july 4, 2015

SECOND EDITION

In the wake of the Asian boatpeople crisis, the Dhaka Tribune’s Abid Azad travels down the migration routes along Bangladesh’s jagged coast in search of answers.

On the quayside alongside migrant smuggling boats he � nds desperation and ambition in equal measure, and � nds menacing eddies that portend far more trouble for the migrants than they bargained for.

Beyond the horizon, in foreign waters, a vast network of human tra� ckers lies in wait.

For Bangladeshis looking for a back door to a better life, a vast tide of greed and cruelty threatens to sweep away naïve hopes and whole communities with it.

Beginning tomorrow, the Dhaka Tribune starts a multi-part investigative report on human tra� cking in Bangladesh. l

PAGE 4Hefazat demands Latif Siddique’s death penalty

PAGE 5Dr Kamal says court to decide Maya’s fate

PAGE 7Dilapidated roads make Mirpur residents su� er

PAGE 3DB impersonators, female con artists arrested

GRENADE ATTACK CASES MAY SEE VERDICT BY DEC PAGE 3

COMPLAINTS OF HIGHER PRICE OF ADVANCE BUS TICKET PAGE 32

PEDESTRIANS KEEP ON JAYWALKING PAGE 5

SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015 | Ashar 20, 1422, Ramadan 16, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 82 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

PAGE 32Husband sells wife to brothel

Felani’s self-confessed killer acquitted againParents term verdict injustice, West Bengal rights body to challenge judgementn Tribune Report

Rejecting the verdict of acquittal, parents of Bangladeshi teenager Felani Khatun, who was killed by the Indian Border Security Force four years back, have demanded trial of self-con-fessed BSF Constable Amiya Ghosh in an in-ternational court.

The verdict was given early yesterday amid secrecy by the BSF General Security Forces Court in Cooch Behar acquitting Amiya of the charge after a retrial in the case.

Like the � rst verdict in Felani murder case, the � ve-member court led by its As-sam-Meghalaya frontier DIG (Communication) SP Trivedi acquitted Amiya for “inconclusive and insu� cient” evidence against him.

It was the � rst instance of the BSF trying any of its personnel despite frequent border killings. Earlier, they had sentenced eight jawans to 89-day jail term while demoted another for torturing a cattle trader at a BSF camp in February 2012.

The retrial began on September 22 last year after massive criticisms and outrage at home and abroad against the � rst verdict.

Decrying the verdict, Felani’s father M Nurul Islam and mother Jahanara Begum de-

manded fresh trial at the international court and sought assistance of the human rights groups for the sake of justice.

Nurul said: “This is injustice. A killer of such an inhuman act can in no way be ac-quitted. He killed my daughter like shooting

a bird. We were waiting for justice for the last four years. But the BSF court has betrayed us.

“I reject this verdict and request the gov-ernments of Bangladesh and India to hold a trial of Amiya in an international court.”

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 45 Battal-ion Director Lt Col Zakir Hossain said he had heard about the verdict but did not want to make any remark before getting the copy of the judgement.

Felani, a 15-year-old girl, was shot dead while she was returning home in Bangladesh along with her father and maternal uncle on January 7, 2011. She used to work as a housemaid in New Delhi. They had no valid travel documents.

Though Felani’s father and uncle had crossed the barbed-wire fence using a ladder, the teenager was shot when her clothes got entangled in the wire. Her body was left dan-gling on the barbed wire fence for nearly � ve hours. It is alleged that she had been alive for at least four hours after being shot.

The photograph of Felani’s bullet-ridden body hanging from the barbed wire was pub-lished in the local and international media, following which there was an outpouring of demand for justice.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Banned Hizb ut-Tahrir now prefers direct actionn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Even though their activities were earlier lim-ited to only carrying out brief campaigns pub-licly in favour of establishing Caliphate, many of the members of banned militant out� t Hizb ut-Tahrir are now working together with the other outlawed militant groups and platforms to wage destructive activities.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has members and sympa-thisers in the administration, di� erent secu-rity agencies, higher educational institutes, mosques and madrasas. The connections work as a boost for them to take lead in those platforms, sources say.

Having branches in a number of countries, Hizb ut-Tahrir started its operation in Bangla-desh in 2000 and was banned in 2009 for its involvement in militant activities.

Since then they were campaigning against democratic governments by issuing media releases after holding brief processions and

rallies in front of di� erent mosques in the capital, Rajshahi and elsewhere, and pasting posters on the walls in the capital’s di� erent areas especially Mohammadpur.

Latest, some 50 leaders and members were spotted on the � rst day of Ramadan in front of Gulshan Central Mosque, also known as Azad Mosque, after Jumma prayers as part of its global campaign.

They invited the common Muslims to join their cause through lea� ets and � ed the scene in a short time. Police received complaints but failed to arrest anyone from the spot.

However, according to the Anti-Terrorism Act that is applied against outlawed groups, any activity of such organisation – in any form – is considered as anti-state.

Despite facing ban, online and o� ine ac-tivities of the group that accepts male and female students mainly of private and pub-lic universities was never stopped until date. PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Prof Ajoy deplores Joy’s comment on Avijit murdern Tribune Report

Slain secular writer Avijit Roy’s father Prof Ajoy Roy thinks that the government indirect-ly supports the killing of progressive bloggers and writers.

“The government did not make any com-ment publicly condemning the recent killing of bloggers. Can we take it for granted that the government has indirect support towards such killings?” eminent scientist Prof Ajoy told a discussion in the city yesterday.

He also protested the prime minister’s son’s terming Avijit an atheist.

Former Dhaka University teacher Prof Ajoy was speaking at a discussion at RC Majumdar Auditorium of the campus. He earlier termed his son’s murder a sign of the government’s failure.

PM’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in an inter-view with Reuters in May said the country’s PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

January 7, 2011August 13, 2013

September 6, 2013September 9, 2013

September 11, 2013September 12, 2013September 13, 2013September 22, 2014November 17, 2014November 22, 2014

March 26, 2015June 30, 2015

July 3, 2015

Felani shot deadTrial begins Court acquits Amiya GhoshForeign Ministry expresses utter frustrationFelani’s father writes letters seeking justiceForeign Minister says government to appealBSF says verdict to be reviewedCourt starts retrialFelani’s father testifiesCourt adjourns trial for four monthsTrial deferred until June 30Trial resumes with Amiya’s depositionCourt acquits Amiya of murder charge

January 7, 2011JaJanuarry 7, 2012011August 13, 2013Augugust 1t 13, 201013

September 6, 2013SSeptetember er 6, 201013September 9, 2013SSepteember 9r 9, 201013

September 11, 2013SeSeptemmber 1111, 2013013September 12, 2013SeSeptembmber 1212, 201313September 13, 2013SeSeptembmber 1313, 20133September 22, 2014SeSeptembmber 2222, 20144November 17, 2014NoNovembmber 17,7, 20144November 22, 2014NoNovembmber 22,2, 20144

March 26, 2015March 26, 6, 2015June 30, 2015Junune 30,0, 2015

July 3, 2015JuJuly 3, 3, 2015

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FELANI TRIAL TIMELINE

HUMAN TRAFFICKINGIN OUR TIMES

SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

For Barisal, deduct one minute, and for Sylhet and Chittagong deduct six minutes; for Khulna add four minutes, for Rangpur � ve minutes, and for Rajshahi seven minutes.

Day Sehri IftarRamadan 16/July 04 – 6:54pmRamadan 17/July 05 3:44am 6:54pmRamadan 18/July 06 3:44am 6:54pm

Felani’s self-confessed killer acquitted againIn its verdict given on September 6 that year, the court found Amiya not guilty because of “inconclusive and insu� cient” evidence against him.

Rejecting the verdict, Felani’s parents wrote to the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh, West Bengal human rights or-ganisation Manobadhikar Surokkha Moncho (MASUM) and Dhaka’s Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) seeking justice and compensation for her daughter’s killing.

In the face of protests by several minis-ters, the Human Rights Commission chair-man, and demonstrations by rights activists, the Indian BSF authorities in a statement on September 13 said they would review the case proceedings.

After the retrial began on September 22 last year, Felani’s father gave his deposition at the court on November 17.

But since November 22, the trial proceed-ings were adjourned twice – on November 22 for four months and on March 26 for three months. The trial resumed on June 30 with the deposition of the self-confessed killer.

Public prosecutor of Kurigram District Judge’s Court Abraham Lincoln, who was assisting Felani’s family since the begin-ning, told our Kurigram correspondent that through the verdict, the BSF had been given legitimacy to kill innocent people.

“This is not justice. The people of Bangla-desh thought that the accused will be given the highest punishment through the retrial process,” he said yesterday.

ASK Executive Director Sultana Kamal said Felani was denied justice through this verdict.

“It is disappointing. Every citizen expect-ed that a fair trial will be held. The accused confessed to the crime while all the evidence were against him.

“But as the BSF authorities held the revi-sion trial at the same court that acquitted the accused earlier, we did not expect that the verdict will be overturned. Hence, such a ver-dict is not surprising.”

She said by holding a fair trial, the Indian government could improve its image since In-dia-Bangladesh relation is a sensitive issue to the people.

After the � rst verdict, MASUM’s Kirity Ray lashed out at the BSF for unleashing a reign of terror on the border and said Felani was a vic-tim of it. “The BSF trial was a shame,” he said.

The Indian BSF has been killing Bangladesh nationals every now and then along the border – be it a farmer working at his � eld or traders bringing cattle from India. They are also accused of kidnapping, torturing and attacking border-ing villages in the name of chasing criminals.

However, reports say many wanted Bang-ladeshi criminals, militants, gold and drug smugglers have crossed the border without any hindrance.

Since 2010, the Indian authorities have been saying that they would use non-lethal weapons but it has never been materialised. Despite making such pledges, the BSF highups defend shooting at Bangladeshi people by say-ing that they open � re for self-defence only.

At least 20 people were killed while 42 abducted and 29 injured in BSF attacks between January and May this year, according to ASK prepared based on reported news reports. l

Prof Ajoy deplores Joy’s comment on Avijit murderpolitical situation was volatile for his mother Sheikh Hasina to make comment on the mur-der that took place on February 26.

Joy, also the premier’s information and com-munication technology a� airs adviser, told Reu-ters: “We are walking a � ne line here. We don’t want to be seen as atheists. It doesn’t change our core beliefs. We believe in secularism.

“But given that our opposition party plays that religion card against us relentlessly, we can’t come out strongly for him. It’s about perception, not about reality.”

His comments came after Avijit’s widow Ra� da Ahmed Bonya had criticised the gov-ernment for not responding more appropri-ately to her husband’s slaying. Bonya sus-tained four head wounds, and her left thumb was sliced o� .

Noted writer Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal too had criticised Joy for his comments say-

ing that the fundamentalists would be en-couraged to commit more murders “with assurance that the government will not do anything in particular.” At a human chain pro-gramme in Sylhet on May 13, the writer said the government had failed in its responsibili-ty to protect the lives of its citizens.

The Detective Branch of police has been investigating the case with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Howev-er, the investigators have not able to make any breakthrough in the sensational murder case. Two more secular writers were killed by assailants after Avijit murder.

At yesterday’s discussion, titled “Free thoughts attacked: Government mum,” Prof Ajoy also asked all progressive activists to keep up the � ght against radicals.

Pragati Lekhok Songho organised the programme. Its President poet Golam Kibria

Pinu, journalist Nazrul Kabir, academicians Prof MM Akash and Prof Syed Azizul Huq, cultural activist Mamunur Rashid, Commu-nist Party of Bangladesh President Mujahidul Islam Selim, online activist Baki Billah, Gono-jagoron Moncho organiser Akramul Huq also spoke among others.

They condemned the government’s in-action following the murder of secular ac-tivists, and demanded that the government take stern action against the radical Islamist groups and militant out� ts to uphold the sec-ular spirit of the Liberation War.

The speakers said the progressive quarters of the country were killed and threatened for demanding justice for the crimes against hu-manity in 1971. “This government has failed to protect the progressive activists but en-sures security of the corrupts and frauds,” Mamunur Rashid said. l

Banned Hizb ut-Tahrir now prefers direct actionThey are operating the websites and Face-book pages in full swing.

They lure the common Muslims to join their movement by shaming the government terming it corrupt and anti-Islam, and claim-ing that they have a number of in� uential per-sons supporting their cause.

Recently they also campaigned against the proposed budget, the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the city corpo-ration elections. Earlier, through posters and lea� ets, they had asked the armed forces to capture power and set them in the helm to es-tablish Caliphate.

The law enforcers in drives against mili-tants arrested some of them, but no top-level leader.

In the face of recent threats, the detectives prepared a list of leaders and activists of the out� t, and found that most of them belong to high pro� le families of the capital.

The Detective Branch of police in a drive early this month arrested Nurullah Kashemi, a spiritual leader of militant platform Bangla-desh Jihadi Group. His name was also found the list of wanted Hizb ut-Tahrir members as a coordinator.

A high o� cial of DB police, requesting not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s female wing is highly educated. She completed graduation in architecture at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

The o� cial, however, would not like to dis-close any more details until they could arrest her.

Intelligence o� cials and detectives say due to vigilance and arrest of a number of leaders and activists, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s network had broken. Therefore, they are now trying to regroup desperately and have chosen to join the other groups including Ansarullah Bang-la Team and platforms like Bangladesh Jihadi Group.

Detectives say since all the outlawed and other radical Islamist groups had di� erent ideologies, now their aim is the same – up-rooting the government and take over power to establish Shariah law.

Their link has also been found with mur-der and attack on secular bloggers. Rapid Ac-tion Battalion in early March arrested Sha� ur Rahman Farabi in connection with Avijit Roy murder case. Farabi had been threatening US citizen Avijit, founder of Mukto-Mona blog, with dire consequences for the last few years.

Detectives have also discovered that some of the former Hizb ut-Tahrir members were taking training to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Of them, Wadud Jumman alias Saiful ali-as Ornob was arrested from Mohammadpur, Abdullah Al Ghalib from Baridhara DOHS and Faiaz Ismam Khan from Mirpur DOHS.

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police, said the Hizb-ut Tahrir members were trying to reorganise again but they could not be successful due to vigilance. “We are work-ing to locate them.”

Asked about their online activities, Mon-irul, the chief of DB police, said they had some limitations to investigate the Facebook-relat-ed campaigns. “But we are keeping an eye on their activities and will arrest whenever we can trace them.” l

AL leader denies midterm pollsn Tribune Report

Denying any possibility of mid-term nation-al polls, Awami League Publicity and Publi-cation Secretary Hassan Mahmud urged the BNP leadership and its Chairperson Khaleda Zia to not talk about these polls.

“The state has a constitution and it is not possible to go outside that constitution,” he said speaking at a discussion organised by

Bangladesh Swadhinata Parishad, Narayan-ganj district unit at Liberation War museum auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The AL leader advised Khaleda Zia to reor-ganise her party � rst and then take prepara-tions for polls to be held in 2019.

Last week, a national Bengali daily ran a report that the ruling Awami League leader-ship is talking about a mid-term national polls next year. l

Ansar man shot dead in Khagrachharin Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

A member of Bangladesh Ansar was shot dead by his colleague at Headmanpara under Dighinala upazila in Khagrachhari district yesterday afternoon.

The deceased was identi� ed as Nayek Amir Hossain, 55, son of late Rajab Ali of Is-

lampur village under Panchhari upazila in the district.

O� cer in-Charge (OC) of Dighinala police station Md Shahdat Hossain said another An-sar member Ra� qul Islam, 40, shot Nayek Amir following an altercation over a trivial matter around 4pm. Nayek Amir died on the spot.

On information, police rushed to the spot

and recovered the body, which was later sent to Khagrachhari Adhunik Sadar Hospital for autopsy.

Meanwhile, Ra� qul Islam, son of Mongal Mia of Bolitila under Matiranga upazila ran away with his arms and 84 rounds of ammu-nition. The OC said, they were trying to arrest Ra� q with the help of the army. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

Prosecutor: AL grenade attack cases may see verdict by Decembern Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

The wait for judgement in the August 21 gre-nade attack cases could end soon, as trial in the cases are expected to be completed by December this year.

“It is impossible to say the exact time of completion of the trial. But, we hope that it will be completed by December this year,” the chief prosecutor of the cases, advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 1 is simultaneously conducting the trials of the cases — one for murder and the other under the Explosive Substances Act — at a makeshift court set up at a building

near the gate of Dhaka Central Jail.The court has so far recorded depositions

of 320 prosecution witnesses – 160 in explo-sive substances case and 160 in murder case. As the witnesses are same in both cases, the court is recording deposition of witnesses in two cases simultaneously.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also ex-pected to testify before the court as a prose-cution witness in the cases.

“We are thinking about the prime minis-ter’s deposition in the cases,” Chief Prosecu-tor Rezaur said.

Commenting on the slow pace of the trial, the prosecutor said the defence – on behalf of four accused – had gone to the High Court

against the court orders, and had wasted 292 working days following the move.

On July 3, 2012, Criminal Investigation De-partment submitted two separate supplementa-ry charge sheets in the cases against 30 people.

The � rst charge sheet was placed in 2008 against 22 people, including ex-deputy min-ister of the BNP Abdus Salam Pintu and chief of the banned out� t Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) Mufti Abdul Hannan.

Eight of the 52 accused are now on bail while 26 others, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, are behind bars. BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman and 17 other accused have been absconding in the cases.

According to the supplementary charge

sheets, the grenade attack on the Awami League rally was the outcome of collaboration between Huji, in� uential leaders of the BNP and the Jamaat, and some o� cials of the Home Ministry, police, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelli-gence (NSI) and Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO).

The gruesome grenade attack was car-ried out on an anti-terrorism rally of Awami League on August 21, 2004, with an aim to eliminate the party leadership.

The grenade attack left 24 Awami League leaders and activists, including late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, dead and nearly 300 others injured. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped death. l

12 AQIS militants placed on 3-day remandn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday granted three days of remand to the recently detained 12 militants, including the Bangladesh chief of the al-Qa-eda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), in a case � led under Anti-Terrorism Act.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Molla Sai-ful Islam passed the order when Md Jalal Ud-din, sub-inspector of Darussalam police sta-tion and also the investigation o� cer of the case, produced them before his court seeking a seven-day remand for interrogation.

SI Wahidur Rahman, general recording of-� cer of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, con� rmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune.

No bail petitions were � led with the court for the 12 suspected militants as there was no defence counsel for them.

The remanded accused include Maulana Mainul Islam alias Mahim, 35, chief coordina-tor of the Bangladesh wing of AQIS, and Mufti Jafor Amin alias Salman, 34, an adviser to the AQIS Bangladesh.

The others are AQIS active members – Saidul Islam alias Sayeed Tamim, 20, Moshar-raf Hossain, 19, Abdur Rahman, 25, Al-Amin alias Ibrahim, 28, Mozahidul Islam alias Na-kib, 31, Ashraful Islam, 20, Rabiul Islam alias Hasan, 28, Habib Ullah, 26, Shahidul Islam Sagor, 29 and Altaf Hossain alias Mamun, 26.

In simultaneous drives between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested the 12 militants and recovered huge amount of explosives and bomb-making materials from di� erent areas of the capital. l

DB impersonators, female con artists arrestedn Kamrul Hasan

RAB forces have arrested four DB police im-personators and two of their female associates from the capital in connection with a black-mailing racket allegedly being run by the gang.

