from Dhaka veered off the track near the outer signal of Gazipur railway station in Dhirasram area.

Ruhul Amin Helal, 28, of Pabna, died on the spot, reports a correspondent from Gazipur.

Gazipur police, railway police and Gazipur fire brigade and civil defence members rushed to the spot and rescued the victims.

Of the injured, Mojibur Rahman and Indrajit Kuman Sarkar, driver and helper of the train, and passengers Lipi Begum, Asma Aktar, Saiful Islam and Arafat Hossain were admitted to Gazipur Sadar Hospital and different local clinics.

Around 500 metres rail tracks were damaged due to the derailment.

Rail communications on the Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Rajshahi and Dhaka-Khulna routes remained suspended for at least six hours due to the accident.

Ziauddin Sardar, station officer of Joydevpur railway station, said a relief train from Dhaka after a hectic effort managed to drag the derailed engine and compartments from the tracks at around 2:45pm.

Communications Minister Obaidul Kader visited the spot soon after the incident.

The minister formed two separate four-member probe committees to asking them to submit their reports within four and seven days respectively.

A four-member Railway Dhaka Divisional probe committee headed by Arman Hossain, Dhaka divisional engineer, has been asked to turn in its report within four days.

The other four-member committee named Railway Eastern Zone probe committee was formed with Chief Engineer Mojammel Haq as its head and asked to submit its report within seven days.

The minister also announces to give Tk 1 lakh to the victim's family from the railway fund.

Later, the rail communication resumes around 3:00pm.

Faridganj upazila of Chandpur Bangladeshi shot dead in South Africa,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

A Bangladeshi was shot dead and his compatriot wounded critically in an attack by miscreants in Cape Town of South Africa early Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Rabiul Islam while the injured is Mizan Sheikh of West Larua village in Faridganj upazila of Chandpur.

Jaydul Hossain, elder brother of Rabiul, said a Bangladeshi named Shipon confirmed him about the incident from South Africa over phone on Friday morning.

Quoting Shipon, Jaydul said a gang of miscreants entered the shop of the victims and started shooting on them indiscriminately around 3:00am (Bangladesh time).

Rabiul died on the spot as he received a bullet in his head. Mizan was admitted to a hospital with bullet injuries in his arm.

Jaydul said the duo went to South Africa one and a half years ago and started business there jointly.

On July 7, a Bangladeshi was shot dead and his brother critically injured in an attack by miscreants at a market near Albertan city of Johannesburg in South Africa.

People of 3 Brahmanbaria villages suffer for want of a bridge,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

People of three villages in Shahjadapur union under Sarail upazila of the district are badly suffering due to lack of a bridge on Shahjadapur Canal and awful condition of a two-kilometre road.

The villages -- Shahajadapur, Niamatpur and Dhauria under Shahjadapur are well-known for agriculture products, especially rice and fish, but they have remained very backward due to lack of communication facilities, locals said.

A seven-kilometre road to link DhakaSylhet Highway as well as district and upazila headquarters has remained virtually useless for the three villages due to lack of a bridge over Shahjadapur canal. Besides, about two kilometres of the road near Shahjadapur village, which was totally washed away by several floods between 1988 and 2004, is yet to be repaired.

In the rainy season, the villages become virtually isolated.

Due to the situation, thousands of farmers of the three villages face trouble and count extra cost to take their agricultural products and necessary things to and from the market.

In absence of electricity, local farmers use around 1,000 diesel-run shallow and deep tube-wells to irrigate their paddy fields. Due to lack of a bridge they are to pay a high carrying cost for fuel, said farmer Farid Mia of Shahjadapur village.

Md Taslim Mia, secretary of Shahjadapur Jubo Kalyan Samity, has said that there are five primary schools, one high school, one big market, one government-run health centre here. But the high officials in charge of monitoring hardly visit them due to the bad condition of the road. And so, people concerned often become reluctant to do their duty.

Criminals are becoming carefree as law enforcers find it hard to get there in time due to bad condition of the road, locals said.

Md Sirajul Islam, former chairman of Shahjadapur union, said he submitted applications to the then upazila nirbahi officers (UNO) of Sarail to take steps for constructing a bridge over Shahjadapur canal but to no effect.

During this correspondent's visit to the villages, locals said successive lawmakers from BNP, Islami Okya Jote and Awami League failed to fulfill their pre-poll pledge to construct the bridge and supply electricity in the area.

When contacted, Sarail UNO Abu Shafayat Muhammad Shahedul Islam said, "A big project to construct the bridge over Shahjadapur canal and reconstruct a flood protection road up to Shahjadapur village has already been passed in the Executive Committee of National Economic Council. I hope the project work will start soon on completion of all the procedures."