SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015 | Kartik 23, 1422, Moharram 24, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 201 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

DESIGNER CELLS CURE BABY'S LEUKAEMIA PAGE 32

FAMINE LOOMS IN SOUTH SUDAN WAR ZONES PAGE 15

POLICE PROFILE LALMATIA ATTACKERS PAGE 5

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015 | Kartik 23, 1422, Moharram 24, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 201 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Student app to make govt croresn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

They may look like ordinary kids, but the in-vention they have created is likely to be an extraordinary boon to the government.

In an era chock-full of apps, four Bangla-deshi students have created a mobile appli-cation that will turn every consumer into the taxman’s trusty aide.

VAT Checker is a mobile app launched on October 16 that allows consumers to check whether the Value Added Tax (VAT) they pay to retailers actually goes to the exchequer.

The app allows users to check the VAT registration status of traders and send com-plaints to the government.

In a country where traders, especially res-taurateurs, routinely dodge VAT payments even though they charge their patrons for it, the app is a way for consumers to � ght back.

The app lets consumers enter an outlet’s Business Identi� cation Number (BIN) to check whether the VAT registration number is valid and whether there are irregularities with it or not.

If the BIN does not appear to be in order, consumers can complain to the authorities using the app.

VAT Checker was created by programmer Jubayer Hossain, programmer Asif Kamal Turzo, marketer Nishan Ishtiaque and pro-ject planner Marzia Prova. Asif is a Bangla-desh University of Engineering and Tech-nology (Buet) student, the rest are students

of the Military Institute of Science and Tech-nology (MIST).

VAT Checker has been widely talked about on Facebook and shared by several thou-sands of users, including the o� cial pages of several NBR � eld o� ces.

“We want to see fear among traders if they

evade VAT after taking it from consumers. We look forward to helping the government collect several hundred crores in revenue us-ing the VAT Checker app,” Jubayer said.

Nishan told the Dhaka Tribune: “The in-itial idea for the app came from the Bolly-wood � lm ‘Nayak’ where all you need to do

is complain and things get � xed. When I saw complaints on Facebook page ‘Foodbank’ re-garding VAT evasion by food stores, I asked my university friend Jubayer to help do something to change the system.”

He proposed a mechanism to enable PAGE 4 COLUMN 2

A screenshot of the VAT Checker app and the app makers, from left, Nishan Ishtiaque, Jubayer Hossain, Marzia Prova and Asif Kamal Turzo MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Hungry Tigers look to hunt down wounded Zimbabwe n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Hosts Bangladesh will be eager to continue their impressive run this year when they face tourists Zimbabwe today in the � rst of three ODIs at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Sta-dium.

The Tigers will also look to consolidate their seventh position in the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings with an out-right victory today.

A year has never been so special to Bang-ladesh cricket like 2015. The side enjoyed a great run in the ICC World Cup down under, qualifying for the quarter-� nals for the very � rst time.

The Tigers maintained their good run later in the year as they easily overcame the chal-lenges of Pakistan, India and South Africa, surprising many in world cricket.

With another home series – this time against a lower-ranked Zimbabwe side – looming in the horizon, nothing but a white-

wash will su� ce for the Tigers. In their bid to clinch a series sweep, the

Tigers received some bad news in the shape of dashing opening batsman Soumya Sarkar, who was ruled out at the eleventh hour due to an unfortunate side-strain injury.

In Soumya’s absence, left-handed bats-man Imrul Kayes is all set to get the opening nod today, alongside regular opener Tamim Iqbal. A number of low scores saw Imrul ousted from the national side but Soumya’s injury has opened the door for the Meherpur lad. Now that the opportunity has arrived, Imrul will be desperate to cash in.

Good news for Bangladesh is that almost all of their batsmen are in good nick. Slight worries though are still lingering over the � tness of Mashrafe, who recently recovered from dengue fever and is yet to be fully � t.

The “Narail Express” bowled seven overs and conceded 35 runs in the lone warm-up against the Zimbabweans last Thursday in

PAGE 4 COLUMN 4

Taiwanese couple attacked during robbery, one heldn Mohammad Jamil Khan

and Kamrul Hasan

Amid a tight security blanket being enforced in the capital, a married Taiwanese couple became the latest foreign nationals to fall victims of an attack early yesterday.

However, unlike previous subversive at-tacks that claimed the lives of a Dutch and a Japanese citizen, police say Wang Ming Chee, 54, and his wife Lily Hawa, 50, were wound-ed during a robbery in their home in Uttara.

The condition of Lily had improved since being admitted at the city’s Apollo Hospital, but his husband remains in critical condi-tion at the same hospital’s ICU. They both had wounds that were likely made by sharp weapons.

The couple, who owned a PVC-door-mak-ing factory in Gazipur, have been living in Bangladesh for almost a decade. Police said the attack was carried out by three employees – Raju, Shaju, and Jahangir – who worked at

the factory owned by the Taiwanese couple.Bidhan Tripura, deputy commissioner

of police for Uttara division, said the couple had been attacked after they identi� ed the robbers and tried to stop them from looting valuables.

One of the suspects named Jahangir, who used to work as a contractor in the couple’s factory, has already been arrested from Savar’s Baipail area, the deputy commission-er said. He is a relative of Raju and Shaju – the other two suspected robbers who are now on the run, the deputy commissioner said.

He added that the attackers might have had duplicate keys to the building’s collaps-ible gate, made during their several previous visits to the house.

Wang and Lily were asleep around 1:30am yesterday when the robbers entered their house in Road 14/A of Uttara sector 4. When Lily woke up, one of the attackers hit her head. Hearing Lily’s shout for help, Wang

PAGE 4 COLUMN 2

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015News4DT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Prothom Alo celebrates 17th anniversaryn Tribune Report

The 17th founding anniversary of Bangla dai-ly Prothom Alo was celebrated yesterday at Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.

The newspaper this time celebrated its anniversary with Kalsindur Women football team of Mymensingh.

On the occasion, Prothom Alo Editor Mat-iur Rahman said the newspaper’s main agen-da is to highlight the Bangladeshi success stories regularly.

He said the 17-year journey of the news-paper was not easy and there had been many obstacles along the way. “But Prothom Alo still adhered to the principle of good journal-ism.”

Latifur Rahman, chairman of the board of directors of Mediastar Ltd, thanked Prothom Alo’s 5.5 million readers for being part of the newspaper by reading it every day. l

BNP to observe ‘Nat’l Revolution, Solidarity Day’ todayn UNB

The BNP will observe “National Revolution and Solidarity Day” today marking the civ-il-military “uprising” in 1975.

The party has chalked out a 10-day pro-gramme to celebrate the day amid the ab-sence of its chief Khaleda Zia, who is current-ly in London.

Other political parties and di� erent so-cio-cultural organisations will also observe the day from di� erent historical perspectives.

On this day in 1975, amid political turmoil soldiers and civilians jointly freed then chief of army sta� Ziaur Rahman from captivity in Dhaka cantonment, paving the way for Zia to come to power.

As part of the party’s programmes, BNP will hoist party � ags at its central o� ce and all other o� ces of the party and its associate bodies at 6am.

BNP leaders and activists will place wreaths at the grave of party founder and late president Ziaur Rahman at 10am.

All units and associate bodies of the BNP will also observe the day across the country with various programmes, including discus-sion, photo exhibition, free medical camps and blood donation.

Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a message greeted the people of the coun-try on the occasion.

Terming November 7 a “historical day” in national history, she said: “On this day in 1975, soldiers and civilians took to the streets together with a strong vow to protect the na-tional independence and sovereignty and foil all conspiracies against the country.”

The spirit of November 7 is an inspiration in the national life, Khaleda said, adding: “I think it is necessary for the nationalist forces to get united imbued with this spirit.”

While BNP and its alliances celebrate No-vember 7 as the National Revolution and Sol-idarity Day, the ruling Awami League and its front organisations consider it as the day of “killing of freedom � ghters.” l

PM: Bangladesh’s development unstoppable nown Tribune Reports

Renewing her allegation that the BNP-Jamaat clique is behind the recent killings, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is now unstoppable in its development drive and no conspiracy can deter it.

“Bangladesh is becoming an indomitable power and its ongoing development cannot be stopped any conspiracy or destructive move. The country will become a middle-in-come one, stamping out hunger and poverty much before 2021,” she said at a community reception accorded to her by Bangladeshi diaspora in The Hague on the last day of her three-day o� cial visit to the Netherlands on Thursday, before leaving for home.

The premier and her entourage arrived in Dhaka from the Netherlands yesterday evening.

A VVIP � ight of Biman Bangladesh Air-

lines carrying them landed at Dhaka airport around 5:40pm yesterday, UNB reported.

At the reception in the Hague on Thurs-day, Hasina said: “Bangladesh is progressive-ly moving forward in all sectors and no one can ignore it now. No conspiracy will work to skid the country o� its aspired goal of achiev-ing economic prosperity and social develop-ment.”

Mentioning the destructive politics of BNP-Jamaat clique over the years, she said Khaleda Zia has again bogged down in her conspiratorial politics and each of her steps is aimed at tarnishing Bangladesh’s image. “They’re behind the recent killings, anarchy and subversive activities.”

The prime minister further said Bangla-desh would have been a developed nation much ago had Bangabandhu been alive. “Bangabandhu, during his three and a half years’ tenure, accomplished most of the

tasks needed for cementing the foundation of an independent and sovereign state.”

But Ziaur Rahman captured power ille-gally after killing Bangabandhu, Hasina said, and Zia rehabilitated the killers and war crim-inals as well. He freed 11,000 war criminals from jail and rewarded the killers of Bangab-andhu by giving foreign postings, she added.

On a di� erent note, Hasina urged the Bangladeshi expatriates and foreign entre-preneurs to come up with their investments in Bangladesh’s various sectors, and brighten the country’s image.

“Expatriates have a major role in current economic development as they send around US$27.2 billion in remittance every year,” she said.

She also termed the Netherlands as a good friend of Bangladesh, saying the country had always been beside Bangladesh during its needs. l

Student app to make govt crorespeople to check whether the amount of money paid as VAT to restaurants was being properly deposited with the government ex-chequer.

Asif said: “We started the process to do something for the country. We pay VAT but the government does not get it. We want to make people aware of this problem.”

Jubayer continued: “We sent a message to the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissioner-ate Dhaka (North) asking what could be done about it and they responded very positively with details of the VAT collection process.

“Turzo and I began programming for the app day and night after Eid-ul-Azha to create a user-friendly interface that would let peo-ple communicate with the government with-out requiring a tutorial or prior knowledge.”

After the launch, Marzia and Nishan set out to publicise the app through Facebook.

But Nishan added: “Our posts alone cannot reach that many people. We are trying to set up celebrity endorsements to popularise the app.”

As of yesterday, VAT Checker had been downloaded 10,000 times from the Play-store.

“The initial response was overwhelming. We received around 100 complaints within an hour of launching the app and received 3,000 likes on Facebook in the � rst three days,” Marzia said.

“Complaints are regularly � led using the app. But consumers are unsure whether the complaints are received by the authorities or not. The NBR has to ensure that consumers get a con� rmation that their complaints are received,” she added.

The app has been updated thrice to cover all shops across the country.

“A person in Bandarban can complain us-ing the app,” Jubayer said.

On October 21, Customs, Excise and VAT Mirpur Division raided Bonolota Co� ee Shop in Mirpur following complaints posted through the app.

The shop was found to have a nine-digit BIN whereas registered BIN numbers are 11 digits long.

The authorities � ned the shop for collect-ing VAT from consumers but not depositing it with the government exchequer.

Nishan said success for the team’s venture means seeing VAT Checker installed in every mobile phone in the country.

But he added: “VAT Checker alone can-not do much. The government will have to strengthen its monitoring to ensure the pre-vention of corruption.”

The team expressed their gratitude for the support they received from Mirpur VAT division, the NBR and Aamrai Bangladesh co-founder Arif Hossain. l

Hungry Tigers look to huntFatullah and the hosts will be keeping their � ngers crossed so that he does not break down in any new injury.

On the other hand, the Bangladesh ODIs and Twenty20 internationals will present the Zimbabweans with the perfect opportu-nity to banish the memories of their recent ODI and T20I series defeat at home against Afghanistan. In order to salvage some lost pride, Zimbabwe will need to play out of their skins and hope Bangladesh buckle un-der pressure in front of their own crowd.

Recent record though is weighing heavily against the southern African nation. In their last 10 ODIs against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe have only been victorious twice.

The tourists however, will take some heart from their seven-wicket win against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI last Thursday in Fatullah. Against the home side featuring as many as � ve cricketers from the national side, the Zimbabwean bowlers were sharp and restricted their opposition to an achiev-able score.

While the visitors’ top order was also on song, led by Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and captain Elton Chigumbura.

The � rst ODI will begin at 1 in the after-noon and all the action can be found live on Bangladesh Television and Gazi TV. l

Taiwanese couple attacked during robbery, one heldalso woke up and was also struck on the head by the robbers.

Leaving the couple injured, the robbers snatched Tk6 lakh that had been withdrawn from the bank on Thursday.

Chinmoy Vattacharji, duty manager of Apollo Hospital, said the victims were admit-ted to the hospital around 2:30am yesterday. Wang had been hit on the head with a heavy object and had to undergo a surgery. He was now being kept on a ventilator, Chinmoy said.

During the robbery, Lily managed to iden-tify Raju and Shaju – temporary workers at the couple’s factory, said Shamir Hasib, the

general manager of the factory.Hasib, who was one of the � rst responders

to reach the scene after being noti� ed by one of the Taiwanese couple’s neighbours, said he spoke to Wang and Lily afterwards and came to know that the three men attacked the couple as Lily had recognised their faces.

Asked whether any monetary dispute might have led to the attack, factory manager Hasib said the factory owners had no enmity with an-yone and always paid their employees on time.

The couple visited their factory – Jing Jing Yang International in Gazipur’s Gasha area – on Thursday, said Hasib, adding that the fac-

tory’s head o� ce was on the ground � oor of the building they lived in at Uttara.

The couple’s son and daughter were now on their way to Dhaka from Taiwan, Hasib said.

Meanwhile, when asked why the media had been noti� ed almost � fteen hours after the attack, Deputy Commissioner Tripura said there had been too much confusion in the im-mediate aftermath of the attack. “We wanted to arrest the criminals � rst. For this, some technique was used for investigation,” he said.

A case has been � led with Uttara East police station, while a drive was under way to arrest the two other suspects, DC Tripura aded. l

Sector Commanders Forum sends protest letter to Amnestyn Tribune Report

Sector Commanders Forum – Liberation War’71 has sent a letter to the secretary gen-eral of Amnesty International, protesting the human rights watchdog’s recent statement suggesting that freedom � ghters should also be put on trial for crimes committed during the war.

“Since the beginning of the Bangladesh’s trial of international crimes in 2010, Amnesty International has never recognised the right of the victims for justice, but always highlighted the rights of the accused in the dock,” the let-ter from Sector Commanders Forum reads.

“To draw any equivalency between the freedom � ghters, who fought for the funda-mental democratic rights of their nation, and the war criminals, who trampled the elec-toral verdict and attacked unarmed civilians systematically and brutally, is no doubt a wil-ful blindness on the part of Amnesty Interna-tional,” the letter added.

In a report published on October 27, Am-nesty International criticised the ongoing war crime trials in Bangladesh, and said: “Serious crimes were also committed by the pro-independence forces, but no one has been probed or brought to justice for them.”

Speaking at a press conference at the Na-

tional Press Club yesterday, International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor barrister Tu-reen Afroz said the impertinence of Amnes-ty International had exceeded too much in suggesting a trial against freedom � ghters. “Amnesty International only considered war criminals as human beings and were oblivi-ous about the victims.”

Tureen said anyone demanding that free-dom � ghters be put on trial was speaking the language of war criminals.

The letter by the forum condemned Am-nesty International’s claims that the trials of war criminals SQ Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid had “serious � aws.” The letter also criticised the watchdog’s com-ment that almost all verdicts of the tribunal had “come against members of opposition parties.”

The Sector Commanders Forum pointed out: “They [SQ Chowdhury and Mujahid] were found guilty by the highest court of the country for their crimes against humanity committed during the Bangladesh War, not for their role as opposition politicians today.”

The letter further read: “By issuing a state-ment like this, the Amnesty International had also commented on a sub-judice matter, which we consider a clear interference into the judicial process of a sovereign country.” l

Cox’s Bazar 30 25Dhaka 31 19 Chittagong 31 23 Rajshahi 31 18 Rangpur 29 18 Khulna 32 19 Barisal 30 20 Sylhet 31 15T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015News 5

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:16PM SUN RISES 6:09AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW32.8ºC 18.5ºCJessore DinajpurSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7

DRY WEATHER

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 4:51am | Zohr: 11:43am Asr: 3:39pm | Magrib: 5:17pmEsha: 6:34pm

PRAYERTIMES

Police sketch artists pro� le Lalmatia attackersn Mohammad Jamil Khan

A high o� cial of an investigating agency has told the Dhaka Tribune, on condition of ano-nymity, that detectives had created a sketch of the Lalamatia attackers using descriptions from the survivors of the attack.