The police had intelligence that the group used its two female members to seduce other men before abducting the targets or black-mailing them with sensitive photos – all while posing as Detective Branch o� cials.

Based on the information, a team led by RAB 1 SP (city and transport) Mohammad Sumon Jahid Lovel arrested two of the men – gang leader Md Khairul Alom Prokash alias Rabiul, 42, and Md Pannu Miah, 35 – from Ma-jibor Market of West Faidabad area in Dakkh-inkhan on Thursday night.

The two arrestees later disclosed informa-

tion that led to the arrests of the other four: Md Saiful Islam Niloy, 25, Md Khairul Islam Monir, 32, Shamima Akhter Trishna, 27, and Umme Tasnin, 19. They were held from near the Uttara Girls High School in Uttara 6.

From their possession, the RAB team re-covered one handcu� , three police ID cards, nine mobile phones, a camera used for black-mailing victims, and Tk22,450 in blackmail money that was extracted from the victims.

Among the arrestees, Niloy and Tasnin, as well as Trishna and Monir are married. Tr-ishna was reportedly forced into the marriage after being brought to Dhaka by Pannu under false promises of a job.

The gang selected their targets by collect-ing phone numbers of di� erent men from tea stalls, or public transports or from their of-� ces. Later Trishna or Tasnin used to call the

numbers and establish a relationship with them.

The two women eventually seduced the men into having intimate relations with them, while secretly photos were taken of those encoun-ters so that the targets could be blackmailed later. In some cases, the victims were held captive by the gang members.

The arrestees also allegedly posed themselves as police of-� cials to extort several people in Dhaka.

RAB 1 Commanding O� cer Tuhin Mohammad Masud said they will be handed over to Uttara East police station for further action. l

RAB arrests four DB police impersonators and two females from the capital’s Dakkhinkhan area yesterday in connection with a blackmailing racket MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS4DTSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

Police recover four bodies in capital n Kamrul Hasan

Police recovered four bodies, including that of two teenagers, yesterday from di� erent areas of the capital.

The bodies of the teenagers were recovered from an o� ce in the capital’s Mouchak area. The two were employees at MH Technology, housed on the sixth � oor of Mouchak Tower.

The deceased are Sohag Hossain, 16, and Nasirul Islam, 14, and worked at the company for several years.

Sohag’s maternal uncle Ripon, who works at the same company, � rst noticed something was o� when he discovered the two young men were not responding from the inside of their o� ce.

He said: “Sohag and Nasirul used to sleep at the o� ce. Around 9am on Friday, I went

there to meet my nephew. But the gates were locked from the inside and neither responded to my call.”

Later, he noti� ed the o� ce owner, Masu-dur Rahman, and at one point, they broke the gates and found the two boys lying scattered on the ground. They then called the police, he added.

On being informed, police, under the lead-ership of SI Shamsuddin of Ramna police, recovered the bodies and sent them to Dha-ka Medical College Hospital morgue around 2pm.

“Primarily we suspect they might have been electrocuted, as police found a live elec-tric wire near the bodies,” he said.

Nasirul’s elder brother Saidul said: “As we had guests over last night, Nasirul went to sleep there. He often slept there.”

He said Nasirul had phoned them around 11:30am on Friday. Later in the morning, lo-cals informed them about the incident.

In the meantime, Ramna police recovered the body of a businessman at a hotel in the capital’s Paltan area.

The hanging body of the deceased, Kamal Uddin alias Shamsuddin Mahbub, 60, was recovered from a room of Capital Hotel on Friday afternoon. He hailed from Rajbari of Lohagora area of Chittagong.

Police recovered the body from room 511 around 12pm after the hotel authorities in-formed police about the death.

Later, police sent it to Dhaka Medical Col-lege Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Bibekananda Devnath, sub-inspector of Paltan police station, said Kamal Uddin, a contractor and also an owner of a brick � eld,

was staying at the hotel room since he came to Dhaka from Chittagong on May 3.”

Quoting family members, the OC said: “Shamsuddin was depressed after facing a huge loss and started staying in the capital.”

However, the reasons for either his stay in Dhaka or his death could not be ascertained immediately.

Another unidenti� ed body of a 65-year-old man was found in the city at Kamlapur area. The body was hanging from a tree beside Ka-malapur railway mosque.

OC Abdul Majid of railway police station said police were trying to � nd out the de-ceased’s identity.

Labourers there � rst informed the police about the body early yesterday. The body was later sent to DMCH hospital around 11am, he added. l

Hefazat demands Latif Siddique’s death penaltyn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam af-ter yesterday’s Jummah prayer demonstrated in Chittagong’s Anderkilla area demanding that sacked Awami League minister Abdul Latif Siddique be rearrested and sentenced to death.

Its members brought out a procession from Anderkillah Shahi Jam-e Masjid and marched through di� erent points of the city before stopping on Chittagong Press Club premises.

Mainuddin Ruhi, central joint secretary general of Hefazat, said protests against athe-ists started from Chittagong back in 2013. “We will resume protests from here after the month of Ramadan, demanding death penal-ty for notorious atheist Abdul Latif Siddique,” he said.

“The government staged a drama over Latif Siddique issue and people now want to see the conclusion of it. Hefazat Nayeb-e-ameer Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury was not granted bail in just a single lawsuit [� led over grenade blast at his Lalkhan Bazar Ma-drasa] while Latif has secured bailed in as many as 19 cases,” said Azizul Haque Islama-badi, its organising secretary.

Formed in 2010, Hefazat is a Qawmi ma-drasa-based platform having association with radical Islamist parties and groups.

It carried out demonstrations in early 2013 against the activists demanding death pen-alty for the 1971 war criminals terming them atheists. They also placed 13-point demands which the government termed contrary to the constitution.

“Latif has enraged the people of the coun-try by making derogatory remarks on Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). We will sac-ri� ce our lives to protect Islam if necessary.”

On Tuesday, Hefazat issued an ultima-tum, calling for the arrest of Latif Siddique by Thursday. Its leaders have also threatened to kill the former minister wherever he is found.

Latif, who also lost his membership of the Awami League, was freed on June 29 after he had obtained bail in cases � led on charges of hurting religious sentiment of the Muslims. l

Article 19 proposes 12-point charter for fearless online sphere n Tribune Report

Article 19 Bangladesh, a London-based human rights organisation, proposed a 12-point charter that seeks a vibrant and fearless online world.

Dhaka University teacher Prof Ajoy Roy launched the charter as the chief guest yes-terday afternoon at the capital’s Brac Centre Inn where Aidan Jones, political head of the British High Commission, along with a mem-ber of the blogging community discussed the protection of online expression.

The charter includes laws or regulations for freedom of expression online which should comply with international standards.

The charter reads: “Stop abusing current laws in harassment of bloggers and attack on bloggers must be considered a direct hit on freedom of expression.”

At the ceremony, Ireen Sultana, moderator of bdnews24.com and blogger Fatema Abedin Nazla focused on blogging trends in Bangladesh and the duties and responsibilities of bloggers.

They said bloggers should be cautious about their responsibilities as well as their rights. They should avoid hate speech, lies and personal attacks when blogging.

Adrian Jones said: “Recent deaths of blog-gers highlight the ongoing situation of Bang-ladesh. This charter provides a stepping stone

here in Bangladesh.” Dr Ajoy Roy, the father of secular writer

Avijit Roy who was murdered on February 26, told the audience: “I live an unhappy life. My family has become a wreck now.”

“It is the government’s responsibility to protect the bloggers. But there is no visible in-itiative to arrest the murderers. In this regard, the ruling Awami League seems to have little interest,” he added.

He also said: “I hope the government will take the charter into account.”

Tahmina Rahman, director of Article 19 Bangladesh and South Asia, moderated the launch ceremony. l

Readymade garment workers of Asia Design Ltd stage demonstration in front of the National Press Club yesterday demanding that their three months’ due wages be paid immediately SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

NEWS 5D


Dr Kamal says court to decide Maya’s faten Tribune Report

Eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain has said that only the court can decide whether Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya can continue to hold his ministerial position or not.

The court can give the right decision once the issue is placed before it, he told reporters after attending a programme in the city yesterday. “I should not comment on a matter still pending with the court, but I think none is above the law.”

The Supreme Court on June 14 quashed a High Court order that acquitted Maya of graft charges in a case � led in 2008. It also ordered fresh hearings on the case. Maya, the city unit Awami League general secretary, was sen-tenced to 13 years in prison in the case.

Earlier Dr Kamal Hossain spoke at a pro-gramme arranged by the South Asian Institute of Advanced Legal and Human Rights Stud-ies (SAILS) and Brac to distribute certi� cates among participants of a training session of pa-ra-legal trainers.

SAILS Governing Council Chairman Dr Ka-mal said: “It is nearly impossible to provide legal aids to the hundred of thousands of people by the lawyers. The poor and neglected population

of the society � nd it di� cult to get legal aid. Pa-ra-legal persons and organisations can provide them with legal support at the initial stage.”

He said that victims from remote areas do not have any idea where to go to � le a case, how to go to the court or appoint a lawyer. The para-legal activists can assist them with sug-gestions. Persons with para-legal training will not move for them in the court but they can show the victim the right path to seek justice.

Syed Aminul Islam, registrar general of the Supreme Court, said it is the responsibility of the government and the state to make people aware of their legal rights and also provide them with the rights. “The para-legal activists can do that in root level where lawyers are not available.”

The training, held from June 28 to July 2, was organised in partnership with Open Soci-ety Foundations, USA; Centre for Social Jus-tice (CSJ), India and BRAC University. Total 21 persons from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Myanmar took part in the programme.

Executive Director of SAILS Manzoor Hasan, CSJ Vice-Chairman Gagan Sethi and Brac Univer-sity Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Fuad Hassan Mall-ick also spoke. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder and chairman of Brac and also member of the government council of SAILS, was present. l

Three injured badly in collisionn Mazhar Uddin

At least three people were injured in a colli-sion during the one-o� tour match between South Africa and the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday.

Entry was free for the tour game and the spectators were desperate to catch a glimpse of AB de Villiers and the others. And, after the gates were opened, the over-excited fans

tried to rush through the gate due to which an ugly collision took place, paving the way for three people getting injured badly.

There was no bad news though as the trio received primary treatment. Questions how-ever, arose with regards to the mismanage-ment of the BCB, who were unable to provide su� cient security which is a prerequisite for an international game.

During the incident, a fence in front of the Press Box was damaged. l

Pedestrians walk all over attempts to stamp out jaywalkingn Abu Hayat Mahmud

E� orts to stop Dhaka pedestrians from jay-walking have not been successful, despite several high-visibility programmes to stem the tide of illegal road-crossing that leaves two dozen people dead each month.

The negligence of the authorities concerned, mismanagement of the unplanned tra� c sys-tem, lack of public awareness and heedlessness of the public all conspire to keep Dhaka’s inter-sections trapped in a state of chaos.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) tra� c department, Dhaka North City Corpo-ration (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corpora-tion (DSCC) have initiated a variety of costly projects to bring jaywalking to a stop, but all to no avail.

According to urban planners, thousands of pedestrians in the capital jaywalk every day on the busy city roads, particularly during the rush hour.

The pervasiveness of the problem poses serious risks to the lives of pedestrians and contributes to intractable tra� c congestion on the city’s busy intersections.

The Accident Research Institute at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology says 380 deaths occur on the streets of Dhaka every year, 75 percent of whom are pedestrians.

Urban planners and tra� c experts said pe-destrians’ tendency to � out tra� c rules is at the heart of the problem, adding that the ab-sence of useful underpasses, footbridges and pavements makes jaywalking seem necessary for many.

They said the illegal occupation of foot-

paths by parked vehicles, makeshift shops, hawkers and construction materials force pedestrians o� the overhead footbridges and onto the roads.

Dhaka’s two city corporations are respon-sible for maintaining thoroughfares for pe-destrian and vehicular tra� c while the DMP tra� c division is charged with managing the � ow of tra� c.

Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, a not-ed civil engineer and transport expert, said: “The key reason for jaywalking in Dhaka is that most residents come from the rural are-as and are not used to following tra� c rules.

Also footbridges are utterly unplanned so pe-destrians are not keen on using them.”

Professor Nazrul Islam, an urban planner and researcher, said: “Around half of the cap-ital’s residents – some 90 to 95 percent of the poor and low-income group – go to work on foot. Roughly ten million people live with-in an area of about 150 square kilometres in Dhaka’s two city corporations.

“The number of footbridges and under-passes in the city is simply too few to meet pedestrian needs.”

He added that tra� c police should pay more attention to implementing tra� c rules.

Jaywalkers have recently started to exhibit risky behaviour with many using their mobile telephones while crossing the road.

Sabbir Hossain, a Mirpur businessman, said: “I never feel like using the footbridge because virtually everyone just crosses the road.”

The confessed jaywalker said he felt en-couraged to break the rules because tra� c police say nothing.

Duty Sergeant Md Marikul Islam disagreed with this, saying: “The police do tell pedes-trians to cross on the footbridges, but they refuse to do so.

“Sometimes we force the pedestrians to use the footbridges. But thousands of people cross these intersections daily. If so many people re-fuse to follow the rules, what can we do?”

Referring to the highly publicised mobile court drive against jaywalkers in November last year, Marikul said: “When we get strict with jaywalkers, journalists and human rights types become anxious over their pun-ishment.”

In November last year, the DMP and Dha-ka deputy commissioner’s o� ce jointly ran a week-long drive to strictly enforce the law, including handing down six-month jail sen-tences against jaywalkers.

DMP Joint Commissioner (Tra� c) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that eradicating jaywalking is virtually impossible because everyone is impatient to cross the road and nearly nobody obeys the rules.

“The public should respect law enforce-ment agencies and tra� c rules, otherwise it is di� cult to control the tra� c in a city as densely populated as Dhaka,” he said. l

An injured fan is taken away for treatment during the lone tour game between South Africa and the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

To save a few moments, people risk their lives by crossing the busy street in front of the New Market on feet yesterday instead of using the footbridge just a few yards away RAJIB DHAR

NEWS6DTSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

34 men languishing in Indian jail, families su� er untold miseriesn Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj

At least 34 residents of Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj are continuing to endure punishment despite realising their prison terms in Indian jails.

These men were held for entering India il-legally and were handed down imprisonment of various terms. Though they have complet-ed their sentence, they could not return to the country due to lack of legal help and govern-ment initiative.

Meanwhile, the families have been pass-ing days in extreme poverty in the absence of their sole breadwinner.

A recent visit to these families has found a heart-wrenching situation. Wives, moth-ers and children of these men are deprived of food, shelter and security. While many of them are trying to bring back their men, some

do not know whether they are alive or not. The family members alleged that they were

not getting support from the local administration. According to the relatives, all these men

went to India by illegally crossing the border in search for work. Though of some them were successful to start a small business or work as day labourers, they were soon arrest-ed and sentenced to imprisonment.

Rashida Begum, a septuagenarian from Satrashia village, had been counting days for the last two years for the return of her son. In the absence of her only support in the old age, Rashida is having to depend on other people’s mercy to live on.

Mo� zul and Nazir Hossain of Chhagharia village were also facing the same situation. In their feeble and desperate voice, they urged the government to bring back their sons.

Rahima Khatun of Satrashia village told the

Dhaka Tribune that she had been ousted by her in-laws since her husband went to India. “I have been living with my parents since then. But for how long can I go on like this? My son is growing up. He is always looking for the father.”

Giniara Begum of Parchouka village of Mo-nakosha union is in a di� erent situation. She does not even know whether her son is alive. “He went to get cattle from India two years ago. I do not know whether he is alive or dead.”

Families of 24 men, out of the 34, have al-ready submitted papers to the home ministry but have not received any response.

Durlabhpur Union Parishad Chairman Naz-mul Kabir Mukta said he had issued certi� cates to the families but it would not be possible to bring back the men without legal support.

“We have collected information about the missing men and submitted them to the dep-uty commissioner. I am afraid we cannot do

anything more than that,” he said. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of

Chapainawabganj Mohammad Jahangir Kabir said: “We have sent the applications to the home ministry. But the process is taking time since various ministries of the two countries are in-volved in it. We are very sincere about the issue.”

Lawyer of Bangladesh Jatiya Mahila Ainji-bi Samity’s Chapainawabganj branch, Yasmin Ara Khushi, said sometimes the applications reach them late. “So by the time we can begin the legal process, a lot of time is wasted.”

“We are also helping to bring back the 24 men who are in the Indian jails now. We need to assess the current status of the cases indi-vidually and then we can say how long it will take,” she added.

In the meantime, the government must act to support the families and expedite the pro-cess, Yasmin Ara emphasised. l

Four die in Tangail road accidentn Our Correspondent, Tangail

Four people, including a woman, were killed as a bus hit an auto-rickshaw in Kostapara area on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway yester-day.

Of the deceased, two were identi� ed as auto rickshaw driver Kabir, 38, of Baniabari area of Dhanbari upazila, Abdul Aziz, 42, son of Abdul Malek in Uttar Khilgati of Ghatail upazila of the district.

In-charge of Alenga Highway police out-post Sergeant Kamruzzaman Raj said the accident took place around 9:30am when an Elenga-bound bus hit a human haulier com-ing from the opposite direction, leaving its three passengers died on the spot and three others injured.

The injured were admitted to Tangail Med-ical College Hospital.

He said police recovered the bodies and sent those to morgue for autopsy.

Police could not arrest anyone asthe driver managed to � ee away with his ve-hicle. l

Gopalganj regional highway in sorry state due to rainn Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

At least 500 spots on the Gopalganj-Kotalipa-ra-Poisharhaat regional highway have devel-oped cracks and facing erosion due to the re-cent heavy rain.

Some portions of road are dotted with small and big potholes making it riskier for vehicles to ply. It has also been causing tra� c snarls on the 36km road.

Locals alleged that the highway, which was built only one and half year ago, deteriorated very quickly in the rain because of low-quality construction materials.

They also said the road might not be able to withstand another spell of heavy and inces-sant rain.

A recent visit to some parts of the highway found it in dire condition. In most areas the asphalt of the highway gave way to rain ex-posing sand and gravel.

According to the Gopalganj Roads and Highways Department, the regional highway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 11 in 2013. Since then it has been used as lifeline for thousands of peo-ple of the Gopalganj district.

Local people alleged that the highway was built upon a weak sand embankment. So even a light rain takes a toll on the road.

Amin Dariya of Kotalipara upazila said at least 500 places of Bedgram, Golabaria, Majhigati, Kathi, Bajunia, Kajulia, Tupuria, Tarashi, Sikir Bazar, Wapdahat, Harnahati and Nagra are in tattered condition.

Keramat Ali of the same upazila said the road had been facing the same trouble since it was built. “From the very beginning, it need-ed continuous maintenance as rain could eas-ily damage it.”

One of the labourers working on the road, Abdur Rashid Molla, said they had been dump-

ing sand bags and soils to protect the road. Another labourer Mizanur Rahman Dhali

said they had been mending the road after the rain stopped. There were many like him em-ployed throughout the year.

When contacted, Kotalipara upazila Chair-man Mujibur Rahman Hawlader said: “The con-struction of the road was faulty. It does not have enough soil beneath it for support. That is why many parts of the road have caved in. The con-struction materials were also of poor quality.”

Acknowledging the run-down state of the highway, Executive Engineer of Gopalganj Roads and Highways Department Shomiron Roy said the rain in the last week damaged the road to a great extent.

