Commuters brace for e� ects of transport price hiken Shohel Mamun and Abu Hayat Mahmud

Dhaka city residents must shoulder yet an-other cost of living increase from October 1, as a transportation price hike comes into e� ect, adding to the burden of increased gas, power, water and sewerage prices announced earlier this month.

For commuters, the fear is that the fare hike, however modest, will help operators, who have grown accustomed to overcharging

passengers, justify large fare increases. The daily commute is the latest casualty

to the in� ationary surge set o� by the gov-ernment upping power and energy prices. Increased utilities prices have already pushed up rent and other living costs for many resi-dents of the city.

Dhaka commuters are already charged far more than government-� xed fares and fear that hiking the o� cial rate will send actual

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87 die in Grand Mosquecrane collapsen Agencies

At least 87 people were killed and over 180 others injured when a construction crane crashed into the Grand Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia yesterday, the head of Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authorities told Al Ikh-bariya television.

Al Arabiya television earlier said the crane had fallen because of strong storms – west-ern Saudi Arabia has been hit by strong sand

storms in the last few days. Witnesses said the crane had collapsed around 5:45pm local time.

The Emir of Makkah Prince Khaled Al-Fais-al has commissioned a committee to investi-gate the cause of the deadly collapse.

Pictures circulating on social media showed bloodied bodies strewn across a courtyard where the top part of the crane, which appeared to have collapse or snapped, had crashed into it.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

SECOND EDITION

LAND RECLAMATION FOR CLIMATE MIGRANTS PAGE 32

BD TO HELP TRACE BANGKOK BOMBER PAGE 4

THREE REMANDED IN AVIJIT MURDER CASE PAGE 5

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 | Bhadro 28, 1422, Zilqad 27, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 149 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

ADVERTISEMENTANUB urges government not to impose VATn Tribune Report

The Association of Non-Government Universities of Bangladesh (ANUB) yes-terday made its case for the revocation of a proposed 7.5% VAT that the govern-ment wants to levy on private universi-ties, at a press brie� ng at the Gulshan Club.

ANUB president, Sheikh Kabir, told the media: “The Association urges the government to reconsider the imposi-tion of VAT on private universities or their students.

“Even if no tuition is raised, then any VAT taken from the institutions will still e� ectively be taking away resources that could have been used for the good of the faculty and students.

“Also, as student tuition is the main source of income for the universities, therefore it is hard to see how taking the VAT from the universities won’t eventu-ally a� ect the students.”

Private university students protest-ing against the tax announced yesterday that demonstrations would continue on Sunday at all private universities across the country unless the government withdrew the VAT on education. One of the chapters of the student protest plat-form announced that a three-day strike would be held from today.

ANUB asked students to keep all pro-tests completely peaceful and called on them to avoid inconveniencing the pub-lic at large.

Student protest platform “No VAT on Education” made the announce-ment yesterday at a press conference, at which the group of disgruntled univer-

sity students accused the government of staging a drama with its clari� cation on Thursday about who would be re-sponsible for paying the 7.5% VAT.

The group was referring to a press no-tice issued by the National Board of Rev-enue (NBR) and mass texted as a public service announcement that stated that the VAT would be levied on university authorities and not students.

Speaking at the press conference in the capital’s Aftabnagar neighbourhood, Salauddin Mithu, a student protester from East West University, said: “Private university students will continue their protest from Sunday on their own cam-puses unless the government withdraws

the VAT on education by Sunday.“We demand the withdrawal of all

sorts of VAT on education. With due re-spect, we are rejecting the government clari� cation which said that VAT would be paid by the private universities and not the students, as the VAT will later be collected from us under the name of other fees.”

The students also demanded punish-ment for those who attacked a demon-stration by East West University stu-dents on Wednesday.

Three-day strikeIn a separate announcement, the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Students on Mirpur Road in the capital’s Dhanmondi neighbourhood gesture and chant slogans as they protest the proposed 7.5% VAT on private university education and demand its withdrawal in this � le photo RAJIB DHAR

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

People queue up in front of ticket counters in Gabtoli bus terminal to get advance tickers for Eid-ul-Azha holidays MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Tarana threatened over VoIP business crackdownn Kamrul Hasan

State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Division Tarana Halim yesterday said she had been threatened over the phone for her stance on cracking down on illegal VoIP business.

She said an anonymous male caller, who spoke in a cool tone, threatened her on Wednesday but she � led no general diary with police. “I lodged a complaint with RAB.”

The state minister said the caller had told her to go slow in stopping illegal VoIP business. “He told me that the crackdown to be initiated on VoIP business will not bring any good for me and I should stop now. He also asked my why I am taking the matter so seriously.”

Tarana said she replied to the caller by say-ing that his threat would not work. “I also told him that I was not going to ask him if I would act fast or slow and I was doing what I under-stood well. I think I was threatened as I have planned to stop illegal VoIP business and also to block unregistered SIM cards,” she said.

The state minister said threats make her stronger and also inspire her to accomplish the task in question in the shortest time pos-sible.

RAB legal and media wing Director Com-mander Mufti Mahmud Khan said a probe was underway to identify the caller. l

Commuters brace for e� ects of transport price hikeprices charged by operators on a dizzying upward spiral.

The government’s fare hike announcement on Thursday is meant for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-run vehicles and comes in response to CNG-run vehicle operators’ demands for an o� cial fare increase.

According to vehicle owners, most public transport vehicles – buses, mini-buses, hu-man hauliers, autorickshaws and taxis – are powered by CNG.

Operators told the Dhaka Tribune before the September 1 natural gas price hike, that increases in fuel costs would inevitably result in increased transportation prices.

Vehicle operators yesterday expressed sat-isfaction with the fare hike announcement, but residents and commuters said they feared actual transport prices would rise signi� cantly.

Many were troubled by the unabated in-creases to the cost of living in the city. Com-muters allege that public transport sta� had be-gun charging higher fares than the government rate long before Thursday’s announcement.

Although they are the most widely used modes of transportation in Dhaka, passengers said the BRTA and the DMP had failed to en-force the government-� xed bus and minibus fare rates.

Dhaka residents pay more than double what they are supposed to be charged accord-ing to the fare chart set by the government, the Dhaka Tribune has found. Some operators charge three or four times the BRTA rate.

According to the current BRTA fare chart, updated in November 2011, the fare in the city was previously Tk1.6 per kilometre, while the fare coming into e� ect next month is Tk1.7

per kilometre. Even overcharging by a small amount adds up over a month or year.

The Dhaka Tribune has found that a com-muter will typically pay Tk4 more than the government fare on return trips on the Pallabi to Gulistan route. That adds up to overpaying by Tk80 every month, assuming that there are roughly 20 working days each month.

On Uttara to Gulistan round trips, commut-ers spend an extra Tk120 per month because of overcharging by bus operators.

It is estimated that CNG-run autorickshaw passengers on the same round trip pay an ex-tra Tk226 per day. l

ANUB urges government not to impose VATStamford University chapter of the “No VAT on Education” platform said all private uni-versity students would go on a three-day strike from Saturday.

“From tomorrow [Saturday] we will go on a three-day strike on our own campuses across the country, demanding the withdrawal of the VAT on education and calling for the Uni-versity Grants Commission to come up with a policy to � x private university tuition fees in accordance with the country’s income scenar-io,” Jotirmoy Chakrabarty, one of the Stam-ford student protesters, announced yesterday on behalf of other demonstrators.

Earlier yesterday, students of Stamford University’s Dhanmondi campus staged demonstrations in the area to press home their demands.

Students will not pay … this yearThe president of ANUB, Sheikh Kabir, yes-terday assured students that they would not have to pay VAT for their education.

He said he hoped private university stu-

dents would end their movement and return to their classrooms.

He criticised the NBR’s clari� cation on the issue, saying VAT cannot be imposed on the trusts which govern private universities.

East West University authorities yesterday posted an urgent notice on their website as-suring students that VAT would not be collect-ed from them.