“We are now trying to arrest the suspects by matching them against the sketch,” he said.

Around 2:30pm on October 31, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, publisher of slain blogger Avijit Roy, was attacked at his Shuddhashar publi-cation o� ce in Lalmatia. Blogger Ranadipam Basu and poet Tareq Rahim, both friends of Tutul who were present at the o� ce, were also injured in the attack.

In a separate development, an investigat-ing agency source con� rmed that detectives had made progress in the investigation into the murder of Faisal Are� n Dipan, who’s dead body was found in Aziz Super Market at 6:30pm on the same day. Dipan was also a publisher of Avijit Roy’s work.

Masruqure Rahman Khaled, deputy com-missioner of DB (South) police, told the Dha-ka Tribune that investigators had found leads in the Dipan murder case by analysing CCTV video footage from the market.

“We are hopeful about getting clues from technological sources and phone call details of the area during and after the likely time of the murder,” he said.

Sources said an analysis of the footage from eight CCTV cameras at Aziz Super Market had

yielded images of the possible murder suspects. According to the CCTV footage, publish-

er Dipan arrived at the market by private car around 2:10pm, and seven or eight sus-picious looking men were seen hovering around his vehicle.

Two of them were recorded on camera writing something while standing in front and behind Dipan’s car, while another spoke on a cell phone and two others stood to the side carrying a bag on their shoulders.

Aziz Super Market sources said Dipan went

to his Jagriti Prokashoni o� ce around 2:45pm after having lunch. They said the men who were seen to arrive at the market at di� erent times all left the market together after 3:00pm.

The Dhaka Tribune has learned that DB early yesterday picked up a madrasa teacher from Feni district for suspected involvement in the attacks.

A Dhaka Metropolitan Police DB team con-ducted a drive in Uttar Tarakuch village of Ful-gazi police station under Feni district around 3am and arrested Mufti Jahid Hassan Maruf.

Mufti Habib Ullah, father of Jahid, told the Dhaka Tribune that a team of DB police from Dhaka went to their house around 3am and started searching the house and the madrasa.

DB police arrested Jahid saying he has in-volved in militant activities and the murder of Dipan, Habib said.

“My son completed his schooling at a ma-drasa in Chhagolnaiya in Feni and received a degree in Islamic Law from Patia Madrasa in Chittagong,” Habib said, adding that his son was not involved in militancy.

Mahbub Alam, deputy commissioner of DB (East) police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that Jahid had been detained for questioning but had been “handed over to his guardians again.”

“No one has been arrested or detained in the blogger and publisher attack cases so far,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gonojagoron Moncho, at its solidarity rally in the capital’s Shahbagh area yesterday, said it would launch tougher movement if Dipan’s killers are not arrested within two weeks.

Imran H Sarker, spokesperson of the plat-form, said they would announce a tougher programme from a mass rally, to be held on November 20, if the government fails to ar-rest the culprits by that time, UNB reported.

The rally was attended, among others, by Prof Ajoy Roy, father of slain blogger Avijit Roy, as well as freedom � ghter Ferdousi Pri-yabhashini. l

Joint forces deployed in port city n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

With directives from the Home Ministry, joint forces were deployed in the port city from Thursday evening to beef up security.

Comprising of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Ac-tion Battalion and Armed Police Battalion, the joint forces will conduct drives coordi-nated by the CMP throughout the city.

Asked if there was any security threat,

CMP Detective Branch Deputy Commission-er Kusum Dewan said security had been tightened both in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The joint forces today detained two peo-ple from Anderkillah area of the city for car-rying liquor, Jashim Uddin, o� cer-in-charge of Kotwali police station, said yesterday.

On Thursday, the joint forces seized two locally made guns, choppers and knives after conducting a special drive at Central Railway Building and its adjoining areas in the city. l

Garos celebrate Wangala in Tangailn Our Correspondent, Tangail

The Garo people celebrated their largest an-nual festival Wangala in Tan-gail’s Madhupur yesterday.

This is the festival when they dedicate harvests to the God seeking his satisfaction.

Thousands of Garo people attended the day-long pro-gramme on Beduria Primary School playground and began the festivity by o� ering their traditional prayers.

Traditional formalities were maintained while dedicating crops to the God.

A cultural programme was

also arranged as part of the festivity and Tan-gail Deputy Commissioner Md Mahbub Hos-sain was present there as the chief guest. l

Professor Ajoy Roy, father of slain writer-blogger Avijit Roy, speaks at a solidarity rally organised by Gonojagoron Moncho in the capital’s Shahbagh yesterday. He was invited to speak as his son’s publisher Faisal Are� n Dipan was killed and three others were injured in similar attacks on October 31 RAJIB DHAR

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015News6DT

Patients su� er as CMCH burn unit lacks ICU facilitiesn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Burn patients have to face untold su� erings in absence of a full-� edged and dedicated Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Physicians said they faced di� culties while delivering services to patients as critical patients from other departments of the hospi-tal also come to the lone10-bed general ICU.

Launched on January 3, 2008 with only 13 beds, the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit at the CMCH is now running with 26 beds.

The doctors at the unit alleged that al-though the number of beds had increased over the years, other healthcare facilities not increased as per requirement.

“Patients coming from di� erent parts of greater Chittagong come to receive health-care services at the unit with electric, � ame, scald, chemical and other injuries. At the

time of winter and political unrest, the unit witnesses an increasing number of patients,” said Dr Mrinal Kanti Das, associate professor and in-charge of the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of the CMCH.

Dr Das said: “A burn unit must be equipped with an ICU as treatment for burn injuries is altogether di� erent. Patients with respira-tory organ injuries badly need ICU support. A patient is considered critical when he or she receives more than 20% burn injuries. Delayed treatment in case of patients with serious injuries could turn critical. On some occasions we are left with no other option but to send the critical patients to Dhaka.”

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, eminent burn specialist Dr Samanta Lal Sen said a Burn Unit could not function properly in ab-sence of a full-� edged and dedicated Inten-sive Care Unit (ICU).  

“We have to keep in mind that the � rst 24 hours for any patient with serious burn inju-

ries is very critical and lack of timely proper treatment might even result in deaths. The form and nature of treatment for a burn pa-tient is totally di� erent from any other dis-ease treatment.

“The importance of establishing ICUs out-side Dhaka is undeniable. We have left no stone unturned to set up an ICU in the CMCH as Chittagong is the second largest city after Dhaka. We had also come up with a proposal to set up a full-� edged burn unit at the city’s Railway Hospital, but in vain. Apart from Chittagong, burn units should be set up with ICU facilities in every medical college hospi-tal as that will help reduce the in� ux of pa-tients coming to the capital.”

It may be mentioned that a signi� cant number of burn patients who come to CMCH with burn injuries are workers at di� erent ship-breaking yards in Chittagong.

“Recently we have paid a visit to the burn unit to see the injured ship-breakers and

to see for ourselves the state of healthcare services delivered by the physicians. Re-grettably, we have found that the unit is not well-equipped to deliver quality services,” said Tapan Datta, convener of Ship-breaking Workers’ Trade Union Forum.   

He said they had found that the burn pa-tients were forced to make beds on the � oor and in corridors due to shortage of space. Moreover, there was no dedicated ICU sup-port for the burn patients in the unit. There was air-conditioning facility at the burn unit to ease the su� erings of the patients.

“Most of the burn patients like ship-break-ing workers hail from low-income back-ground. Therefore, most patients with burn injuries cannot a� ord the astronomical cost of treatment at a privately-run burn hospital or travelling all the way to Dhaka. We will urge the Health Ministry to allocate su� cient budget so that the unit could deliver services properly,” said the labour rights activist. l

A human chain is formed in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding punishment to the people who attacked a woman and killed her baby in the womb in Feni MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Khulna University convocationon Nov 25n Tribune Report

The 5th convocation of Khulna University (KU) will be held on November 25 on the uni-versity campus.

Educationalist and Emeritus Prof of Dha-ka University Anisuzzaman will deliver his speech while Prof Abdul Mannan, chairman of the University Grants Commission, will at-tend the convocation program as chief guest.

President Abdul Hamid, also the Chan-cellor of the university will preside over the convocation. A total 2500 students will at-tain their graduation certi� cates while nearly 1,000 guest will attend the convocation.

President Abdul Hamid will inaugurate the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall before the convocation and will also in-augurate the Silver Jublee celebrations of the university after the convocation. A commit-tee headed by the vice-chancellor of the uni-versity Prof Mohammad Fayek Uzzaman was formed to make the convocation a success. l

Woman killed during clash in Gaibandha n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

A woman was killed during a clash between two groups of villagers over the ownership of a piece of land at Burungi, Saghata upazila, Gaibandha yesterday.

Quoting locals, police said there had been a long-standing dispute between Afzal Mis-tri, husband of deceased Parul Begum, and Nurul Islam over a piece of land.

In the morning, Nurul Islam and Afzal Mis-tri locked into an altercation over the issue. At one stage of the altercation, supporters of Nurul swooped on Afzal with sharp weapons. The attackers hacked Parul indiscriminately when she tried to save her husband from the attack, leaving her dead on the spot. Critical-ly injured Afzal was taken to Saghata Upazila Health Complex. A case was � led.

O� cer-in-Charge of Saghata police station Ra� qul Islam said police could not arrest at-tackers as they had gone into hiding after the death of the woman. l

INSIDE

7D

TWorld

British attempts to return tourists from Egypt mired in confusionBritish attempts to bring home thousands of tourists stranded in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh were thrown into chaos on Friday when Egypt slashed the number of � ights it would allow to take them home. PAGE 8

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Russia suspends � ights to Egypt on security advicePresident Vladimir Putin ordered the sus-pension of all Russian passenger � ights to Egypt on Friday until the cause of a deadly plane crash at the weekend was established. PAGE 8

Russian air strikes kill 42 in Islamic State-held RaqqaAir strikes by Russian warplanes on the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa killed 42 people earlier this week, including 27 civilians, monitoring group the Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights said on Friday. PAGE 9

Thein Sein: Army, government will respect election resultsn Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar President Thein Sein said on Fri-day that both the military and the govern-ment will accept the outcome of Sunday’s historic election, and that he would work with opposition parties to ensure a stable transition.

Speaking hours before the two-month election campaign period ends, Thein Sein said a successful election was the key step to continue the reforms he ushered in after coming to power as the head of a semi-civil-ian government in 2011.

“I’d like to say again that the government and the military will respect and accept the results. I will accept the new government formed based on the election result,” Thein Sein said.

The opposition party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi Suu Kyi is expected to gar-ner the most votes, but it is unclear whether she will win the landslide needed to control the presidency. The president, who forms the cabinet, is chosen by parliament.

Myanmar’s military is guaranteed a quar-ter of seats in both chambers by a constitu-tion drafted by the junta that handed power to Thein Sein. That means to have a parlia-mentary majority Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy must win more than two-thirds of all contested seats.

Suu Kyi has urged the international com-munity to keep a keen vigil over the coun-try in the months between the vote and the new government taking power at the end of March. A smooth transition was almost as important as fair elections, she said.

Thein Sein said that after the election he would meet the leaders of all political forces and discuss the steps forward.

“These political meetings will not only help the stability in the post-election period but will also help to gently transform into a new political ground,” said Thein Sein.

Thein Sein acknowledged that organis-ing an election was a challenge, but stressed the government’s commitment to a credible

vote and said more than 10,000 observers will scrutinize the process.

Preparation for the elections has been marred by a series of setbacks with around 4 million people unable to cast their votes. Thousands are missing from voter lists, mil-lions abroad failed to register in time, and most of the 1.1 million persecuted Muslim Ro-hingya minority are barred from participating.

Myanmar has not had an elected govern-ment since the 1960s and only published the results the country’s � rst census in 30 years in May.

Western powers on Friday urged Myan-mar to hold a fair and transparent election.

Preliminary election results are expected within 48 hours of the vote, and full results within two weeks. l

Suu Kyi says she will be above president in new govtn Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Thursday she would be “above the president” if her party wins a historic election on November 8, defying a consti-tutional ban on becoming president herself.

Suu Kyi’s remarks could complicate her already fraught relations with Myanmar’s military, which drafted the 2008 constitu-tion to preserve its power and e� ectively exclude her from leading the country.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) is the frontrunner in the � rst general election since a semi-civilian government took power in 2011 after nearly 50 years of military dictatorship.

“If we win, and the NLD forms a govern-ment, I will be above the president. It’s a very simple message,” a relaxed and smiling Suu Kyi told reporters at her lakeside home in Yangon.

When asked if this arrangement violated the constitution, Suu Kyi replied: “No. The constitution says nothing about somebody being above the president.”

The constitution however states that the president “takes precedence over all other persons” in Myanmar and Zaw Htay, a sen-ior o� cial at the President’s O� ce, told Reu-ters that Suu Kyi’s comments were, “against the constitutional provision.”

The constitution also reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for the military

and bars presidential candidates with for-eign spouses or children. Suu Kyi had two sons with a late British academic.

“While the constitution is far from perfect, and understandably perceived as a � awed document, it still serves as the basis for My-anmar’s current political system, including the elections this weekend,” said Nyantha Maw Lin, managing director at political con-sultancy Vriens & Partners in Yangon.

Suu Kyi said the NLD had already chosen someone who was prepared to act as presi-dent, but would not say who it was.

According to speculation in Myanmar’s media, likely candidates include the speaker of lower house, an aging NLD party patron and even Suu Kyi’s personal physician. l

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015World8DT

SOUTH ASIA Death toll in Pakistan factory collapse set to riseRescue crews resumed digging through the rubble of a collapsed factory in Pakistan Fri-day as o� cials said they expected to � nd at least two dozen more bodies, with the death toll standing at 23. More than 100 survivors have already been pulled from the debris of the four-storey polythene bag factory after it came crashing down on Wednesday, trapping dozens of people inside. But hopes were fading for anyone left alive as rescuers scrabbled through the debris. AFP

ASIA PACIFICMaldives police raid private TV station Police in the Maldives on Friday raided a private television station in connection with a YouTube video that allegedly threatened President Abdulla Yameen, the network’s managing director said. The move came days after President Yameen imposed a state of emergency, giving wider powers to police and armed forces to arrest and suspending freedom of assembly and freedom of move-ment. Police on Friday stopped Sangu TV from broadcasting and searched its studios in the capital island Male in a pre dawn raid, removing computer hard disks. AFP

MIDDLE EASTTurkey detains IS suspectsTurkish police swooped on IS suspects in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya on Friday, barely 10 days ahead of a summit of world leaders, local media reported. Turkey also deported a group of Moroccans detained on suspicion they were planning to head to Syria to join Islamic State � ghters, reports said. Turkish police detained 20 people in Antalya, the Dogan news agency reported, adding that the suspects, two of whom are Russians, were “in contact with IS militants in Iraq and in Syria”. AFP

INDIACurfew, mass arrests in Kashmir ahead of Modi visitAuthorities ordered a curfew in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir Friday after hundreds of separatist activists were arrested on the eve of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the disputed region. In Srinagar shops and schools remained shut, university exams were can-celled for the day and public transport was sus-pended as hundreds of police and paramilitary forces patrolled the streets. “Restrictions were imposed to prevent breach of peace before the prime minister’s rally,” a senior police o� cer told AFP on condition of anonymity. AFP

CHINAChina says US patrol in South China Sea harmed trustThe patrol by a US warship close to is-lands China controls in the South China Sea harmed mutual trust between China and the US and caused regional tensions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his US counterpart in a call. Wang’s comments to US Secretary of State John Kerry, reported by Chinese state television on Friday, come a week after a US guided-missile destroyer sailed close to one of Beijing’s man-made islands in the South China Sea. REUTERS

British attempts to return tourists from Egypt mired in confusionn Reuters, London

British attempts to bring home thousands of tourists stranded in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh were thrown into chaos on Friday when Egypt slashed the number of � ights it would allow to take them home.

Prime Minister David Cameron halted � ights between Britain and the resort over concerns that a Russian airliner that crashed after leaving the same airport on Saturday may have been brought down by a bomb planted by Islamic State militants.

Britain, which has about 20,000 of its tour-ists in Sharm al-Sheikh, was planning to return some of them from the resort on Friday, with only hand luggage, due to security concerns.