“Besides, the soil of the region is prone to decay making it di� cult for the road to sus-tain. However, we have begun the repair work on June 29 and would mend the damaged por-tion very soon,” he added. l

Narsingdi youth killed over trivial mattern Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

A young man was killed in an attack over a tri-� ing matter in Narsingdi’s Belab upazila yes-terday. Rony Mia, 19, son of Md Mokhtar Mia of Nilakshia village, was killed in the morning.

Witnesses said Rony got embroiled in an altercation with Babul Mia, a local man, on Thursday afternoon over paying rickshaw fare.

They again engaged in a heated argument yesterday morning in Nilakshia Bazar where Babul’s supporters arrived in a while and swooped on Rony with sharp weapons, leav-ing him critically injured.

Rony was taken to a hospital in Bhairab but doctors advised to send him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

But his condition deteriorated while being taken to Dhaka and he was instead taken to Narsingdi District Hospital where doctors de-clared him dead. l

Housewife commits suicide in Maguran Tribune Report

A housewife allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her room over dowry at Naghosha village in Shalikha upazila yesterday morning.

The deceased was identi� ed as Shanta Khatun, 19, wife of Maruf Hossain of Belnagar village in the upazila.

Abu Jihad, o� cer-in-charge of Shalikha Police Station, said Shanta, daughter of Sha-hidul Islam, had been married with Maruf Hossain one year back and since then Maruf used to torture her for Tk1 lakh dowry.

Failing to bear the torture, Shanta went to her parent’s house.

In the meantime, Maruf called Shanta over phone and told her that if she failed to bring the dowry money, he will get married again divorc-ing her. Getting the news, Shanta killed herself by hanging herself from the ceiling of her room.

On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Sadar hospital morgue. l

A weaver busy making Jamdani sari at Reshom Silk Polli in Chaipainawabganj to meet higher demand of customers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. Like him hundreds of craftsmen are having busy time in the area which takes festive look with presence of customers. The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE


Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:50PM SUN RISES 5:16AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.0ºC 23.6ºC

Jessore Feni

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 27Chittagong 31 26Rajshahi 35 28Rangpur 32 26Khulna 33 26Barisal 32 27Sylhet 30 25Cox’s Bazar 31 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:45am

Sunrise 5:14amJumma 12:03am

Asr 4:43pmMagrib 6:50pm

Esha 8:20pm

WEATHER

SATURDAY, JULY 4

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Tension worsens at SUST, Zafar Iqbal quits administrative postsn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Eminent writer and also teacher of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology(SUST) Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal resigned from all administrative posts of the university de-manding removal of Vice-Chancellor Profes-sor Aminul Haque Bhuiyan.

Dr Zafar Iqbal was performing administra-tive duty as head of Electrical and Electronics Department, director of Computer centre and Institute of ICT and president of SUST journal editorial council.

He sent a letter in this regard to the regis-trar of the university on Thursday.

On Thursday, a section of teachers of Shahjalal Science and Technology Universi-ty (SUST) under the banner of ‘Mohan Muk-

tijuddher Chetonay Udbuddho Shikshok-brindo’ yesterday observed work abstention demanding removal of Vice-Chancellor Pro-fessor Aminul Haque Bhuiyan.

The teachers under the banner of ‘Mohan Muktijuddher Chetonay Udbuddho Shikshok-brindo’ started demonstration against the VC on April 13 protesting alleged irregularities and corruptions done by the VC.

The tension escalated when Prof Dr Syed Badiuzzaman Faruque, head of the physics department, and Prof Dr Sharif Md Sharafud-din, head of the geography and environment science department, resigned on the same day following an altercation with the VC.

Later, 35 teachers resigned from di� erent administrative posts expressing solidarity and demanding removal of the VC on April 20.

The teachers include Institute of Information Technology Director Prof Dr Muhammad Jafar Iqbal, Centre for Excellence Director Prof Dr Mu-hammad Yunus, Public Administration Depart-ment Head Prof Dr Abdul Awal Biswas, Students Guidance and Council Director Prof Dr Anwarul Islam and acting proctor Emdadul Haque.

In the wake of the movement, the VC went on a two-month leave on April 23.

On June 22, the VC came back to the cam-pus to join his o� ce. As soon as the news of his comeback spread, teachers under the banner of Mohan Muktijuddher Chetonay Udbuddho Shikshokbrindo observed a sit-in programme and did not allow the VC to enter his o� ce.

Since then, the teachers have been observ-ing di� erent types of programmes against the VC. l

Dilapidated roads make Mirpur, Agargaon residents su� ern Abu Hayat Mahmud

For residents of Mirpur in the capital, being on roads is synonymous with su� erings as most of the roads remain in a dilapidated condition.

Heavy monsoon rains in the last couple of days have aggravated the condition of the roads where many potholes have appeared.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) took a range of projects to improve the roads and streets in all areas of Mirpur but to no avail.

People living in Rupnagar, Arambagh, Shi-albari, Duaripara, Pallabi and Purabi say the roads have not been repaired for long, blam-ing the negligence of city corporation o� cials.

Nazibur Rahman, a resident of Rupnagar, bemoaned the poor road conditions in his lo-cality, saying that city corporation o� cials had turned a blind eye to this nagging problem.

“We do not know if the roads will ever be repaired.”

He said Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority dug up most of the busy roads in Palla-

bi, Purabi and Rupnagar for laying water supply pipes a year ago, but the holes are yet to be � lled.

The Dhaka Tribune correspondent yester-day noticed solid wastes on several roads be-side Rupnagar Natunbazar, which compound-ed the woes of pedestrians.

The area is under Ward 7 of the DNCC and the ward councillor, Md Mobasher Chowd-hury, said the roads were patched up a few months ago but downpours over the past few days had caused damage again.

He said he would have talks with city cor-poration o� cials to begin repairing the roads from Shialbari to Rupnagar.

In June last year, the DNCC authorities admit-ted that they had failed to adequately respond to the urgency of road repairs because of two separate repair projects that were scheduled to be undertaken in October and December.

DNCC former chief engineer Brigadier Gen-eral Md Abul Khair told the Dhaka Tribune at the time that all the roads that were in poor con-dition would be � xed under the two projects.

But yesterday’s visit revealed that most of the roads underwent no major repair.

Masud Hossain, assistant engineer of DNCC zone 2, said the city corporation had undertaken a development project to repair the roads in Mirpur, including the Shial-bari-Duanipara Road. “The project is � nanced by the Kuwaiti government and will be initiat-ed within several months,” he added.

Meanwhile, residents of Agargaon and Tal-tola have said many roads in their areas need to be repaired as well.

Moinul Islam, who lives in Taltola, said the road near Taltala Bazar was repaired a year ago but was now full of potholes again.

“It is very annoying to use the road es-pecially in the rainy season because rains heighten su� erings of pedestrians.”

DNCC Additional Chief Engineer Syed Qudrat Ullah said development projects would be undertaken in the new � scal year for � xing all the dilapidated roads in areas under the city corporation’s jurisdiction. l

50 injured in a clash n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

At least 50 people in Bishwanath upazila, Syl-het were injured, 20 of whom were hit by bul-lets, in a clash between the followers of two local in� uentials over a long-standing dispute yesterday.

Sources said followers of former Rampa-sha union parishad chairman Azizur Rahman and Bashar-Miah-Emdadul Haque duo, local arbitrators from the upazila’s Aamtoil village, in Aamtoil Bazar got into an altercation over the ownership of a plot in Chhararpar area in Sylhet yesterday afternoon, which eventually led to the violent clash just before iftar.

The clash resulted in injuries of 50 people while several autorickshaws were vandalised. Receiving word about the clash, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Most of the injured were sent to the upazi-la health complex; the severely wounded victims were sent to Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet city.

Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Muhammad Asadul Haque, Assistant Commissioner (Land) So-hel Mahmud, Bushwanath police OC Ra� qul Hossain and Rampasha UP Chairman Anowar Khan visited the clash site later in the evening.

Speaking to this correspondent, Aamtoil arbitrators Bashar and Emdad claimed Azizur Rahman’s men attacked their men over the land dispute – the land that belonged to the villagers.

“The sudden attack injured a lot of people. At least 20 of our men were hit by bullets.”l

A woman is compelled to get o� from a van to avoid any untoward incident as a road in Shewrapara of the capital lies in a sorry state. The photo was taken yesterday

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

Malaysia PM terms funds report ‘political sabotage’n AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yester-day dismissed as “political sabotage” a report that a probe into a state-owned investment fund had found hundreds of millions of dollars were transferred to his personal bank accounts.

The investment vehicle, 1Malaysia Devel-opment Bhd (1MDB), denied any wrongdoing after the Wall Street Journal said nearly $700 million moved through government agencies, banks and companies linked to the fund be-fore ending up in Najib’s accounts.

The newspaper cited documents it said it had obtained, including bank transfer forms and � ow charts prepared by government in-vestigators as the basis for its report.

Malaysia’s ringgit currency tumbled to 3.7845 against the dollar, its lowest level since July 2005, yesterday after the report’s publication. The newspaper said the original source of the money was unclear, and noted that the government investigation did not de-tail what happened to the funds that alleged-ly went into Najib’s accounts.

Najib’s o� ce said in a statement that the claims were an e� ort to “undermine con� -dence in our economy, tarnish the govern-ment, and remove a democratically elected prime minister”.

“These latest claims, attributed to un-

named investigators as a basis to attack the prime minister, are a continuation of this po-litical sabotage,” it added.

On the allegations themselves, the state-ment said only that “it must be noted that 1MDB has already stated that the company never provided funds to the prime minister”.

1MDB said in a separate statement that it had not transferred any funds to Najib. “To suggest otherwise, as some media outlets have done, is highly irresponsible and a deliberate attempt to undermine the company,” it said.

Both Najib and 1MDB said previous leaked documents had “reportedly” been tampered with, and that the documents cited by the WSJ had not been veri� ed.

1MDB was launched in 2009 by Najib, who still chairs its advisory board. Critics say it has been opaque in explaining its dealings.

It is reeling under an estimated $11 billion debt, which has weighed on the ringgit amid allegations of mismanagement and murky overseas transactions.

Critics including powerful former premier Mahathir Mohamad have called for criminal investigations, but both Najib and 1MDB have denied wrongdoing in the past, saying the company is on a solid footing.

Under pressure, Najib earlier this year or-dered his auditor-general to examine 1MDB’s books. Its report has not yet been released. l

Russia says Kiev’s refusal to negotiate with rebels ‘alarming’n AFP, Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yes-terday said Ukraine’s perceived failure to agree with rebels on implementing a peace deal was “alarming” and urged the West to pressure Kiev.

“The situation is alarming because we’re witnessing a tendency, if you will,” Russia’s top diplomat told reporters.

“Starting with a state coup, the current Kiev authorities have routinely demonstrated their inability to come to an agreement,” Lav-rov said after talks with his counterpart from Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s proposed constitutional changes have trig-gered a surge in tensions between Kiev and Moscow-backed rebels that have been bat-tling government forces since April 2014.

Lavrov said Russia was especially con-cerned that, in its view, the draft constitution did not honour a “single requirement” of a peace deal brokered by Germany and France in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February.

“Russia is deeply concerned by Kiev’s in-ability or unwillingness to implement a re-quirement to agree with Donetsk and Lugansk on the ways of implementing local elections and involving representatives in work on the new constitution,” Lavrov said. l

Turkish PM denies plans for imminent intervention in Syrian AFP, Ankara

Turkey has no plans to intervene militarily in Syria anytime soon, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, refuting media speculation about an imminent operation to create a bu� -er zone along the Turkish-Syrian border.

“No one should expect that Turkey will go into Syria tomorrow or in the near future. It’s speculation,” Davutoglu told the pri-vate Kanal 7 broadcaster in an interview late Thursday.

While Turkey would “not wait for tomor-row” to act in Syria “in the event of a threat to domestic security” Davutoglu said a uni-lateral intervention was “out of the question” under the current conditions. “We will never allow ourselves to be led down that road,” he said. “Our people can rest easy.”

Speculation has been swirling for days in Turkish media that the government is plan-ning to intervene in Syria to push Islamic State jihadists back from the border and halt the advance of Kurdish forces who have made gains against the extremists in the area.

The Kurds’ advance has particularly alarmed Turkish o� cials, who accuse the Kurdish mili-tiamen of seeking to unite Kurdish-majority areas of Syria and fear the growing power of Kurdish forces there will embolden Turkey’s 15-million strong Kurdish minority. l

Anguish as search for survivors in Philippine ferry capsize endsn AFP, Ormoc

Anguished families wept over the bodies of dead relatives as the search for survivors from the Philippines’ latest ferry disaster ended yesterday with 45 con� rmed deaths, o� cials said.

All 187 people on board the capsized Kim Nirvana were accounted for with 142 con-� rmed to have survived, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Bal-ilo told AFP.

The 33-tonne boat capsized in a calm sea several hundred metres (yards) from Ormoc city port on Thursday while on a regular trip to neighbouring Camotes island.

Seven bodies were retrieved from the ship’s upended wooden hull yesterday, in-cluding that of a one-year-old boy.

His brother, Gilbert de la Cruz, 10, who survived the disaster, wailed over the dead infant’s remains, which had been placed in a black body bag.

“There’s no more hope for survivors,” Ciriaco Tolibao from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management o� ce told ANC television.

As the search ended, authorities shifted to determining the cause of the latest in a string of deadly maritime tragedies in the sprawling archipelago of 100 million people.

“We will get to the bottom of this and make sure that this does not happen again,” Trans-portation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya told reporters. “Is it force majeure? Is it human er-ror? We have to know all the facts before we talk about culpability.”

Survivors all recounted how the vessel was backing out of port when it suddenly over-turned, giving them no chance to put on life jackets.

Its brightly painted orange and green bow bobbed above the choppy waves yesterday. The wreckage was later to be towed closer to the shore where it will be righted, Abaya said.

Government investigators will question the vessel’s 14 crewmen, all of whom sur-vived, he added.

Nicasia Degesica, a 57-year-old seam-stress, waited at the port for news of her sis-ter, Erlinda Rosales, while other devastated relatives checked hospitals and morgues for their loved ones.

“We’re losing hope that she is still alive, but if she’s dead at least we want to � nd her body,” Degesica told AFP.

Divers brie� y stopped their search in the morning as the waters became choppy due to Tropical Storm Linfa, which was set to brush past the northern Philippines later yesterday, said Chief Superintendent Asher Dolina, one of the ground commanders. l

Palestinians walk along part of Israel’s controversial separation barrier as they head towards the Qalandia checkpoint to cross from the West Bank to Jerusalem for yesterday’s prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, hours after a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli soldiers after throwing stones at an Israeli military patrol AFP

WORLD 9D


Boko Haram kills 170 in NE Nigeria in two daysn AFP, Kano

Boko Haram waged fresh attacks in northeast-ern Nigeria, locals said yesterday, bringing to nearly 170 the number of people killed this week in violence President Muhammadu Bu-hari blasted as “inhuman and barbaric.”

Militants have launched multiple attacks in restive Borno state since Wednesday, with people attending evening prayers during the month of Ramadan gunned down, women shot at home, and men dragged from their homes in the dead of night.

A young female suicide bomber also killed 12 worshippers when she blew herself up in a mosque in Borno and while there was no im-mediate claim of responsibility, Boko Haram has used both men and young women and girls as human bombs in the past.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has con-demned the latest wave of killings by Boko Haram in Borno state, describing them as

most inhuman and barbaric,” the presiden-cy said in a statement. The wave of attacks, which took place over less than 36 hours, is the bloodiest since Buhari came to power in May, vowing to root out the insurgency that has claimed more than 15,000 lives.

Bodies ‘lying unattended’News of the violence � rst emerged on Thurs-day, when survivors described raids on three di� erent villages in Borno the previous evening that left at least 145 people killed and houses burnt to the ground.

Yesterday, fresh details of these killings emerged from a resident of Kukawa, the worst-a� ected village. Baana Kole told AFP that he and others had managed to escape into the bush where they spent the night, be-fore returning to bury the dead, only to � nd that the militants had laid mines everywhere.

“Some residents who hid in trees saw them planting the mines and alerted us when we re-

turned to the village and started burying our dead,” he said. “So many dead bodies are still in Kukawa lying unattended. We had to abandon them because we could not carry them with us.”

Bomber ‘aged around 15’Less than 24 hours later, a girl blew herself up in a mosque in Malari village, more than 150 kilometres away from Wednesday’s attacks.

“The bomber was a girl aged around 15 who was seen around the mosque when wor-shippers were preparing for the afternoon prayers,” Danlami Ajaokuta, a vigilante assist-ing the military against Boko Haram, told AFP.

“People asked her to leave because she had no business there and they were not comfort-able with her in view of the spate of suicide attacks by female Boko Haram members.

“She made to leave but while the people were inside the mosque for the prayers she ran from a distance into the mosque and blew herself up,” he added – an account corroborat-

ed by resident Gajimi Mala.And early yesterday morning, as people

were sleeping, Boko Haram militants dragged men out of houses in Miringa village and shot them for escaping forced conscription.

They “picked 13 men from selected homes and took them to the Eid prayer ground out-side the village where they opened � re on them,” resident Baballe Mohammed said, adding 11 died and two managed to escape.

He and another resident said the victims had been targeted because they had � ed their home village after Boko Haram tried to force them to join their ranks.

The armed group has intensi� ed its cam-paign of violence since Buhari came to power on May 29, launching raids, explosions and suicide attacks that have claimed more than 420 lives. The spike in violence has sparked concern that earlier victories claimed by the armies of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon in the region are being eroded. l

France rejects asylum request from WikiLeaks’ Assangen AFP, Paris

The French government rejected an asylum request from WikiLeaks founder Julian As-sange yesterday, saying he did not face “im-mediate danger”.

“France cannot act on his request,” said the o� ce of President Francois Hollande in a statement, after Assange wrote an open letter to the government requesting asylum.

“The situation of Mr Assange does not present an immediate danger. Furthermore, he is subject to a European arrest warrant,” Hollande’s o� ce said.

In his letter to the president, Assange de-scribed himself as a “journalist pursued and threatened with death by the United States’ authorities as a result of my professional ac-tivities”. l

Britain falls silent for Tunisia attack victimsn AFP, London

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minis-ter David Cameron led a nationwide minute’s silence yesterday, a week after a jihadist gun massacre in Tunisia in which 30 out of the 38 victims were Britons.

Flags � ew at half-mast as schools, govern-ment o� ces and the Wimbledon tennis tour-nament fell silent at midday to honour the victims of Britain’s worst terror attack since the 2005 London bombings.

Employees of travel group TUI, which in-cludes operators Thomson and First Choice that organised the holidays of all of the British victims, stood in silence outside the compa-ny’s headquarters. There was also a ceremo-ny outside Walsall football stadium in central England in tribute to three local men from the same family who died in the tragedy.

The moment of remembrance for the at-tack claimed by the Islamic State group comes

a day after the British government raised the possibility of extending air strikes against IS jihadists from Iraq to Syria.

The queen and her husband Prince Philip joined in the silence during a visit to Strath-clyde University in Glasgow, while Cameron marked the moment in his Witney constitu-ency northwest of London.

The pro� le picture on the prime minister’s Twitter account was changed to a sign read-ing “Remember Tunisia” with the � rst word written in red.