“East West University students will not have to pay any VAT. They are advised to attend classes regularly,” read the message signed by the EWU registrar, Air Cdre (Retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury.

Private university students have been staging protests ever since the government on June 4 proposed to impose a 10% VAT on education at private universities and medical and engineering colleges. The tax rate was later reduced to 7.5%, amid opposition from students, their guardians and the owners of private universities.

Protests came to a head on Wednesday when police assaulted demonstrating stu-

dents, mushrooming into Thursday’s city-wide road blockade.

The prime minister, � nance minister and NBR tried to clarify the issue on Thursday, say-ing the burden of VAT would fall on the private university authorities, not the students.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said private university students will not have to pay addi-tional VAT this year.

“What I think is … this time nobody is go-ing to be charged. They [the universities] will pay it from what [tuition fees] has already been collected,” he told reporters yesterday after an event at a city hotel.

He said the government had reached an understanding with the universityauthorities under which will pay the VAT this year and the students will pay the tax next year.

Students and their guardians continue to demand a complete scrapping of the VAT, say-ing the universities will eventually reach into the students’ pockets to pay the government exchequer. l

2nd part of ‘Bangabandhu in Newspapers’ launchedn UNB

The Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) yes-terday published the second part of a book titled “Bangabandhu in Newspapers (1960-69),” a compilation of articles on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu launched the book at a programme arranged at the PIB seminar room in the capital.

After unveiling the book, the minister said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the “lodestar” not a “comet” in the politics of Bangladesh. Being a lodestar, Bangabandhu continued his journey staying away from the communal shroud, he added.

Journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul said the book would be very helpful as reference for those who are working as political researcher, and for journalists covering the political beat.

The � rst part was published last year. l

Route

Pallabi to Gulistan

Uttara to Gulistan

Mohammadpur to Kamalapur

Current fare(Tk1.6 per km)

30Tk

34Tk

19Tk

New fare(Tk1.7 per km)

Tk32

Tk37

Tk20.5

Fare hikein %

6.668.827.89

87 die in crane collapseInitiated in 2011, a massive project is currently underway to increase the area of the mosque by 400,000 square metres, allowing it to ac-commodate up to 2.2 million people at once, reports AFP. The mosque is surrounded by a number of cranes.

The tragedy comes ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage set to begin on September 21. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have already gathered in Mecca from all over the world for the hajj.

The Grand Mosque, or Sacred Mosque, surrounds the Kaaba – the most sacred site in Islam. It is usually at its most crowded on Fridays.

Earlier, around 350 pilgrims died in a stam-pede in 2006. A building collapse the same year killed 76. Another stampede killed more than 200 in 2004. l

41 Shibir menheld in cityn UNB

Police arrested 41 Shibir leaders and activists allegedly while holding a clandestine meeting at a restaurant in the city’s Farmgate area yes-terday afternoon.

Acting on a tip-o� , a team of police from Tejgaon police station conducted a raid on the rooftop of “Hotel Givency” at Babul Tower near Farmgate bus stand around 5:30pm and arrested the Shibir leaders and activists. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

People struggle to get advance bus tickets for Eid holidays n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Eid holidaymakers alleged harassment as the highway bus operators started selling ad-vance tickets for the north and southern dis-trict routes yesterday.

People queued for the tickets since morn-ing at Gabtoli bus terminal and the counters at Kallyanpur, Shyamoli, Panthapath and Kal-abagan. But many of them alleged that they could not get a ticket after several hours. Bro-kers and some sta� of the bus services already took away those for selling in the black mar-ket, the passengers claimed.

The sale of advance tickets is supposed to continue until the day before the Eid-ul-Azha when thousands of people leave Dhaka for their village home.

Meanwhile, even though several bus com-panies began selling e-tickets, the passengers alleged that they had failed to take the service.

Ticket-seekers in long queues at Gabto-li said that the counters opened at 7:30am, though they were scheduled to start selling tickets from 6am. When people at the coun-ters claimed that they could not provide tick-ets for September 21 to 23, some other sta� were asking for extra amount – in cases, dou-ble the original fare – to get one.

Sohel Rana, who will travel to Bogra, was waiting for advance tickets at Kalyanpur since 5:30am. He was not sure whether he would get a ticket. “Usually the fare is Tk350-400. But just before this Eid the bus operators set the fare at Tk600, and now some agents are demanding TK800,” Sohel said.

Farhan of Gopalganj alleged that the people of his district were harassed by the two bus op-erators on Dhaka-Gopalganj route – Palash and Comfort Line – as they always prevent other operators from introducing new services.

He said that the two services were not com-

fortable but they charge like luxurious buses.Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners’ Associa-

tion President Faruk Talukder Sohel denied the allegations of charging extra fare.

“Generally the bus operators charge the passengers less than what the BRTA fare chart shows, and they follow the chart during the Eid. For this reason, most of the passengers think that the bus operators charge extra fare during the Eid,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

The BRTA has set Tk1.45 per kilometre for all the highways, and made it mandatory for the operators to display the chart.

Meanwhile, advance tickets at Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminals will be availa-ble from today. State-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will start sell-ing tickets from September 16.

The railway authorities are set to begin selling advance tickets from September 15 at Kamalapur and Chittagong railway stations. l

Teenager raped in a launch sta� cabin in Jhalakathin Our Correspondent, Jhalakathi

A 14-year-old girl was raped in the a cabin of MD Sundarban launch by a government em-ployee in Jhalakathi on Wednesday.

The seventh-grader was on her way back to Dhaka with her boyfriend when the incident happened, sources in police said.

Sources said the victim, resident of Mirha-jibagh area in the capital’s Jatrabari area, had gone to the village home of her boy friend Shan-to Majhi, 20, at Alokdia village in Jhalakathi Sa-dar upazila via launch on Monday.

They boarded on Dhaka-bound MD Sund-arban on Wednesday when a fourth-class em-ployee of local land o� ce, Md Arif, forcefully took her to a sta� cabin around 4pm and raped

her, while his two accomplices held Shanto. After raping her, Arif and his accomplices

threatened the victim and Shanto of bodily harm if they told anyone about the rape.

However, the locals suspected that some-thing may have happened and informed police, who took both the victim and the boy in custody.

During initial interrogation, the victim de-nied having been raped, but after being asked several times, she admitted to being raped by Arif yesterday and told the police how he had threatened them to keep their mouth shut.

The victim was sent to a local hospital for medical examination, the results of which showed evidence of a rape.

Later, Shanto � led a case with Kathalia police station against Arif and his two accom-

plices yesterday evening. On the same day, police produced the victim be-fore a local court, who ordered to place her in a victim support centre.

The rapist and his accom-plices have yet to be arrested, police said.

Sources said the victim had run away from home due to a dispute with her father and step-mother.

When Jhalakathi police contacted her father, he said he had no interest in his daughter’s whereabouts or well-being. l

Vegetable prices still up in city kitchen marketsn Tribune Report

Vegetable prices continued to increase in the capital city’s kitchen markets due to a short-age of supply caused by heavy rains in the recent times.

Brinjal was sold at Tk60-80 per kg, bitter gourd Tk70 per kg, ladies’ � ngers Tk70 per kg, green bean Tk70 per kg, cucumber Tk60 per kg, tomato Tk85 per kg, papaya Tk40 per kg, and potato Tk25 per kg in Dhaka’s kitchen markets yesterday.

“It is not surprising that vegetable prices go up during the rainy season but today it seems to have gone beyond my a� ordability,” Jasim Uddin, who works at a private � rm, told the Dhaka Tribune at Karwan Bazar.

He blamed the government’s lax monitor-ing system that, according to him, had failed to keep prices under control and within the reach of the masses.

The prices of onion and chilli remained be-yond the reach of the low-income people.

Local onion was sold at Tk75-80 per kg while imported onion was priced at Tk65-70 per kg.