Those plans were thrown into confusion when Egypt said only eight of the planned 29 � ights to take the Britons home would be able to operate. Britain’s Transport Sec-retary Patrick McLoughlin had earlier said “well over 20 � ights” were scheduled.

Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation Hos-sam Kamal said the operation to bring large numbers of British holidaymakers from their hotels to the airport and then put them on � ights without their luggage was “a huge burden on the airport because its capacity does not allow for that”.

“We have asked them to organise eight � ights only, and one plane will transport luggage,” Kamal said.

He said the airport did not have room to store the more than 120 tonnes of luggage that departing passengers would leave behind.

A spokesman for Cameron said Britain was trying to get the holidaymakers home quickly and safely, but described the situa-tion as “di� cult and � uid”.

“We have to be realistic that this is a com-plex and di� cult operation. We are working closely with the airline companies, with the

Egyptian authorities, to ensure that we get British nationals out safely,” he said.

British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said � ights had begun departing.

“Flights are coming in which will allow us to take more people home today,” Casson said in Sharm al-Sheikh as he tried to reas-sure exasperated tourists at the airport.

Thomas Cook Airlines, easyJet, pri-vately-held Monarch, British Airways and Thomson operate direct � ights between Britain and Sharm al-Sheikh.

EasyJet said it had been refused permis-sion to � y most of its empty planes to Egypt, and that just two of its 10 planned � ights had been given permission to � y out of Egypt.

The other airlines said they were expect-ing their planned � ights to go ahead.

Britain’s public airing of its concerns about a bomb being responsible for the Rus-sian air crash has angered Egypt, which de-pends on tourism revenue, and drew criti-cism from the Kremlin, which said it had not been given details of the intelligence behind Britain’s move.

A Sinai-based group a� liated with Is-lamic State, the militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, has claimed re-sponsibility for the crash, which, if con-� rmed, would make it the jihadist organisa-tion’s � rst attack on civil aviation.

In his � rst public comments on the dis-aster, US President Barack Obama said in a radio interview: “There’s a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we’re tak-ing that very seriously.”l

Passengers from a cancelled EasyJet � ight to Britain wait at the airport of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh till they get another announcement on November 6 REUTERS

Indian nursing assistant raped on bus in Bangaloren AFP, Bangalore

A bus driver allegedly raped a 19-year-old nursing assistant in his vehicle on the out-skirts of India’s southern technology hub Bangalore before dumping her on a road-side, police said Friday.

The attack is alleged to have occurred on Thursday when the woman boarded the bus to commute to her job at a nursing home in Hoskote, 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the city centre. The driver allegedly asked the vehicle’s cleaner to drive the bus while he carried out the attack.

“We have arrested accused Ravi, 26, with bus cleaner Manjunath, 23, under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code on a complaint by the victim that she was raped by the driver when she was alone in the bus,” SR Ramesh, Bangalore Rural Additional Super-intendent of Police, told AFP.

“The accused asked the cleaner to drive the bus while he raped her and dumped her

later on roadside,” he said, adding that police had seized the bus, which was registered in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state.

The woman went to hospital and de-scribed the alleged attack to doctors, who called the police.

It comes after a 23-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by a driver and a cleaner in a van in a southeastern suburb of Bangalore on October 3. The two men ac-cused in that attack have been arrested.

Karnataka’s new Home Minister G. Para-meshwara said the accused would be dealt with strictly.

“We will not tolerate any incident of rape in any part of the state. I have directed the police to take preventative steps and act against the guilty strictly,” Parameshwara told reporters later.

The fatal gang-rape of a young student on a bus in Delhi in 2012 led to an outpour-ing of anger over frightening levels of vio-lence against women. l

Russia suspends � ights to Egypt on security advicen Reuters, Moscow

President Vladimir Putin ordered the sus-pension of all Russian passenger � ights to Egypt on Friday until the cause of a deadly plane crash at the weekend was established.

Putin’s decision was a response to the crash of an Airbus A321 operated by a Russian carrier on Saturday over Egypt’s Sinai Penin-sula. All 224 people on board were killed.

The move, which follows decisions by Brit-ain and others to suspend � ights to and from Sharm al-Sheikh, may be the � rst sign that Moscow is attaching credibility to the theo-ry that Islamist militants somehow planted a bomb on the aircraft. However, the Kremlin said the decision did not mean the crash was caused by a terrorist attack.

The Kremlin has said it is too early to say what caused the crash and that all theories, including the possibility of technical failure, should be examined by the o� cial investiga-tion. l

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015World 9

DT

USAUS unemployment rate falls to 5.0%US unemployment fell to � ve percent in October, the lowest rate since early 2008, as the economy pumped out a solid 271,000 net new jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. The new numbers, representing a � rm rebound from two weak months, added evidence that the economy is growing solidly despite a global downturn: the number of new jobs was nearly double those added in September. AFP

THE AMERICAS17 killed in Brazil mine mudslideFire� ghters discovered more bodies early Friday after at least 17 people where killed when a dam burst at a mining waste site in Brazil, unleashing a deluge of toxic mud. Adao Severino Jun-ior, the � re chief in the city of Mariana, told AFP that he would not release a new death toll until relatives of the victims were noti� ed. Severino Junior said late Thursday that 17 people had been killed and more than 50 injured in the disaster in the village of Bento Rodrigues, in southeastern Minas Gerais state. The number of missing could surpass 40, he added. AFP

UKBritain unveils plan for new spying lawsBritain’s government published proposals for new Internet spying laws Wednesday including allowing partial access to a suspect’s Internet browsing history that were condemned by privacy campaigners. Home Secretary Theresa May hailed the draft legislation as a “world-leading oversight regime”, but a leading rights group described the proposals as a “breath-tak-ing attack” on Britain’s online security. The security services would be able to access Internet communication records, which show which online services were accessed by a suspect and when. AFP

EUROPEEU: Peacefully settle S China Sea disputeThe EU urged all parties Friday to settle peacefully territo-rial disputes in the South China Sea, where Washington has challenged Beijing’s e� orts to bolster its claims through an island-building programme. EU foreign a� airs chief Federica Mogherini said the European Union was an “interested” party in a dispute pitting China against Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philip-pines, Brunei and Malaysia over control of a crucial seaway. AFP

AFRICAOutgoing UN Libya envoy accused of con� ict of interestLibya’s unrecognised government Thursday accused UN envoy Bernardino Leon of a con� ict of interest after he negotiated a high-paying job in Abu Dhabi while trying to defuse the Lib-yan crisis. In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, the president of the General National Congress voiced concern that Leon had taken up a post in Abu Dhabi, which openly backs a rival administration. Speaking to reporters, Leon denied that his mediation e� orts were biased, although he recognised that “maybe I could have done things in a di� erent way.” AFP

Russian air strikes kill 42 in Islamic State-held Raqqan Reuters, Beirut

Air strikes by Russian warplanes on the Islamic State-held Syri-an city of Raqqa killed 42 people earlier this week, including 27 civilians, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

Fifteen Islamic State � ghters made up the remainder of the death toll, the Britain-based Observatory said, after a series of strikes on Tuesday that hit the group’s Syrian stronghold.

The bombings add to a civilian death toll from Russian strikes, which the Syrian Network for Human Rights, another monitor-ing group, said on Monday stood at 254 people killed in just over a month. It was also a rare heavy Russian bombardment target-ing Islamic State rather than other insurgent groups. l

World10DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Famine looms in S Sudan war zones as aid agencies blockedn AFP, Nairobi

Weeks after UN-backed experts warned that thousands are dying of starvation in South Sudan war zones, aid agencies say they can-not access areas to stave o� famine because of “spiralling” violence.

Last month, UN agencies said 30,000 people were starving to death in Unity state, with Integrated Food Security Phase Classi-� cation (IPC) experts warning of a “concrete risk of famine” before the end of the year if � ghting continues and aid does not reach the hardest hit areas.

Despite the warnings and an August peace deal, there has been no let-up in government and rebel battles, with diplomats accusing both sides of blockading life-saving aid.

Medical aid agency Doctors Without Bor-ders (MSF) warns that the “humanitarian crisis in southern Unity is on an unprece-dented scale” with “repeated and targeted violence” against civilians.

MSF, which has earned a reputation for op-erating in some of the world’s most dangerous frontline battle zones, said it had “not seen this level of violence and brutality before.”

While an o� cial famine has not been de-

clared, the IPC report describes the worst conditions yet seen in a nearly two-year civil war marked by atrocities and accusa-tions of war crimes, including gang rape and forced cannibalism.

Having been forced to � ee their homes, many people are living in the open, said Lind-say Hamsik, policy advisor at South Sudan NGO Forum, an alliance of over 300 South Sudanese and international aid agencies.

“The commitments at the political level are not being held up on the ground,” Ham-sik told AFP. “That means more lives are being lost and civilians continue to be ter-rorised and denied their right to assistance.”

‘Abductions, mass rapes and killings’ Those worst a� ected are in the northern battle-ground state of Unity, once the country’s key oil producing region, but now scene of some of the heaviest � ghting, including the mass abduction and rape of women and children.

“All parties urgently need to lift obstacles that prevent access of humanitarian organ-isations,” the United States and European Union warned last week, in a statement also signed by diplomats from Canada, Norway and Switzerland. “This is crucial to avoid

the looming famine.”Most aid agencies were forced to pull out

in May amid intense � ghting. “Our e� orts to re-secure access have

failed,” said Caelin Briggs from the Norwe-gian Refugee Council (NRC). “While we are eager to return, and we will take any win-dow that we can, we cannot do so unless the violence comes to a halt.”

Aid workers said they feared that with-out boots on the ground, they simply may not know the full extent of the crisis.

The International Rescue Commit-tee (IRC) said people were “hiding in the swamps and bushes” and that they were struggling with the “limited availability of evidence”. 

Some 3.9 million people are in crisis -- a third of the country’s population -- a mas-sive 80 percent rise compared to the same period last year, the UN said.

‘It will get worse’Civil war began in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former dep-uty Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting o� a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken, landlocked coun-

try along ethnic lines.The army and rebels have repeatedly

accused each other of breaking an interna-tionally-brokered August 26 cease� re, the eighth such agreement aimed at ending the nearly two-year long war.

“MSF teams in Unity state hear daily re-ports of extortions, abductions, mass rapes and killings, and witnessed villages burnt to the ground and crops looted and de-stroyed,” MSF added.

Hardest hit are the counties of Leer, Guit, Koch and Mayendit in Unity State. MSF’s base in Leer was looted on October 3, forc-ing MSF to close the hospital for the second time since May.

Leer, hometown of rebel chief Machar, has swapped hands several times in the war.

In the latest violence, cease� re monitors from the East African IGAD bloc blamed gov-ernment forces who they said “looted medi-cal supplies and other equipment” when they pushed out rebels in Leer in early October.

“Violence against the civilian population is escalating,” MSF emergency manager Tara Newell said. Before sta� were forced to evacuate, dozens of children depended on specialised feeding to survive. l

INSIDE

We are pleased by the prime minister’s successful three-day visit to the Netherlands, the � rst such bilateral visit by a serving Bangladeshi prime minister.

The four instruments signed by Sheikh Hasina and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the � elds of education, trade and diplomacy stand testament to the strong bond between our nations.

As densely populated, low lying deltaic countries, Bangladesh and the Netherlands share a common cause in the exchange of knowledge and knowhow on dealing with the challenges posed by rising sea levels.

Both states are natural partners in their call for the forthcoming Paris climate change summit to bring about a legally-binding agreement applicable to all countries, to provide a fair and e� ective framework for dealing with the threats being brought on by climate change. It is encouraging to see our two nations take a global lead in the Delta coalition forum with Colombia and Japan in acting as advocates for the protection and enhancement of large delta areas.

The Netherlands long experience in land reclamation and water management gives it invaluable expertise to share with Bangladesh on implementing the vital Delta Plan 2100 program.

This partnership complements the Netherlands innovative role as a long running development partner on grassroots projects to improve the yields of small farmers in our nation.

As one of the largest overseas investors in Bangladesh, it is particularly welcome that the Netherlands is expressing more interest in deepening our nation’s commerce and trade links.

Mutual co-operation in developing new sea-ports and improving training on environmental and social issues o� ers great potential to assist Bangladeshi businesses in the garment and shipbuilding sectors in particular, to grow their international reach.

We hope the platform provided by this visit will lead to a further deepening and strengthening of the close relationship between Bangladesh and Netherlands.

Our nations are natural partners in improving international co-operation on climate change and boosting mutual trade ties

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Delta coalition highlights deep links between Bangladesh and Netherlands

11D

TEditorialSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Blind faithsPAGE 14

A unique Islamic tradition

PAGE 20-21

A matter of national interest

PAGE 13

Singapore this ain’tPAGE 12

AFP

n Esam Sohail

That authoritarianism is the elixir to prosperity and progress is a mantra which has found strong resonance in the territory which became

Pakistan in 1947: From the days of Ghulam Mohammad through Ayub Khan through Ziaul Huq, from BKSAL through Ershad through the present day.

Sporadic bursts of democratic openness had done little to allay deep seated mistrust amongst ideological elites that pluralism, fair elections, and individual liberty were singularly unsuited to the temperament of their more benighted fellow citizens.

Intelligent people not a� liated with the ruling party shouldn’t be surprised that such sentiments, albeit couched in terms of “our version of Westminster” or “Singapore style democracy,” are now openly expressed by those in o� ce without a single ballot being cast in their favour.

In fairness to the disposition of such elites, the desire to not give up state power is a very human character � aw, a � aw made all the more alluring by the fact that, in Bangladesh, such power ensures material riches, impunity from any accountability for criminal conduct, and a smooth path for easily settling one’s children and grandchildren abroad, thanks to control over patronage jobs and scholarships.

Beyond the personal bene� ts of being autocrats, I will admit that in some jurisdictions, such an approach to governance has indeed helped bring about material blessings for citizens. In the broader neighbourhood, Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong come to mind almost immediately in this regard.

It is not coincidental that these entities -- and especially Singapore amongst them -- are the favourite examples for the purveyors of

the ruling party line who want us to ignore the creeping march towards a de facto one party state.

A fundamental problem with such a rosy comparison is that all those three favourites of third world autocrats have something that is empirically beyond imagination in Bangla-desh: A near lack of widespread corruption.

Year after year, Transparency International

has found Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is a constituent sheikhdom), and Hong Kong to be amongst the cleanest 25 jurisdictions in the world in terms of transparency of public dealings and institutional corruption.

Where Bangladesh stands on that score is all too well-known to need reminding. Such a perception of clean dealings is vital, of course, for countries and cities whose economy rests on their roles as pre-eminent hubs of trade, commerce, investment, and ancillary services.

Coupled with that image of public integrity is the deeply ingrained desire of these governments -- as authoritarian as they are -- to take a largely laissez-faire approach to business; such a hands-o� outlook on commerce is hard to imagine in a country

where the national � ag carrier proudly serves as a tax-payer white elephant and the public tender process is routinely used as a means to reward “student activists” of the ruling party.

But � scal discipline and public integrity are not the only two things that keep the veneer of legitimacy on many such authoritarian regimes. In the case of both

Hong Kong and Singapore, the judiciary is widely seen to function with incredible freedom, in collaboration with very professional bars and independent police services.

Even with a plethora of laws, often consid-ered harsh by many human rights organi-sations, both these jurisdictions provide a machinery for administering justice that is e� cient, transparent, and � ercely independ-ent of the executive and the party for the most part. Such a robust judiciary is all the more telling in Hong Kong, considering it is technically a part of the People’s Republic of China, albeit with a governance setup that re� ects its unique history.

In Singapore’s case, the authoritarianism of the ruling People’s Action Party comes with an additional twist that adds credibility

in a manner that is hard to imagine in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the electoral exercise of April this year and January of last year.

The orderliness, transparency, and openness of the Singapore general elections are legendary; the idea that ruling party hacks or policemen would barge in and rubber stamp ballots in broad daylight is an alien concept in that city-state.

Votes cast are votes tallied under the supervision of a professional cadre of powerful and impartial election o� cers. None other than the National Geographic -- a magazine routinely critical of totalitarian societies -- admitted this paradoxical fact about Singapore’s elections in a pro� le on the country earlier this year.

That opposition parties have not made much headway in Singapore’s politics has more to do with the ethnic makeup and narrow appeal of the tiny opposition parties. Singapore is hardly a model of Westminster democracy, but certainly a far more real example than Bangladesh today.

So, sure keep peddling authoritarianism by pointing to its supposed success stories, but make sure it is understood what comes in exchange for such dubious legitimacy: Corruption-free public administration, free markets, independent police and judiciary, and absence of “student front” hooliganism and intimidation.