Britain has launched an investigation into the killings and the police said that they had so far taken 275 witness accounts and that more than 1,200 potential witnesses had re-turned to Britain. A special ceremony was also held at the scene of the killings on a sun-ny beach near Sousse, with dozens of o� cials and tourists in attendance as Tunisia stepped up security at its holiday resorts.

The killings were the worst-ever massacre

in Tunisia, which fears massive damage to its tourism industry.

The sector accounts for about seven per-cent of gross domestic product in a country already su� ering from the upheaval that fol-lowed the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

St Paul’s Cathedral joined in the remem-brance and the Muslim Council of Britain also urged imams to deliver a sermon of peace at yesterday prayers.

At Wimbledon, the start of matches was delayed by 45 minutes to 12:15pm (1115 GMT) to allow spectators and tennis players to take part. The bodies of 17 of the British victims have now been repatriated on a military trans-port plane to Royal Air Force base Brize Norton.

Eight more were due to be brought back to Britain later yesterday and the � nal � ve will return today.

The remains will be released to the fami-lies following post-mortem examinations. l

Dutch seek UN tribunal to probe downing of MH17n Reuters, Amsterdam

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called yes-terday for the creation of an international tri-bunal to try those responsible for downing a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine last year.

“A UN tribunal is the best option for pros-ecuting those responsible for the MH17 disas-ter, as it is the best chance to get them before a court of law,” Rutte, whose country had the most nationals among the 298 victims, told a weekly press conference.

Malaysia Thursday told the UN Security Council it planned to � le a draft resolution on a UN tribunal to try those who downed Malay-sia Airlines � ight MH17.

After the tragedy suspicions immediate-ly turned to pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, accused of using a surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia. Russia denies the allegation and points the � nger at Kiev. l

Pakistan army soldiers hold hands in hands while conducting a search operation yesterday after a train fell into a canal near Gujranwala, Pakistan on June 2. A train carrying hundreds of Pakistan military personnel and their families plunged into a canal killing 12 soldiers, when a bridge collapsed in what the army suspects was sabotage, o� cials said REUTERS

WORLD10DT


Iran nuclear talks in endgame, negotiators push on sticking pointsn Reuters, Vienna

A year and half of nuclear talks between Iran and major powers were creeping towards the � nish line yesterday as negotiators wres-tled with sticking points including questions about Tehran’s past atomic research.

Iran is in talks with the United States and � ve other powers - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - on an agreement to curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

“We are coming to the end,” said a senior Western diplomat, who added there was no

plan to carry on for long past next Tuesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Ja-

vad Zarif told Iranian state television that “a lot of progress has been made, but still vari-ous technical issues remain ...”

Still, all sides say a deal is within reach. US, European and Iranian o� cials, including US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Ara-qchi and Majid Takhteravanchi, held a six-hour negotiating session that ended at 3am yesterday, a senior US o� cial said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Zarif were due to hold a bilateral session yester-

day, though that meeting was delayed several times. Russia’s chief negotiator Sergei Ryabkov said the text of the agreement was more than 90 percent complete. Chinese Foreign Minis-ter Wang Yi voiced con� dence that the parties would reach a mutually acceptable accord.

The negotiators missed a June 30 deadline for a � nal agreement, but have given them-selves until July 7, and foreign ministers not already in Vienna are due to return on Sunday for a � nal push.

A deal, if agreed, would require Iran to se-verely curtail uranium enrichment work for more than a decade. l

1,400 India school teachers resign in fake degree proben AFP, Patna

Some 1,400 primary school teachers have quit in an eastern Indian state in recent months amid an ongoing investigation into fake quali� cations, an education o� cial said yesterday.

More resignations are likely before the end of an amnesty period that allows teachers in Bihar to quit to avoid legal action for falsify-ing their degrees, state education department principal secretary RK Mahajan said.

The High Court ordered an investigation in May into the state’s 350,000 primary teachers on concerns that up to 25,000 had joined gov-ernment schools without proper training.

Resignations poured in as the probe got underway, with o� cials scrutinising teacher CVs, before the court ordered the amnesty last month, which ends on July 9.

“The 1,400 resignations have come before the court order on an amnesty,” Mahajan told AFP.

“We will know the � nal number of teach-ers who took advantage of the reprieve after the completion of the amnesty period.”

Mahajan said he did not think the � nal number of departures would be problematic, saying “there will be no vacuum in the educa-tion system”.

But he warned of severe action against teachers who decided to stay put with fake certi� cates, saying “this is a criminal act. They may face even jail”.

“The investigation is verifying quali� ca-tions of all teachers in the state who joined since 2006”, following a mass recruitment drive by the state government.

The issue made headlines last month after Delhi’s law minister, Jitendra Singh Tomar, was arrested for allegedly lying about his de-grees.

The quality of education, particularly in rural areas, is a major problem in India. Many teachers also fail to show up to class regularly, leaving colleagues overburdened.

More than half of children in rural areas are still unable to read basic text in their own lan-guage after completing � ve years of govern-ment schooling, an annual survey by leading Indian education and research group Pratham reported. l

Greek ‘Yes,’ ‘No’ voters worlds apartn AFP, Argos

In the sleepy town of Argos in southern Greece, the ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ camps ahead of a historic bailout referendum are worlds apart. For one it’s about rejecting austerity, the other is haunted by a possible return of the drachma.

The leftist government has called for Sun-day’s vote in order to ask Greeks whether or not they want to accept the sacri� ces de-manded by the country’s international credi-tors in exchange for bailout funds.

But European leaders have insisted the referendum is e� ectively a vote on staying with, or exiting from, the eurozone.

“The ‘Yes’ is going to win because people are afraid. People want the euro and not the

drachma,” retiree Magdalini told AFP, refer-ring to Greece’s old currency.

“That’s why I’m going to vote ‘Yes’,” she said.

Young unemployed teacher Litsa, who supports Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s rad-ical left Syriza party, said: “I’m going to vote ‘No’, because the vote is not going to deter-mine whether or not we stay in Europe.”

Argos lies around 130 kilometres west of Athens in the lush Peloponnese region.

The questions being debated -- in cafes, on street benches, in supermarkets -- among its 20,000 inhabitants are being echoed in cities, mountain hamlets and island villages across the country.

If Greece leaves the eurozone “we will lose our jobs, we will lose everything, the situa-

tion is critical,” said a jewellery shop assistant who didn’t want to give her name.

By Monday the government had been forced into damage control mode, closing banks and capping ATM withdrawals.

“Europe is our motherland. Who are we going to go with if we leave Europe? With Venezuela? With the former communist countries?” one retiree said.

But Dimitris Kodelas, Syriza MP for the Ar-golide region, said the real danger was people believing it was a vote on the euro -- some-thing he said was an “unacceptable” portray-al by EU leaders tantamount to “blackmail”.

‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps here may be divided over what they are actually voting on. But they are united on one thing: everyone wants to keep the euro. l

Thai hospital discharges MERS patientn AFP, Bangkok

A 75-year-old Omani man who became Thai-land’s � rst case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was discharged from hos-pital yesterday after being declared free of the deadly virus, o� cials said.

His diagnosis last month was Southeast Asia’s � rst case since the disease was con-� rmed in South Korea in May where it has killed 33 people and infected 184.

Thailand now appears to be MERS-free af-ter the patient tested negative for the virus and the 176 people who were in contact with him also showed no signs of the disease. l

A Vickers Supermarine Spit� re aircraft is pictured outside the Churchill War Rooms in central London yesterday, during a photocall ahead of its sale by Christie’s auction house. The spit� re will be auctioned in London on July 9 AFP

11D

TEDITORIALSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015

INSIDE

The High Court has directed the government to � x maximum and minimum house rents for di� erent areas.

We believe this idea is � awed. House rents should be left to the market to determine. The government’s role should

be to facilitate a free and well-functioning market, not dictate prices. The ruling arises out of a petition seeking strict enforcement of the

House Rent Control Act 1991 to prevent house owners from arbitrarily raising and taking in advance rent. We do not dispute that there are legitimate concerns about the shortage of decent housing in Dhaka. However, rent controls are not the right answer to this problem.

Experience shows capping rents is counter-productive. It reduces landlords’ incentives to rent out properties and creates stagnation in the market, by making them less able and willing to carry out repairs and more focused on renting only to short term tenants, thereby add-ing to the pressures on families.

Also, as the act calls for rents to equal 15% of the market value of premises, and land prices have risen inexorably over the last two decades, interpreting it literally would risk raising rents widely across Dhaka.

The net impact of rent controls would be to make available space even more scarce, and to raise demands for ever more government interference and bureaucracy as both tenants and landlords will be driven to search for loopholes in legislation.

It would be better for the commission and government to incentiv-ise developers and city corporations to build more housing and to look at ways to decentralise factories and o� ces from over-congested areas.

The best way to allow the market for housing to function fairly is to increase the supply of housing so it meets demand more closely, not restricting its � exibility by imposing new rent controls.

Rent controls are counter-productive. Increasing supply is the best way to let the market match rising demand

House rents should be left to the market

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207

Email [email protected]

Send us your Op-Ed articles:opinion.dt@dhakatribune.

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Climate � nance and Bangladesh: A reality check

PAGE 18-19

Arts & Letters PAGE 20

The dignity of DhakaPAGE 16-17

Time for re� ectionPAGE 12

BIGSTOCK

OPINION12DT


n Israfi l Khosru

As I write this piece, the mania sur-rounding Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka would have died down a bit. It was no doubt a whirlwind a� air

and had all the ingredients to make a descent thriller movie look relatively tame. It had suspense, a sense of mysticism, and a whole lot of action.

Prior to the tour, it was aptly announced that Modi would be meeting the BNP Chair-person Begum Khaleda Zia. However, the honourable foreign minister of Bangladesh seemed to get the wrong memo as he rather volubly stated that there was “no scope” of such a meet. Since the meeting did take place, the lone way to save the honourable minister from the ignominy of such a ga� e would be to simply assume that he did not get a memo at all.

On a brighter note, this accounted for a high-octane drama and kept the people engaged. To top it all o� , the suspense regarding the contents of the BNP chairper-son’s one-to-one meeting with Modi, which extended to nearly 15 minutes, has given birth to further speculation and ambiguity. The party still remains tight-lipped about the scope of discussion and is probably justi� ed in doing so.

If there is one thing this particular meeting signi� es, it is simply the fact that Narendra Modi rose above the political undercurrents that prevail in Bangladesh and proceeded with an approach of all-out engagement.

There is one key message he articulated with much candor in his � nal speech, and that is what our policy-makers should ponder on with urgency. While he played to the gal-lery by highlighting an array of achievements by Bangladesh as a country and its individ-uals, his vision for India to become a key global player by regional integration of South Asia was quite appositely presented.

He clearly wants Bangladesh to jump onto this bandwagon and his multifarious engage-ment clearly shows that he is not in it for the short term. The falling through of the Land

Boundary Agreement can be deemed to be a part of a con� dence-building measure, but it was the right gesture nonetheless.

While connectivity and regional integra-tion took centre stage in Modi’s speech, he did not seem to guarantee equity in such an endeavour. However, it is not his place to ex-tend a guarantee of any sort either. That task lies with the government of Bangladesh. A total of 22 agreements were signed between India and Bangladesh this time. Signi� cantly, among the agreements were the “Exchange of instruments of rati� cation of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 protocol” and “Exchange of letters on modalities for implementation of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 protocol.”

These agreements mark a forward movement in the direction of an eventual exchange of enclaves between both the countries, and the e� orts on both sides need to be lauded so far. However, a bulk of the remaining agreements touches on the issue of connectivity and that is where the modalities remain vague. Con-nectivity automatically relates to the issue of transit, be it via inland water or land.

When we discuss transit, it is absolute-ly imperative that the ambiguous use of trans-shipment and corridor be clari� ed. Transit is a pre-independence phenomenon and it has evolved over a period of time, but a close view of history shows that there was never much transparency in this particular

matter. Connectivity is a must to facilitate trade

and enhance it too, but the conditions should not be lop-sided to the extent that it does not become mutually bene� cial. In order to gar-ner public con� dence, a credible cost-bene� t analysis of transit should be made available in the public forum to garner con� dence. Failure to do so will sustain the feeling of sus-picion that exists within the vast majority of the Bangladeshi population, and could even magnify it manifold.

However, from a purely diplomatic point of view, the issue of trade with India should be met with pragmatism. There are far too many naysayers when it comes to our relationship with India. We are ever scep-tical about any forward movement in our relations and constantly fall back on history to prove our value judgments. We don’t care if the trade de� cit with China becomes more yawning, but we have an issue if it happens with India.

Equitable trade with India will not wash away the de� cit simply because of the sheer size of the Indian economy (both in terms of geography and market), which gives it a comparative advantage on a greater num-ber of products. We have to ensure that the nature of our trade with India does not lead to exploitation, and enables us to extract the bene� ts we richly deserve. There was high expectation in Dhaka that there would be a new announcement about the visa regime and some forward movement on Teesta as well. It can be understood why the Teesta issue hasn’t come through, but the status quo on the visa issue is a bit unanticipated.

Surprisingly, no clari� cation has been provided in this regard given that a pro-gressive visa regime is also a pre-condition to ensure greater connectivity and develop people-to-people relationships. Yet again, if this issue is not addressed almost immediate-ly, we will have yet another stumbling block in the trust building process.

It must be mentioned that the Modi PR machinery did a wonderful job in managing the hype during the visit, but the post-visit

coverage was quite negative. The Indian side could have given adequate feelers to prepare the audience here about the Teesta issue and the GOB did not indulge in any public engagement exercise to explain adequately where it currently stands in the negotiation process to appease the public.

Expectation management therefore re-mains a major challenge in Indo-Bangladesh relations, and without a more pragmatic approach, it simply cannot be done. The issue of border killing remains a contentious issue and perhaps the Modi government could deploy a task force to comprehensively examine the matter. Unless it is solved, it will remain a major roadblock towards enhanced ties between Delhi and Dhaka.

However, such a proposal should be pro-actively brought forward in diplomatic discourse to ensure resolution, and a major responsibility lies with the GOB in terms of initiation.

The Modi visit was heavy on optics and not unlike any of the SAARC capitals he visited. However, in the case of Bangladesh, his initiative of a “full spectrum political outreach” must be lauded. While Narendra Modi’s vision of a strong South Asian region with India leading the pack is well-justi� ed, it is time for us to realise that promoting and defending our national interest should be at the core of any relationship.

But it should be guided by pragmatic realism and not historical animosity. We can-not a� ord to be seen as a source of security threat to India, and hence, engagement is a must and we have a lot to gain from that in the long run. A regional growth stands to bene� t us greatly given that we are well-pre-pared and manage to dictate our terms with authority. That can only be done once there is clarity of thought and facts.

The Modi bandwagon is not necessarily a bad thing, and Bangladesh might as well be a part of it as long as our � avour and voice are well-preserved. l

Isra� l Khosru is a businessman and runs a youth-led think tank called The Bangladeshi.

Time for re� ection

Connectivity is a must to facilitate trade and enhance it too, but the conditions should not be lop-sided to the extent that it does not become mutually bene� cial

Bangladesh and India should be guided by pragmatism, not animosity REUTERS

OPINION 13D


n FS Aijazuddin

There is a stench of formaldehyde permeating through the streets and the slums, through the hospitals and morgues of Karachi. It is the smell

of over 1,200 victims of heat-stroke who could not � nd a space in Edhi’s over-� lled mortuaries or in overcrowded graveyards. It is the stench of civic corruption and corrosive incompetence that has converted Karachi into a commercial charnel house.

There was a taste of formaldehyde in every slice of the birthday cake served by her widower to PPP diehards at Naudero on the occasion of Benazir Bhutto’s 62nd birthday. Her memory has been embalmed, and like some fallen communist leader’s remains, kept on display to wring tears out of the faithful. Meanwhile, her pall-bearers, their duty done by her but not by themselves, escape the heat beginning to surround Bilawal House.

There is a glint of graft refracted from the precious stones set in the necklace donated to Pakistan by Mme Erdogan, Turkey’s � rst lady. The necklace, bought for unexplained reasons by NADRA out of the Peter’s pence provided by Pakistanis applying for ID cards, was traced to the hands of a former prime minister and to his wife’s neck. It has passed into international folklore, to join the £117,000 diamond necklace reputedly purchased by Benazir Bhutto that cost her the PM’s job, and the diamond necklace that cost the French Queen Marie Antoinette her head.

There is an odour of formaldehyde emanating from all those decaying election promises contained in the PML–N Manifesto

of 2013. Dead, for example, is the Bureau of Infrastructure Development (BID) that “single window for the development of infrastructure projects [that would] improve transport and communication by constructing national trade corridors and providing mass transit facilities in all major cities.” A single window may exist but it faces only China. There is a whi� of camphor attached to

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri’s robes. His sudden re-appearance in Pakistan this week, months after his damaging support to Imran Khan’s dharna last winter, con� rms his talents as a restless Lazarus, rising even after political pundits have written him o� as dead.

His exhortations are both exhaustive and exhausting. But one is still unclear whose agenda he is promoting this time, again camou� aged as his own.

There is a touch of formaldehyde in SAARC, whose headquarters should now be converted into a funeral parlour. It has become that doleful place where regional

countries can collect and mourn a lost ideal. Indian Prime Minister Modi read its requiem by signing on June 15 “agreements on roads, ports, power, and education with South Asian countries to build and strengthen ties, circumventing the Pakistan hurdle.” An Indian government o� cial explained: “For long, it was a Pakistan-obsessed regional policy, for that matter foreign policy. Time has come to think out of the box and move

ahead.” In e� ect, an Indian South Asia, excluding Pakistan.

There is a splash of formaldehyde thrown by Mr Modi at his senior-most colleague LK Advani. Mr Modi’s deliberate, wounding exclusion of Advani from the celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the BJP (the party Advani helped found) reveals that Mr Advani is in danger of being canonised by the sa� ronista while still alive.

There is a stream of amber permeating through the emblem of the Indian Congress Party, as its leadership clings to the glories of past leadership because it cannot see any future in its present one.

There is a reek of formaldehyde in international bodies such as the IFF (football) where a � ve-term president can be hounded out on accusations of corollary corruption, and where the ICC (cricket) should be silent on Lalit Modi’s misdoings in the IPL.

The authorities are spraying formaldehyde over the MQM’s local headquarters in Nine Zero at Karachi and its international one in London. Suddenly, two culprits wanted in the Imran Farooq case mysteriously “appear” in o� cial custody, then disappear, and reappear to be apprehended on the Afghan border. Were they also our “guests,” untraceable like Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad? Is it simply a coincidence that the 400,000 of pounds unwashed money found in the possession of Altaf Hussein in London is the near equivalent of the stash of $750,000 discovered with Saddam Hussein when he was captured in his rat-hole 10 years ago?

Finally, there are traces of self-administered formaldehyde in the veins of members of our a� uent society. They are all educated, rich, well-placed, and well-connected.

Yet, every day, they choose consciously to condone corruption. They can see it exists. They can smell it. But they would prefer to � oat above it, as if they were in some glass-bottomed boat, peering into the swill swirling below them.

We all share the guilt in this gradual decay of our country. All that may remain one day will be a sni� of formaldehyde. l

FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English-language newspaper. This article was � rst published in Dawn.