Wholesalers hoped that onion prices would fall when the new locally-grown onion would be supplied to the market.

“As the demand for onion cannot be met by only the locally-grown variety, we have to import from India. Exporters in India have hiked prices, which in turn has hit the market in Bangladesh,” Jahangir Hossain, a wholesal-er at Karwan Bazar, said.

Since August 23, the price of per kg onion soared up to Tk90 following the Indian gov-ernment’s hike in export price.

The Indian government increased the min-imum export price of onions to $700 a tonne from $450 to ensure that domestic supply was available after production was hampered by heavy rains. Green chilli was the priciest, sold at Tk190-210 per kg.

Imported garlic was sold at Tk110-120 per kg, and the local variety Tk80 per kg.

Meanwhile, traders blamed the rain, which damaged huge crops and in� icted heavy � -nancial losses on vegetable growers, for the shortage in supply of vegetables.

They remarked that prices were unlikely to fall until the harvest of winter vegetables.

“The supply of vegetables drastically de-creased in the last couple of weeks because of downpours in di� erent parts of the country,” Md Emran Master, president of Bangladesh Kanchamal Aarot Malik Samity, told the Dha-ka Tribune yesterday.

“There has been a crisis in the supply of a variety of vegetables as torrential rain inun-dated vast areas of croplands.” l

An underground pipeline from a nearby garment factory disposes of chemical waste directly into water of the Buriganga River. The photo was taken recently at Kaliganj in Keraniganj RAJIB DHAR

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015NEWS4DT

Awami League national council in Decembern Abu Hayat Mahmud

Ruling Awami League President Sheikh Hasi-na has instructed her party leaders to prepare for holding the national council in December.

She also asked the leaders to complete the district-level councils by December at any cost, said leaders who attended the par-ty’s Central Working Committee meeting at Ganabhaban last night.

“It was not possible to hold the national council in time due to the BNP-Jamaat’s agi-tation. So now is the appropriate time to hold the council,” the premier was quoted by a leader, who asked not to be named.

The meeting also discussed about the on-going agitations by private universities stu-dents and teachers of the public universities.

The meeting started around 7:30pm. Par-ty’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and Presidium members were present.

Hasina and Syed Ashraf were reelected as party president and general secretary in the 19th central council held on December 29, 2012. The previous council was held on July 24, 2009. According to the party constitution, the council session is held every three years.

The party was � oated as Awami Muslim League at a two-day political workers con-ference at the historic Rose Garden on Abhoy Das Lane of Old Dhaka on June 23-24 in 1949. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, Sham-sul Huq and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were elected as its president, general secretary and joint secretary. Later it was re-named as the Awami League. l

Suranjit: Owners should pay VATn Tribune Report

Owners of private universities should carry the responsibility of paying the VAT on edu-cation as the institutions now generate pro� t, Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta said yesterday.

Criticising the conditions of most private universities, the former minister also asked the University Grants Commission and the Education Ministry for a stricter vetting pro-cess before issuing licences.

“With the exception of a few, the condi-tions of most private universities are bad. Al-though the owners claim the universities to be non-pro� t institutions, they have turned out to be pro� table institutions in present time. So, the owners should pay VAT,” he told a discussion in the capital. l

BNP appreciates Ashraf’s advocacy for ending politics of divisionn UNB

Hailing Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam for advocating for a national unity, BNP yesterday urged the government to put an end to the current political division in the country.

“I’ve gone through in the newspapers that ruling party General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has sought an end to politics of divi-sion. He’s advocated for a national unity. We appreciate such spirit,” said BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon.

Speaking at a press brie� ng at the party’s Nayapaltan central o� ce, he further said: “We want to say we need to forge a national unity for ending the politics of division. If we can do it, then Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and BNP founder Ziaur Rah-man will get the honour they deserve.”

The BNP spokesman urged all to refrain from making vindictive, indecent and un-guarded remarks against the current leader-ship to widen the path of national unity. “If the government speaks about ending politics of division after making indecent remarks against our leaders, we’ll think the govern-ment is not sincere about it.”

Ripon said the political parties should now engage in talks for strengthening democratic institutions, including the Election Commis-sion. “There can be a dialogue among politi-cal parties also on how a free and fair election can be held and voters can go to polling sta-tions without fear.”

About the prime minister’s allegation that BNP and Dr Mohammad Yunus worked for having the country’s GSP facilities in the US market cancelled, he said: “We condemn the prime minister’s remarks. We think her alle-gation has no basis and it’s totally unexpected and motivated.” l

Beyond 2015 asks for accountability in development initiativesn Tribune Report

Beyond 2015, a civil society campaign, urged the government to ensure accountability in its development initiatives.

The platform made the demand at a press conference held yesterday morning at the capital’s Reporters’ Unity.

Speakers at the press meet said countries are going to meet this month in New York at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 to undertake Sustainable De-velopment Goals (SDGs). To implement the SDGs, all the governments including Bangla-desh must ensure good governance.

Beyond 2015 executive director Ahmed Swapan Mahmud said: “No plan will be im-plemented if there is no strong mechanism for accountability.”

Sushasoner Jonno Procharabhijan (Supro) director Elison Subrata Baroi, Hirendra Pandit of Beyond 2015, among others, also spoke at the press conference. l

A Hindu mother, attending a human chain yesterday in demand of protection and justice, gives her small daughter water, while her fellow protesters hold banners seeking the same. They were part of the demonstration organised by Jaago Hindu Parishad in front of National Press Club in the capital. Their other demands included speedy trial of attacks on the Hindus and their temples and tighter security for all the Hindus around the country SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Bangkok Blast: Bangladesh to work closely with Thailand to trace plottern UNB

Bangladesh will be working closely with Thai-land in tracing all available information about the alleged Erawan Shrine bomb blast plotter from his two-week interim stay in the coun-try last month, said Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok.

The law enforcement agencies in Bangla-desh are currently investigating the case and would share all relevant information with Thai authorities and all other countries and agencies concerned, including the Interpol,

the Embassy said in a message yesterday.Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand since the

Erawan Shrine bomb blast in Bangkok has already put high security alert on its tourist visa regime from Thailand to Bangladesh to-wards preventing any entry attempts of simi-lar pro� led individuals and has disseminated all information regarding the individual to Bangladesh and Thai authorities concerned, it said.

As per records of Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand, the alleged person was issued a sin-gle entry tourist visa on the basis of all valid

travel documents early August and entered Bangladesh on August 16, one day before the Erawan Shrine bomb blast in Bangkok.

By the time Bangladesh authorities re-ceived information from Bangkok law en-forcement agencies, the alleged person had already left Bangladesh on August 30, 2015.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem is in close touch with the Thai Foreign Ministry, law enforcement agencies in Thailand as well as with Thai media, while agencies concerned of the two countries are also exchanging information on the case. l

NEWS 5D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Three militants remanded in Avijit murder casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu and Kamrul Hasan

A Dhaka court yesterday granted the police seven days to interrogate the acting chief of banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team and his two cohorts, arrested on Thurs-day.

DB Inspector Fazlur Rahman produced them before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan in the af-ternoon with a 10-day remand plea.

The trio are acting Ansarullah chief Abul Bashar – the younger brother of detained chief Jasim Uddin Rahmani, and the out-� t’s media wing members Julhas Biswas and Jafran Hossain. They were picked up from the capital’s Fakirerpool bus stand area by a Rapid Action Battalion team around 5am on Thursday. Later they were handed over to the Detective Branch of police, who are investi-gating the blogger murder cases.

In the court, Julhas and Jafran denied hav-ing any involvement in the murder case and claimed that the arrests had been made to harass them.

Bangladesh-born US scientist Avijit Roy, also founder of secular blogging platform Mukto-Mona, was hacked to death in TSC area on February 26. His wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonya survived the attack, but was seriously

injured. Later Ansarullah members claimed responsibilities for the murder.