Is Bangladesh able to make that exchange? Any sane person would doubt that. Why not, then, bring back the ine� cient but vibrant pluralist democracy we used to have between 1990 and 2014? Ah … there is the conundrum of the base instincts of human character. l

Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

Singapore this ain’t

A fundamental problem with such a rosy comparison is that all those three favourites of third world autocrats have something that is empirically beyond imagination in Bangladesh: A near lack of widespread corruption

Comparing Bangladesh to Singapore without context is foolish REUTERS

To even begin to aspire to the standards of the successful city-state, we must root out corruption

Opinion12DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Long Form 13D

TSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

n Mahjabeen Khaled

November 7 is a dark day in our his-tory. On this day in 1975, Zia mur-dered Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf Bir Uttam, commander of Sector 2

and chief of “K” Force in the Liberation War. The killers also murdered many other army o� cers, including Lt Col ATM Haider Bir Uttam and Col Nazmul Huda Bir Bikram.

They captured state power through these murders and became involved in an attempt to destroy the principles and the spirit of the Liberation War and take the country back to the evils of the Pakistan era. This day marks the beginning of a dark chapter in our country and our national lives.

In mid-August, 1947, India and Pakistan were formed as the British rule came to an end. This part of Bengal became a part of Pa-kistan. Because of social and economic depri-vation, the hesitant Bangalis soon started looking for a way out. It was right at that time that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took initiatives to unite the nation against the Pakistani ill-rule. With this aim, he gave birth to the Awami League (Awami Muslim League) and took the responsibility on his shoulder of carrying the nation forwards.

For this, he had to struggle for 24 years and be the leader in the Liberation War. In this struggle, he had, alongside him, some dedicated colleagues who gave leadership to the liberation movement and the war in his absence. They included political lead-ers, activists, and high-ranked military and civil o� cials. The name of Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf, a brave soldier and our nation’s pride, features among them. He was the only Bangali army o� cer who kept regular contact with Bangabandhu while still in service in the Pakistan Army, and later inspired the other Bangali soldiers according to Bangabandhu’s

directives.In early March 1971, my father Maj Gen

Khaled Mosharraf was transferred to the 4th East Bengal Regiment in the then East Pakistan from West Pakistan. He served as deputy chief of the 4th East Bengal Regiment in Comilla from March 20 to March 25, 1971.

Before March 25, this regiment was ordered to move from Comilla to Brahman-baria. It was at that time that he � rst smelled conspiracy and set up a temporary camp in Brahmanbaria. Soon after he heard the news about the events of March 25 and Bangaband-hu’s proclamation of independence on March 26, he held the Pakistani chief as prisoner, took the responsibility of the entire regiment, and started making preparations for a possi-ble war. He faced the Pakistanis with courage and gallantry.

His skills, quali� cations, and bravery kept on bringing him one leadership duty after another. Initially, he led armed battles as the commander of Sector 2. Later, as the com-mander of “K” Force, he successfully con-ducted guerrilla warfare. As a result, among all the sector commanders, his success was widely publicised locally and internationally. He was hit by a bullet on the battle� eld in 1971 and carried that bullet in him the rest of his life. Because of his sharp military knowl-edge, Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf was able to form a guerrilla force. His soldiers quickly approached Dhaka and hoisted Bangladesh � ags in the capital. He was also present during the surrender of the Pakistan army on December 16. The “K” Force and Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf has the biggest claim to its success. The “K” Force was always formida-ble on the battle� eld.

After independence, as a freedom � ghter and an army o� cer inspired by the spirit of the Liberation War, Khaled Mosharraf dedicated himself to the humongous task of

building the golden Bengal of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s dreams. Immedi-ately after Bangabandhu and his family were brutally killed on August 15, 1975, Khaled Mosharraf, then the chief of general sta� of the army, made a decision to topple the illegal Mostaq government.

On November 3, 1975, under his leadership, the Bangladesh Army brought an end to the illegal rule of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, the mastermind behind the Bangabandhu killing. At that time, he was accompanied by a group of immensely courageous o� cers and jawans. He freed Bangabhaban from the evil occupation of the killers Faruq-Rashid-Dalim.

It was also him who brought back the chain-of-command in the Bangladesh Army. Mostaq made Ziaur Rahman the army chief as reward for being involved in the killing of Bangabandhu. Ziaur Rahman started directly helping the killers after getting the post. He took one heinous step after another to destroy the principles and spirit of the Liber-ation War. The criminals, who led the brutal murder of the four national leaders in Dhaka Central Jail on November 2, upon Mostaq’s orders, also got shelter from Ziaur Rahman.

It is con� rmed that the then deputy army

chief Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman was actively involved with the conspiracies of November 7. The Biplobi Shoinik Shangstha (the revo-lutionary soldier’s organisation) distributed lea� ets inside Dhaka Cantonment at night on November 5, 1975, giving rise to chaos.

As a consequence, in the name of the so-called uprising of people and soldiers on November 7, 1975, many brave freedom � ght-ers in the army, including Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf, were killed with bullets and bayonets upon Ziaur Rahman’s orders. In the same way, through one murder after another, Zia took over state power on November 7, 1975. Soon after taking over state power, he began his politics of murders, abduction and bloodshed. The army o� cers, general sol-diers, and leaders and activists, who believed in the ideologies of Bangabandhu, were the victims.

Even before the war began, Ziaur Rah-man’s activities and behaviour were not in fa-vour of the Bangalis. On March 26, even after Bangabandhu proclaimed independence, he went to bring arms and ammunitions for the Pakistan army from a ship at Chittagong Port. These arms and ammo were used in killing Bangalis and freedom � ghters.

When others tried to stop him from doing that, he became angry. Later, he had to be held at gunpoint and forced to read out the proclamation of independence from the Kalurghat radio station as the senior-most o� cial present there. At the time, the Libera-tion War had already begun.

Right after joining the Liberation War, Zia became involved in plotting various con-spiracies. He tried to take over and become the chief of the freedom force. But Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf Bir Uttam foiled his attempts. Zia came up with another plot on July 11, 1971, in the meeting of sector com-manders at 8 Theatre Road in Kolkata. In that meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed, Maj Zia proposed to form a war council. Eventually, Khaled Mosharraf’s intervention foiled their conspiracy to form a war council to sideline the Mujibnagar government in exile.

That proposal was basically an expression of no con� dence against Col Osmani, the commander of the liberation army. For most of the war, Zia himself stayed at the head-quarters of the interim government and sent his co-� ghters to the battle� eld. By staying at the headquarters, he kept an eye on the activities of Col Osmani. And for this, at least twice, Zia had been withheld from giving battle� eld command.

Army o� cers, general soldiers, and the leaders and activists inspired by Bangab-andhu’s principles became victims of Zia’s politics. His plan was to kill all these leaders and activists to make the pro-Liberation War force weak and turn independent Bangladesh into a minion of Pakistan. That was why, right after occupying state power in 1975, he made the anti-liberation Razakar and al-Badr mem-bers partners in the government and gradual-ly rehabilitated them as part of his long-term conspiracy to turn Bangladesh into Pakistan again. Four decades have passed since those gallant commanders, including Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf, were killed. Will we ever see justice for their murders? I want to press forward the demand for trial of the murders of everyone who strongly stood against those who killed Bangabandhu. These trials should be held for the sake of the nation.

He, who was destined to lay his life down to liberate the motherland, ended up getting killed in the hands of anti-revolutionary and anti-liberation forces, on the very land he fought for freedom. It is unfortunate for the entire nation that the murderer of this man has not been tried, although 39 years have passed. Insh’allah, Sheikh Hasina will ensure justice for the murders of all the freedom � ghters, including Khaled Mosharraf, just like she ensured justice for the Bangabandhu kill-ing, jail killings, war crimes, and the Pilkhana carnage.

The dreams of all those who were brutally killed on November 7, including Khaled Mosharraf, will be ful� lled only if their killers can be brought to justice and the spirit of the Liberation War and Bangabandhu’s principles can be established in an independent and sovereign Bangladesh. l

Mahjabeen Khaled is a member of parliament.

A matter of national interest

The dreams of all those who were brutally killed on November 7, including Khaled Mosharraf, will be ful� lled only if their killers can be brought to justice

Heroes who were killed because they fought for Bangabandhu’s ideals must be avenged

Major Gen Mosharraf’s contribution to the nation cannot be denied

14DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

n FZ Aijazuddin

Both India and Pakistan have yet to decide to which century they wish to belong. Does India seriously want to return to the Vedic age? Or Pakistan

to an Arabia that predated Wahhabism?Never have these two neighbours stood so

far apart: Politically, culturally, linguistically, and ideologically.

Their governments under Sri Narendra Modi and Mian Nawaz Sharif respectively, taking a cue from the range of their nucle-ar-tipped missiles, prefer di� erent focal lengths, di� ering horizons.  

It is no secret that their armed forces glare at each other with sinister concentration. O� cial spokespersons hurl snowball epithets at each other that sting for a moment, then melt without trace.

Their civilians ache for the human contact that dissolves barriers. Peaceable voices continue to be shouted down by the louder cacophony of extremists, then drowned out

by the deafening silence of political leaders.Over the past few days, the de� nition of

courage has been ampli� ed by such noted Indian public � gures as the historian Romila Thapar, IT entrepreneur Narayana Murthy, and the poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar. Each has spoken out against the rising levels of intoler-ance that threatens the very persona of India.

Romila Thapar, one of the sub-continent’s most respected scholars, has documented its history. She has interpreted it.

In books such as her even-handed anal-ysis Somanatha: The Many Voices of Histo-ry (2005), she has challenged it. What she has refused to do is to re-write it.

Her belief in a secular society is well-known: “You can have co-existence of all religions, but unless there is a social equality amongst all religions, it is not secular.”

Another concerned voice of reason has been that of Narayana Murthy, described by Time magazine as the Founder of Indian IT. “The reality today is that there is con-siderable fear in the minds of minorities in India,” Murthy told NDTV recently, “... in the minds of people of one region living in another region.”

His wife Sudha demonstrated their personal pluralism when, during a visit to La-hore, she asked to visit the tomb of Emperor Jahangir. Her reason? She wanted to honour Jahangir as a symbol of secularism -- the union of a Muslim Mughal father and a Hindu Rajput mother.  

Javed Akhtar has asserted that Urdu did not derive its DNA from religion. “Urdu was the � rst language that was secular, anti-fun-

damentalist and anti-conventions since the beginning,” he has said. “Now, we label Urdu as a language of Muslims or a particular region or country.” Being a poet, he left his meanings unspoken, � oating between his words. Unsaid was the insidious equivalence: Hindu=India, Muslim=Pakistan; Hindi=Indi-an, Urdu=Pakistani; and at a stretch Hin-du=vegetarian, Muslim=cow-eating carni-vore.

Palates can distinguish readily between mutton and cattle meat. The distinction between cow meat and bu� alo meat, though, is not noticed as clearly in Pakistan as it is in India.

India is the largest exporter of beef in the world (overtaking Brazil). Hindu Indians take pains to explain that while the slaughter of cows is both irreligious and illegal, the deci-mation of bu� aloes does not attract an equiv-alent religious censure. Might this be the reason why Nandi (Shiva’s vahana) is always depicted as a benign bull, and Mahish-asura as a demonic bu� alo?  

In this overcrowded sub-continent, Indi-ans and Pakistanis (and Bangladeshis) share a common geography, common religions, common musical and cultural traditions.

But to paraphrase Winston Churchill’s wit-ticism about the British and the Americans (“divided by a common language”), these three nations stand divided by a common history.

Today, they mouth separate historical narratives, venerate separate heroes, foster separate credos, and nurse separate unassuaged grievances.  

Hindu and Muslim theists in all three countries are so con� dent of their dogmas that they are unaware how close they skirt to Richard Dawkins’s de� nition of an atheist: Someone who believes “there is a god -- from Ra to Shiva -- in which he does not believe.”  

Their politicians practice their own style of atheism by advising their constituents which countries, which communities, which religionists they should not trust.

For example, in the Indian Bihar elections this week, the BJP tried to alarm voters with the absurd bogey that should BJP lose there, Pakistan (not Indian Congress) will celebrate by exploding � reworks.  

Why do governments choose to remain tongue-tied? Bertrand Russell, writing in war-torn 1943, foresaw their predicament: “The power of governments over belief in the present day is vastly greater than at any earlier time.

A belief, however untrue, is important when it dominates the actions of large mass-es of men … it is easy, given military power, to produce a population of fanatical lunatics.

It would be equally easy to produce a population of sane and reasonable people, but many governments do not wish to do so, since such people would fail to admire the politicians who are at the head of these governments.” l

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

Their politicians practice their own style of atheism by advising their constituents which countries, which communities, which religionists they should not trust

Blind faiths

The tension between Modi and Nawaz is palpable REUTERS

Opinion

Why do India and Pakistan stand so far apart?

Arts & Letters 15D

TSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Cultural pluralism in Bangladesh16 Reading the news

with a conscience17 Patterns in the dark18

Dhaka Lit Fest 2015 will take place at the Bangla Academy, Thursday, November 19 to Saturday, November 21 Register now for a free 3-day ticket at dhakalitfest.com

INSIDE

Arts & Letters16DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

n Shuprova Tasneem

Bengali culture has always been synonymous with pluralism, and centuries of multi-layered in� uenc-es have created a vast array of local

traditions that are anything but homoge-nous. Our traditions are in� uenced by our livelihoods, by ethnicities and localities, by religious and spiritual beliefs and of course, by language. In turn, all of these di� erent frontiers are in� uenced by each other, and are constantly evolving and reshaping them-selves to form the wonderfully multifaceted culture of Bangladesh.

The stories of our livesThe green landscapes and tranquil beauty of rural Bangladesh have been a constant source of inspiration for Bengali poets and songwrit-ers. Our vast rivers have given birth to the tradition of Bhatiyali folk music, whereas the long journeys on ox carts have created the tradition of Bhawaiya music in North Bengal. These are only a few examples -- starting from the Gombhiras that discuss social issues to the Agamani-Bijaya that celebrates the return of Parvati to her home in Bengal, local livelihoods and beliefs have always strongly in� uenced folk culture in all corners of Bangladesh. All of our folk culture is also in� uenced by a strong oral tradition, and often generations of rural households are involved in keeping their fam-ily rituals alive without knowing how to read and write all this down, but simply through their daily practices and collective memory.

What is most interesting about these in-� uences is that they are not monolithic -- es-pecially in rural areas, people continue to fol-low their local traditions and be in� uenced by their regional rituals, although on paper it might seem to be at odds with their religious beliefs. This is especially true in the case of folk festivals such as the worshipping of the serpent goddess Manasa to protect against snakebites, which is most often done by rural snake-charmers and traditional healers. The worship of the benevolent forest goddess Bon-Bibi, who protects people from tigers and crocodiles in the forests of the South, is another example of local traditions and con-textual practices seeping into the daily lives of people from all sections of society. In all of these cases, these local deities are revered by Bangladeshis of all religions, including Islam.

Spirituality and cultural diversityAccording to Saymon Zakaria, Assistant Di-rector at Bangla Academy, the majority of our folk traditions have existed for centuries and continued alongside the advent of many reli-gions in this regions without creating much con� ict, despite what we may think.

“The rural population in Bengal has an

incredible quality of not viewing everything from a fundamental black and white point of view -- they are able to accept their religion but also continue traditions that are tied in with their livelihoods and family customs. Additionally, we also have a strong tradition of spirituality that exists alongside our reli-gions and allows us to hold on to our culture.”

This spirituality is most apparent in the Baul music of Bangladesh, which represents a long heritage of mysticism and combines it with a longing for oneness with the divine as well as with all of humanity. In Baul music, we can often � nd the idea of a pure and supreme entity. In Bengali we call this “Niranjan” and, interestingly enough, mentions of Niranjan can be found not only in Baul music but in many of our folklore, including the Mana-sa worship rituals, which show the deeply spiritual core that is rooted in our traditions.

According to Zakaria, we are more likely to see variations in local cultures according to the region and often as a result of di� er-ent livelihoods, contexts and ethnicities. For example, during the Chaitra Shakranti,

some ethnic communities from the tea gar-dens walk barefoot across the hills with their musical instruments, and perform in front of temples in village and, if invited, stay there all night and perform spiritual songs. Similar-ly, Bengalis also dress up as Radha-Krishna and Shiv-Parvati and march through villages in similar fashions, but with slightly di� erent performances or attire.