No � owers, please

There are traces of formaldehyde in the veins of members of our a� uent society. They are all educated, rich, well-placed and well-connected. Yet, every day, they choose consciously to condone corruption

All are guilty for the decay in Pakistan REUTERS

LONG FORM14DT


n Nikhil Srivastav and Aashish Gupta

Bangladesh recently secured its � rst-ever series win over India. Like previous such occasions, India’s

defeat in the three-match series broke many hearts, left cricket pundits divided, and raised question marks about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.

India and Bangladesh have now played 32 One Day Internationals together. India has won 26 of them, while Bangladesh has won just 5. In the minds of a lot of Indians who follow cricket, Bangladesh is a poor, densely-populated, Bengali-speaking, Muslim country which India helped liberate. This per-ception is reinforced by their minnow status in world cricket. Many have noticed, howev-er, that Bangladesh’s cricketing performance has been improving over the years. Bang-ladesh defeated England in the World Cup earlier this year, and then made minced meat of the Pakistan team, defeating them 3-0.

Graph 1 below shows the proportion of matches won by India and Bangladesh in a year. Contrary to popular opinion, Bang-ladesh has been steadily improving its perfor-mance, and in some years, has done better than India.

But cricket is not the only sport that Bangladesh has been catching up in. In the serious game of saving the lives of infants from disease and death, Bangladesh has been out-performing India for more than 15 years.

Bangladesh’s current infant mortality rate, at 33 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, is less than India. Both countries have seen a decline in their IMR, but Bangladesh, which used to be worse than India at saving lives until 1997, has improved its strike rate of saving lives faster than India since then.

This has been possible because saving lives and reducing disease have received greater attention in Bangladesh. For instance, the use of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), to prevent deaths from cholera and diarrhe-oa, was pioneered in Bangladesh. Similarly, the rapid decline of open defecation in Bang-ladesh has made the disease environment much better, resulting in lower prevalence of disease-causing germs, and thus, fewer deaths.

As fecal germs are sent back to the pavilion in underground pits below toilets, Bangladeshis are able to score more years in their lives.

Open defecation in Bangladesh was lower than India in all the years for which data is available. Open defecation in Bangladesh has also declined faster in the country. According to data compiled by WHO and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Program, just 2.5% of Bangla-deshis don’t own a toilet. Compare that to India, where 48.3% of the population do not own a toilet. Kids in Bangladesh, when they play outdoors, are not exposed to as many germs as they are in germ-haven India.

Another way to save babies from dying is by immunising them against infectious diseases. Bangladesh performs better in this arena as well, delivering shots early, and when needed. Graphs 4 and 5 show the proportion of children aged 12-23 months immunised against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT), and measles. In both the graphs, Bangladesh, who were lagging behind on its immunisation coverage of the two vaccines, went past India in the late 80s. Since then, Bangladesh has been continuous-ly improving.

The World Bank’s World Development Indicators show a � at line for India’s immuni-sation indicators after 2008. This is because no data on immunisation coverage has been released. Unlike the Indian government, which neither monitors nor reports immu-nisation coverage promptly, Bangladesh has been carrying out regular demographic and health surveys, which have helped monitor the country’s progress in immunisation, and identify areas that need more attention. Recently leaked data on India’s immunisation coverage only seeks to con� rm that immu-nisation coverage has, in fact, stagnated in India.

These development achievements of Bangladesh were � rst highlighted prominent-ly by economists Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen in their book An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions. They also pointed out that Bangladesh was doing much better than India at gender indicators.

Graph 6 shows the ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education. Bangla-

desh, similar to other development indica-tors, started behind India but later surpassed them and has so far maintained its lead. In India, the ratio of girls to boys in education is favourable to boys, but in Bangladesh, it is favourable to girls. Girls beat boys, and Bangladesh beats India.

A result of this improvement in the lives of women in Bangladesh has been that their choices have expanded, and fertility rates have declined. Many Indians have a misconception that the fertility rate among Muslims is bound to be high. Bangladesh, which has a majority Muslim population, has had a lower fertility rate than India for the past 15 years. Graph 7 shows an over-time comparison of the total fertility rate between the two countries.

These improvements in Bangladesh have been happening despite the fact that Bangla-desh is much poorer than India.

The graph above shows per capita GDP -- in international PPP dollars -- in India and Bangladesh over the years. India’s GDP graph

India vs Bangladesh in eight charts

Cricket is not the only sport that Bangladesh has been catching up in. In the serious game of saving the lives of infants from disease and death, Bangladesh has been out-performing India for more than 15 years

GRAPH 2

GRAPH 1

LONG FORM 15D


rises steeply, which means it has enjoyed faster growth than Bangladesh. Despite being poorer, Bangladesh has a lower infant mortality rate, lesser open defecation, higher immunisation, and better gender indicators than India. Brand endorsements that help players make money do not a good cricketing team make, and as these graphs show, higher GDP growth does not always lead to a better quality of life for a nation’s citizens.

If we were as obsessed with our healthcare, we would probably have a nation of healthier citizens today. Most newspapers reserve at least four pages every day for sports coverage, most of which is cricket. People take time o� work to cheer their team which spends at least a quarter of the year playing. Bad performance leads to calls for resignation of team captains, but bad performance on health or gender indicators has not led to the demand for resignations of Indian bureaucrats or politicians.

So perhaps, as citizens, we need to pay as much attention to health, gender, and edu-cation as we pay to cricket. You know who the captain of India’s cricket team is. Do you know who India’s sanitation, health, or rural development ministers and secretaries are, and what they have been up to? l

Aashish Gupta and Nikhil Srivastav are researchers with the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics. This article was � rst published in thewire.in.

Improvements in Bangladesh have been happening despite the fact that Bangladesh is much poorer than India

GRAPH 5

GRAPH 3

GRAPH 6

GRAPH 4

GRAPH 7

GRAPH 8

HERITAGE16DT


The dignity of Dhaka

n Tim Steel

Mir Jumla arrived in Dhaka in 1660, in hot pursuit of Prince Shah Suja. The prince had already � ed through the city towards

Chittagong, and taken refuge in the kingdom of Arakan, laden with treasure and accom-panied my an enormous entourage, said to have included a thousand palanquins. Jumla established Dhaka, e� ectively, as not only the capital city of Bengal, but also with oversight of the neighbouring provinces of Bihar and Orissa.

All � nancial roads of the time, it seems, led to Dhaka. This was clearly demonstrated by the immense wealth accumulated there, not least, in the following decades, by Mir Jumla’s successor, Shaista Khan, maternal uncle of, perhaps, one of the most success-ful of all the Mughal Emperors, Aurangzeb.

Collecting not only his own revenues and, “other sources,” he was also able to toll the revenues accumulated by the nawabs of Bihar and Orissa.

It was Aurangzeb, intent on the conquest of as much of the subcontinent as he could, who is famously said to have described Bengal as, “the paradise of nations, for its wealth and trade.” And well he might have thought so. The sources for the accumulation of wealth, and the trade that was the founda-tion of such wealth, were many and various.

It seems that all those strands appealed to the Europeans who, around 150 years earlier, had “discovered” this remote, north eastern corner of the Great Mughal empire of such wealth and fame. Nor, of course, was it only Europeans; the central administration was overseen, in Dhaka, by representatives of leaders of Persian origins, with strong connections to the fairly newly conquering Mughals. And Armenians had also appeared on the scene, all of them accumulating im-mense and conspicuous wealth and in� u-ence.

The Portuguese had been the � rst of the Europeans to arrive, at the tail end of the 15th century, exploiting the allocation of their monopoly on oriental opportunities deter-mined by the Pope. That was before, even, the Mughals had departed their Central Asian origin.

These Portuguese, with well established merchant connections with England, one of their earliest allies as a nation, undoubtedly were responsible for arousing interest in the European nations, especially those, like Portugal, at odds with the Spanish.

These included, especially, late in the 16th century, Netherlands, with their continuous attempts, as an emerging Protestant people, to free themselves from Spanish religious colonialism; and, of course, England.

Indeed, in the 17th century, the remote north-east of the subcontinent would attract trading attention, in addition to Portugal, Netherlands and the English, from France, Denmark, Flemish merchants of nascent Belgium, and even Prussia.

The journals and history of a large number of merchants and traders from, especially, the larger of those nations, would suggest that there were two very distinct strands in their trading interests, with a fairly wide

range of the more traditional of those inter-ests.

It is clear that, following the arrival of the � rst East India Company’s missions, and the establishment of their � rst, “factory,” at Balasore, in Orissa, as close to the Ganges deltaic streams as they could get, as early as 1633, there was, for them, a very great interest in saltpetre, the main ingredient of gunpowder. This naturally formed chemical, of which Bengal and Bihar have been esti-mated to have contained 70% of the world supply, shipped as ballast, left room for other cargoes. The English, as well as the Dutch, and, later, the French, also set up gunpowder factories beside the Ganges, and exported it completely mixed, with the other requisite components of gunpowder, charcoal and sulphur.

It may also be worthy of note that we can, from the record of the � rst East India Company vessel to arrive at Balasore, in 1633, assume that from that time, crew members were also recruited locally, laying the foun-dations of yet another trade, in sailors, that may well, too, have attracted revenues to the Dhaka based administration, as well as what was to become the foundation of Britain’s signi� cant immigrant community today!

The fact that these three nations were to compete, worldwide, over the ensuing two centuries, for maritime and imperial dominance, may be related to that particular interest, for which they were, clearly, ready to pay well, often through such intermedi-aries as Armenian merchants, as well as the Mughal overseers, to � ll co� ers in Dhaka.

Some of the most signi� cant of the other strands of these trading interests, including cotton and muslin cloths, and, later, opium, were not necessarily intended for home trade. Both slaves and fabrics were certainly traded by the Dutch to pay for spices in the East Indies, and there is clear evidence of links be-tween such early English merchants as those of Bristol, who took both slaves from the Indi-an Ocean for transportation to America in the

It was Aurangzeb, intent on the conquest of as much of the subcontinent as he could, who is famously said to have described Bengal as, ‘the paradise of nations’

All � nancial roads of the time, it seems, led to Dhaka

DHAKA TRIBUNE

HERITAGE 17D


early years of the trade (which suggests that the Indian connections were signi� cant in that development), but also bought cotton cloth from the subcontinent to pay Arab and local African suppliers of slaves for their cargoes. It has, indeed, been estimated that a third of all slave trades out of Africa were paid for with Indian textiles.

Gemstones, both originating in Orissa, as well as other parts of the subcontinent, and

entrepot cargoes from South east Asia, as celebrated in the early 17th century novel by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, were also certainly of trading interest.

In addition to the cotton based fabrics, including the much demanded muslin, silk also became a signi� cant cargo. Although the factories set up beside the Hoogly by such as the Dutch, French, English and Danes were said to have produced some of the best in the world, it was, throughout most of the 17th century, to Dhaka that most of the taxes, dues and bribes for the factories, and the shipping, were, eventually, directed.

Slaves, themselves, were unquestionably also part of the tradable commodities. The Dutch East India Company is recorded as buying, from neighbouring Arakan, slaves who were carried to the East Indies to replace the local workers who were massacred as part of securing the very valuable spice car-goes. It is also clear that slaves of East African origin were traded as domestic servants; including the young male slaves emasculated in Colombo’s Slave Island, to be made suit-ably saleable for harem service in the grand homes across South and East Asia.

Indigo, the famous dye, certainly also formed a part of the trade, as did other agricultural crops that grew so proli� cally in the rich agricultural soils of the Ganges basin.

Not to forget rice, which was widely export-ed to neighbouring nations; and, of course, eventually, the immensely pro� table opium.

In many of the local con� icts between Europeans and the Mughal administration, there were also, of course, plenty of revenue earning opportunities, since gold was, usual-ly, the most common of European weapons for resolving such di� culties.

A report of such a “di� culty” in 1647, may be a good example of such potential con� icts, that, like the later confrontation, in the 1680s, between England and the Mughal regime, began with guns, and ended with gold.

Late in 1647, the Company vessel, Fare-well, arrived at Balasore. Its arrival happened to coincide with the capture, by a Danish vessel, of a local craft carrying a cargo of elephants. Ivory had been a cargo originating around the Ganges from early times, and the signi� cance of the living animals as social status was still important.

The East India Company’s agent was requested, by the governor of Orissa, to help in negotiating the release of the ship and cargo -- a request that the Danes refused. The governor then decided to hold the Company as responsible as the Danes, “as they are of the same religion” … (religious typecasting it

seems, is not, after all, a modern phenome-non!).

Attempting to escape being blockaded, the Farewell came under attack from the Mughal forces, as did Dutch interests. The Farewell was eventually able to escape, using signi� cant gunnery, but both Dutch and Eng-lish trade was temporarily stopped, until the wheels of governance were, “lubricated.”

Throughout the century, wealth � owed into, and through, Dhaka, in almost unimag-inable amounts, and, without doubt, it was during that period that the earliest manifes-tation of, the “City of Palaces” developed.

Half a century later, the seizure of control of the territories by the English, saw a rapid decline in the wealth and importance of Dha-ka, giving way to the rapid rise of Calcutta. The period in which it was, in fact, Dhaka, that to the Mughal administration repre-sented “the paradise of nations,” has a much neglected history of this, today’s capital city of a Bangladesh growing rapidly, in its wealth and trade. Perhaps it would be a little hard to describe it, these days, again, yet, as a “paradise,” but certainly setting fair in that direction. l

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

Throughout the century, wealth � owed into, and through, Dhaka, in almost unimaginable amounts, and, without doubt, it was during that period that the earliest manifestation of, the ‘City of Palaces’ developed

LONG FORM18DT


n Md Ashadul Islam

Climate change is no longer a predic-tion, but a harsh reality. Whether or not we accept it, it is happening all over the world in various forms

-- cyclones, drought, � ood, landslide etc. Can we reverse it? The instant answer is no. There are smart ways to tackle climate change; be adaptive to it and check the factors of climate change ie reduction of GHGs which falls in the area of mitigation. In both ways, huge in-vestment is involved, which is really di� cult, especially for the least developed countries to manage who are normally the innocent victims of climate change.

The impact of climate change would get worse even if a mandatory global arrange-ment on reducing missions could be reached, as the adverse climate change risks in following decades have already been locked by existing carbon stock. The 21st session of the conference of the parties to the UNFCCC, which is due to be held in December 2015, in Paris, is expected to be able to reach to an agreement to limit temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Ironically, by climate resilience people tend to mean being adaptive to climate change. In reality, it seems to be a kind of compulsion as there is no other place to go. Aila and Sidr-hit coastal areas have virtually became unliveable; no water, no crops, and long-term damage to the communication network have made the entire locality inac-cessible.

Anyway, being the innocent victims of climate change, the most a� ected least developed countries can legitimately claim

compensation from the main contributors of GHGs. Bangladesh is no exception; as per German Watch’s Global Climate Risk Index (CRI), Bangladesh is the most vulnerable nation to climate change. In fact, its entire coastal population is at high risk of rising sea levels. National Geographic predicted that in 2100, 10 to 30 million people along the southern coast would be displaced. The situation would force “Bangladeshis to crowd even closer together or else � ee the country as climate refugees.”

Already, the a� ected areas are experiencing a drastic fall in population, which is not a normal phenomenon; rather, due to an extreme environment in a� ected areas, local inhabitants were compelled to relocate to other areas. Bangladesh has a good stra-tegic framework aimed at tackling climate change -- National Action Plan on Adaptation

(NAPA) of 2005 and the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) of 2009. Setting up the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) by own budget allocation of $100m was an example of our determination to combat climate change.

Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) is a multi-donor trust fund for climate change which channeled over $188m in grant funds. BCCSAP has identi� ed six pillars namely: 1) Food security, social protection and health, 2) comprehensive disaster management, 3) infrastructure, 4) research and knowledge management, 5) mitigation and low carbon development, 6) capacity building and institutional strength-ening; under the six pillars there are 40 plus actions. Both BCCTF and BCCRF support the actions of the six pillars. But the country cannot go far depending on its own resources in addressing the adaptation and mitigation when cost involved in both processes is huge. Therefore, harnessing available sourc-es of international climate � nance is a must.

Conventionally, climate and development � nance were channeled to LDCs mainly through multi-lateral agencies via indirect access modality, which often compromise country ownership. From the Adaptation Fund to more recently, the GCF, LDCs are able to access funding directly if they are accredited following the criteria of the fund management. Accessing international climate � nance is a huge challenging task; enhanced institutional capacity is a pre-con-dition to overcome the access barriers as most of these funds follow high standard � duciary systems and environmental and social safeguards. Good management prac-

tice, transparency, and track records -- all are essential to gain direct access to the interna-tional climate � nance.

Due to the UN processes on climate change and COP, the international commu-nity appears to be responsive to address the resource needs of most a� ected countries, especially the LDCs. But the complicated architecture of international climate � nance appears to be a kind of barrier for the LDCs in terms of accessibility. Fund delivery modali-ties induce competitive environment for the developing countries and their delivery part-ners (eg development agencies) in managing their shares in international climate � nance. Countries like China, India, Brazil, Indone-sia, and South Africa are keen on mitigation actions depriving the adaptation activities which are priorities of the LDCs.

Allocations for LDCs in Adaptation Fund and GCF justify the needs of the LDCs, but the � duciary standard and ESMS (environ-ment and social management system) may keep many of the LDCs away from having access to the allocated fund. Good news is, many multi-lateral development partners, even the GCF, run global readiness pro-grammed for the LDCs to enable them to access the international climate � nance.

For example, GIZ, UNDP, and GCF o� er readiness supports which mainly focus on institutional capacity of the focal point and NDA (national designated authority), iden-tifying the potential NIEs (national imple-menting entities), their capacity building and developing strategic framework or project pipeline. It depends on the country capacity to make the best use of readiness support and get them ready for direct access to the

Climate � nance and Bangladesh: A reality check

Bangladesh is the most vulnerable nation to climate change. In fact, its entire coastal population is at high risk of rising sea level

We need to be smart and realistic about tackling climate change

RAJIB DHAR

LONG FORM 19D


fund.Mainstream multi-lateral international

climate fund:The main international sources of climate

� nance are: Environment Facility (GEF), Adaption Fund, Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Program (ASAP), Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), Climate Investment Funds, UN-REDD Readiness Program, and recently established Green Climate Fund (GCF) which is being managed under global arrangement in a more transparent and inclu-sive way; board of directors are drawn from

member countries. A brief account on what Bangladesh has gained from international climate funds may be useful to review our place in the arena of climate � nance. GEF 3 was established in 1991, to support activities related to bio-diversity, land deg-radation, chemicals and waste, international water, sustainable management of forests, and climate change (both adaptation and mitigation) in the context of development projects and programs. GEF STAR allocation is country-speci� c, and targeted towards mit-igation activities.

On the other hand, GEF Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) are two special funds to support the adaptation activities. Bang-ladesh, under its current LDCF ceiling of $30m, has already accessed $23.5m. Another project of $6.5m is under process at the GEF. For mitigation activities, Bangladesh has accessed $20.54m through national projects. Also, Bangladesh receives funds for climate change under global and regional projects of the international development agencies. Sometimes country-speci� c allocation under regional and global projects is di� cult to � nd out. However, UNDP, UNEP, WB, ADB, and FAO are the international development/� nancial agencies through whichever chan-neled funding in Bangladesh.

The adaptation fund was established in 2001, to � nance adaptation projects and programs in developing countries that are vulnerable to the adverse e� ects of climate change. As its website states, AF is � nanced by a 2% levy on CERs (certi� ed emission reduction) by CDM (clean development mechanism) and also with funds from other sources. AF has same provisions of direct and indirect access (ie multi-lateral implementing entities and regional implementing entities).