Meanwhile, o� cials of police’s elite force RAB have said that Sadek Ali Mithu, arrested on August 18, was not directly involved in murders of Avijit and another Mukto-Mona writer Ananta Bijoy Das.

Earlier, RAB claimed that he was one of the Ansarullah members who had taken part in the killings.

Ananta was also hacked to death by masked assailants on May 12 near his house in Sylhet town. According to RAB, the same Ansarullah team killed Avijit and Ananta.

Deputy Director of RAB 3 Maj Kamran Ka-bir Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune: “Sadek Ali did not actively participate in the murder but knew about the plan.”

The killers sometimes discussed about the murders and future plans at Sadek’s house. “As he is an active member of the out� t, he re-mained silent about the attack. And by hiding the information, he became their associate and another accused in the case,” the o� cial added.

A RAB source said that they were suspect-ing that Ramzan alias Siam and Nayeem, the alleged killers of Avijit and Ananta, had not � ed the country. But the elite force is yet to trace them. l

Over 50 turtles seized in Old Dhaka, three jailedn Kamrul Hasan

A mobile court yesterday seized more than 50 rare turtles from the capital’s Old Dhaka area and jailed three traders for their involvement.

The mobile court was led by RAB 10 Mag-istrate Sarwar Alam and was accompanied by o� cials from the Forest Department’s crime prevention unit.

Magistrate Sarwar said 57 rare species of turtles were recovered from two sacks at Shankhari Bazar of Old Dhaka around 6:30am.

The magistrate said of the three traders de-tained, Pradip Chandra Das, 47, and Ponir Chan-

dra Das, 39, were sentenced to nine months in jail and another detainee Kartik Chandra Das was sentenced to three months in jail.

During interrogation, they said they had been selling turtles for eight years and have been collecting them from Khulna, Narsingdi and Munshiganj.

The magistrate said among the turtles four were female, weighing about 12kgs. The 57 turtles in total weighed around four maunds.

Sarwar said they sold the turtles at Tk1,000 to Tk1,300 per kg.

The turtles were handed over to the crime prevention unit. l

Foreigner dies falling o� cranen FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

A foreign national died yesterday at the Chit-tagong port after he fell from a crane of a ship while working.

The dead was a Syrian named Abdur Rahim, 25. He used to work at MV Maricana Ship as a worker, Assistant Sub-Inspector Pankaj Barua of Chittagong Medical College Hospital said.

Sub-Inspector Pranab Kanti Das of Bandar police station said the incident took place at NCT Gate of Chittagong Port around 5:30am.

Quoting witnesses, SI Panab said the man fell from the crane of the ship to its deck, leaving him critically injured.

ASI Pankaj said the foreigner was brought

to CMCH soon after the incident following which the duty doctors declared him dead around 6:30am. The body was sent to the morgue for autopsy.

SI Pranab said the captain of the ship was not on board when the incident occurred. The captain came later after hearing the news, he added.

The ship came to the port under a ship-ping agency located in Agrabad, however, the name of the agency could not be known till the � ling of this report.

The SI said the body was handed over to the ship’s captain and it will be sent to Abdur Rahim’s relatives after completing all formal processes including embassy paperwork. l

Mohammad Ali, a small businessman, sells logs in Keraniganj. He buys the logs from the capital’s Postagola area and carries it to Keraniganj on his rickshaw van. Yesterday, he was joined by his son Rajon, 10, who pedalled the van while Ali pushed it from behind on Postagola Bridge RAJIB DHAR

At least 57 turtles of rare species and di� erent sizes were found in the capital’s Shankhari Bazar area early yesterday. A team of RAB also apprehended three illegal turtle traders DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS6DTSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Indian clothes worth Tk4cr seizedn Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Members of Border Gourd Bangladesh (BGB) in a drive, seized truck-load of Indian clothes worth about Tk4 crore on the Jibonnagar–Hasadah Road in Jibonnagar upazila early yesterday.

Lt Col SM Moniruzzaman, Director of BGB-

6, said on a tip-o� , a team of the BGB, led by Nayek Subeder Abdul Barek conducted a drive in the area in the morning.

Sensing the presence of the BGB men, the driver � ed the scene leaving the truck behind.

Later the BGB personnel searched the truck and recovered 6,650 pieces of Indian saree, 560 three piece sets and 6,490 meters of cloths. l

O� –season bean cultivation gaining momentumn Our Correspondent, Jhenidah

O� -season bean cultivation is gaining mo-mentum and bringing smile to the poor and marginal farmers across the district in all six upazilas this season as weather condition is favourable for the cultivators.

While visiting several areas in Kaliganj upazila, it was found that the farmers were working enthusiastically in the cropland for achieving a repeated bumper production and good price in the local kitchen markets.

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) o� ce sources, around 250 bighas of land have been brought under o� -sea-son bean cultivation across the district as the farmers got bumper yield and fair price last year.

The department also provided agri-impute and standard quality of seeds among the ea-ger over last two months.

Farmer Abdul Khaleque of Kulbaria village under Harinakundo upazila said: “I have cul-tivated bean on one bigha of land spending Tk 40,000 this year. I have already earned Tk 5,000 in the last week and hope to earn at least Tk 30,000 as pro� t.”

At present, bean is selling at Tk 70 to Tk 80 per kg in local markets and the price is expect-ed to increase after two months. A farmer can earn at least Tk 40,000 by cultivating the bean on one bigha of land.

Bean farmers of Harinakundo upazila Shar-iful and Barek said: “We have decided to culti-vate the bean variety considering its growing demand and high price in the market.”

Farmers Momenuddin, Dudu Mian,Sha-hidul Islam, Araj Ali, Shariful Islam of Betuli village in Kaliganj upazila said that they were highly bene� ted by cultivating the vegetable.

They said that they had to expend Tk25,000 for cultivating the vegetable on one bigha of land. But they had earned Tk1 lakh by selling bean.

Farmer Tota Mia said: “I have cultivated

0.10 acre of land under o� -season bean in my own cropland spending Tk1,400 and I expect Tk12,000 as pro� t after harvesting the crop.”

Kalam Mandol, a bean cultivator of Charkhajura village under Sadar upazila, said: “Jhenidah is a major area for vegetables pro-duction.”

“But, for want of any preservation facility, these get rotten,” he added.

The DAE and Bangladesh Agriculture De-velopment Corporation (BADC) have organised � eld day, special training, motivational and various supportive programmes, and imparted necessary technical assistance to the growers.

Deputy Director of Jhenidah DAE Shah Md Akramul Haque said: “The farmers in the dis-trict are becoming interested in bean cultivation day by day as it has proved more pro� table.” l

Six killed in road accidentsn Tribune Report

At least six people were killed in road acci-dents in Sirajganj, Gazipur and Jhenidah dis-tricts yesterday.

Our Sirajganj correspondent reported that three people were killed and 20 others injured when a bus of Talukdar Paribahan skidded o� the road and fell into a roadside ditch in Pard-hai area under Ullapara upazila of the district in the afternoon.

The deceased were van driver Mohammad Abdullah 25, Asadul 35 and a lecturer of Ullap-ara College Ra� qul Islam 45.

On information police and � re service men rushed to the spot and rescued the injured passengers and sent them to Sirajganj Gener-al Hospital. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the hospital morgue.

in Gazipur, two people were killed and three others injured as a bus hit an auto-rick-shaw at Nayanpur in Shreepur upazila in the morning, said our correspondent.

One of the deceased was identi� ed as Ad-bur Rashid, 45.

Witnesses said a BRTC bus coming from Netrakona district rammed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway around 8:30am, leaving two dead on the spot and three others injured.

On information, police rushed to the spot and seized the bus, said Maona Highway po-lice station O� cer-in-Charge Helal-ul-Islam.

Jhenidah correspondent said a college was killed and her mother and brother were in-jured as a truck rammed into their motorcycle at Kodalia Munshipara in Sadar upazila.

The deceased Tushi Khatun, 21, was a fourth year student of Jhenidah Government College and daughter of Matiul Islam of Kumi-radah village in Shailakupa upazila.

