Resist anti-Sundarbans power plant

Our heartfelt gratitude to the National Committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports for their endeavour to save the Sundarbans. They arranged a long march to Rampal in protest of the government’s plan to set up a coal-fired power plant near the world’s largest mangrove forest thereby destroying the world heritage once and for all.
In the weekly magazine of The Daily Star of September 27, 2013 an article titled, ‘How to kill a forest,’ has been published. An independent Environmental Impact Assessment report prepared by Dr. Abdullah Harun, professor of Khulna University, revealed that impacts of most coal-fired power plants are “negative and irreversible, which cannot be mitigated in any way”. The researcher believes that the selected area is not suitable for any type of coal-based power plant. What an unfortunate nation we are! The government is least bothered about the welfare of the country and its people.
So, sixteen crore people of Bangladesh must come together and compel the government to abandon the plan of setting up the power plant at Rampal. People must not give up until the goal is achieved.

Living dangerously!

AS a highly populous metropolis Dhaka bordering on being a megapolis in terms of sheer size of population some of its negative features usually get overlooked but they should not be. One is the proliferation of slums and as a corollary to it you have squatter settlements and make shift businesses along the railway lines.
Here we are confining ourselves to the second negative feature of the city namely, the bazaars and the slums zigzagging along the railway lines. These are dangerously close to the rail tracks in breach of a standing regulation that people must keep twenty feet away from these. In law it is a punishable offence as well. But who cares? You see people setting up their business on the free railway tracks as a train whizzes passed them on another track. A news photo in our yesterday’s issue amply highlighted such incongruity in urban life.
How hazardous such living can be is proven by the fact that sometimes we get to know of fatalities or injuries inflicted on human person. One reason that drives such aberrant behaviour is sheer poverty. The second cause for the proliferation of hazardous existentialism is lack of law enforcement. It is time we paid attention to these sordid facets of urban life.
It is not only for the railway authorities to effectively discourage such dangerous living. Government agencies and voluntary organizations need to lend a hand to sensitize the people against such violation of law and dangerous living.

Law wide open to abuse

THE Awami League-led government’s proposed changes to the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006, which we, along with media and communications experts and practitioners strongly opposed when it was promulgated as a presidential ordinance, has now been given permanent footing in the form of a law passed in parliament two days ago. Among other things, it empowers law enforcers to arrest alleged violaters without a warrant. The new law makes ‘hacking’ into a computer system a non-bailable offence, punishable with between seven and 14 years’ imprisonment, and among the crimes have also been included obscenities and defematory remarks.
The interpretation of such offences is left entirely to the law enforcers. In the previous law permission had to taken before carrying out an arrest and an offence under the law was bailable too. But now the situation has been reversed.
While ICT crimes must be addressed in this day and age where both use and misuse of ICT are widespread, the strictness of the law borders on the draconian. The cases filed under the ICT act in recent months have highlighted the possibility of its being abused to stifle freedom of speech and expression. We express our concern at the passing of this law by a government which may have approved the positive Right to Information Act but which has disappointed in its approach towards the media in particular and freedom of speech and expression generally. We urge the government to consider the valid concerns of experts and the constitutional rights of the people and to rethink the move.