Usually, the secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forest is the “Designated Authority” (DA) of Bangladesh to AF. The same modality is being followed by the par-ties in seeking resources from AF. Project and

program must be submitted directly through accredited national, regional, and multilater-al implementing entities. Among the SAARC countries, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) of India is accredited by the AF. Other SAARC countries have access to AF through the MIE. India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives received fund from AF for project imple-mentation. Bangladesh could not access to the resources of AF; no Bangladeshi national agency is accredited by the AF.

Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Program (ASAP) was launched by Interna-tional Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2012 to channel climate � nance to smallholder farmers for building their resil-ience to climate change. Bolstering defences against rising seas and saline-tolerant farm-ing are the climate change activities in IFAD loans and grants in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a recipient country of Global Climate Change Alliance, an initiative of the European Union to build alliance on climate change between EU and the most a� ected poor developing countries having least ca-pacity to deal with climate change.

Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) was established in 2010 to act as a co-ordinated � nancing mechanism by the GoB and development partners to sup-port the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. $188.2m grant funds were channeled by seven bilateral and multi-later-al development partners to � nance six stud-ies and six investment projects, mostly of CC adaptation. However, the project implement-ed by IDCOL titled “Solar Irrigation Program -- a green energy initiative” of $24.5m can be considered as a CC mitigation project. BCCRF is envisioned, inter alia, to bring global cli-mate change funding to Bangladesh.

Climate Investment Funds (CIF) was es-tablished in 2008; it consists of two distinct funds -- the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), have an $8.1bn pledged fund. The following four key programs are included in CIFs to help 63 developing countries pilot low-emissions and climate-resilient development: 1.Clean Technology Fund (CTF), 2. Forest Invest-ment Program (FIP), 3. Pilot Program Climate Resilience (PPCR), 4. Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP).

SCF includes the last three sub-funds to � nance piloting of new development approaches or scale up activities focusing a speci� c climate change challenge or sectoral response. Bangladesh was one of the three countries for which the PPCR was approved. Bangladesh has received $110m ($50m grant and $60m near-zero interest concessional loan) under PPCR program. CIF projects are executed by the multi-lateral development banks/institution. The WB, IFC, and ADB are the executing agencies of CIF projects in Bangladesh.

UN-REDD (Reduction of Deserti� cation and Deforestation) readiness program is also a funding source for CC mitigation through forestry and land use change. Bangladesh has accessed $2.3m from UN-REDD. Bangladesh is highly likely to receive $30m (grant) from FIP window of CIF.

GCF was established in 2010 with huge expectations of raising funds to address the estimated climate � nance needs in mitiga-tion (around $350bn per year until 2029) and adaptation (projected at $70-100bn per

year by 2050). As formally committed by the heads of developed countries, yearly $100bn will be mobilised for GCF by 2020. Claiming to be the central global invest-ment vehicle for climate change � nance, GCF is intended to operate at a larger scale to promote low-emission, climate-resilient growth. It allocates equal share of resources for mitigation and adaptation with special attention to the most vulnerable countries. Moreover, for LDCs it has kept a special allo-cation of $10bn for adaptation. GCF seems to be more � exible, catalysing both public and private, accommodating country systems and responsive to the needs of the countries. For example, “� t for purpose” accreditation model/approach is di� erent from the Adap-tation Fund.

Climate Funds Update has the key details of the multi-lateral and bilateral climate funding. Multilateral funds are mainly administered by the boards (eg Adaptation Fund, GCF etc), international � nancial insti-tutions like the World Bank, African Devel-opment Bank, and UN agencies like IFAD and UNDP. Bilateral funds are being managed by the development agencies of respective countries.

In terms of focus area, delivery modali-ty, delivery partner, funding criteria, fund ceiling -- the architecture of international climate fund is complex, and o� ers very lim-ited access for the least developing nations to their governance system. LDCs should focus more on direct access to international climate fund through bargaining for decision making role in the fund management as well as de-veloping their own institutional capacity to overcome the barriers of direct access. National capacity and international climate � nance: For access to the available interna-tional climate � nance, very high standard � duciary and ESMS (Environmental and Social Management System) are required to be in place. Bangladesh over the years has developed strategic framework aimed

at tackling the climate change. Financing the implementation of action plans under strategic framework is not totally under our control. For example, the projected esti-mate of $5bn for the full implementation of BCCSAP, or the recurrent expenditure as estimated by the World Bank to protect our communication network against the adverse impacts of climate change is so high that the national economy cannot bear the load. The UNDP study shows 80% of climate-related programs in Bangladesh are funded domesti-cally, and 20% by external sources.

Therefore, resource mobilisation from the external sources has become imperative for us. And here lies the importance of direct access to international climate fund. Even from the point of climate justice, it is our due share to claim. Bangladesh must strive to gain direct access to the international climate fund including the GCF. There is no shortcut to gain access to the international climate � nance. Standard � duciary system, ESMS, ef-� cient and transparent project management system, good procurement act, better re-porting system and most importantly, a good track record in practising these regulatory frameworks are essential at the institutional level. Along with these institutional arrange-ments, a pool of skilled sta� is needed to run the system. Therefore, the institutional capacity of the national agencies that are legally mandated to undertake projects/programs necessitate a full review on urgent basis. Based on the review, well-targeted interventions can be undertaken to revamp the institutional set up aligning with the requirements of international climate � nance mechanism. Our dependence on the MIEs will not go unless our national agencies achieve direct access for which accreditation is a requirement. l

Md Ashadul Islam is Additional Secretary (Wing 4: UN), Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance.

The complicated architecture of international climate � nance appears to be a kind of barrier for the LDCs in terms of accessibility

BIGSTOCK

n Junaidul Haque

The other day he was smoking on the pavement, sitting in front of the Abahani � eld. And he was singing a Tagore song in a sad, low voice. Suddenly he found a stray dog giving him company. It was almost midnight. He wanted to smile but felt a little sad. A Bengali Prufrock perhaps deserved nothing better than a dog as a friend. He listened to everybody’s sorrow. Why did no one listen to his? And Sonia the Mumbaiwalli understood him so well, although he never told her much and gave him more emotional support than was necessary. Who was she? What was Sonia to him? Friend, sister or lover?

Draupadi had � ve husbands but still needed a friend like Lord Krishna. Was it a sin for him -- no wife, no girlfriend – to madly look for Sonia’s friendship? It was not that she didn’t feel weak herself at times. But she could control her emotions better being a girl. One day she came to the library with Mark, allowed him to look for books and stayed with Khairul for a long time. She went on gossiping and staring at his face. She looked so beautiful in a cream ‘medi'! They talked on endlessly -- from Nissim Ezekiel to the Nawab of Pataudi, from Nasiruddin Shah to Tabu, and from the excesses of the Shiv

Sena to the beauty of Marine Drive. Her eyes were dreamy and her face had a

lovely softness. Any friend or acquaintance would misunderstand them if they saw the two in that position. He felt a little shy and reminded her that Mark was alone. She consistently ignored his reminder. On another day, tall Sonia was standing among four or � ve ladies, looking back at him dreamily again and looking superbly beautiful in lovely yellow. He trembled in his body and soul.

Was he sure that he considered this young lady a friend only? Then why did he feel unbearably sad thinking of losing her? He remained in a trance most of the time. He remained sad whenever he found out that she would be on a holiday. He would feel happy if a holiday was cancelled. She would feel happy too, seeing how much he missed her. Sometimes she would feel sad about him when the tongues of a few ladies wagged a little too much.

Why did that sadness return to Ramna Park this beautiful morning? Suddenly Sonia gets unhappy and softly tells Khairul, “Can I scold you a bit today?” He replies like a boy under a magical spell, “Go ahead.” She smiles at getting his permission. “I am an ordinary person. Why don’t you remember that? You

are sleep-walking, putting me on a pedestal. Why don’t you understand that this hurts me? I am married and you don’t remember this at all. One day you will see sense. Who will then lend you a shoulder to weep on? You are such a nice person. So nice and so vulnerable. I shall feel very sad if I hurt you.”

He tries to smile but gets sad instead. Is he very nice? Nobody told him so. But why is she so serious today? “Here you are, trying always to be with another man’s wife, only because she is perfectly to your liking. No one else could be as daring as you. You are turning my world upside down with a boy’s innocence and you are not even aware of it. Everyone doesn’t have a fourteen-year-old mind like you.” Sonia sadly smiles. Both of them stand in a quiet place under a big tree. He has been caught, he feels. She feels that he has been reprimanded a lot and stops for a while. Then she adds, “Mark and I shall remember you all our lives as a friend. Our crazy Bangladeshi friend with the heart of gold.”

Two drops of invisible tears run down his cheeks again. “You say that you won’t need the houris in heaven. You will need only your wife and me. If one hurts you, you will go to the other. Thus, you will be eternally happy. You had so much sorrow on earth that you don’t need any more in heaven. You will never get tired of talking with me, not even in a million years. You will eternally spread your heart on my path. I have got a secret wish also, you know.” Sad Sonia gives a heavenly smile. “If I meet you in heaven, I would like you to be exactly as you are. You don’t need to be complete like the heroes you worship. You should be emotional, soft and vulnerable as you are now. I shall never like a calm, cool

and formal you.” Sonia smiles in a heavenly manner again, turns back and starts walking. Khairul gazes at her.

After a little while Sonia turns back and looks � xedly at him. A naughty smile spreads over her beautiful face. “Paji poet, ami tomake bhalobashe na. Na, na, na.” She shows her lovely tongue, sweetly mocks him and rushes towards the gate. She doesn’t forget to smile at the old man with the weight machine. She gets into her car. “Hey Paji boy, come quickly. We must go to fetch Haji’s biriani.” As if nothing had happened earlier. It was he who has turned her into a Haji fan.

He is an eternally melancholic person, living inside his own imagination. He feels that he was born never to be successful. Sonia understood him well, more than his male friends. He is no longer a poet, having given up writing poems a long while back. Sonia perhaps called his su� ering mind a poet’s mind. Paji is his nickname for her. She has learned the word from him. Okay, crazy girl, you don’t have to love me. Speak Bangla properly. It is bhalobashi and not bhalobashe. I was so thrilled when you spoke in Bangla. I felt so proud. Okay, I don’t need your love. He speaks to himself.

He walks slowly towards Sonia’s car with the sorrow of a thousand years on his back. His grandpa had good looks and health, wealth and in� uence. He never had Khairul’s deep sorrow, he is sure.

Khairul has the lover’s heart of Mark Anthony but not his bravery. Women, like mother earth, belong only to the brave. l

Junaidul Haque is a columnist and � ction writer. Read parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 at www.dhakatribune.com/arts-letters

ARTS & LETTERS20DT


Send your submissions to: [email protected]

Sonia and Khairul in the park: Part 5 of 5

Threen SN Rasul

I did not think you would leave before mewhen I bought that � rst glass of lemonadefrom you; you took my hand and made me freeof my doubts and said, “Love is to be made.”

I never imagined your dad cryingas he found me with his booming voice lateone night; your hands held mine again, tryingto � nd the physical beauty of fate.

I was only pretending to be gonethat one time when you told me that it ripsyour heart out; I can’t remember for longhow those last moments tasted on your lips.

The lemonade may fade, so might the street,but not ever the ground beneath your feet.

SN Rasul works for the Dhaka Tribune.

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TSATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015T

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ION

INSIDE

22Written in the stars

Chalo

24letters to Mars

Suspicions

letters to Venus

All or nothing

issues

Live and let live

Safer optionsPHOTO: COURTESY

Written in the StarsT-JUNCTION22DT

SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2015T-JUNCTION22D

T

n T-Junction Desk

It provides an on-demand car service with the highest level of customer safety and comfort. Feeling the necessity of launching UBER Services in Bangladesh like outside world, Dewan Shuvo, CEO of CHALO, talks to T-Junction about the intricacies.

What is the main idea Chalo app? Tell us a little about how it began.Dhaka has around 15 million people but don’t have any on-demand car services like Uber/Lyft. In Dhaka, over 100,000 people use smart phones and commute using their own cars or taxis. It is one of the hardest jobs for a passenger to get a taxi as it takes a long time to get one and negotiate the fare. Many people can a� ord rental cars and CNGs but very few are available when they need them. Only about 100 yellow and 500 black taxis are available for taxi services. Passengers are still using car rental companies where

everything is manual and there is no veri� cation of drivers/passengers and no price control. They usually don’t know when they will get their cars, who is going to drive them and what the fare will be.

Here, CHALO comes in to ensure futuristic premium car service with highest quality with no risks and complete safety.

What sort of technology is being used in this app?The app is available for Android and iOS platforms and has advanced GPS tracking systems, Google Maps integration, international and local payment gateways and � eet monitoring systems as well.

The app currently is in BETA version. We are doing the necessary modi� cations to make it work for Bangladesh. We are even adding more features to the app to ensure the security of the drivers and passengers alike.

As you initially started out, what concerns did you have about your company?Our target is to reach all of Bangladesh and ensure cars that arrive within 10 minutes wherever you stand, at any corner of the country. Initially, we are starting our project for Dhaka and by 2016, we hope to ensure that promise within the city.

Tell us one thing that CHALO app does di� erently, something that sets it apart.In the case of Bangladesh, we are taking heavier measures on the app and adding more features, ensuring security as a priority. Also, enabling Bangladeshi payment options and better car tracking systems which are not available on other similar services like Uber or Lyft in other countries.

Who are your target consumers? Do you think people will take it? What will be your strategy to reach them?CHALO wants to reach all types of people and ensure everybody gets our service. The prices we have set are far lower than any other car service providers in the country so that the maximum number of people can enjoy the premium quality service for a smaller

Photos: Courtesy

CHALO is a newly launched app that can give you rides from one destination to another.

What is the role of Desh Venture Inc in CHALO?Desh Ventures Inc, from Silicon Valley, is the primary investor of CHALO Technologies Limited for its seed round. The company is implementing world class technology to various countries. In the process, Desh Ventures Inc invested in Bangladeshi transport service through CHALO to change the customer taxi service to match the world-class standard. Desh Venture Inc is also going to invest through the development stages as well to make it the number one on-demand car service in Bangladesh.

The Desh Ventures Inc is a venture company from Silicon Valley, San Francisco who is managing the IT sourcing and providing technological service to many companies in di� erent countries such as North America, UK, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

CHALO

ARIES (MAR 21-APR 19)This week, more than any other, it is important that you keep your cool. Don’t worry, you will be rewarded for your efforts. Even if you aren’t, this week will be one where your personal accomplishments will arise.

TAURUS (APR 20-MAY20)You’ll be very grounded but revered by the people around you this week, though this reverence may later fade to criticism. Don’t be jaded and keep your friends and family close.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20)This week is a good time to do all the things you’ve been meaning to for some time. You have bundles of spare energy so put it to good use and get some work done as this could be a very productive week for you.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JUL22)It’s time you attack your problems head-on. Hold your ground and speak your mind. No matter what happens, stay con� dent and you should be � ne.

LEO (JUL 23-AUG 22)Work diligently and soon everyone will have your back. Don’t be afraid to be

adventurous and remember to put your feet up once in a while.

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 22)Change is evidently in your way and your best bet would be to accept it. New romantic interests may � ower as well. Don’t be afraid to extend a helping hand as you could be duly rewarded.

LIBRA (SEP 23-OCT22)You may be in for an emotional roller-coaster. Looks like you’ve bought a ticket down memory lane and in case you’re getting a bit too gloomy, romance is in your cards this week.

SCORPIO (OCT23-NOV21)Keep your head down and remember that any obstacles you face are only temporary. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box as your creative talents may recieve true appreciation soon.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV22-DEC 21)Money may be tight this week but entertainment certainly isn’t. Work may be put on hold since you may feel some time must be attributed to enjoying yourself.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN19)Perseverance and humility are your best weapons this week. In more ways than one, this is likely to be your week so enjoy it while it lasts!

AQUARIUS (JAN 20-FEB 18)Philosophical thoughts may � oat around your mind this week. While you’re channeling Socrates, don’t forget to have some work done as well.

PISCES (FEB 19-MAR 20)The leader and savior in you is bursting to come forth this week. Don’t take too much on your plate though you will be more than capable of handling the challenge. Kudos on your unsel� sh and philanthropic ways! l

HOROSCOPE

T-JUNCTION 23D


Written in the Stars

amount of money. Also, we will adjust our pricing based on supply and demand. That means the more passengers of CHALO we get, the more we will be able to reduce the price.

On basis of recent incidents of hijacking and security issues, will people accept this service in the way you are expecting it to?Because of the current security issues, CHALO is only o� ering services to its registered clients who had been veri� ed after an examination of their information. Also, our � eets are run by experienced drivers who were selected and approved by a very strict veri� cation process that includes a complete background check. We always seek for experienced, well-mannered, patient drivers when we recruit them. All our cars are continuously monitored by a GPS tracking system that enables a safer operation.

In addition to that, CHALO will keep adding more security features that can ensure the safety of the service for both passengers and drivers.

Also, tra� c jams are an issue that can’t be

overlooked, at least in Dhaka. Is 10 minutes a realistic time frame on that regard?Yes, of course. But our cars will not have to come across the tra� c jam. Within 2016, we are trying to ensure that our cars roam around every corner of the city. When you shall call for our cars, the nearest vehicle will respond to your call and arrive within the timeline.

Currently, who are your biggest competitors?Currently we are not thinking about our competitors. We are only focusing to target and gain our passenger’s satisfaction by ensuring great quality service.

In your journey with CHALO app, what has been your most satisfying moment?When people are appreciating our initiatives and are waiting for the full version of the app with patience.

Any future plans you are excited about at the moment?Ensuring that our cars reach within 10 minutes at every corner of the country, if not less. l

We thank and appreciate the love and support that people are giving us and are waiting patiently for the app. We promise we will bring a great solution for all. Please visit our site www.chalo.com.bd and our facebook page www.facebook.com/chalo.com.bd and give us a thumbs up!

TellT-JUNCTION24DT


issues

Our Agony Aunt is a life coach and a relationship coach as well as a corporate and organisational consultant. AA lives and works in Bangladesh but travels extensively around the world to attend seminars and see her clients.

n Agony aunt

My mom just had a cataract operation and does everything opposite to what the doctor told her to do. She’s a very stubborn person, refuses to take her medication, wants to read books and watch TV longer than she should. How do I deal with someone like her who’s always had her way?

Wouldn’t it be nice people did what we thought it best for them? I know you care about your mother, but she is an adult and like all of us, she knows best. Let her enjoy life: a happy person has a happy life. The length of life is not as important as the quality of “that” life. Let her enjoy and let your self enjoy her for who she is. l

Live and let live

Suspicions letters to Mars letters to Venus

All or nothing

n T-Junction Desk

I am in a dilemma of sorts. I have been in love with my boyfriend of three years and we have been going steady for a long while now. Recently my best friend T professed his love for me. This has been a difficult time for me because I truly do love T as my friend and his sudden admission has led me to believe that perhaps I have had similar feelings for him too. Ever since he told me how he feels I haven’t been able to get my mind off it. He asked me to choose between my boyfriend and him but I really don’t know what to do. I don’t know where my heart is, but I know it won’t be in the

best place if I leave my boyfriend or if I lose my friend.