Hasan Ha� zur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Sadar police station said the speedy truck hit the motorcycle in the area around 10:30am when Tushi along with her mother and broth-er was going to Hatgopalpur from their village by the bike, leaving the college girl dead on the spot and the two others injured.

Police seized the truck and arrested its driver, the OC added. l

A bean cultivator at Charkhajura under Jhenidah Sadar upazila yesterday shows his land as the cultivation of the vegetable has proved more pro� table

DH

AK

A T

RIB

UN

E

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:06PM SUN RISES 5:44AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.0ºC 24.8ºC

Rajshahi Rangamati

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

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

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:29am

Sunrise 5:43amZohr 11:55am

Asr 4:23pmMagrib 6:06pm

Esha 7:22pm

WEATHER

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

PARTLY CLOUDY

1.4m metre nets seizedn Our Correspondent, Chandpur

The coast Guard personnel in a drive seized 14 lakh meters ban current nets from a passen-ger launch in Meghna river yesterday.

The drive was conducted following a secret information in the passenger launch” MV Far-han-2 and seized the nets in an abandoned con-dition, Coast Guard Station commander Lieu-tenant Mohammad Nuruzzaman Sheikh said.

All sta� members of the launch � ed away sensing the presence of the Coast Guard per-sonnel, the sources added. l

Woman held with 1,000 yaba tabletsn Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested a woman with 1000 yaba tablets from Hadir-more Bowbazar area under Boalia police sta-tion in the city yesterday.

The arrested Shakila Aktar Popy, 20, was wife of Bilal Hossain of Maria Tatarpur village under Charghat upazila.

A team of DB conducted the raid in the area around 9am and arrested her with the contra-band items, said Ifte Khayer Alam, Assistant Commissioner (DB) of Rajshahi metropolitan police. Popy and her husband were involved in drug tra� cking and business for long, he said.

A case was � led with Boalia Model police station in this connection. l

Ctg illegal billboard removal drive peters out after mayor’s takeover n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The election manifesto of Chittagong City Corporation’s (CCC) new mayor AJM Nasir Uddin included a city free from illegal bill-boards but the crackdown on such boards gradually lost momentum after the mayor’s takeover in late July.

The port city’s di� erent areas have seen regular drives conducted by the city corpora-tion against illegal billboards since early this year but such measures have been very infre-quent since the end of July.

The reasons, CCC o� cials said, are a short-age of manpower and the rainy season.

But CCC sources said removal of illegal billboards had been obstructed by Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League leaders in late June.

Some advertising � rms meanwhile have used the situation to their advantage, install-ing new billboards illegally and thus spoiling the city’s beauty.

CCC o� cials claimed that some billboards had been removed in the meantime but it was found that new ones have also sprung up beside many major roads in areas such as Ti-gerpass, Lalkhan Bazar, Dewanhat, Agrabad,

Bayezid, Halishahar, Patenga, Muradpur, Ba-haddarhat and Bakalia.

The city corporation, sources said, is un-aware of how many illegal billboards have been put up in the city.

In the past, the CCC mayor, Nasir, said sev-eral times that registration for new billboards and renewal of registration for the existing ones were suspended in 2013.

The association of billboard owners and CCC sources said the number of illegal billboards and signboards topped 10,000 after 2013.

According to a 2013 CCC report, 2,019 ad-vertising companies registered to display a total of 6,170 billboards but the city corpora-tion’s revenue department revealed on May 25 that the numbers of legal and illegal billboards in the city are 429 and 1,033 respectively.

The department o� cials could not come up with an acceptable answer to how the remaining billboards were put up, nor could they explain how registrations were done for displaying legal billboards even though the process was halted in 2013.

At a meeting with law enforcement agen-cies on May 16, the CCC mayor announced that all illegal billboards and signboards would be taken down. He also directed billboard own-

ers to take their boards down by May 31.Also on May 25, Nasir, while holding a

meeting with CCC revenue and land depart-ments, instructed the city corporation’s Ex-ecutive Magistrate Nazia Shirin to take down illegal billboards and signboards.

In compliance with his order, 337 illegal bill-boards and signboards of di� erent sizes were removed between June 1 and July 9 but such drives, CCC o� cials said, lost pace after that.

CCC Revenue O� cer Shamsul Alam said the executive magistrate was given a list of il-legal billboards but the magistrate said drives could not be carried out as o� cials became more busy with other duties.

CCC acting chief revenue o� cial Ahmadul Haque said the department tasked with re-moving illegal billboards has an acute short-age of manpower that disrupted its functions.

Mayor Nasir’s predecessor M Manjur Alam, a BNP man, strove to take down illegal billboards but CCC o� cials were harassed by Awami League members, who own most of the boards.

In November last year, Chittagong Met-ropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal, with the help of CCC o� cials, � rst initiated crackdowns on illegal billboards in the port city. l

Changes School felicitate students n Tribune Report

Changes School at Narayanganj yesterday held a reception programme to felicitate its successful students for their achievements in the O-level exam this year.

Three among the students of the school obtained star marks in all ten subjects. All the students who appeared in the exam this year were also successful. The school’s founder chairman GM Faruque expressed his delight, alluding the achievements as outstanding.

The reception programme was arranged in the second campus of the school at Chandmari.

Founding director Maksud Ibne Rahman, director Sohail Sarwar, Jasmine Ali, principal Hafez Lutful Kabir, Acting Principal Md Sadi-kur Rahman, lecturer Md Taslimur Rahman were also present among others. l

Women’s participation in development emphasisedn Tribune Report

Speakers at function titled ‘Basic Beauti� ca-tion and Cutting on Tailoring’ held in Rang-pur town have emphasized on the participa-tion of woman in national development.

Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and Minis-try of Women and Children A� airs jointly or-ganised the eight-day training courses yester-day with the assistance of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

The training courses on ‘Basic Beauti� -cation and Cutting on Tailoring’, arranged under the Development and Expansion of Women Entrepreneurship Programme of the Ministry, continued at RCCI auditorium from April 29 to May 7 last.

Forty member female entrepreneurs of Rangpur Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RWCCI) and RCCI participated in the course with 20 each on ‘Basic Beauti� ca-tion’ and 20 others on ‘Basic Cutting on Tai-loring’ trades. President of RCCI Abul Kashem presided over the ceremony while its Senior Vice-President of RCCI Mostafa Ahmed deliv-ered welcome speech.

Project Director of the Development and Expansion of Women Entrepreneurship Pro-gramme and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children A� airs Ka� l Uddin Kaiya, District Muktijoddha Commander and FBCCI Director Mosaddek Hossain Bablu and President of RWCCI Anwar Ferdousi Poly ad-dressed as special guests.

Project O� cer of FBCCI Chowdhury Kam-

rul Islam and Vice-president of RCCI Mo-zammel Haque Dambel also addressed the ceremony moderated by Director of RCCI Ashraful Alam Al Amin.

District Women A� airs O� cer Laila Akhter Banu, Vice-president of RWCCI Morsheda Khatun, RCCI Directors Partho Bose, Enamul Haque Sohel, Rabiul Islam Mridul, Amjad Hossain Chowdhury, Sattyajeet Kumar Ghosh and Ramakrishna Somani and Senior Report-er of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Ma-mun Islam attended.

The speakers said the country will contin-ue to move forward with the advancement of the women to further expand economic activities of the government and accelerate pace of national development in building a middle-income nation. l

Inspired by the recent hike in the pay scale for public servants, National Garment Workers’ Federation form a human chain in front of National Press Club yesterday demanding a wage hike for RMG workers SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

WORLD8DTSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Opinion polls: Ruling BJP in tough battle to win Bihar electionn Reuters, New Delhi

Opinion polls show Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a close election battle in the country’s third-most populous state, Bihar, where defeat would dent his chances of consolidating power and speeding up eco-nomic recovery.