4 militants arrested with arms, ammo

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested four leaders and activists of Tanjim-e-Tamiruddin, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji), with firearms and explosives at Ashulia and Abdullahpur on the outskirts of the capital.
“The arrestees were accumulating the arms, ammunition and explosives in the city aiming to thwart the trial of war criminals through massive subversive activities after Eid,” Rab Media Wing Director Habibur Rahman told a press conference at Rab headquarters in the capital yesterday.
Rab late on Sunday night seized a foreign-made pistol, 32 bullets, 1,135 bullets of SMG (submachine gun), five bomb detonators, a kilogramme of gel explosives, one blasting machine and eight crude bombs, he said.
The arrestees were Khalilur Rahman, also known as Shahriar, 32, Sharifuzzaman, also known as Milton, 27, Abdul Quader, 50, and Maksudur Rahman, also known as Rana, 27.
Habibur said a team of Rab-1 arrested Sharifuzzaman and Maksud at Abdullahpur bus stand and after quizzing them they came to know that Shahriar and Quader were coming to Dhaka on a bus with arms, ammunition and explosives.
He said they arrested the two by setting up a check-post near Ashulia Bridge. They searched the bus, from Tangail, they had been travelling on and found the arms and ammo in four bags. The arrests were made between 10:30pm and 11:30pm.
Rab claimed that Shahriar was the chief organiser of Tamiruddin, a militant outfit founded by now detained Huji military commander Maulana Abdur Rouf. It said Sharifuzzaman was the finance secretary, Quader an Arabic language teacher and Maksudur an activist of the organisation.
Maulana Abdur Rouf, along with some other top Huji leaders, including Mufti Abdul Hannan, are accused in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack cases. On August 21, 2004, Huji as a mercenary force had carried out grenade attacks on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue to assassinate Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader.
In August, Jhalakathi police arrested nine alleged militants of Tanjim-e-Tamiruddin with an inactive grenade and some provocative publications.
The arrestees had told police that they had taken an initiative to reorganise Huji across the country in the name of conducting a “Quran learning course”.
An interrogator, who quizzed eight of the nine arrested at Jhalakathi, told The Daily Star that one of them, Moshiur Rahman Milon, had taken the responsibility of reorganising Huji.
The arrestees also disclosed that they had held several meetings in Bhola and Jessore. Shahriar had arranged the meeting in Jessore.
The groups arrested in Jhalakathi had been preaching Islamist radicalism to recruit members and expand its network, police claimed. It launched a campaign against Hasina and the ruling Awami League, saying that they were anti-Islam and supporters of atheists, police said.
“Takbiatul Iman”, one of the books recovered in the raid, mentions that Muslims are tortured, assaulted and killed when Mujib’s “digital daughter” comes to power.
Moshiur also told police that they were arranging an eight-to-10 day motivation programmes to encourage young men to sacrifice their lives in Jihad.
Both Shahriar and Moshiur were once members of the banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Shahriar was the Nayeb-e-Ameer for Khulna divisional unit of JMB and an accused in 17 cases, several of which were filed in connection with the August 17, 2005, nationwide synchronised bomb blasts.