Manasa puja and celebration of female powerRegional variations in culture are most ob-vious in studying the worship of the serpent goddess Manasa, a tradition that has existed for centuries in Bengal. In the Rangpur re-gion, Manasa is revered speci� cally by wid-ows who refer to her as “Bishohori” (steal-er of poison) and sing to her at night in the Bengali month of Sraban to protect them and their villages from harm. In the Rajshahi-Na-tore region, she is referred to as “Padmade-vi” because of her birth on lotus leaves, and villagers sing to her almost all year round in order to save them from snakebites and other dangers, rid them of disease and bring chil-

dren into their families. This is quite similar to the worship of

Manasa in Kushtia, only there it involves more of a dance drama performance. In Tan-gail, the worship of Manasa also involves the celebration of Behula and her struggle to save her husband from Manasa through dance dra-ma. In almost all parts of Bangladesh, there is some sort of river journey involved, and there is an abundance of regional variations in terms of rituals, music, dance, food, cloth-ing etc. In all of these rituals, people from all backgrounds and religions participate.

The celebration of the serpent goddess in its di� erent forms not only stands as a symbol of the cultural pluralism of Bangladesh, but embodies our core spiritual values and sym-bolises the celebration of female strength, both of Behula and the female deity Mana-sa. The oral and poetic traditions of Manasa puja have been a point of interest for cultural researchers as well. This is re� ected in The Triumph of the Snake Goddess, the � rst com-prehensive retelling of this epic tale in mod-ern English by scholar and poet Kaiser Haq. Published by Harvard University Press, this book will be launched at the Dhaka Lit Festi-val on 20 November, from 5-6pm. Haq will be in conversation with cultural activist Lubna Marium, who has done extensive work with folk traditions venerating Manasa, and folk expert and academic Syed Jamil Ahmed. l

Shuprova Tasneem is a journalist at the Dhaka Tribune.

Cultural pluralism in Bangladesh

The celebration of the serpent goddess in its di� erent forms not only stands as a symbol of the cultural pluralism of Bangladesh, but embodies our core spiritual values

● The Triumph of the Snake Goddess, 5pm, KK Tea Stage, Friday, November 20

● Oral Traditions in Bengal, 1pm, Medium Stage, Friday, November 20

● Behulha Lachari, 3:45pm, Bardhaman House, Saturday, 21 November

“Manasa reminds us of the stubborn immortality of the folk and the non-canonical when faced with the literary and canonical. This is a revelatory, fascinating, and compelling book.”

- Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others on The Triumph of the Snake Goddess

MOHAMMED MOZAMMEL HUQ TETU

n Niaz Alam

It says much about Jon Snow, the acclaimed British television journal-ist speaking at the Dhaka Lit Fest this month, that at the age of 68, he shows

no signs of slowing down.Although the longest running presenter

of Channel 4’s � agship ITN news program, he is far from drifting into a cosy retirement. His range of interests and involvement with numerous civil society organisations appear broader and more active than ever.

Never one to shy away from matters of conscience, he is highlighting the plight of Palestine in conversation with leading Pales-tinian poets as part of one of several DLF ses-sions in which he will be re� ecting on world a� airs.

Snow’s 2004 memoir Shooting History gives an insight into how his lifelong interest into what was known during his youth as the Third World has combined with his personal commitment to justice, to shape his left-lib-eral world-view and internationalist outlook.

As a television newsreader in the UK, where broadcast news is institutionally re-quired to strive to be fair and balanced, leav-ing it to the press to be partisan and biased, his news anchor role is rooted in objectivity, as it should be.

Hence, though he is candid in his books and numerous tweets and blog posts about his anger about global injustices and com-mitment to building a better world, leading him to be derided by the Daily Telegraph as a “pinko liberal,” he is better known to the wider British public as a friendly and familiar televisual presence, notorious only for wear-ing wildly colourful ties on the evening news.

Less of a stern authority � gure or competi-tively confrontational interviewer than some of the big beasts of BBC TV and radio news, Snow’s laid back nature and engaging man-ner makes him an ideal � gurehead of his tel-evision station, comfortable with guest ap-pearances on comedy shows and complying with public demand to meet the actor who plays his Game of Thrones namesake.

It is perhaps unfair given his passion for campaigning journalism, that Snow is best known for the eccentricity of his ties and for being an ardent cyclist pedaling his way around corridors of power in London.

But there is no getting away from Snow’s background, which, as a highly engaging and self-deprecating writer, he refers to in his book. A public school educated chorister whose father was a Bishop and headmaster, mother a concert pianist, grandfather a First

World War general, and whose cousin and nephew are prominent BBC current a� airs � gures, his present standing is arguably the epitome of a liberal member of the English Establishment.

The roots of Jon Snow’s interests in the world at large can be seen in his decision at 18 years of age to spend a year teaching in a school in Uganda. His views become clearer still by what he calls the “absolute watershed moment of my life,” when as a law student at Liverpool University in 1970, he was expelled along with ten others for leading a socialist student campaign and staging a massive sit in to protest the institutions investments in apartheid South Africa.

His quaintly termed rustication became the spur that drove the young Snow towards a career in journalism and a public life sup-porting a wide range of charities and liberal causes. Aside from a brief period at a charity for homeless young people, he has worked since the 70s as a journalist and presenter for Independent Television News.

In true British fashion, Snow and his fel-low expellees are now feted by Liverpool university with commemorative dinners, as be� ts the sea-change in establishment atti-tudes towards apartheid, which campaigners like Snow did their part to help bring about.

Snow himself now has an honourary doctor-ate from the same institution and among his many voluntary roles, has been a university Chancellor himself.

Tellingly, Snow has latterly disclosed how, in 1976, he rejected a lucrative approach by British intelligence services to spy on his col-leagues and certain “left-wing people” work-ing in television.

It is characteristic of his open and inde-pendent stance that he chose to disclose this episode. As is the fact that he has publicly declined an OBE because he believes work-ing journalists should not take honours from those on whom they report.

No surprise then given his global outlook, that despite being a long running news an-chor, Snow devotes most of his memoir to his experiences as a foreign correspondent and reporter. As well as � ling from war zones in Afghanistan and the Middle East, he spent many years covering Africa and Latin Amer-ica, and served as ITN’s main US correspond-ent during the 1980s.

What comes across most in the book is a strong sense of Snow’s empathy for the peo-ple he � lms and his criticisms of US foreign policy, which he convincingly argues as con-sistently failing to learn from past mistakes.

The book laments how western dominat-

ed global media has often historically ignored regions and stories that don’t � t an agenda for particular types of story. It is symptomat-ic, he believes, of a general western tendency to sideline or ignore the legacies of colonial-ism and imperialism which have blighted the global South.

As a grand old man of television news, Snow has certainly been doing his bit to ex-tend Channel 4’s news coverage to a broader world-view.

Far from limiting himself as he gets older to the topical interviews which are the high-light for most news anchors, he has personal-ly authored reports from Gaza and Haiti and presented an award winning 2011 documen-tary on war crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

One gets a strong sense then that Shooting History merely scratches the surface of a rich and interesting life.

Even so, with its light touch and anecdo-tal nature, Jon Snow’s memoir remains an highly accessible and illuminating snapshot of life in British television news over three decades.

As an appetiser for those going to see Snow at DLF, it promises that his talks and re-� ections will be much like the man himself, open-minded, frank, passionate and well in-formed. l

Niaz Alam has worked on ethical business issues since 1992 and is a former vice-chair of War on Want. He is Chief Editorial Writer at the Dhaka Tribune.

Arts & Letters 17D

TSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Reading the news with a conscienceA hugely illuminating snapshot of life in British television news over three decades, Jon Snow’s memoir, Shooting History, highlights the internationalist outlook which has shaped his career

● The World is Round, 11:30am, Main Stage, Thursday, November 19

● Palestine, 10:30am, Main Stage, Friday, November 20

“We fail as humankind if we do not devise a coming-together. Our leaders, as a vast priority, have to try and try again to use every mechanism in our rare animal capacity – our considerable intellects – to bring these peoples to resolution whatever the cost.”

- Jon Snow on Palestine in his Channel 4 blog

As a television newsreader in the UK, where broadcast news is institutionally required to strive to be fair and balanced, leaving it to the press to be partisan, his news anchor role is rooted in objectivity, as it should be

Arts & Letters18DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

n SN Rasul

As Sudeep Sen prepares to discuss his latest collection of poetry at this year’s Dhaka Lit Fest, there is much for fans and newcomers

alike to look forward to in his sessions. Sen has been publishing poetry for over

30 years. Over the course of his long career, he has seen both commercial -- not only in Bangladesh -- but also critical acclaim all around the world, with his books translated into over 25 languages.

In a panel discussing his latest publica-tion, Fractals, which covers work spanning the breadth of his ouevre, from poetry to translations, Sudeep Sen will be sitting down with Rosinka Chaudhuri.

Rosinka, herself, is an editor and an ac-complished professor at the Centre for Stud-ies in Social Sciences. She has been a visitign fellow at Columbia University and Cambridge University, and has edited various publica-tions. She has also been a prominent review-er for The Book Review and Times Literary Supplement.

One expects that the conversation will, if anything, be an interesting reveal of Sen’s obsession with science, and how he has al-ways attempted to create an amalgamation, to portray a correspondence between art and science in his work.

As explained in the book itself, fractals have multiple meanings, multiple implications. In mathematics, they have to do with fragmented shapes; in physics, with the idea of being broken, fragmented; some use it to explain how, some structures, despite the magnitude in which they are magni� ed, continue to exhibit the same shapes; and how, in some cases, they are used to convey a sense of brokenness, of fragments, of separation.

It is not surprising that such a behemoth of a publication has been named thus. There is no overarching narrative, but one some-how gets the sense that it exists, nagging at us from behind the subtextual remains of Sen’s psyche.

The book is erratic and dark, but calm-ing, hopeful. And even though it presents so much of Sen’s work, one senses a pattern in it. Encompassed in it are not just poems, not merely translations, but a sense of Sen’s own personality cracking through the pages, as he meets personalities, individuals, erratic characters on haphazard journeys. He visits a dungeon to gaze upon Cezanne’s bones, only to tear us away and places us outside of a cas-tle where “rouge delicacy underlines all that is valuable.”

And the poems themselves appear as lit-eral fractals on the page. The fragmented nature in which they are presented betray an

experimental streak in Sen that jumps at us from behind the nooks and crannies of the white sheets, the words seeming to echo, to move as disorganised ants.

The collection, however, is organised into themes. One claims an attachment to brief-cases, while another to Mount Vesuvius. But the poetry is intermittently interspersed with staccato jabs of half-caught phrases: “new shapes – art revealed,” “an outline of the psyche,” and “spit atoms … congeal ions.”

And also is interrupted by his mother tongue, and how much his heritage has in-� uenced him. The soft intonations of “didu” and “Rabinidra sangeet,” with the rounded pronunciations and lighter d’s, � ow through the sentences, almost adding a layer of thick-ness across the lines.

But as one reviewer says: “The central ‘self’-similarity, or fractal, of course, is the poet’s own sensibility.” And as one goes deeper, delves further into the plethora of wide-ranging work that Sen has put togeth-er in Fractals, one cannot help but feel lost. But there is a profundity that is present in the prose that is not easily caught elsewhere, al-most twinged with broken sadness.

And one hopes this sense of profound rev-elatory sadness is present at the panel this year. l

SN Rasul is a writer. Follow him @snrasul.

Patterns in the darkOrganised chaos rules Sudeep Sen’s newest publication, Fractals

The soft intonations of ‘didu’ and ‘Rabinidra sangeet,’ with the rounded pronunciations and lighter d’s, � ow through the sentences, almost adding a layer of thickness across the lines

“‘The more you know, the less you need’ -- but that is not true at all for thirst, water, or rain.”

- Sudeep Sen

Sudeep Sen is a poet, translator, artist, and editor. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and was an Inlaks Scholar at Columbia University, where he earned an MS in journalism. He is recognized as one of India’s � nest younger poets.

Fractals, 10:30am, Cosmic Tent, Saturday, November 21

Notable booksDali’s Twisted Hands (1995)

Postmarked India (1997)

Postcards from Bangladesh (2002)

BIGSTOCK

Learn English 19D

T

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Want to find more learning activities? Visit www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish © British Council 2012

Word search

Exercise 1

summary a

Exercise 2

1 True

2 False

3 False

4 False

5 True

6 False

Exercise 3

a hat

b shirt, jumper

c trousers, socks, skirt

AnswersSee if you can find these words in the grid. They can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal and backwards.

CHANG_

ORG_NIC

CUSTOM_R POLLU_

ION

FA_RIC

PR_FITS

FLEXI_LE

SUPPLIERS

LAB_UR

SWE_TSHOP

M P H P K H U Z P V H T S

Y I R Y O F R E Q Q F W F

P X M O H L C U B G E S K

C I F N F H L K O A T L Y

F A W T A I M U T B G D D

L A L N J W T S T N A U R

E M G R S M H S T I H L E

X E Q C F O H C L X O I M

I S U P P L I E R S P N O

B C J S T X S V H B U N T

L F L F U C X I X J Q K S

E S B C I R B A F E H Z U

H D R C C I N A G R O P C

The ideas factory 16

Business and ethics by Carolyn HardwickCase study: James Carston, Fine Shirtmakers

Set up in the 1920s by James Carston, a Manchester tailor, the company has remained in the family and is now run by James’ grandson, Paul Carston. Employing fewer than 50 people, the company has a reputation for producing high-quality men’s shirts, which it sells by mail order, and has a loyal customer base. As Paul Carston says: ‘Once someone has tried our shirts, they tend to come back for more. Our customers appreciate the attention to detail and the high-quality fabric we use.’ And it’s the fabric they now use that makes the company exceptional in the world of men’s shirt manufacturers.

When Paul Carston took over running the company in 1999, he inherited a business that prided itself on using local, well-paid machinists rather than sweatshop labour, and looked upon its employees as members of an

extended family. Paul, a committed environmentalist, felt that the company fitted in well with his values. The shirts were made from 100 per cent cotton, and as Paul says: ‘It’s a completely natural fibre, so you would think it was environmentally sound.’ Then Paul read a magazine article about fair trade and cotton producers. He was devastated to read that the cotton industry is a major source of pollution, and that the synthetic fertilisers used to produce cotton are finding their way into the food chain.

Paul takes up the story. ‘I investigated our suppliers, and sure enough found that they were producing cotton on an industrial scale using massive amounts of chemicals. Then I looked into organic cotton suppliers, and found an organisation of Indian farmers who worked together to produce organic cotton on a fair trade basis. Organic cotton is considerably more expensive than conventionally produced cotton, so I did the sums. I discovered that if we were

prepared to take a cut in profits, we would need to add only a couple of pounds to the price of each shirt to cover the extra costs. The big risk, of course, was whether our customers would pay extra for organic cotton.’

Paul did some research into the ethical clothing market and discovered that although there were several companies producing casual clothing such as T-shirts in organic cotton, there was a gap in the market for smart men’s shirts. He decided to take the plunge and switch entirely to organic cotton. He wrote to all his customers explaining the reasons for the change, and at the same time the company set up a website so they could sell the shirts on the internet. The response was encouraging. Although they lost some of their regular customers, they gained a whole customer base looking for formal shirts made from organic cotton, and the company is going from strength to strength. l

Pre-reading task 1 What are ethical clothes?2 What is organic cotton?Now, read the article and see if your answers are correct.

Exercise 1Comprehension: Summary. Look at these summaries of the text. Which is the best summary?1. Began trading in 1923 and has always

been a family business; has always paid its employees well; now produces men’s shirts using organic cotton

2. Began trading in 1919 and was sold to Paul Carston in 1999; stopped using sweatshop labour in 1999; now produces T-shirts in organic cotton

3. Began trading in 1999 and set up by Paul Carston; all employees are members of his family; produces formal and casual men’s clothes in organic cotton

Exercise 2Comprehension: True or false. Read the article and decide if the following statements are true or false: 1. James Carston was Paul’s grandfather.2. The company has over 50 employees.3. The shirts are sold in shops.4. When Paul started running the

company, he immediately decided to change to organic cotton.

5. Conventionally produced cotton is cheaper than organic cotton.

6. The company didn’t lose any customers when they changed to organic cotton.

Exercise 3Vocabulary: Grouping. Put these items of clothing into the correct column – a) for items worn on the head; b) for items worn on the chest; and c) for items worn on the legs or feet:hat / trousers / socks / shirt / skirt / jumper

20DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

n Tim Steel

I am very aware of tiptoeing where, even, angels might fear to tread. However, a very evidently unique Islamic tradition, that appears to have coexisted within

a diversity of religious beliefs for centuries, seems the very essence of a social, cultural, economic, political, and philosophical heritage of what is Bangladesh, and who are the people of Bangladesh, today.

That diversity that pre-existed in these very unique lands of the Ganges delta, that are now the lands of Bangladesh can only inspire, in the observer and student, a very special admiration and awe.

There is, in fact, no part of Bangladesh that has not experienced the in� uence of Islamic teaching from its earliest times, in the seventh century.