Victory in Bihar’s state election would help Modi build his party’s strength in the upper house of parliament, where its lack of a ma-jority has allowed the opposition to block economic reforms he sees as vital for jobs and growth. Members of the upper house of parliament are selected according to parties’ strength in state assemblies.

A survey by pollsters Cicero released late on Thursday showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janan-ta Party (BJP) winning a narrow majority in the elections in one of the country’s poorest states. A separate poll by C-Voter this week said the BJP faced defeatThe vote will be in � ve phases from October 12 to November 5.

The Bihar election is a contest between a BJP-led alliance and a coalition of regional parties which campaign for the empower-ment of lower caste Hindus and minority Muslims.

The Cicero poll showed the BJP would win 125 out of 243 seats in Bihar’s assembly and the coalition of other parties would win 106 seats. Cicero said the BJP alliance would win 42% of votes, compared with 40% for its opponents. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3%. On the other hand, The C-Voter survey showed the BJP winning a maximum of 110 seats while its rivals would win as many as 132 seats. C-Voter said the BJP would win 40% of votes and its main rivals would win 43%.

Any coalition needs 122 seats for a majority. l

12 convicted over deadly 2006 Mumbai train blastsn AFP, New Delhi

An Indian court on Friday convicted 12 peo-ple over a series of blasts that ripped through packed commuter trains in the � nancial capi-tal Mumbai in 2006, killing nearly 200 people and wounding many more.

The men were convicted of murder, con-spiracy and waging war against the country over the coordinated series of attacks during the evening rush hour that also injured more than 800 people.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the Mumbai sessions court had acquitted one person and convicted 12 after a trial that has lasted nine years and concluded on August 19 last year.

Sentencing will be on Monday and pros-ecution lawyer Raja Thakare said he wanted “the strictest possible punishment” for those convicted.

“Whatever sentence the judge hands out, it should be able to satisfy the public at large,” he said.

Defendants’ counsel Shahid Nadeem said the prosecution had failed to provide evi-dence that Abdul Wahid Shaikh, who was ac-quitted, had played any role in the blasts.

He said he would appeal against the con-victions of the other 12.

“We are not satis� ed with the judgement and will approach High Court against the con-victions,” he said.

In all, police charged 30 people over the bombings, including 13 Pakistani nationals, who along with four Indian suspects have yet to be arrested.

Seven blasts ripped through the suburban trains during the evening rush hour in July 2006.

The bombs were packed into pressure cookers then placed in bags and hidden under newspapers and umbrellas in the trains.

Prosecutors said the devices were assem-bled in Mumbai and deliberately placed in � rst-class coaches to target the city’s wealthy Gujarati community.

They said the bombings were intended as revenge for the riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002, which left some 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.

Prosecutors accused Pakistan-based mil-itant group Lashkar-e-Taiba of being behind the 2006 attacks, although a little known out� t called the Lashkar-e-Qahhar claimed responsibility.

Over the course of the nine-year trial, the court examined nearly 250 witnesses.

The accused were represented by Shahid Azmi, a Muslim rights activist and lawyer, who was mysteriously killed by unidenti� ed gunmen in 2010.

The attacks prompted India to freeze peace talks with Pakistan for several months.

Dialogue between the nuclear-armed South Asian nations resumed later that year, but were interrupted again in 2008 after a militant attack on Mumbai that left 166 peo-ple dead. l

Afghan Taliban leader sends envoy abroad to win supportn Reuters, Peshawar

The Afghan Taliban’s new leader is wooing pow-erful � gures from the militant movement based in the Middle East who have not yet publicly pledged their support, sources within the group say, as he attempts to sti� e a brewing challenge to his position.

A battle for the top job could worsen violence in Afghanistan by triggering Tali-ban-on-Taliban � ghting and in turn doom � edgling peace talks between the Afghan government and the insurgency.

It could also make it easier for Islamic State to expand its in� uence in one of the world’s most unstable regions.

Mullah Mansour was hastily appointed lead-er of the Taliban, the Islamist insurgency � ghting to overthrow the Afghan government, in July after the Afghan spy agency leaked the death of Mullah Omar, founder of the movement.

Mansour said the deception ensured Taliban unity amid the 2014 withdrawal of Nato troops.

Despite his e� orts, as rumours of Omar’s death grew stronger, at least three Afghan insurgent factions pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

In recent weeks, Mansour sent Mullah Jalil, an envoy with good contacts with the Taliban’s political leadership, to persuade senior members based in the Middle East to publicly support him instead of a rival faction coalescing around Omar’s brother and son, Taliban insiders said.

The Taliban operate a political o� ce in Qatar and also frequently hold informal meetings with diplomats in the United Arab Emirates.

Some skirmishes alreadyThe outcome of talks in Qatar and the UAE may determine whether the dissident faction launches an open challenge to Mansour.

So far it has refused to accept his authority, but not put forward a rival candidate. Omar’s family have far less money and � ghters than Mansour, who also enjoys good relations with Pakistan.

One Taliban source said the leadership in the Middle East had been planning to split from Mansour because they feared he was too close to Pakistani intelligence.

Pakistan has long been accused of backing the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, having helped set up the movement in the 1990s.

However, the country’s intelligence com-munity has always maintained that it has no operational links with the Taliban.

So far, both Mansour and his opponents have succeeded in avoiding an open show-down. Taliban commanders opposing Mansour say he is using threats and incentives to strengthen his position.

Small skirmishes over the leadership have already begun, some Taliban say.

A senior member of Mansour’s faction admitted there had been “some clashes among � ghters in di� erent areas due to misunder-standings ... But we overcame this issue.”

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who supports Mansour, denied that and dis-missed Dadullah’s claims.

“Why would we send our � ghters to harass him? He is not capable enough to challenge us,” l

ADB: South Asia at front lines of mounting climate costsn Reuters, Dhaka

South Asian economies stand to lose around 1.3% of their collective annual GDP by 2050 even if global temperature increases are kept to 2°C, experts and public o� cials warn.

In the second half of the century, the losses are likely to increase to around 2.5% of GDP, warns an analysis by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

But if temperature increases are allowed to increase above 2°C, losses will mount to 1.8% of GDP by 2050 and a staggering 8.8% by 2100, according to the analysis.

“South Asia is at the frontlines of climate change,” said Preety Bhandari, the bank’s director for climate change and disaster risk management. “The numbers and the fre-quency of extreme weather events faced by the region are rising.”

The ADB estimates that South Asia needs around $73bn annually from now till 2100 to adapt to negative impacts of climate change if current temperature trends continue. Those would see world temperature rise by at least 3.5°C to 4°C by the turn of the century,

scientists say.But if countries succeed in keeping tem-

perature rise below 2°C, that cost would fall to around $40.6bn annually, the bank said.

Public o� cials in South Asia say that they are aware of the risk, but adaptation meas-ures are slow as policy-makers grapple with balancing economic growth with climate re-silience.

Moving to action“There are many priorities for these countries. In such a complex scenario it would be vital that they integrate climate considerations into their development goals,” Bhandari said.

Because developing nations are loath to sacri� ce growth to building climate resilience, she and other experts advocate that countries look at making their development plans cli-mate friendly rather than trying to create cli-mate resilience through separate e� orts.

Even as policy makers and governments begin making the slow shift to climate friend-ly development goals, � nancial losses are mounting.

Nepal could lose as much as 10% of GDP

by 2100 due to melting glaciers and other cli-mate extremes, while in neighbouring India crop yields could decline 14.5% by 2050. In-dia’s 8,000km-long coastline also faces serious economic risk due to rising sea level, it said. Currently 85% of the country’s agriculture re-quires some level of irrigation, and that need is likely to rise with temperature increases, even as India’s groundwater threatens to run short.

Sri Lanka has already seen its rice and oth-er harvests � uctuate in recent years due to changing monsoon patterns. ADB data warns that yields in the vital tea sector could halve by 2080. The island could also see a sharp rise in vector-borne diseases, with 350,000 people contracting such diseases by 2090 and 2,000 dying of them each year, the ADB analysis said.