Oh, alas the ultimate problem of choosing between friend and lover. While the choice itself would seem easy to make, what bothers me is your reluctance with this decision. Are you sure about your feelings towards your boyfriend? Have you really taken some time out to think about what matters to you more? I think the best thing to do right now is to take some time off and think about what you really want. Ask yourself who you see yourself with in the next ten years - T or your boyfriend? Best of luck. l

n Agony aunt

I think my wife is cheating on me but I am not quite sure. She has been talking to her colleague a little too much and their conversations are not all business. I hear them laughing and chatting all the time while she is home and I keep wondering all the time what she is doing at work. I do trust my wife but there has been a communication gap between us as I had been working overtime the last couple of months. Should I confront her or am I just over-thinking it?

How is she with you? Warm and relaxed? If so you should not worry too much, however, if you have read my replies earlier you know that I do not believe in a close relationship between friends of the opposite sex who are married or in a relationship: it mostly ends in tears! Spouses of our friends or colleagues are the first port for affairs!In a loving way, tell your wife you find it uncomfortable to see how often she is on the phone with that friend. Would she find it comfortable if you did the same with a woman colleague? l

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ARGENTINA, CHILE POISED FOR CLASSIC IN FINAL

KARUNARATNE TON RESCUES SL AFTER SHAH STRIKES

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Chelsea have signed striker Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan from

Monaco, the Premier League champions said on Friday. He spent last season on loan at Manchester

United, scoring four goals in 29 games

MAN IN BLUE!

SportWE ARE A VERY STRONG SIDE, SAYS HATHURUSINGHA

SCORECARDBANGLADESH CRICKET BOARD XI R BAnamul Haque† b Abbott 3 7Rony Talukdar b Abbott 1 8Imrul Kayes* c Miller b Wiese 29 24Shykat Ali b Phangiso 5 13Shuvagata Hom c du Plessis b Wiese 18 19Mosaddek Hossain b Leie 0 2Mahmudul Hasan lbw b Phangiso 5 8Sohag Gazi c Rossouw b Duminy 13 8Abul Hasan b Rabada 5 9Abdur Razzak c Abbott b Wiese 8 6Kamrul Islam Rabbi not out 1 6Extras (lb 2, w 8, nb 1) 11 Total (all out; 18 overs) 99

Fall of wickets1-5 (Rony Talukdar, 2.2 ov), 2-6 (Anamul Haque, 2.6 ov), 3-32 (Shykat Ali, 7.4 ov), 4-58 (Imrul Kayes, 10.6 ov), 5-59 (Mosaddek Hossain, 11.3 ov), 6-65 (Shuvagata Hom, 12.4 ov), 7-82 (Sohag Gazi, 14.3 ov), 8-83 (Mahmudul Hasan, 15.1 ov), 9-94 (Abdur Razzak, 16.6 ov), 10-99 (Abul Hasan, 17.6 ov)BowlingKJ Abbott 2-0-2-2, K Rabada (3-0-10-1), CH Morris (1-0-10-0), WD Parnell (1-0-7-0-), JP Duminy(2-0-16-1), AM Phangiso (3-0-19-2), BE Hen-dricks(1-0-9-0), D Wiese(3-0-13-3, E Leie (2-0-11-1)SOUTH AFRICANS R B Q de Kock† retired out 35 24AB de Villiers retired out 25 19JP Duminy not out 17 13DA Miller not out 20 16Extras (b 1, w 3) 4Total (2 wickets; 12 overs) 101

Fall of wickets1-64 (de Kock, 6.6 ov), 2-64 (de Villiers, 6.6 ov)BowlingAl-Amin Hossain (2-0-12-0), Abul Hasan (1-0-12-0), Abdur Razzak (4-0-30-0), Kamrul Islam Rabbi (1-0-10-0), Sohag Gazi (2-0-18-0), Shuvagata Hom (2-0-18-0)

South Africans won by 8 wickets

Proteas sound out strong warningn Mazhar Uddin

Ahead of the � rst of two Twenty20 interna-tionals tomorrow, the visiting South African side sent out a stark warning to the Tigers following their convincing eight-wicket win over the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in the lone T20 warm-up in Fatullah yesterday.

Opting to bat � rst, BCB XI were bundled out for just 99 in 18 overs with skipper Imrul Kayes top-scoring with 29. Shuvagata Hom (18) and Sohag Gazi (13) ensured the home side would not su� er total humiliation.

Openers Anamul Haque (3) and Rony Talu-kdar (1) were cleaned up early in the innings by paceman Kyle Abbott while seamer David

Wiese picked up three wickets as Proteas T20 skipper Faf du Plessis deployed as many as nine bowlers.

In reply, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villi-ers smashed the BCB XI bowlers all over the park and added 64 runs from just seven overs before both the batsmen retired hurt, scoring 35 and 25 runs respectively.

JP Duminy (17 not out) and David Miller (20 not out) guided the visitors to their target with eight overs to spare.

O� -spinner Sohag Gazi and Rony, who were named in the Tigers’ T20 squad, failed to utilise the opportunity as Gazi gave away 18 runs from his two overs, remaining wick-et-less.

And according to BCB XI skipper Imrul, the tour game will help both Gazi and Rony to gain some much-needed exposure before heading into the two T20 internationals. Im-rul also said the Proteas’ fast-bowling depart-ment is more controlled in comparison with the Indian side.

He also suggested the Tigers batsmen to have a look at the bowlers in the � rst couple of overs before going for their strokes. But at the same time, Imrul said it will not be a huge challenge for the Bangladesh batsmen. He said if the Tigers remain strong mental-ly, then the result will come in favour of the home side.

“Few of the players from the T20 squad

played this game and I think it will help them to gain some experience ahead of the series. Sohag Gazi returned to the national side after a long time and I think this match will help him. It was a big opportunity for them,” said Imrul before adding, “I do not think this series will be very di� cult for us as cricket is a mental game and if every player remain mentally strong, it’s always good for us. Most of the players who played international cricket, they have played against almost every team in the world and I think it’s nothing new for them. Our team has changed now and everyone is playing well and I believe we can do well,” said Imrul. l

Bangladesh Cricket Board XI skipper Imrul Kayes sweeps as South African wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock looks on during their lone Twenty20 warm-up match at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport26DT


Tigers to receive bonus todayn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Finally, the Bangladesh cricketers will re-ceive their promised bonus for their perfor-mances in the 2015 ICC World Cup and the bilateral home series’ against Pakistan and India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had earlier promised cash rewards among other awards, will hand over the bonus to the Tigers at her residence today.

The jubilant Premier had announced a bo-nus of Tk 2 crore for Bangladesh’s quarter-� -nal appearance in the World Cup and the 3-0 series win over Pakistan. According to sources inside the Bangladesh Cricket Board, the Ti-gers’ historic 2-1 ODI series win over India was also added to the list and a separate bonus was decided.

In total, the Bangladesh cricketers and coaching sta� are all set to pocket Tk 8.5 crore in bonus, including Tk 1 crore as winning bo-nus, Tk 3 crore as bonus from the Internation-al Cricket Council, Tk 1.3 crore from the BCB and Tk 1 crore from Beximco.

Besides the bonus payment, the Tigers were also allocated housing facilities. The Premier promised each cricketer two � ats. l

We are a very strong side, says Hathurusinghan Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurus-ingha believes their bowling attack is well-equipped to take on the challenge against the formidable South African batting line-up ahead of the � rst of two Twenty20 interna-tionals, slated for tomorrow at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The Proteas batsmen have been known to be susceptible against a quality spin attack but Hathurusingha informed that both their pacemen and spinners have what it takes to trouble the visitors.

“Lately, we have been balanced in spin and pace. Traditionally, Bangladesh is known to have a lot of good spinners. It is not di� erent

now. We don’t have a lot of fast bowlers but they bring di� erent quality to the team. Some are tall, some have variation, some can swing the ball. This is our advantage: we can go ei-ther way,” the 46-year old told the media at the home of cricket in Mirpur yesterday.

Many cricket pundits have labelled the South African side as a more balanced unit compared to the likes of India and Pakistan, who have recently toured Bangladesh and su� ered some thumping defeats. And al-though Hathurusingha praised the balance of the Proteas, he also said

it will be anything but easy for the tourists.“South Africa have good quick bowlers,

a good batting side and lately they play spin well too. They are a very competent side.

They are very strong side in all formats for a long time,” said Hathurusingha before add-ing, “We are con� dent with the way we play ODI cricket at this stage. We are really doing well. I still think that we will give a good run. We are a very strong side.”

Hathurusingha stated that they will have one eye on next year’s ICC World T20 when the South Africa T20Is get underway tomor-row. With the sixth edition of the World T20 taking place in India next March, the former Sri Lankan cricketer said, “We are think-ing about our combination and game plan, what’s going to be e� ective for us. This will be our focus for this series.”

In recent times, no Bangladesh preview will be written without mentioning new sen-

sation Musta� zur Rahman at least once. The Tigers sprang a surprise when they named the lanky yet wily youngster in the one-o� T20I against Pakistan. The Satkhira lad reg-istered a creditworthy performance on his international bow in the shortest format and followed it up with match-winning displays in the three-ODI series against India.

When queried if the Tigers have a simi-lar surprise, like that of Musta� zur, up their sleeve against the Proteas, the former Sri Lanka assistant coach said, “I have to � nd someone every series to surprise them (oppo-sition). We will have to play to our strength in this series. Until I � nd someone in Khul-na or somewhere else, we will stick to our strength.” l

Phangiso expresses delight with facile winn Mazhar Uddin

South Africa sharpened their skills for the up-coming Twenty20 internationals against the Tigers with a comprehensive eight-wicket vic-tory over the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in the solitary T20 practice match at Khan Sha-heb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday.

And according to Proteas left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso, the win was a satisfying one for them as they skittled out the home side for just 99 in 18 overs. Later, opener Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers scored 35 and 25

respectively before retiring hurt to lead the visitors to their target in only 12 overs.

“Yeah, it’s good to come to Bangladesh. It’s not an easy tour to be in and to win like this is satisfying because the guys have been work-ing hard under hot conditions. And, to see the guys performing, to see Quinton bat the way he is batting after not getting cricket for a long time, yeah, it’s very good,” Phangiso told the media in the post-match press conference.

Phangiso recorded miserly bowling � g-ures of 2/19 from his three overs and received valuable support from seamers Kyle Abbott and David Wiese, who shared � ve wickets between them. The Proteas ran through the BCB XI batting order to present their batters with an uncomplicated target of 100.

As a result, middle-order batsmen like

Rilee Rossouw and skipper Francois du Ples-sis did not get the opportunity to bat but Phangiso was con� dent that they would be able to cope come the � rst T20I at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium tomorrow.

“No, that doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we got here and we wanted to achieve a win and we did that so we have got another practice day tomorrow (today), hope-fully the guys can hit balls tomorrow (today),” he said.

Phangiso praised leg-spinner Eddie Leie, who is all set to make his international bow against the Tigers. Phangiso is of the opinion that Leie has a bright future ahead of him. Leie scalped the wicket of Mosaddek Hossain and posted bowling � gures of 1/11 from his two overs. l

Aaron Phangiso appeals for a dismissal against BCB XI in Fatullah yesterday MI MANIK

Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain is all set to handle the ball during a game of football at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Sunday propels Abahani, Muktis held, Sk Russel open with win n Shishir Hoque

Abahani’s new signing Sunday Chizoba net-ted a brace yet again as the Sky Blues earned a comfortable 3-0 victory over Feni Soccer Club in the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Meanwhile in the day’s second match in Chittagong, Muktijoddha were held once again as they played out a 1-1 draw with Chit-tagong Abahani at MA Aziz Stadium. Faisal Mahmud put the All Reds ahead in the 69th minute before Chowmrin Rakhine cancelled out the lead in the 80th minute.

Following a barren � rst half in Dhaka, Aba-hani seemed to have woken up after resump-tion as Nigerian striker Sunday netted his second brace in a row while Shahedul Alam Shahed, who made it into the starting XI for the very � rst time, added the other to salvage all three points.

The victory lifted the Sky Blues to third place with the same number of points (23) as second-placed Mohammedan. Both Abahani and Mohammedan trail league leaders Sheikh Jamal DC by four points. Feni on the other hand remained at ninth with nine points.

The Sky Blues � nally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute when their in-form Nigerian striker Sunday’s left-footed shot curled into the net following a cutback from Abdul Baten Majumdar Komol.

Sunday netted his second of the day in the 67th minute when the Nigerian’s powerful strike from the middle of the box hit the low-er portion of the woodwork and crossed the goalline following a Shahed pass.

Shahed continued to impress and was not content with an assist. The young mid� elder extended the lead two minutes later, tapping home after Osei Morrison set up the ball from

the left side.Meanwhile in the day’s third match at BNS,

Sheikh Russel KC began their second phase campaign with a 3-1 win over Brothers Un-ion with new signing Jean Ikanga bagging a brace on his debut. Hemanta Vincent Biswas grabbed the other goal for the Blues.

Kester Akon scored the consolation goal for Brothers. l


Grandmaster Rakib clinches Int’l Rating ChessGrandmaster Abdullah al Rakib of Bangladesh Navy emerged as the champion of the Walton International Rating Chess Tournament yester-day with the � nal round still to be played. Rakib defeated Fide Master Mohammad Javed in the eighth-round match at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room and it was his eighth straight victory in the event. The GM earned a total of eight points. FM Mehedi Hasan Parag of Leonine Chess Club occupies second position with seven points after beating Mostafa while Mohammed Enayet Hossain of Fire Service, who drew with Faisal, is in third place with 6.5 points. 10 players are jointly sharing fourth position with six points each.

–Shishir Hoque

Anelka returns to Mumbai as player-managerFormer France and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anel-ka will return to Mumbai City FC as the team’s marquee player-manager for the second sea-son of the Indian Super League (ISL), the club announced on Friday. The 36-year-old, who scored two goals for Mumbai in the inaugural edition of the eight-team league last year, took on a similar dual role in 2012 for Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.

–Reuters

Indian league buzzing with reports of Carlos arrivalAmid talks of former Brazil and Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos joining the Delhi team as marquee manager, the second season of the Indian Super League is kicking up the same kind of buzz that preceded the inaugural edition of the tournament.

–Reuters

Milan seal Luiz Adriano, to sign Bacca as well Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano’s goalscoring exploits for Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in last season’s Champions League earned him a move to Italian giants AC Milan on Thursday, the buying club announced on its website. Meanwhile, Europa League champions Sevilla have agreed terms for the sale of their Colom-bia striker Carlos Bacca to AC Milan, the two clubs said on Thursday.

–AFP

Outburst costs Dempsey USA captaincyUS skipper Clint Dempsey has been stripped of the captain’s armband for the upcoming CON-CACAF Gold Cup campaign following his ban for ripping up a referee’s notebook. US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said Thursday he’d spoken to Dempsey, and decided that Michael Bradley would captain the Americans for the tourna-ment, which kicks o� next Tuesday.

–AFP

Nani to join FenerbahcePortugal winger Nani is set to join Fenerbahce from Manchester United with the Turkish club saying negotiations were underway and he will be in Istanbul on Sunday for a medical.

–Reuters

QUICK BYTES

PAK v SL, DAY 1SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS R BD Karunaratne st Sarfraz b Azhar 130 230 K Silva c Sarfraz b Rahat 9 11U Tharanga c Younis b Yasir 46 92L Thirimanne c sub (Azam) b Yasir 11 30A Mathews c sub (Azam) b Yasir 3 12J Mubarak st Sarfraz b Yasir 25 63D Chandimal lbw b Rahat 24 41D Prasad c Yasir b Azhar 0 1T Kaushal not out 17 30S Lakmal not out 1 6Extras: (lb3, w3) 6

Total (for eight wickets, 86 overs) 272

Fall of wickets1-15 (Silva), 2-106 (Tharanga), 3-133 (Thirimanne), 4-137 (Mathews), 5-204 (Mubarak), 6-248 (Karu-naratne), 7-248 (Prasad), 8-264 (Chandimal).

BowlingRahat 19-2-74-2, Ehsan 14-3-37-0, Imran 15-3-46-0, Yasir 31-4-77-4, Azhar 7-0-35-2

Karunaratne ton rescues SLn Reuters

Dimuth Karunaratne’s second Test century lifted Sri Lanka to 272 for eight against Paki-stan after Yasir Shah exposed their frailties against leg-spin on the opening day of the se-ries-deciding third and � nal Test in Pallekele on Friday.

At 106 for one in the second session, Sri Lanka looked poised for a big � rst-innings total before Shah, who took 17 wickets in the � rst two matches, tormented them again with his � ight and variation to claim four for 77.

Tharindu Kaushal was batting on 17 with Suranga Lakmal (one) after Shah had wrecked the top order and part-time leg-spinner Azhar Ali claimed two late wickets in two balls to peg back the hosts. Karunaratne fell for 130 o� 230 balls, hitting 14 fours in a patient knock which rescued Sri Lanka.

The hosts lost Kaushal Silva (nine) in the morning session when the batsman edged paceman Rahat Ali, one of the four new faces in the Pakistan team, to be caught behind.

Karunaratne added 91 with Upul Tharanga (46) to steady the innings but Shah wreaked havoc after lunch as Sri Lanka lost three wick-ets for the addition of just 31 runs.

Tharanga was outfoxed by a Shah googly that took the outside edge, de� ected o� wick-etkeeper Ahmed’s pads and ballooned up for Younus Khan to take a diving catch at slip.l

Powell, Lavillenie and Dibaba hope to star in Bolt’s absencen AFP, Paris

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, pole vault king Renaud Lavillenie and Ethiopian middle distance star Genzebe Dibaba are set to light up Paris’ Diamond League meet on Saturday in the absence of injured Usain Bolt.

Bolt was a late withdrawal from both the French capital’s meet and that in Lausanne next week, pulling out with a problematic pelvis injury that has left him seeking treat-ment from world-renowned German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt.

“He’s the best doctor in the world ...” said Bolt, who is su� ering from a blocked sacro-iliac joint in the pelvis which e� ects his left leg and could potentially put in jeopardy his participation in next month’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

So it falls to 32-year-old Powell to � ll Bolt’s shoes in Paris, while Jamaica’s double world and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also goes in what promises to be a very competitive women’s 100m. l

RESULTSAbahani 3-0 Feni Soccer ClubSunday Chizoba 58, 67Shahedul Alam Shahed 69

IN CHITTAGONG

Chittagong Abahani 1-1 MuktijoddhaChowmrin Rakhine 80 Faisal Mahmud 69

Abahani’s Sunday Chizoba (L) tries to dribble past a Feni Soccer Club defender during their Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League encounter at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday

COURTESY

Sport28DT


Chile winger Alexis Sanchez (C) takes part in a training session at the Juan Pinto Duran sport complex in Santiago on Thursday AFP

(L-R) Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Javier Pastore and Sergio Aguero jog during a training session in Concepcion, Chile on Wednesday AFP

Argentina, Chile poised for classic in Finaln AFP, Santiago

The prospect of leading his country to a � rst major title in 22 years is driving Lionel Mes-si as Argentina meet Chile here Saturday in a Copa America � nal clash of the golden gener-ations.

The three-week South American football showpiece reaches its climax at the Estadio Nacional with a dream � nal pitting the fa-vourites against the hosts, and the stakes could not be any higher for both sides.

Messi heads a star-studded Argentina des-perate to write their own piece of history by winning a � rst international title since 1993, 12 months after an agonizing defeat to Germa-ny in last year’s World Cup � nal.