It is, of course, equally true that there is also no part of Bangladesh that has not experienced the teaching, and practice, of philosophical and religious beliefs from earliest animist, through shamanic, Hindu,

Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, and even Christian, as well as many of the sub-sects of these great groups, and agnosticism and, no doubt, actually rare though it may be, even atheism. And, without doubt, observably so to the traveller through even the remotest corners of the land, as I have been privileged to experience over nearly 20 years, all aspects of that diversity continues to exist, even today.

Through them all run threads of idealism, realism, mysticism, and even commercialism; but then, the Ganges delta, lands that lie at the heart of Bangladesh today, was probably one of the world’s earliest centres of trade, and cultural exchange. And as the great 18th century French philosopher, Charles- Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu, famously observed: Peace is the natural consequence of trade. And a consequence of peace, and wealth, is unquestionably, social, cultural, and even philosophical advance. Small surprise, then, that these lands around the Ganges saw the evolution of great groups of philosophical belief -- shamanism, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, amongst them, as well as great centres of learning, and even linguistics, such as Sanskrit.

Both the historic culture, as well as the increasing rigidity of such as the Brahmanic tradition of Hinduism, and the almost endemic wealth that sprang, for centuries, from the trade and native agricultural and manufactured production, attracting the later depredations of displaced and adventurous Afghans, may well have provided, from earliest times of the development of Islam, converts.

That such conversions were neither forced, nor widespread is, perhaps, suggested in the writings of Ibn Battuta, who observed the valuable gifts of gold and silk, donated by the Muslim rulers at the time of his 14th century visit to Sonargaon, to converts.

The Islamisation of the lands that are now Bangladesh is widely credited, today, to the arrival of the Turkic speaking soldiers of the Persian-Islamic civilisation, who seized power in north India as the Delhi Sultanate, early in the 13th century, with Bengal as the target for one part of the loose alliance of the men, many of whom were, basically, soldier-slaves, accompanied by a strong in� uence of Su� sm.

But there is, in fact, little doubt that Islam arrived much earlier, even during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh).

An uncle of the Prophet, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, is credited with the foundation of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, in 627CE/AD. His travel as a trader is said to have been through the port of Chittagong, whence, almost certainly, he travelled up the Brahmaputra, and along the Lohit River valley into Sichuan and Yunnan, to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and thence to the coast.

Chittagong of the ninth century is believed to have already contained a shrine built to memorialise Bayazid Bastami, a Persian Su� saint. And, indeed, there is every reason to think so; although Bayazid may well never have visited the place, there it is known that a community of Muslim traders was based there, probably, from early in the seventh century, since we know that, already, the � rst of the “Silk Roads”

A unique Islamic traditionThe Islamisation of Bangladesh can be traced back many centuries

There is, in fact, no part of Bangladesh that has not experienced the in� uence of Islamic teaching from its earliest times, in the seventh century

Heritage

commenced from there, almost certainly over 1,000 years earlier.

Then, of course, near Rangpur, in North Bengal, there is the possible early mosque at Lalmonirhat, known as the “Lost Mosque.” Built, perhaps, around 690 CE/AD, close to the junction of the Teesta, and Brahmaputra, it could well have marked a gathering place of Muslim traders, since both rivers give access to ancient trading centres in, or through, the Himalayas.

Whatever the tangible evidence, certainly the empirical evidence for an early advance of Islam into these lands lurks in the background of such regimes as the great Pala Dynasty, with their own apparent religious beliefs, but clear evidence of their religious tolerance. A tolerance, incidentally, apparently displayed by subsequent Muslim regimes in the area, especially that of the Mughals.

Chinese Islamic historians, in fact, credit Abi Waqqas with being one of the originators of the introduction of Islam into China,

and since he is believed to have made use of Chittagong for some of his travels, there is no logical reason for supposing that the evangelism of Islam had to wait another half millennium.

There is, however, no doubt, that once the Turkic Muslims reached the lands of Bangladesh, their administration may well have appealed to, at least, some of the indigenous peoples with their extraordinarily rich history.

Hailing from the Caliphates of the Middle East, and the depredations thereabouts, of the Mongol onslaught, they certainly had the capacity and experience to bring with them not only their military expertise, more than a touch of the experience of dealing, militarily, with the Mongols, but also something of the cultural heritage of those very sophisticated and “civilised” Caliphates.

Whether soldier slaves of the Caliphate tradition, simply adventurers, or just refugees, they � ed the Mongols in all directions, and south east into India was one favoured direction.

Often led by warriors of repute, their groupings usually gathered around a charismatic holy man, whose mastery of mystic powers, that owed as much to pre-Islamic Shamanic traditions as to their hero status that was akin to the great Nordic characters of the contemporary west. They were, in fact, tightly bonded groups.

It has been mooted that these bands of “holy adventurers” were responsible for a kind of Holy War against the Hindu, Buddhist and Shamanic indigenous traditions.

However, more recent research into these adventurers suggest that, as the 14th century traveller, Ibn Battuta, recorded in his journal of his meeting with the famous Shah Jalal in modern Sylhet, “The sheikh was one of the great saints....He had to his credit keramat (miracles) well known

to the public as well as great deeds ... The inhabitants of these mountains had embraced Islam at his hands, and for this reason he stayed amidst them.” There is, in fact, empirical evidence that the native inhabitants were of a Shamanic tradition, living largely beyond the great Hindu and Buddhist traditions of other parts of the region.

Like, it seems, most of the bands of adventurers, who travelled without families, Shah Jalals were encouraged to settle as householders, and marry local women.

In fact, there are numerous references, from more recent times, especially in the 16th and 17th century, to the sense that much of what was then the Assamese area were, as one Mughal o� cer wrote, “notorious for magic and sorcery,” which sounds remarkably like Shamanic traditions, even in the west, such as the Celtic Druids.

That the Su� tradition had some commonality with these traditions suggests that integration, more than religious war, was the common part.

There is no doubt that the warrior adventurers slowly gained ascendancy, and that the educated of Afghanistan origin assumed, together with some of Persian

origin, administrative roles. There is little doubt that, almost, civil war, between the warrior bands persisted, until the arrival in the mid-16th century of the Mughals, with an administration of far more Persian tradition, continued to bedevil these lands.

The arrival of the Mughal-Persian administrators eased the earlier rulers from the cities, “to have, and to hold,” more rural areas. It seems quite clear, however, that in both urban and rural societies, a high degree of the religious tolerance, characteristic of the rule of the 13th century refugees from the Mongols through the Mughal period, ensued into the British period.

That, it seems, was the early history of the Islamisation of these lands of Bangladesh; not so very di� erent, in fact, to Islamic traditions around the world, throughout history.

Whatever, if anything, has more recently changed in this, internationally, at least, in these lands of Bangladesh today, there is little doubt that the vast majority of its people continue to share a tradition that has served it well enough from the time of the Prophet (pbuh) himself.l

Tim Steel is a tourism consultant.

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TSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Whatever the tangible evidence, certainly the empirical evidence for an early advance of Islam into these lands lurks in the background of such regimes as the great Pala Dynasty, with their own apparent religious beliefs

Near Rangpur, in North Bengal, there is the possible early mosque at Lalmonirhat, known as the “Lost Mosque.” Built, perhaps, around 690 CE/AD, close to the junction of the Teesta, and Brahmaputra, it could well have marked a gathering place of Muslim traders.

Heritage

News22DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 201522D

T

Intel Security MIS-3 antivirus offers protection on your internet usage for 1170 days, or three years with three months bonus. It has built in NetGuard technology which is a two way firewall system and network manager that keeps your Wi-Fi network safe. It has parental control and site advisor too which warns you whether a website is safe or not. Worried about email spam? This Intel Security suit has a anti-spam filter which blocks unwanted

files, links or any other data comes with a spam message. This antivirus is especially designed for brand PCs. Intel Security MIS-3 will cost only Tk2000. You will find it at any show room of Computer Village which is authorised distributor of Intel Security products in Bangladesh and at other IT markets of the country too. For further information, call 01713240775 or 01713240741. l

Intel Antivirus o� er

Lead n Explore’s leadership workshop concludesLead n Explore endures to lead the way with new and innovative ways to assist in skilling and empowering corporate teams with the qualitative learning experiences. In continuation of the soft skill hosting event, Lead n Explore arranged a day workshop titled “INSPIRATION 3C: ACCESS TO LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE” on October 30. This exclusive event was facilitated by renowned national speaker and performance enhancement catalyst, Masud Rayhan. A total of 20 participants from various corporate houses took part in the workshop at a city hotel. Asfaque Ahmed, chief operating officer of Lead n Explore, inaugurated the workshop and distributed certificates of appreciation among the participants at the concluding session. l

The Department of English of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) is organising a three-day international conference entitled “Diasporas and Diversities: Teaching English in a Changing World,” which will commence on Thursday, November 5 and continue till Saturday, November 7.

The inaugural ceremony of the conference was held on Thursday, November 5 at the IUB campus in Bashundhara, Dhaka. A total of 66 papers will be presented in the conference.

Syed Manzoorul Islam, professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka

presented the keynote paper on “English Matters: Language in a Multicultural World.”

Towhid Bin Muza� ar, head, Department of English, IUB, delivered the welcome speech. Prof Zakir Hossain Raju, dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Prof M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor, IUB, spoke at the occasion.

The conference will o� er a forum for discussion, bringing together scholars, academics and language practitioners interested in this dynamic � eld of study. l

International English conference begins at IUB

Syed Manzoorul Islam presenting the keynote paper on “English Matters: Language in a Multicultural World” at IUB.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

A peek into the mysterious lives of “doms”

nSaqib Sarker

The mortuary sta� that assist the pathologists in carrying out the autopsies are known as “doms” (pronounced ‘dome’). The medical professionals

who perform the autopsies are called pathologists. Theoretically the “doms” are anatomical pathology technicians or assistant to the pathologists, whose main job is to support the pathologists in performing the autopsy. This includes preparing the body and taking all the organs out of the body.

In our country, this job is traditionally performed by people who inherited the profession from their forebears. Dr Kazi Muhammad Abushama, the head of Forensic Department at Dhaka Medical College (DMC), says that the “doms” were � rst brought to this region by the British during the British rule of India. They were then trained by the British physicians to carry out this work.

“Dom” is in fact a title for a lower caste Hindu community who were, and still is, considered among the untouchables. Even before the British trained them and brought

them here, this community typically did the work of handling dead bodies. In fact, that is the reason why the British chose them for this job.

Recruited as fourth class government employees, the “doms” do not get high salaries. They also proved to be extremely reluctant to be interviewed by journalists. Even after receiving clearance from the Forensic Department at the DMC to contact them, it was di� cult to get any of the “doms” to appear out of the morgue buildings for a chat.

A contact at DMC took yours truly to a bright and jolly looking young man named Opu (original name not used). He is the brother of the main “dom.” We were asked to wait because his elder brother was not be available in the next two hours.

What Opu did not disclose at the time, was that he too, is a “dom.” After a wait of two and a half hours, Opu � nally made a reappearance, and it was time to enter one of the morgue buildings (but not the morgue itself).

This journalist was then summarily handed over to another man, who appeared to be in his 40’s and visibly reluctant to speak, before Opu himself made a hasty

exit.This man was Topu (not real name), one

of the three “doms” who work at the DMC morgue. The head dom is his elder brother, and the youngest being the man we’ve named Opu.

The eldest brother had, � at out, refused to speak to any journalist. The man presently speaking to the Dhaka Tribune also seemed extremely uncomfortable, insisting there isn’t much to know about their lives. This was going to take some coaxing.

After repeated requests, he relented, and this is what we’ve learned:

The three brothers are the only “doms” working at the DMC. They have been doing this for three generations.

They dissect � ve to seven bodies on a daily basis. It can be even 10 bodies some days.

When asked if he feels any mental stress because of the nature of the job he said that he doesn’t. “Look, it’s a job and we just do it. You can’t really think about it too much.”

Topu wanted to avoid the question of whether he would have liked to enter a di� erent profession, like all other questions. After a moment of silence he said: “Yes,

actually. I was young and I was bit of a di� cult kid but su� ce it to say that I got myself into trouble. I had wanted something di� erent for me. But I had no choice in the end.”

Topu has been working at the morgue for 22 years. His older brother has been here for 34 years. And his younger brother Opu has been here for 10 years.

To all intents and purposes, the youngest brother made his own decision to enter this line of work.

When asked what he wanted for his own family, Topu said he doesn’t want them to take up this profession. “My children go to school. And I don’t want this life for them.”

Here probably lies all the reasons why they are so reluctant to speak to a journalist. The profession has a lot of stigma attached to it. And a father does not want his children to be known as the children of a “dom.” Even though Topu does not say so in so many words, it is obvious in his demeanor.

Topu hopes that they will be promoted to third class employees and most importantly for him, wishes that government quarters will be sanctioned for them. The father of two hopes that he might just be able to secure a normal future for his children. l

“Look, it’s a job and we just do it. You can’t really think about it too much.“

When I’m gone

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

News24DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT), Bangladesh and Saxion University of Applied Science, Netherlands signed a MoU in the � eld of vocational and education.

Muza� ar U Siddique, founder chairman of Board of Trustees, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) and H S Koster, head of the school of Creative Technology (ACT) of Saxion University of Applied Science, a Dutch Vocational University, signed a MoU on behalf of their respective universities. The signing ceremony was held at Prime Minister’s resident of the Netherlands on November 4 with the gracious presence of Honourable Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and Honorable Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. l

MoU between Saxion University of Applied Science and BUFT

Maasranga Television and Sun Events have taken on the task of discovering themselves and helping others do the same. They believe that the whole world will now discover the colossal treasure that is folk music. Folk music will not lose its way among urban culture. The new generation will now know about folk music. The practice will again be revived.

Meril presents “Dhaka International Folk Fest,” is a new venture that highlights the folk music of Bangladesh and Bangladeshi culture in the world arena. The music festival of discovering our roots, organised jointly by Maasranga Television and Sun Events, will be held at the Army Stadium premises in Dhaka from November 12 – 14, from 5pm to 1am. Over 100 artists from � ve countries around the world will be taking the stage. Such a huge cultural event for people from all walks of life is a � rst in Bangladesh.

The mentionable artists participating in the event are Bangladesh’s Farida Parveen, Momotaz Begum, Bari Siddiqui, Rob Fakir, Kiran Chandra Roy, Chandona Majumdar, Sha� Mondol, Nashid Kamal, Labik Kamal Gaurob, Magic Bauliana and many others. Pakistani artists include Abida Parveen and Saieen Zahoor. From India there is Papon, Indian Ocean, Nooran Sisters, Manganiyars from Hamira, Arko Mukhaerjee, Paban Das Baul, Parvathy Baul. Niamh Ni Charra from Ireland and the Yunnan Art Troupe from China will also be participating. Through their lyrics and melodies, they will enchant the audience in this three-day-long event.

Anyone can enjoy the event for free through online or SMS registration.

For online registration, please visit:

www.dhakainternationalfolkfest.com or www.shohoz.com/events.

For SMS registration, type DIFF and sent to 6969.

After successful registration, the entry pass will be emailed. When entering the venue, one must bring the photo ID used for the registration process and a printed copy of the entry pass. Registration is limited. For details, call 16374 and further information can be found in the “Dhaka International Folk Fest” Facebook page.

The festival’s broadcast partner is Maasranga Television supported by Bengal

Digital; PR Partner Mediacom Limited; medical partner Square Hospital Limited; security partner AEGIS Security Force; technology partner Square Informatix Ltd; hospitality partner Amari Dhaka; registration partner Shohoz.com; food partner Radhuni; co-sponsor Ruchi; and the festival is organised by Sun Events.