Since 2007, Sri Lanka has seen a sharp rise in dengue cases, especially in the post-mon-soon months. The � rst nine months of this year recorded 20,058 cases; last year, a peak year for dengue, saw close to 29,000 cases over the same period, according to Health Ministry data. There is also fear that the coun-try may be heading into a drought - the second in two years - in the last quarter of 2015. l

Prosecutors accused Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba of being behind the 2006 attacks

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Sources: IAEA/NTI/ISIS/USNRC/World-nuclear.org

Slash the number of uranium centrifuges fromabout 19,000 to5,060 for 10 years

Stockpile of low-enriched uranium to be reducedfrom 10,000 kg to 300 kgfor 15 years

Historic agreement designed to block Tehran’s pathway to a nuclear weapon

Closer inspections, under the Additional Protocol, including potentially of military basesIAEA surveillance equipment to be installed in mines and nuclear facilities

To be the only enrichmentsite

Iran nuclear deal

Gashin

FORDOTo retain 1,044 centrifuges,not to be used for uraniumenrichment

Anarak

Karaj

Bushehr

Isfahan

Reactor to be redesignedto prevent production ofweapons-grade plutonium

ARAK

Parchin

TEHRAN

CASPIANSEA

NATANZ

Ardakan

Sagand

Nuclearwaste disposal

Yellowcakeproduction plant

Holds some enrichment equipment

Military base

Main nuclearresearch center

Research reactors,uranium conversion

1,000 MWepressurisedwater reactor

SAUDIARABIA

IRAQ

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

Nuclear energy is produced fromU235, which makes up just 0.7% of naturally-occurring uranium, the rest being U238

The enrichment process increases the proportion of U235 by separating it from U238

Enrichment

Under the deal

Nuclear site Reactor Uranium mineMajor facilities (approximate locations)

Reported uranium reserves: 4,400 tonnes

N Ireland govt faces collapse in IRA rown AFP, Belfast

Northern Ireland’s government moved a step closer to collapse on Thursday when the � rst minister failed in his bid to suspend its assem-bly over alleged Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity.

Peter Robinson had said he and fellow ministers from the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) would quit unless the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended in a vote by the business committee.

But the party was defeated after failing to gain the support of Sinn Fein, the social dem-ocratic nationalist SDLP and the Ulster Union-ist Party (UUP).

Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary There-sa Villiers could still suspend the power-shar-ing government but it is thought that the gov-ernment in London does not favour this.

If not, then Robinson has said ministerial resignations will follow “immediately”.

The move comes after a senior � gure in Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, was arrested in connection with the shooting of a former IRA gunman last month. l

No relaxation seen in Gulf states’ curbs on Syrian refugeesn Reuters, Dubai

Despite withering criticism over their reluc-tance to host Syria’s refugees, the rich Arab Gulf states are unlikely to end their practice of keeping out those who � ee the world’s trou-ble spots.

None of the six Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil states - Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar - has signed the UN convention on refugees which has governed international law on asylum since World War II.

The Syrian father of 3-year-old Aylan Kur-di, whose image drowned on a Turkish beach last week helped inspire a wave of global sym-pathy for refugees making perilous voyages to Europe, blamed Arab countries for failing to take in more Syrians.

“I want Arab governments - not European countries - to see (what happened to) my chil-dren, and because of them to help people,” Abdullah Kurdi said last week as he crossed

the border back to Syria to bury tiny Aylan, his � ve-year-old brother and their mother after they drowned in the Mediterranean.

Gulf states say they have in fact taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrians since the civil war there began in 2011, including half a million in Saudi Arabia and 100,000 in the United Arab Emirates - just not as refugees.

Like the rest of the expatriates that form a majority in many Gulf States, Syrians have been admitted mainly as temporary guest workers, which generally means they must have jobs lined up before they arrive, or as their family dependants.

The Gulf monarchies also say they are big humanitarian aid donors, having contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to relief e� orts in the region. But that cuts little ice with an increasingly critical humanitarian community.

Analysts say the Gulf states worry about the political, social and economic impact of an in� ux of refugees, especially fellow Arabs,

who might settle permanently and demand broad civil rights that temporary guest work-ers know not to expect.

After Arab expatriates became involved in local political movements in the 1950s and 60s, Gulf governments steered their recruit-ment of foreign workers more towards Asia than the Middle East.

Gulf citizens worry that generous social welfare bene� ts for nationals may come un-der strain if state money has to be allocated to deal with a massive in� ux of non-nation-als, particularly at a time when budgets are stretched by lower prices for oil exports.

Abdullah al-Shammari, a former Saudi diplomat, said images of refugees in distress could pressure Gulf states to relax their pol-icies, possibly by giving Syrians preference when applying for jobs and loosening restric-tions for visas.

But a wider policy reversal is unlikely as long as Gulf states are not signatories to global refugee conventions. l

A Republican-backed measure to derail the Iran nuclear agreement was blocked in the US Senate on Thursday, in a major foreign policy victory for Democrat President Barack Obama. The vote was 58-42 against clearing the way for debate of the bill, meaning opponents of the nuclear pact failed to get the 60 votes necessary to advance a res-olution of disapproval. Under a law Obama signed in May, Congress has a 60-day period ending on September 17 to pass a resolution dis-approving of the international agreement. If such a resolution were to pass, and survive Obama’s promised veto, it would bar the president from waiving many US sanctions on Tehran, a key component of the nuclear deal. The House has not scheduled a vote on its own reso-lution of disapproval. And there are no plans now for the Senate to vote on legislation similar to the three measures being considered in the House. The 42 members of the Senate Democratic caucus who supported the nuclear deal on Thursday are also far more than the 34 senators whose votes would be needed to sustain an Obama veto.

Moscow seeks coordination over Syria to avoid ‘unintended incidents’n Reuters, Moscow

Russia called on Friday for Washington to re-start direct military-to-military cooperation to avert “unintended incidents” near Syria, at a time when US o� cials say Moscow is building up forces to protect President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The United States is leading a campaign of air strikes against Islamic State � ghters in Syrian air space, and a greater Russian pres-ence would raise the prospect of the Cold War superpower foes encountering each other on the battle� eld.

Both Moscow and Washington say their en-emy is Islamic State. But Russia supports the government of Assad, while the United States says his presence makes the situation worse.

In recent days, US o� cials have described what they say is a buildup of Russian equip-ment and manpower.

Lebanese sources have said that at least some Russian troops were now engaged in combat operations in support of Assad’s gov-ernment. Moscow has declined to comment on those reports.

At a news conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was send-ing equipment to help Assad � ght Islamic State. Russian servicemen were in Syria, he said, primarily to help service that equipment and teach Syrian soldiers how to use it.

Russia was also conducting naval exercis-es in the eastern Mediterranean, he said, de-scribing the drills as long-planned and staged in accordance with international law.

Lavrov blamed Washington for cutting o� direct military-to-military communications between Russia and Nato over the Ukraine crisis, saying such contacts were “important for the avoidance of undesired, unintended incidents”.

US o� cials say they do not know what Moscow’s intentions are in Syria. The reports

of a Russian buildup come at a time when mo-mentum has shifted against Assad’s govern-ment in Syria’s 4-year-old civil war, with Da-mascus su� ering battle� eld setbacks this year at the hands of an array of insurgent groups.

Moscow, Assad’s ally since the Cold War, maintains its only Mediterranean naval base at Tartous on the Syrian coast, a strategic objective.

Common enemyDi� erences over Assad’s future have made it impossible for Moscow and the West to take joint action against Islamic State, even though they say the group, which rules a self-proclaimed caliphate on swathes of Syria and Iraq, is their common enemy.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday it was too early to judge what exactly Russia’s motivations at present were in Syria, but that “adding war to war” would not help resolve the Syrian con� ict.