Chile, meanwhile, are anxious to � nally shed their unwanted tag as the perennial near-ly men of South American football, ending 99 years of hurt by winning a � rst Copa America.

An Argentine triumph would crown a re-markable season for Messi, who less than a month ago completed a treble-winning campaign with Barcelona with victory in the Champions League � nal.

It would also erase the sense of frustration Messi has often felt at international level, 10 years after he led Argentina to victory as a teenager in the 2005 Under-20 World Cup.

“This generation is desperate to win a title with the national team,” Messi told reporters on the eve of the Copa America.

“As a team, we deserve to win something and it would mean so much after the World

Cup last year where we came so close.” Argentina striker Sergio Aguero, who fea-

tured in an Under-20 World Cup-winning side in 2007, believes defeat is not an option.

“If this generation of players don’t win an-ything we’re going to regret it for the rest of our lives,” the Manchester City star said.

After a series of unconvincing performanc-es in the � rst phase, and a nervy win on pen-alties against Colombia in the quarter-� nals, the signs are that Argentina have hit form at the right time.

Messi produced a scintillating man-of-the-match display in Tuesday’s 6-1 semi-� nal de-struction of Paraguay, setting up three goals and running the opposition ragged with a vir-tuoso performance.

Standing in Messi’s way however are a Chilean team who know they may never have a better chance to � nally end their nation’s long wait for a trophy.

Since a 6-1 defeat to Argentina in the inau-gural South American Championship in 1916, Chile have endured nearly a century of failure.

While Argentina will join Uruguay as the most successful side in the tournament’s his-tory if they win on Saturday, with 14 titles, Chile are still waiting for their � rst crown af-ter � nishing runners-up four times.

Chile have also never beaten Argentina at the Copa America in 24 attempts.

Chile’s own golden generation - featuring the likes of Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Claudio Bravo - believe Saturday represents a now-or-never moment. l

We won’t man-mark Messi, says Chile captain Bravon Reuters, Santiago

Chile will not try to man-mark Argentina’s playmaker Lionel Messi out of the Copa Amer-ica � nal but will concentrate on playing their own quick-� re passing game, captain and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo said on Thursday.

Bravo knows Messi well from their past sea-son together at Barcelona and acknowledged the Argentine would be di� cult to stop on Saturday.

“It’s not easy, given Leo’s ability. If you look at what he’s done in his career, it’s been incredible, but we’re not going to put a man on him for the 90 minutes of the match,” Bravo told a news conference at Chile’s train-ing camp in Santiago. “He’s not the only one playing. We have to worry about Argentina as a whole, not just Leo.”

Saturday’s tie will bring Bravo face to face with another Barcelona team mate - Argentine defensive mid� elder Javier Mascherano.l

COPA FINAL The rivals have met 24 times in the tourna-

ment, known as the South American Cham-pionship until 1975, and the Argentines have never lost, winning 18 and drawing six.

Argentina have only ever lost one competitive international to Chile, 1-0 in a 2010 World Cup quali� er in Santiago in October 2008.

That defeat cost coach Al� o Basile his job in his second spell in charge and ushered in the roller-coaster ride under Diego Maradona.

Yet Basile was the last Argentina coach to win a trophy, steering a side that included record scorer Gabriel Batistuta to back-to-back Copa America titles in Chile in 1991 and Ecuador two years later.

The teams met twice in 1991, Argentina win-ning 1-0 in the group stage and drawing 0-0 in the four-team � nal group in which they also beat Brazil and Colombia.

The only previous occasion in which they have met in what could be called a � nal was in the deciding last match of the round-robin tourna-ment in Chile in 1955 with Argentina winning 1-0 when the hosts needed only a draw to prevail owing to their better goals record.

The occasion was marred by the biggest tragedy in Chilean football when at least half a dozen people were crushed to death in a stampede for tickets made available only a few hours before kicko� .

Argentina’s biggest victories were 6-1 in the inaugural 1916 tournament in Buenos Aires, 6-2 in Lima in 1957 and 6-1 in Buenos Aires in 1959.

Sport 29D

T

Ten Cricket10:30AM Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 3rd Test Day 2 Ten Sports 8:00PM Tour de France 2015, Day 1 Sony SixCaribbean Premier League T20 10:00PM Patriots v Tallawahs 1:30AM Red Steel v Amazon Warriors Sony Six HD, Sony Kix1:30AM Copa America 2015Final: Chile v Argentina Star Sports 1Women’s FIH Hockey World League5:00PM India v Japan 7:30PM Australia v New Zealand 10:00PM Netherlands v South Korea Star Sports 26:00PM Wimbledon Championships 2015 Star Sports 46:00PM F1: Circuit Silverstone Great Britain Qualifying

DAY’S WATCH


Nadal set for � rst slam-less year since 2005n Reuters, Madrid

Rafa Nadal is likely to end the year without a grand slam singles title for the � rst time since his debut French Open crown in 2005 following his shock Wimbledon

exit on Thursday, his uncle and coach Toni has conceded.

Nadal, a 14-times grand slam champi-on who won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, was dumped out by German quali� er Dustin Brown in the second round, the Spaniard’s fourth reverse to a player ranked 100th or lower at the All England Club since 2011.

Nadal, 29, has struggled since being side-lined by injury and illness last year and has only two relatively modest titles to his name in 2015 - Stuttgart and Buenos Aires - with September’s U.S. Open the only major left on the calendar.

“I want to think that it can be done,” Toni Nadal told Spain’s Cadena Cope radio broad-caster late on Thursday when asked about his nephew’s chances at Flushing Meadows.

“Right now, I am realistic and the chances we have are probably thin, because we have not been able to play well for a long time,” he added.

“So it’s di� cult to think that we will do so at the U.S. Open but I think that it will happen at some point. I am con� dent there will be a tipping point and he will get his game back.

“He has been playing at a very good level

for a long time and there is no clear reason for him to stop being good.”

Nadal’s 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 defeat to Brown had been “really painful” and was a surprise as the former world number one had been showing glimpses of his best in recent months and had been training well, his uncle said.

“The opponent scarcely gave him room to get into a rhythm... but at key moments he made too many errors which were not di� -cult shots,” he added.

“Of course, if you lose a point here and a point there the match becomes more complicated. Above all, if you don’t have the con� dence in your head your shots lose security and direction. In the end, it’s a bit of everything and what we have to do is recover as soon as possible.”

Nadal has just over a month to � nd his form before the North American hardcourt swing begins with the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal, Canada. l

Rafael Nadal of Spain prepares to walk o� the court after losing his second-round tie against Dustin Brown of Germany at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on Thursday REUTERS

RAFAEL NADAL’S 14 GRAND SLAM TITLES

Year Championship2005 French Open2006 French Open2007 French Open2008 French Open2008 Wimbledon2009 Australian Open2010 French Open

Year Championship2010 Wimbledon2010 US Open2011 French Open2012 French Open2013 French Open2013 US Open2014 French Open

Asian women’s teams show up male rivals n AP, Seoul

The contrast between the fortunes of Asia’s women’s soccer teams and their male equiv-alents could not be more striking.

At last year’s men’s World Cup, none of the continent’s four teams won a game and all � nished bottom of their respective groups. At the 2015 female version, all � ve recorded a victory with only Thailand failing to make it to the knockout stage.

Japan, the defending champion, will take on the United States in the � nal on Sunday in Vancouver, and other teams put in strong performances: South Korea defeated Spain in dramatic fashion to progress past the group

stage for the � rst time in its history; a young China team narrowly lost 1-0 to the United States in the last eight; and Australia was a standout performer and was narrowly defeat-ed 1-0 by Japan at the same stage. Thailand, making its � rst World Cup appearance, de-feated Ivory Coast 3-2 in one game.

Moya Dodd, a former vice-president at the Asian Football Confederation and mem-ber of FIFA’s Executive Committee as well as ex-Australian international, said funding was a the key to the success.

Tom Byer, a youth development expert and football consultant to the Chinese Minis-try of Education, said Asian teams have more belief in their capabilities in the women’s

game than in the men’s.“Japan winning the World Cup in 2011 has

given Asian Countries both hope and con� -dence that they can win and that they belong in these international competitions,” said Byer.

The success is even more pronounced at junior level. Of the four under-17 Women’s World Cups held to date, three have been won by Asian teams: Japan, North Korea and South Korea.

In the men’s game, Asian teams are often up against opponents who are bigger and faster, whereas the physical di� erences are not as pronounced in the women’s game and the Asian focus upon tactical discipline and preparation comes to the fore.l

UEFA eases restrictions on Manchester City, PSGn Reuters, Berne

UEFA has eased restrictions placed last year on big-spending Manchester City and Paris St Germain as part of its break-even � nancial fair play (FFP) rules, European soccer’s gov-erning body said on Friday.

UEFA said it had also lifted “a number of restrictions” on transfer activity and wages which had been placed on the clubs as part of settlement deals one year ago. Restrictions on squad sizes for European competition have also been eased. UEFA approved FFP in 2010 to prevent rich owners from pumping unlim-

ited amounts of cash into clubs. In principle, clubs cannot spent more than they generate, although there are exceptions.

Under the agreement reached with UEFA last year, PSG had agreed that their operat-ing loss for the 2015 � nancial year would not exceed 30 million euros ($33.29 million) and that it would break even in 2016.

Manchester City agreed that their opera-tion losses would not exceed 20 million eu-ros for the 2014 � nancial year and 10 million euros for 2015. Both clubs had accepted that they could not increase their wage bills dur-ing the 2015 and 2016 � nancial years. l

Brazilian mid� elder Paulinho gestures as he attends a training session at Guangzhou Evergrande’s training base on Thursday AFP

DOWNTIME30DT


CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents O so � ll O every time the � gure 19 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Tibetan priest (4)5 Rural properties (5)8 Public speaker (6)9 Pimply condition (4)10 Eggs (3)12 Preferable (6)13 Country (6)15 Decrees (6)18 Boxing matches (6)20 Beverage (3)21 Lose colour (4)23 Cricket team (6)24 Young sheep (5)25 Impression left by blow (4)

DOWN1 Burdens (5)2 Part of a circle (3)3 Minister’s residence (5)4 Consumed (3)5 Wellwishers (7)6 Uprising (4)7 Cicatrix (4)11 Outlet (4)12 Insects (7)14 Lament (4)16 Desire eagerly (5)17 Used up (5)18 Miss achievement (4)19 Microbe (4)21 Nourished (3)22 Lair (3)

SUDOKU

n Showtime Desk

Jatra Biroti has arranged a special screening of late Tareque Masud’s final feature film “Runway.” The art and music lounge on the roof of Jatra Banani will hold the screening on July 6 at 7:30pm.

Jointly written by Tareque and Catherine Masud, the final film of Tareque Masud, which came out to the theatres in December 2010, chronicles a young man named Ruhul who lives with his family in a small hut next to a runway of the international airport. A Madrasa (religious school) dropout, Ruhul spends his days wandering under the shadow of the planes, aimless and frustrated in his futile efforts to find work. One day at a cyber-cafe; he meets Arif, a computer-savvy young man who exudes confidence and a sense of purpose. The world Arif introduces to him seems inspiring and new, but eventually Ruhul’s life spirals into a nefarious netherworld of intolerance and violence.

This event is the second initiative of a continuous effort introduced by Jatra Biroti to showcase and discuss the films of Tareque Masud. Tickets are available at www.imdhaka.com l

Hema malini injured in a tragic car accident

n Showtime Desk

Hema Malini, BJP MP and Bollywood actress, director and producer, su� ered a road accident in Dausa, Rajasthan, India post 8:30 pm on June 2. On her way to Jaipur from Agra, her Mercedes collided with a Maruti Alto carrying � ve passengers. The 66-year-old was taken to Fortis Hospital in Jaipur with head injuries, while the Alto passengers su� ered injuries and a four-year-old child lost her life in the incident. Others involved in this tragic accident were immediately take to Dausa hospital where all medical treatments are taken care of. Hema Malini received injuries on the forehead and it has been reported that she is su� ering from Shock. On the other hand, the driver faced leg injuries.

The mother and the father of the four-year-old child received severe injuries but survived the accident. l

SHOWTIME 31D


CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Coldplay @coldplayIn Delhi with the amazing Oxfam India team. I’ve met a lot of inspiring people today & I feel so lucky to be here CM

Rio Ferdinand @rioferdy5 That kids morning breakfast duty was madness....bacon sizzling n the eggs scrambled all to some old soul tunes with the sun blazing...

Liv Tyler @LivTyler Totally nerdy morrissey hoody fan sel� e !!! #morrissey

WHAT TO WATCH

Air Force OneStar Movies 6:30 pmHijackers seize the plane carrying the President of the United States and his family, but he-an ex-soldier – works from hiding to defeat them.Cast: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews

A Walk to RememberWB 12:00 pmThe story of two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, who are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is made to do community service.Cast: Shane West, Mandy Moore, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah, Lauren German

Kung Fu Panda 2Z Studio 1:05 pmPo and his friends � ght to stop a peacock villain from conquering China with a deadly new weapon, but � rst the Dragon Warrior must come to terms with his past. Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Ho� man, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan

Jatra Biroti to screen Tareque Masud’s Runway

n Showtime Desk

We’ve all grown up playing this very popular game. It uses our money management skills and takeover strategies in order to become the best around the board. It also leads to a time consuming, ruthless dominance that forces the letter “i” in the word team. Well, now it’s on its way to the big screen.

Hasbro’s Monopoly now has a studio in Lionsgate, which will produce and distribute the � lm. It is reported that Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca, The Terminal) will be writing the screenplay for the big screen adaptation. The � lm is being envisioned as a family-friendly presentation. The story revolves around

a boy from Baltic Avenue, who uses both chance and community in his quest for fortune.

The board game itself has been played by more than one billion people in 114 countries, and has been translated into 47 languages. The Rhode Island-based toy company made plenty from its multi-billion dollar franchise Transformers. That wasn’t the only toy-turned-big screen adaptation. The same went with its low-budget success in Ouija. However, it bombed in the box o� ce with the expensive Battleship adaptation. Monopoly has been in the works since the � rst Transformers � lm, and now they are hoping this becomes another hit, after � nally landing a studio willing to give them the opportunity. l

The Monopoly movie

BACK PAGE32DT


PROTEAS SOUND OUT STRONG WARNING PAGE 25

JATRA BIROTI TO SCREEN TAREQUE MASUD’S RUNWAY PAGE 31

INDIA VS BANGLADESH IN EIGHT CHARTS PAGE 14

Buyers complain of price hike as advance bus ticket sale beginsn Kamrul Hasan

Advance sales of bus tickets for Eid-ul-Fitr began in the capital yesterday with buyers complaining about price hike and long wait in queues due to the sellers delaying the pro-cess.

A huge number of tickets for July 14 were sold at di� erent bus counters, ticket sellers and buyers told the Dhaka Tribune.

The � rst day of ticket-selling went slow at some bus services such as Hanif Enterprise, Nabil Paribahan, National Travels and Shy-amoli Paribahan, as well as at Mohakhali and a few other bus terminals. Sellers said they waited for customers for hours, but only a handful showed up.

However, the picture was quite di� erent at Gabtoli and Kallyanpur bus terminals, where a large number of people gathered to collect tickets.

“The ticket prices are being sold at the same prices as last year; we are not charging extra,” said Helaluddin, seller at the ticket counter of Shyamoli Paribahan in Mohakha-li. But Jalil Miah, ticket seller at the counter of Hanif Paribahan in Gabtoli, said the prices were raised to cover the expenses as the buses would return to Dhaka with very few passen-gers.

Customers alleged that they had to pay around Tk120-250 more than the usual prices for the tickets.

One such buyer, Jaber, said: “I bought a Shyamoli Paribahan ticket to go to Dinajpur on July 14. It usually costs Tk500, but today I had to pay Tk600 for the ticket.”

Saikat, another customer who bought a ticket for Thakurgaon said he had to pay Tk850 for a Tk600 ticket.

Several buyers said tickets for July 14-16 and July 17 morning were already sold out, when this report was � led.

Faisal Al Ahad, student at Dhaka Univer-sity, said: “I had gone to buy a ticket for my uncle, but could not get any. All the tickets for the South-bound buses seem to have been sold out.”

But the ticker sellers said tickets for those days were available at their counters. “He [Faisal] must have made a mistake.”

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Md Salahud-din, spokesperson for the Bus-Truck Owners’ Association, said the holiday rush for the coming Eid was likely to reach its peak on July 14. “This is why we have started selling tickets now.”

Train tickets, as announced by Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque, will be available from July 9, to be sold daily from 9am to 5pm. The return tickets will be available from July 16.

Bangladesh Inland Waterways Transport Authority has yet to decide on a date to start selling launch tickets.

Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, president of the organisation, said the date would be set at a meeting in a few days. l

Husband sells wife to brotheln Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A man, under the pretence of providing a job, sold his wife to a brothel in Doulatdiya of Ra-jbari. However, police rescued the victim and arrested the husband and three others.

The arrestees are the husband Rana, 23, from Gazipur Sadar upazila, his brothers Ashraful Islam, 25, and Abdul Alim, 32, and the brothel keeper Brishti Akhter, 30. All of them were sent to jail after a court hearing on Thursday afternoon, Gazipur police said.

Gazipur Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Inspector Khandaker Shawkat Jahan said: “Rana and his wife Ayesha Akhter met while working at a garment factory and got married two years back. However, since the marriage, Rana had been demanding dowry from his in-laws.

“Rana even suggested that his in-laws sell Ayesha to give him the money. Later, on June 3, he lured his wife to Doulatdiya with the o� er of a job and sold her to a pimp for Tk65,000.”

Inspector Khandaker said a few weeks ago Ayesha contacted her family using the mobile phone of a visitor at the brothel named Salauddin and revealed her situation.

On June 21, Abdul Baten, husband of Ayesha’s sister, � led a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act in Gazipur.

Later, the PBI conducted a drive at the brothel on Wednesday, taking Salauddin along with them, rescued Ayesha and arrest-ed the brothel keeper; Rana and his brothers were arrested from his home the next morn-ing, said the investigator. l

Hema Malini criticised for not assisting accident victimsn Tribune Desk

Indian actor-turned-politician Hema Malini was injured in a car crash in Rajasthan on Thursday night which killed a two-year-old child and severely injured three others.

Her speeding Mercedes hit a Maruti Alto in Dausa, injuring the BJP lawmaker on her face, back and legs, the BBC reported.

But the collision killed the two-year-old girl and severely injured her six-year-old brother, who is currently in the ICU at a Jaipur hospital. Her mother and father, who was driving the Alto, are also admitted in the same hospital.

Malini, 66, is now being criticised for leaving

the accident site without reaching out to the victims of the accident, the NDTV reported.

Witnesses said she was driven away to Jai-pur soon after the car crash. Her driver was arrested later in the night.

“We know she (Malini) was hurt but at least she could have inquired about the well-being of the family,” said a relative of the family.

Huge number of people criticised Malini’s move on social media as well.

Harsh Khandelwal, father of the child who died, says he wants no compensation. Speak-ing with great di� culty at the hospital, he said he only expected the family to get good treatment for the injuries. l

A large number of people gather at the capital’s Gabtoli bus terminal to buy advance tickets for Eid-ul-Fitr yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Customers are pay ing around Tk120-250 more than the usual prices for the tickets

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], Website: www.dhakatribune.com

july 4, 2015

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