The organisation believes that, through cooperation, support and direction, Dhaka Folk Fest can become a renowned event in the global arena and become established as the signature event of Bangladesh. Hence everyone is invited to join the event. l

Dhaka Folk Fest

Vice chancellor of Bangladesh Open University (BOU), Professor Dr M A Mannan, inaugurates the uploading and broadcasting (curriculum-linked) video on Web-TV BOU. This was part of a UK strategic partnership research project, and was screened at the preview theater of Media Center on November 5. l

Broadcast of curriculum linked video from BOU

25D

TSportPLAYERS TO WATCH

BANvZIM, 1ST ODI

INSIDESATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Chigumbura eager to set record straight Zimbabwe will be looking to bounce back from the recent series defeats at home against Afghanistan when they face Bangladesh in the � rst ODI in Mirpur today. Zimbabwe’s limited-over skipper Elton Chigumbura yesterday informed that they will come hard at the Tigers and try to erase the bitter memories. PAGE 26

LCLS, ULAB post convincing winsLondon College of Legal Studies and University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh opened their respective campaigns with comprehensive victories as the TK Sports University Outdoor cricket tournament got underway yesterday. LCLS defeated East West University by 75 runs while ULAB beat NSU by 97 runs. PAGE 27

Warne, Tendulkar want to mimic Beckham in USDavid Beckham is the millionaire model, sportsman and nice guy credited with helping make soccer more popular in the United States. And now Shane Warne wants to do the same for cricket. The Aus-tralian spin king has jetted into New York to embark on an exhibition tour. PAGE 28

All Blacks in Cup tribute to fallen teammateSeveral All Blacks have taken the World Cup on an unscheduled detour to a New Zealand cemetery for an emotional graveside tribute to fallen teammate Jerry Collins. The players took time out from their national victory tour to take the WC trophy to the grave of Collins, who died in a car crash in France last June. PAGE 29

MUSHFIQUR RAHIM (Ban)

Playing role: Wicketkeeper-batsmanBatting style: Right-hand bat

In the absence of opening batsman Soumya Sark-ar, who was ruled out of the Zimba-bwe ODIs and Twenty20 internation-als due to a

side-strain injury, Mush� q will be the highest-ranked batsman for Bangla-desh. The right-hander is placed 19th in the International Cricket Council’s ODI batting rankings while Soumya is positioned at 17th. Mush� q has shown he is in touch with the willow with his unbeaten 81-run knock in the lone warm-up against tourists Zimbabwe. The middle-order batsman faced 84 balls and thrashed the Zimbabwe bowl-ers all over the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, courtesy his � ve fours and two maximums. While the Tigers would expect their best batsmen to step up, the Zimbabwean attack will need to be on their guard against the home side’s batting spearhead.

CRAIG ERVINE (Zim)Playing role: Middle-order batsmanBatting style: Left-hand batBowling style: Right-arm o� reak

The ODI and T20I series defeats against Afghanistan was humili-ating enough for Zimbabwe but Ervine was perhaps the most frustrat-ed among the

lot. He began the ODIs with an unbeat-en 20 in the � rst match followed by a 43-run knock in the second game. But just when it appeared that the 30-year old was beginning to string together a run of good scores, disaster struck. He only scored 13 runs in the next three ODIs and just four runs in the T20Is. Ervine however, seemed to have turned around the corner after arriving in Bangladesh. In the solitary warm-up against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI last Thursday in Fatullah, Ervine propelled his side to their chase of 278, posting a � ne 99-ball 95. His knock was studded with nine boundaries and a six and left the Bangladesh attack frustrated. The hosts will be more than glad to see Ervine take a quick stroll to the dressing room today. –MINHAZ UDDIN KHAN

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza (L) is a keen listener as Zimbabwe head coach and former Tigers tactician Dav Whatmore (R) makes a point in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Mashrafe not looking beyond � rst ODIn Mazhar Uddin

In the event of an unlikely 3-0 whitewash in the three-ODI series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh will drop down to eighth in the International Cricket Council’s 50-over rankings but limited-over captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza is hardly bothered with that.

Instead, the “Narail Express” is only tak-ing each game as it comes, starting with the � rst of three ODIs today at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

“The � rst match is very important. Your nerves, and everything else depends on the � rst match. After it passes, everything be-comes easier. So at this point of time I will say the � rst match is important,” Mashrafe told the media yesterday in Mirpur.

“We are not concerned about rankings. I think discussing these issues will be nega-tive. We want everyone to play con� dently; that will be our main target. We just want to play the way we have been playing. I feel that we should just continue the way we have been playing this year,” he said.

As far as his � tness is concerned, Mashrafe is yet to be fully � t having recov-ered from dengue fever recently. The Tigers skipper though sounded hopeful when he said, “I am still not hundred percent, de� -nitely. It would be good if I could train more or recover more. Whenever I play for Bang-

ladesh and I feel that I can play, I take that risk. I am hopeful of surviving [any poten-tial injuries].”

Mashrafe added that Soumya Sarkar’s unfortunate injury came as a bodyblow to the Tigers ahead of the � rst ODI but said it will be a good opportunity for the likes of youngster Liton Kumar Das and opening batsman Imrul Kayes to showcase their tal-ents at the top of the batting order.

“We will miss Soumya. Not only a player but he is also a good teammate. He is a very exciting player. But this is a good chance for the others. Liton is there and so is Im-rul. Whoever plays has a good chance to express himself. I am hopeful. The entire team misses Soumya but one cannot look behind,” he said.

A few days ago ace Bangladesh all-round-er Shakib al Hasan said the home side will start as strong favourites against the Zim-babweans but Mashrafe said they will not think about dominating the opposition from the word go.

“I believe that rather than dominating, it’s important to win the match and only after that can we think about dominating. When you start doing well on the � eld, you automatically think about dominating, but when you think about dominating from the start, the pressure gets to you,” he concluded. l

Sport26DT

Chigumbura eager to set record straight n Mazhar Uddin

Zimbabwe will be looking to bounce back from the recent series defeats at home against Afghanistan when they face Bang-ladesh in the � rst of three ODIs at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

The Zimbabweans lost both the ODI and Twenty20 international series against the Afghans but their limited-over skipper Elton Chigumbura yesterday informed the media that they will come hard at the Tigers and try to erase the bitter memories.

“Afghanistan is in the past and Bangladesh are a good team at home. It will be a compet-itive series where both teams are hungry to win. For us, we need to bounce back from the last series. We will come hard and we will have to play our best cricket. We would like to be in a position to play better cricket than Bangladesh,” Chigumbura told the press con-ference previewing the � rst ODI in Mirpur.

The 29-year old Zimbabwe captain, who is a common face in Bangladesh having fea-tured for several domestic clubs, stated that alongside some others, he too is well aware of the conditions and pitches at the home of cricket in the country.

“We are a di� erent team again. The guys are good players of spin. I know the ground in which we are playing; it will assist the seamers. We are not focussing on one de-partment, but all the things that we will face, whether spin or seam. We have to make sure guys are ready for whatever they are going to receive,” he said.

Chigumbura said last Thursday’s sev-en-wicket win over the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah will boost the con� -dence of his side following some impressive

performances from Craig Ervine, Sean Wil-liams and the captain himself.

“I thought the guys played well. It is a warm-up game so we had to give everyone a chance in terms of bowling. The batters showed good composure. They played with freedom. It is something to look forward to in this series,” he added.

Chigumbura also acknowledged the preparation work done by their head coach Dav Whatmore, who previously managed

Bangladesh, coming into the series. The Zimbabwe skipper said Whatmore’s knowledge of the Bangladesh cricketers will come in handy when the two sides lock horns with each other in this series.

“He has done a lot of things to us. He has been here before and coached some of the [Bangladesh] guys who are playing now. He has prepared us before coming here. It is important to use that information as a team to make sure we come out on top,” he concluded. l

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

LEADERBOARD, DAY 2Pos Name R1 R2 To Par

1 Chiragh Kumar (IND) 67 66 -11

2 Mithun Perera (SRI) 66 70 -8

3 Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 68 70 -6

3 Pawin Ingkhapradit (THA) 70 68 -6

3 Zamal Hossain (BAN) 71 67 -6

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza (L) shakes hands with his Zimbabwean counterpart Elton Chigumbura during the pre-match press conference in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Zamal, Siddikur in running for India Open titlen Tribune Report

Emerging Bangladesh star Zamal Hossain hit a brilliant � ve-under-par 67 in the second round of the Panasonic India Open yesterday which helped him climb to third place, along-side compatriot Siddikur Rahman.

From one-under-par and 26th place to third, Zamal enjoyed one of the � nest days in his professional gol� ng career with a bo-gey-free round and it came in his � rst Asian Tour event this season. Siddikur in contrast has taken part in 13 tournaments, including the ongoing one.

Compared to his previous shows at Delhi Golf Course, Siddikur experienced an aver-age day in the o� ce yesterday. The Bangla-desh gol� ng icon carved two-under-par 70 to take his overall tally to 138, tied alongside Zamal and Thailand’s Pawin Ingkhapradidl.

Zamal � red � ve birdies against Siddikur’s four but the latter stumbled with two bogeys in the fourth and 16th holes that eventual-ly allowed home favourite Chiragh Kumar move � ve shots ahead of him. Chiragh’s over-all 11-under-par 133 gave him a three-shot lead over overnight leader Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka.

After the conclusion of the second round, two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur said, “I didn’t hit the ball straight o� the tees but my short game saved me. I’m still happy with my score. I should not put pressure on myself even though Chiragh is leading. Anything can happen here. One shot can give you huge problems here. Just focus on my own game and that’s the key to a good score.”

30-year old Zamal on the other hand will be looking to improve on his previous best � n-ish in the Asian Tour; 44th in the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters three years ago. l

Bangladesh footballers are all smiles while posing for photographs yesterday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Bangladesh left here for Dushanbe yesterday ahead of their upcoming 2018 Fifa World Cup second round quali� er against Tajikistan, scheduled to be held this Thursday COURTESY

Special olympic team claim hockey goldn Tribune Report

Bangladesh special olympic team emerged as the unbeaten champion in the International Floor Hockey Competition in South Korea yesterday. They defeated Hong Kong in the � nal 2-0 to clinch the gold medal.

A total of seven teams took part in the tournament including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Doekjoeng, Daniel, Gangwon and champions Bangladesh. After qualifying for the knock-out stage, Bangladesh outplayed Doekjoeng 7-0 in the semi-� nals to set up a � nal clash with Hong Kong. The team will re-turn home this Monday. l

Five-star Ashwin sparks South African collapsen AFP, Mohali

O� -spinner Ravichandran Ashwin battered top-ranked South Africa with a � ve-wicket haul to leave India in control of the bowl-er-dominated � rst Test in Mohali yesterday.

India, shot out for 201 in the � rst innings on a dusty, dry wicket, hit back to skittle the Proteas for 184 on the second day at the I.S. Bindra stadium.

The hosts went to stumps on 125 for two in their second knock to take an overall lead

of 142 runs with eight wickets in hand in con-ditions that are tailor-made for the bowlers.

Murali Vijay followed his top-score of 75

in the � rst innings with 47, sharing a second wicket partnership of 86 with Cheteshwar Pujara, who remained unbeaten on 63 with six fours and a six. 

The pair came together after left-handed Shikhar Dhawan bagged a pair, edging Ver-non Philander to the slip cordon for the sec-ond time in the match without scoring.

Vijay fell to a brilliant one-handed catch at short-leg by substitute � elder Temba Bavu-ma o� Imran Tahir, but Indian captain Virat Kohli kept Pujara company at stumps on 11. l

India First Innings 201 all outSecond Innings 125 for 2

(Pujara 63*, Vijay 47) South Africa First Innings 184 all out

(De Villiers 63, Amla 43, Ashwin 5-51) India lead by 142 runs

Sport 27D

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

BRIEF SCORESLCLS v East West University

LCLS: 164/4 in 20 oversEast West: 89/9 in 20 overs

LCLS won by 75 runsM-O-M: Mehedi Hasan, LCLS (68 o� 45 balls)

ULAB v North South UniversityULAB: 230/5 in 20 overs

North South: 133/9 in 20 oversULAB won by 97 runs

M-O-M: SM Asir, ULAB (70 o� 38 balls)

Indians rule the roost in Int’l Jnr Tennis C’shipNaow Hazem of Syria and Dhruv Sunish of India reached the � nal of the Walton 29th In-ternational Junior Tennis Championship after their respective victories in the semi-� nals yesterday. Top seed Sunish defeated fellow countryman countryman Sunil Jagtiani 6-1 4-6 6-1 while Hazem outplayed second seed Parik-shit Somani of India with a convincing 6-4 6-3 victory at National Tennis Complex in Ramna. The Indians continued their dominance in the other categories as well. The � nalists in the boys’ doubles will see an all-India clash. So-mani and Sunish beat Amit Beniwal and Megh Bhargav Pael 6-4 6-4 in the � rst semi-� nal while Vikrant Dhiya and Sunil defeated Hong Kong’s Denton Ho and Yu-hsiang Su of Chinese Taipei 6-3 4-6 10-8 in the second semi-� nal. The � nals will take place today at the same venue. The boys and girls’ singles � nals will be held in the morning while the doubles events are scheduled for the afternoon.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Bangladesh A thrash Zimbabwe A 3-0 in uno� cial ODIsBangladesh A whitewashed Zimbabwe A 3-0 following their convincing 122-run win in the third and � nal uno� cial ODI at Harare Sports Club yesterday. Asked to take � rst guard, the second-string Bangladesh side posted a competitive 286/8 on the board from their stipulated 50 overs. Opening batsman Rony Talukdar top-scored with 77 while top-order batter Mohammad Mithun provided valuable support, making 60. In reply, the home side were bundled out for just 164 in 41.3 overs with Mohammad Shahid (3/13), Shuvagata Hom (2/18) and Mahmudul Hasan (2/45) sharing sev-en wickets between themselves. Bangladesh A will now turn their attention to the two-match four-day series with the � rst game scheduled to get underway in Bulawayo this Monday.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Authorities investigate fraudulent activity in SACricket South Africa (CSA) is investigating potentially fraudulent activities by an international syndicate attempting to corrupt the domestic game, it said in a statement yesterday. CSA’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit is being supported by the International Cricket Council (ICC) while South African police could also get involved.

–REUTERS

Djokovic extends streak, Federer falls in ParisNovak Djokovic kept his win streak alive at the Paris Masters on Thursday, but there was defeat for Roger Federer at the hands of big-serving American John Isner. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray also reached the quarter-� -nals, but in contrasting styles. World number one and defending champion Djokovic went through to the last eight in the � nal tourna-ment of the ATP’s regular season with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Gilles Simon that took his unbeaten run to 19 matches.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

AUSvNZ, DAY 2Australia

556/4d (Khawaja 174, Warner 163, Voges 83, Burns 71)

New Zealand157/5 (Williamson 55, Latham 47, Starc 40/2)

New Zealand trail by 399 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Starc, Johnson double act puts Oz on topn AFP, Brisbane

Australia’s lethal left-arm double act Mitch-ell Starc and Mitchell Johnson showed how devastating they can be in the series after bowling the home side into a strong position after just two days of the � rst Test against New Zealand.

Starc and Johnson took two wickets each as the Black Caps battled to survive at 157 for � ve in reply to Australia’s massive 556 for four declared.

It was the � rst outing for the pace pair this southern summer and they didn’t disappoint with fearsome spells to unhinge the Kiwi bat-ting, taking 4-16 in a 25-ball spell.  

Starc is part of a three-man pace attack with Johnson and Josh Hazlewood and gave an early sign of how big a handful they will prove for New Zealand in the remainder of the three-Test series.

Starc said it was a pleasure to watch John-son bowl, calling him an enforcer.   

“It’s great to be in the same team and bowl in partnerships with him. Hopefully, he can keep going for a lot longer.” l

LCLS, ULAB post convincing winsn Tribune Desk

London College of Legal Studies and University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh opened their respective campaigns with comprehensive victories as the TK Sports University Outdoor cricket tournament got underway yesterday.

LCLS defeated East West University by 75 runs in the opening match of the university tournament while ULAB beat North South University by 97 runs. lULAB’s SM Asir (2R) receives the M-O-M award

Former national cricketer Tarek Aziz Khan (C) inaugurates the TK Sports University Outdoor cricket tournament yesterday COURTESY

TODAY’S FIXTUREGreen University v Independent University,

9am-12pm

Prime University v European University, 12:30-3:30pm

28DT Sport

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

SACHIN’S BLASTERSSachin Tendulkar (c), VVS Laxman, Sourav

Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Moin Khan, Graeme Swann, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitha-ran, Shoaib Akhtar, Curtly Ambrose

WARNE’S WARRIORSShane Warne (c), Matthew Hayden, Ricky

Ponting, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Symonds, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Ajit Agarkar

FIXTURES Bournemouth v Newcastle Leicester v Watford Man United v West Brom Norwich v Swansea Stoke v Chelsea Sunderland v Southampton West Ham v Everton

Sachin Tendulkar (CL) and Shane Warne (CR) pose for photographers last Tuesday with

their teams Sahchin’s Blasters (L) and Warne’s Warriors ahead of a three-game series to be

played in Major League Baseball stadiums in New York, Houston and Los Angeles AP

Warne, Tendulkar want to mimic Beckham in USn AFP, New York

David Beckham is the millionaire model, sportsman and nice guy credited with help-ing make soccer more popular in the United States. And now Shane Warne wants to do the same for cricket.

The Australian spin king has jetted into New York with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar to embark on an exhibition tour designed to get baseball-loving Americans up to speed with a sport few of them under-stand, play or ever watch.