Risky rickshaws swarm roads

Battery-run rickshaws are plying many Dhaka streets flouting a government ban as the law enforcers turn a blind eye to it, allegedly taking bribes from the rickshaw owners.
Officials at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said controlling rickshaws in city is beyond their jurisdiction as those are run manually.
Saiful Haque, director (engineering) at BRTA, said according to the features of a rickshaw, it can run on a speed of 5-10km per hour.
“When a motor is attached to it, its speed capacity increases up to 40kmph. The original design of a rickshaw and its brake capacity are not fit for running on this speed. Thus the battery-run rickshaws are more accident-prone,” he added.
Battery-run rickshaws are totally illegal and unauthorised as the government had imposed a ban on it in May, 2011, said Md Fashiullah, deputy chief revenue officer at Dhaka North City Corporation.
“These rickshaws were banned by the government because they are not safe. Traffic police regularly helps us drive out these vehicles from roads,” he noted.
The erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation had issued licences to 86,000 rickshaws till 1982. No new licences have been issued since then, mentioned Fashiullah.
Talking to The Daily Star, rickshaw pullers in Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Pallabi, Karwan Bazar and Tejgaon said traffic police allow them to drive battery-run rickshaws on roads when they produce a “special” token.
Owner of a battery-run rickshaw, Faizur said, “I’ve to pay Tk 800 every month for this token. With this, I can drive in Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh, Mohammadpur and Adabor areas. If I go beyond these areas, the token won’t work and the traffic police would seize my vehicle.”
He was carrying a laminated plastic card, issued by Digital Rickshaw Owners’ Association. It contained a mobile phone number, expiry date stamp and a signature of the issuer.
When The Daily Star called the phone number, one Anis said they “manage the law enforcers” to run the battery-run rickshaws in the above four areas.
A similar system was in place at the Tejgaon Industrial Area. A rickshaw puller at Karwan Bazar said he rented the motorised rickshaw from Madhya Kunipara at Tejgaon Industrial Area.
Showing a sticker on the back of his vehicle, he said, “Though during daytime I can drive only at Tejgaon Industrial Area, after 10:00pm I can drive anywhere in the city.”
“The owner of the rickshaw pays a monthly fee of Tk 1,000 to Nazrul, a rickshaw garage owner in Tejgaon, to manage the law enforcers,” he added.
Now, there are about 3,00,000 rickshaws, including the battery-run ones, in the capital, according to Alam Khan, president of Dhaka City Corporation Rickshaw and Van Owners Oikya Parishad.
Of them, 20 percent are battery-run, with the highest number operating in Mirpur and Pallabi areas.
Sramik League, the ruling Awami League’s workers’ wing, forms committees and make arrangements with police on a monthly basis to issue illegal tokens and save the battery-run rickshaws from being seized, mentioned Alam.
Seeking anonymity, a Sramik League leader said they have received complaints from different quarters about some Sramik League men managing the law enforcers for allowing battery-run rickshaws on city roads. “We’ve also found that some outsiders are also involved in managing the law enforcers. We’re looking into the matter,” he added.
Contacted, Mir Rezawul Alam, joint commissioner of DMP (traffic), denied the allegations that the law enforcers received bribes and issued token licence to allow battery-run rickshaws ply the city streets. “At times, battery-run rickshaws are seen in the alleys. Police seize those rickshaws if they see one,” he noted.

Yaba-addict sets alight wife for money

Her life changed its course for the worse 12 years ago because of a spoiled son of a local influential in the capital’s Jurain. The man, who forced her to marry him back then, killed her by setting her on fire yesterday.
Manik Chand has become so brutal to his wife, just because her family failed to give him money to buy drugs.
With 53 percent burns to her body, Loboni Akhter, 25, had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 2:30am. She died at the burns unit around 11:00pm.
Her addict-husband doused her with kerosene in the early hours yesterday and set her ablaze. She woke up screaming in pain in the middle of the night and discovered that Manik was sitting beside her and watching her burn, her mother Laiju Begum said.
Laboni ran out of the room. Other members of the household woke up to her screams and put out the fire. But by that time damage was already done.
Her in-laws rushed her to DMCH, said Laiju, who reached the hospital with her husband around 3:30am, an hour after being informed of the incident by Laboni’s brother-in-law.
“Manik began abusing her four years ago. He was getting hooked on drugs, mainly Yaba, then. In two years’ time, he had immersed himself in drugs,” Laiju told The Daily Star.
He used to beat her every night, asking her “to bring money from us”.
“But I am a poor man,” said Laboni’s father Mohammad Helal Khan, who works at a battery shop and earns only Tk 7,000 a month.
“I could not pay for my son-in-law’s addiction, and so I could not save my daughter.”
Manik had good earnings but that was not enough for paying for the drugs he took every day, Helal said.
He added Manik’s family had a real estate business. They illegally built houses on government land, which brought in around Tk 60,000 a month. Manik used to get a share of that, which amounted to Tk 15,000.
Helal filed a murder case with the police last night against Manik.
Twenty days ago, Laboni along with their two children, aged 2 and 6, was thrown out of the house, Laiju said.
The three had taken refuge at Laboni’s parental home.
However, five days ago, Manik came and forcibly wanted to take the children back. Laboni had no option but to go along with them, fearing for her children’s safety, Laiju said.
She then told her mother, “This is the last chance I am giving him. If he abuses me again, I will surely leave him and come back and stay with you”.
On the fateful night, just before Laboni drifted off to sleep, Manik told her that he had brought her back to kill her, Laiju said, quoting her daughter as saying at the hospital.
“He told my daughter, ‘This is your last night’”.
Manik has gone into hiding.
Nasim Ahmed, husband of a sister of Manik, concurred with the allegation that Manik was a drug addict. Manik used to beat up his mother as well for money and whenever she tried to intervene, he added.
Nasim told The Daily Star that he had assured Laboni’s family of assisting them in filing a case and trying him.
Looking back at how Manik had taken their daughter away, Laiju said her daughter had to give up everything for the man. She even could not continue with her studies after class-VII.
Laboni was abducted by him when she was only 13, and forced her to marry him.
On Bangla New Year’s Day, my daughter had gone out with one of her friends. She was kidnapped. “Despite our reluctance to accept the marriage, we came to terms with it, thinking that the abduction and marriage had ruined her image for ever, and would make it difficult for her to marry someone else,” Laiju said.
Laboni’s father said they had no choice but to accept it. “Manik comes from a very influential family in Jurain. Everyone is scared of him and his father Alek Chand