“Soccer wasn’t big. David Beckham came over here and suddenly the sport is start-

ing to grow,” Warne told reporters at a hotel in Times Square ahead of the � rst All-Stars game today.

Cricket is second only to soccer in terms of world popularity, he said, no matter that baseball and American football reign su-preme in the United States. 

“We don’t think it’s a gamble, we think Americans are ready,” said Warne in a nod to his sideline as a poker player.

Warne and Tendulkar will captain two sides - Warne’s Warriors and Sachin’s Blast-ers - that will showcase the talents of some of the greatest stars in world cricket, playing three Twenty20 three-hours games in New

York, Houston and Los Angeles.Tendulkar, who o� ers a softly-spoken

bookish counterpart to Warne’s tell-it-how-it-is drive, said their dream was to one day see an American team in the World Cup.

“We’re here to establish cricket in America” he said. “The next time we come here it would be nice to � nd an American kid with a cricket bat in his hand alongside a baseball bat.”

They will be doing cricket clinics for young children, interact with players as much as possible and invite women cricketers to their practise sessions as well, he said.

Among the talent on the Blasters are

Graeme Swann, Brian Lara, Curtly Ambro-se, Glenn McGrath, Moin Khan and Shoaib Akhtar.

Included in the Warriors are Ajit Agarkar, Matthew Hayden, Courtney Walsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan and Wasim Akram.

They may not be as quick as they were 10 years ago, but these retired stars insist they’ve lost none of their skills - nor their competitive streak.

“We’re going to go out there and play as hard as we possibly can, and we’re going to win. Simple as that,” said Warne. “We’re good friends, but not on the � eld,” said Tendulkar. l

Missing Mourinho still expects Chelsea successn AFP, London

Jose Mourinho is con� dent his absence from the Britannia Stadium will not a� ect his Chel-sea side as they attempt to halt their disastrous run of Premier League form at Stoke City.   

The Chelsea manager will be missing while he serves a one-match stadium ban imposed following his clash with referee Jon Moss during the Blues’ recent defeat at Lon-don rivals West Ham United.   

That loss increased the pressure on the Portuguese boss although the midweek Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev brought some respite for Mourinho, whose position has been placed under in-tense scrutiny.  The Kiev win came after Mourinho and Chelsea captain John Terry were forced to deny reports the manager had lost the backing of his squad.l

Goal-shy Red Devils entertain Baggiesn Razwan Abdullah

Following a moral-boosting win over CSKA Moscow in the Uefa Champions League last Tuesday, Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United will be attempting to avoid a third straight Pre-mier League game without a goal as they wel-come Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion, who are smarting from a defeat themselves against Claudio Ranieri’s high-� ying Leicester City.

Both sides have a point to prove and are expected to feature their strongest line-ups as West Brom will be looking to continue their winning run against United from last season and the latter will be looking to get back to winning ways after two consecutive draws.

Anything other than a victory against West Brom will lead to more questions being heaped upon Van Gaal. The prediction is a close 1-0 victory for Manchester United.United probable line-up (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Rojo, Young, Smalling, Blind; Schneider-lin, Schweinsteiger; Martial, Herrera, Mata; RooneyWest Brom probable line-up (4-4-2): Myhill; Brunt, McAuley, Dawson, Evans; McClean, Fletcher, Yacob, Sessegnon; Berahino, Rondón. l

The writer is a member of Manchester United Supporters Club, Bangladesh

David Beckham kicks a ball during the charity match to collect funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal yesterday REUTERS

Sport 29D

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Gazi TV1:00PM

Bangladesh v Zimbabwe1st ODIStar Sports 110:00AM South Africa Tour of India 1st Test, Day 3 German Bundesliga 8:15PM Bayern Munich v Stuttgart 11:30PM Darmstadt 98 v Hamburger Star Sports 27:30PM Indian Super League 2015KolKata v North East 11:30PM Cricket All-Stars Series 2015 6:00AM NZ tour of Australia 1st Test, Day 4 Star Sports 4English Premier League 6:30PM Bournemouth v Newcastle 9:00PM Man United v West Brom 10:30PM Barclays Premier League Stoke City v Chelsea Ten Cricket3:00PM WI tour of Sri Lanka 3rd ODI

Ten Sports 2:30PM FFA Cup 2015: Final 5:30PM Moto GP 2015: Qualifying9:00PM Sky Bet Championship Cardi� City v Reading Ten Action3:00PM Panasonic Open India: Day 3 06:00PM Sky Bet ChampionshipHudders� eld v Leeds French Ligue 1 2015/1610:00PM PSG v Toulouse1:00AM LOSC Lille SA v Bastiais Sony SixItalian Serie A 10:00PM Hellas Verona v Bologna 01:00AM AC Milan v Atalanta Sony KixSpanish La Liga 9:00PM Celta Vigo v Valencia 11:00PM Levante v Deportivo 1:30AM Eibar vGetafe CF 3:30AM Malaga v Real Betis

DAY’S WATCH

World champion All Blacks in Cup tribute to fallen teammaten AFP, Wellington

Several All Blacks have taken the World Cup on an unscheduled detour to a New Zealand cemetery for an emotional graveside tribute to fallen teammate Jerry Collins.

The players took time out from their national victory tour to take the William

Webb Ellis trophy to the grave of Collins, who died in a car crash in France last June.

A number of players posted pictures on social media late Thursday of themselves at the grave on the outskirts of Wellington.

“Good to share this one with the broth-er. Love you JC,” Dan Carter posted on Ins-tagram, with a graveside picture of himself,

Sonny Bill Williams, Jerome Kaino, Liam Messam and Ma’a Nonu. Thursday would have been Collins’ 35th birthday and Kai-no tweeted “Happy belated birthday USO (brother)! Love you... always got you”.

Known as the “human wrecking ball” who played with a smile on his face, Collins ap-peared in 48 Tests for the All Blacks, includ-

ing three as captain.He and partner Alana Madill were killed,

with three-month-old daughter Ayla serious-ly injured, when a bus ploughed into the back of their car on a motorway near Beziers on June 5. The All Blacks will take part in the � -nal stop of their victory tour with a ticker tape parade through Wellington later Friday. l

Downtime30DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

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 8 represents A so � ll A every time the � gure 8 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

ACROSS1 Fish (4)5 Cast o� (4)10 Female horse (4)11 Vote in favour (3)12 Venomous ill will (5)13 Knowledge (3)14 Of the tide (5)16 Emitted fumes (6)18 Periods of darkness (6)21 Nicene Creed (5)23 Contend in rivalry (3)24 Sluggish (5)26 Consumed (3)27 Sibilate (4)28 Narrate (4)29 Masticate (4)

DOWN2 Vestment (5)3 Rodent (3)4 Feign (7)6 Maori ceremonial dance (4)7 Lace hole (6)8 Lair (3)9 Consumer (4)15 Foolish (7)17 Stir up feelings (6)19 Steed (5)20 Utters (4)22 Highland dance (4)23 Fermentation vessel (3)25 Tree (3)

SUDOKU

Showtime 31D

TSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

SkyfallSony PIX 10:30pmBond’s loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes.

Male� centStar Movies 9:30 pmA vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land.Cast: Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning.

The Dark KnightWB 8:30pmWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the peo-ple of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to � ght injustice.Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger.

Edge of TomorrowHBO 12:07pmA military o� cer is brought into an alien war against an extraterrestrial enemy who can reset the day and know the future. When this o� cer is enabled with the same power, he teams up with a Special Forces warri-or to try and end the war.Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton.

G.I. Joe: RetaliationZee Studio 5:10pmThe G I Joes have been set up to take the fall for a crime they didn’t commit and must now retaliate back.Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, DJ Cotrona.

WHAT TO WATCH

n Showtime Desk

A fighter rooster will be the central character of an undergoing film Lal Moroger Jhuti, aptly translated as “The Red comb of a Rooster.” The director of the film and his assistants were spotted trying out several roosters for screen-tests. Celebrated filmmaker, Nurul Alam Atique, will be seen directing a film after a long break since his Dubshatar release in 2010.

As the film is now in the pre-production stage, the screenwriter-filmmaker is seen trying out different types of fighter rooster to find the suitable one for the film’s central character. Literally, the crew of

the film exhausted all their physical and mental resources to find out the suitable one. The film is set torelease next January and be screened at selected locations in the country’s northern districts and in some places in the capital.

Apart from the rooster as the lead, the other major roles are not confirmed yet but the source revealed that the casting

directors spent hectic days to make the cast list.

The film’s story, based on the liberation war of Bangladesh, has been written by Nasiruddin Yousuff, which already garnered the National Film Grant, a subsidiary fund awarded by the government of Bangladesh. l

n Showtime Desk

Day 2The special in depth coverage by Dhaka Tribune of the three-day long Jazz Blues Festival is coming up soon to quench the thirst of music lovers. But in the mean time, as the festival goes on, we present the biographies of the performers that appeared on the second day of the fest.

The Blues brothersThe Dhaka based � ve piece band have been generating quite a buzz recently. It was only expected that they will be invited to play at the festival.

The Blues Brothers play by a winning formula. They play tunes that are impossible to not instantly like. Their

regular set features the music of John Lenon, Tracy Chapman, Santana, BB King, Fleetwood Mac, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more.

The “4 soul brothers and 1 soul sister,” as described by the band itself, have Tash� a Fatima Tashfee on vocals, Sha� at Ahmed Dipto on lead guitar, Nahyan Imam on rhythm guitar, Pantha Kanai on drums and percussion, and Imran Rabbani on the bass guitar and harmonica.

Razef Khan & Florian AntierRazef Khan is a Bangladesh based classically trained cellist who has been playing Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Bangladeshi audience. Shakib Lahoni of PEN International, Bangladesh

Centre remarked that music of Khan as “multifaceted” and “shuns categorisation.”

Razef Khan teamed up with cellist Florian Antier from France to perform at the Jazz Blues Fest in Dhaka.

Louis BanksLouiz is widely considered one of the foundational � gures in Indian Jazz music. He is one of the most important, if not the most important, Jazz pianist from India. Banks is also an accomplished composer of music sound tracks for theater, stage and feature � lms.

“Despite his tremendous commercial success, his � rst love remains Jazz related music,” bio from his website reads. It’s only � tting that he would play in the � rst big Jazz festival in Bangladesh. l

Nurul Alam Atique tries out roosters for screen-test

Jazz Blues Festival Dhaka 2015: The Performers

Back Page32DT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015

JAZZ BLUES FESTIVAL DHAKA 2015: THE PERFORMERS PAGE 31

A MATTER OF NATIONAL INTEREST PAGE 13

MASHRAFE NOT LOOKING BEYOND FIRST ODI PAGE 25

New kind of ‘designer’ immune cells clear baby’s leukaemian Reuters, London

A baby, whom doctors thought almost cer-tain to die, has been cleared of a previously incurable leukaemia in the � rst human use of an “o� -the-shelf” cell therapy from Cellectis that creates designer immune cells.

One-year-old Layla had run out of all oth-er treatment options when doctors at Brit-ain’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) gave her the highly experimental, genetically edited cells.

Two months later, she was cancer-free and she is now home from hospital, the doc-tors said at a brie� ng about her case in Lon-don on Wednesday.

“Her leukaemia was so aggressive that such a response is almost a miracle,” said Paul Veys, a professor and director of bone marrow trans-plant at GOSH who led the team treating Layla.

“As this was the � rst time that the treat-ment had been used, we did not know if or when it would work, so we were over the moon when it did.”

The gene-edited cell treatment was pre-pared by scientists at GOSH and Universi-ty College London (UCL) together with the French biotech � rm Cellectis, which is now funding full clinical trials of the therapy due to start next year.

It is designed to work by adding new genes to healthy donated immune cells known as T-cells, which arm them against leukaemia.

Using a gene-editing technology called TALEN, which acts as “molecular scissors,” speci� c genes are then cut to make the T-cells behave in two speci� c ways: Firstly, they are rendered invisible to a powerful leukaemia drug that would usually kill them, and sec-ondly, they are reprogrammed to only target

and � ght against leukaemia cells.Other drug makers including Novartis,

Juno Therapeutics and Kite Pharma have test-ed genetically modi� ed T-cells extracted from an individual patient. However, this is the � rst time cells from a healthy donor have been used in a process could lead to a ready o� -the-

shelf supply for use in multiple patients.Some scientists have questioned Cellectis’

approach because of potential problems with patients rejecting foreign cells.

But the French biotech, working with the US giant P� zer, as well as Novartis, believes its method is faster and cheaper than creat-ing single patient-speci� c gene therapies.

Results from Layla’s case were due to be presented at the American Society of He-matology’s annual meeting in Orlando on Wednesday.

“This is a landmark in the use of new gene engineering technology and the e� ects for this child have been staggering,” said Wa-seem Qasim, a professor of Cell and Gene Therapy at UCL and immunologist at GOSH who worked on her medical team.

If the success in this case is sustained and replicated in other patients, he said, the ther-apy “could represent a huge step forward in treating leukaemia and other cancers.”

Matt Kaiser, head of research at the leu-kaemia and lymphoma charity Bloodwise, said while the concept of editing immune cells to recognise and hunt out leukaemia cells is “very exciting,” patients and their families should note that the technique is still in the very early stages of development.

“We need to establish whether it can o� er a long-term cure, whether there are any side e� ects and which patients are most likely to bene� t from it,” he said. l

Gangster Chhota Rajan brought back to Indian AFP

Chhota Rajan, an alleged Indian gangster who spent more than 20 years on the run, arrived in Delhi yesterday to face charges re-lating to dozens of crimes including murder, extortion and drug tra� cking after he was arrested in Indonesia.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Chhota Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, had been � own by Indian Air Force jet to Delhi after he was tracked down to the resort island of Bali and arrested last week.

Indonesian authorities had received a tip-o� from Australian police, who con� rmed in September that the 55-year-old had been liv-ing there under an assumed identity.

“Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan alias Mohan Kumar has been success-fully brought back to India on deportation from Indonesia today morning,” the CBI said in a statement yesterday.

“He is in (the) custody of CBI-Interpol. Le-gal formalities are in process.”

Rajan was the alleged former right-hand man of Mumbai crime kingpin Dawood Ibra-him, who is suspected of masterminding the 1993 bomb blasts in the city that killed more than 250 people in retaliation for anti-Mus-lim violence a few months earlier.

He parted with Ibrahim after the attacks, becoming a rival to his former ally, and is ac-cused of running one of several underworld out� ts that had a grip on India’s � nancial and entertainment capital in the 1980s and 1990s until a police crackdown.

Rajan portrayed himself as a “Hindu don” and began targeting those he considered to be “anti-India,” including Ibrahim’s men.

He became a major thorn in the side of his former boss, who remains on the run, and is believed to have been behind an attempt on Rajan’s life in Bangkok in 2000.

Indian media said Rajan was likely to be for-mally arrested at the CBI headquarters rather than taken to court out of fears for his security.

In an orange prison jumpsuit, handcu� ed Rajan told reporters in Bali that he faced death threats in India, alleging that some

Mumbai police were “working with Dawood.”<SUBHEADER> Multiple chargesInterpol had � agged him as a wanted man

back in 1995 and he was later accused of or-dering the murder of a prominent Mumbai crime reporter who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting the same year.

Mumbai Police Deputy Commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni, who was one of the of-� cers on the � ight that brought Rajan back from Indonesia, told AFP the force had 78 cases registered against Rajan.

Interpol’s website said Rajan was wanted on multiple charges including murder and possession and use of illegal � rearms.

Before his extradition to India, Rajan told reporters in Bali that “all cases against me are false.”

His deportation, due earlier this week, was delayed after a volcanic eruption on a nearby Indonesian island forced authorities to ground all � ights from Bali for two days.

The arrest and deportation of Rajan, until recently one of India’s most wanted men, has gripped the Indian media. l

Man gouges out wife’s eye n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A man gouged out his wife’s eye at Arichpur in Gazipur on Thursday evening.

The victim, Sheuly, 25, was hospitalised while her husband Kamal Hossain, an oil trader at Hazrat Shahjalal International Air-port area, absconded after the attack.

“The couple got into an altercation in the and Kamal at one point tied his wife’s hands and taped her mouth. He then stabbed her right eye with a knife, almost completely gouging it out, and also repeatedly hit her in the left eye and the mouth,” said Inspector Aminul Islam of Tongi Model police station.

“Kamal locked their � at from outside and � ed when Sheuly screamed for help. The neighbours rescued her and took her to Tongi Government Hospital,” said Inspector Aminul.

Nusrat Jahan, a doctor at the hospital, said Sheuly had already su� ered major injuries in her right eye when she was brought to the hospital at night. l

Baby Layla, left, is seen with her parents, Lisa and Ashleigh, and her older sister Reya at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London on Thursday REUTERS

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