.

4 militants arrested with arms, ammo

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested four leaders and activists of Tanjim-e-Tamiruddin, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji), with firearms and explosives at Ashulia and Abdullahpur on the outskirts of the capital.
“The arrestees were accumulating the arms, ammunition and explosives in the city aiming to thwart the trial of war criminals through massive subversive activities after Eid,” Rab Media Wing Director Habibur Rahman told a press conference at Rab headquarters in the capital yesterday.
Rab late on Sunday night seized a foreign-made pistol, 32 bullets, 1,135 bullets of SMG (submachine gun), five bomb detonators, a kilogramme of gel explosives, one blasting machine and eight crude bombs, he said.
The arrestees were Khalilur Rahman, also known as Shahriar, 32, Sharifuzzaman, also known as Milton, 27, Abdul Quader, 50, and Maksudur Rahman, also known as Rana, 27.
Habibur said a team of Rab-1 arrested Sharifuzzaman and Maksud at Abdullahpur bus stand and after quizzing them they came to know that Shahriar and Quader were coming to Dhaka on a bus with arms, ammunition and explosives.
He said they arrested the two by setting up a check-post near Ashulia Bridge. They searched the bus, from Tangail, they had been travelling on and found the arms and ammo in four bags. The arrests were made between 10:30pm and 11:30pm.
Rab claimed that Shahriar was the chief organiser of Tamiruddin, a militant outfit founded by now detained Huji military commander Maulana Abdur Rouf. It said Sharifuzzaman was the finance secretary, Quader an Arabic language teacher and Maksudur an activist of the organisation.
Maulana Abdur Rouf, along with some other top Huji leaders, including Mufti Abdul Hannan, are accused in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack cases. On August 21, 2004, Huji as a mercenary force had carried out grenade attacks on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue to assassinate Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader.
In August, Jhalakathi police arrested nine alleged militants of Tanjim-e-Tamiruddin with an inactive grenade and some provocative publications.
The arrestees had told police that they had taken an initiative to reorganise Huji across the country in the name of conducting a “Quran learning course”.
An interrogator, who quizzed eight of the nine arrested at Jhalakathi, told The Daily Star that one of them, Moshiur Rahman Milon, had taken the responsibility of reorganising Huji.
The arrestees also disclosed that they had held several meetings in Bhola and Jessore. Shahriar had arranged the meeting in Jessore.
The groups arrested in Jhalakathi had been preaching Islamist radicalism to recruit members and expand its network, police claimed. It launched a campaign against Hasina and the ruling Awami League, saying that they were anti-Islam and supporters of atheists, police said.
“Takbiatul Iman”, one of the books recovered in the raid, mentions that Muslims are tortured, assaulted and killed when Mujib’s “digital daughter” comes to power.
Moshiur also told police that they were arranging an eight-to-10 day motivation programmes to encourage young men to sacrifice their lives in Jihad.
Both Shahriar and Moshiur were once members of the banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Shahriar was the Nayeb-e-Ameer for Khulna divisional unit of JMB and an accused in 17 cases, several of which were filed in connection with the August 17, 2005, nationwide synchronised bomb blasts.