“If it’s about defending the base in Tartous why not? But if it’s to enter the con� ict ....” he said, without � nishing the thought.

Bargaining powerDiplomats in Moscow say the Kremlin is hap-py for the West to believe it is building up its military in Syria, calculating that this will give it more bargaining power in any international talks about whether Assad stays in power.

Western and Arab countries have backed demands from the Syrian opposition that As-sad must give way under any negotiated set-tlement to the war. Assad refuses to go and so far his enemies have lacked the capability to force him out, leaving the war grinding on for years. All diplomatic e� orts at a solution have collapsed.

Assad’s supporters have taken encourage-ment this week from an apparent shift in tone from some European states that suggests a softening of demands he leave power. l

WORLD 9D

T

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015WORLD10D

T

Eastern European nations reject refugee quotasn AFP, Prague

Eastern European countries rejected migrant quotas on Friday, exposing a deep rift on the continent over how to respond to the crisis as new footage raised further questions about Hungary’s treatment of � oods of refugees.

Pressing his Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian counterparts in Prague, Germany’s foreign minister warned that the in� ux of hundreds of thousands of migrants could be “the biggest challenge for the EU in its history.”

“If we are united in describing the situa-tion as such, we should be united that such a challenge is not manageable for a single coun-try,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, calling for “European solidarity.”

But Steinmeier’s appeal to agree to Eu-

ropean Commission proposals unveiled on Wednesday to share around 160,000 migrants among the 28-nation bloc fell on deaf ears.

“We’re convinced that as countries we should keep control over the number of those we are able to accept,” said Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek after the meeting.

With the bloc continuing to squabble, EU president Donald Tusk said he would call a leaders’ summit if a European justice and home a� airs ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday failed to yield a breakthrough.

“Without such a decision, I will have to call an emergency meeting of the European Coun-cil,” he said.

EU lawmakers have called for an interna-tional conference on migration bringing to-gether the United States, United Nations and Arab countries. l

Survey: Americans so-so on knowledge of sciencen AFP, Washington, DC

Americans’ knowledge of basic scienti� c facts is just average, says a poll out Thursday that also revealed di� erences by education level, gender, race and age.

Among 3,200 adults tested, the median score out of 12 questions was eight correct, says the survey by the Pew Research Center.

Some 27% answered eight or nine ques-tions correctly. Another 26% got 10 or 11 right, and just 6% got them all right.

A total of 86% correctly identi� ed the Earth’s inner layer, or core, as its hottest part. And 82% knew uranium is needed to make nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. 73% knew the di� erence between astronomy and astrology. 74% of those surveyed identi� ed Jo-nas Salk as the man who developed the polio

vaccine. They chose from a pool that included Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.

Unsurprisingly, Americans with higher ed-ucation levels did better on the test. A total of 57% of adults with a postgraduate degree got 10 to 12 correct answers, compared to 18% for those with a high school diploma or less.

As for gender, men averaged 8.6 out of 12 correct answers, while for women it was 7.3.

Some 24% of women answered 10 or more questions correctly. For men it was 43%.

Whites, with 8.4 correct answers out of 12, did better than Hispanics (7.1) and blacks (5.9).

Younger adults -- aged 18 to 49 -- gener-ally had more scienti� c knowledge than old-er ones (65 or older). The latter averaged 7.6 correct answers out of 12, while the younger adults averaged eight or more correct an-swers. l

11D

TEDITORIALSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

INSIDE

We are surprised that the Finance Minister AMA Muhith is still arguing that it is private university authorities, not students, who will pay the VAT imposed by the government on private universities.

He must realise by now that semantic debates and word games about who actually pays this tax, will not help improve the government’s case. However it is described, this is still a tax on education.

Everyone can see that for a private university to pay 7.5% VAT without increasing tuition fees as the minister is insisting to reporters, it will have to cut costs and expenditure. For many institutions, such a change may seriously compromise the quality of the education it can provide. It is far more logical and natural then to expect private universities to ultimately pass on the VAT charge to their students via their tuition fees.

The real question for the government to answer is whether it can show more public good being served via it imposing VAT on private universities, or less?

We strongly urge the minister to reconsider the government’s position as all the evidence points to private universities providing a very important public service, which will only be undermined by this unnecessary new tax.

To date, the main justi� cation the minister has made in this regard is to boldly state “I have to collect revenue, and the private universities are logically a big of source of that.” Not only does this ignore far bigger sources of revenue, but it undermines the constitution’s guarantee of free choice in education, by discriminating against private providers.

Over 450,000 students already attend private universities. They play a crucial role by providing healthy competition and ful� lling the rising demand for higher education in Bangladesh.

Making attendance costlier will only impose hardship and hinder access to higher education. Restricting private universities may incentivise more people to go abroad, while doing nothing to improve access to public universities.

With spaces at public universities in short supply, it is a mistake to impose extra costs on the students of private higher education institutions as the disadvantages created will far outweigh revenue gains to the government.

However it is described, this is still a tax on education that does more harm than good

Face the facts, VAT on education does not add up

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Portuguese Bangladesh

PAGE 16-17

Arts & LettersPAGE 18

Atheism is not a dirty word

PAGE 15

Worth the value?PAGE 12

OPINION12DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

n Mustafi zur Rahman Khan

In the wake of widespread protests bringing tra� c to a standstill in the capital this Thursday, the government has announced that the VAT imposed

on tuition fees for private universities shall be paid by the universities and not their students, and private universities will not be able to raise their fees on this excuse.

But this raises more questions than it answers. First, this may lead one to assume that the government can restrain private universities from raising their fees, though actually, there is no such authority under the law. Secondly, VAT is not a tax on income. It is a tax on the value received by the purchas-er of a good or recipient of a service.

The law allows for the National Board of Revenue to determine the person from whom VAT is recovered by the exchequer. It may be recovered from the person who sells the good or provides the service, or it may be deducted at source by the payer, depending upon what is being sold or provided.

In case of private universities, the NBR has provided that VAT shall be recovered from the university. But the tax still remains a levy on the fee paid for the service received by the student from the university. Seen as such, the explanation pro� ered seems lame at best, intentionally disingenuous at worst.

Predictably, social media is awash with commentary on the issue, mostly critical of the government. There are some, however, who defend the government, pointing to the huge “pro� ts” expensive private universities make, and also assuming that the families of the students of private universities can a� ord to pay the VAT.

Those defending the government ignore

that private universities cannot lawfully make “pro� ts.” Indeed, they do not have “owners.” Under the law, they are sup-posed to be philanthropic endeavours, run by boards of trustees. Surplus income is not supposed to be distributed as pro� t to owners, but invested for the purposes of the university.

Unfortunately, the fees charged by the private universities in Bangladesh are ex-orbitant, and there are widespread reports of abuse by the trustees in a great many of them, where secret pro� ts are made in a myr-iad of ways, mostly through defalcation and diversion of funds in the course of procure-ment and investment.

Indeed, there are disturbing reports of “sale” and “takeover” of private universities by business houses, where the outgoing trustees receive a “consideration price” from those who supplant them. If these are indeed philanthropic endeavors, this should never happen.

This, perhaps, should be the real issue here. The powers of oversight of the Universi-ty Grant Commission should be reviewed and made more e� ective. Rules should be made and strengthened to audit private univer-sities and make procurement transparent. Surplus income should be invested along principles governing employee provident funds, so that income can be used to fund expansion, research, and student aid in the best traditions of endowment-rich universi-ties of the West. The trustees of the private universities must be held to account to the trust reposed in them.

But as far as subjecting the tuition fees to VAT is concerned, in the absence of there being any legal control on the fees, one fears that even if it is made out to be an imposi-

tion on the private university, and not the student, in the end it would be used as a pretense to increase fees. While the imposi-tion of VAT may well be within the letter of the law, it is a poor policy decision.

The total number of students in private universities has outnumbered those in public universities since 2012. Not all students in private universities are rich. Indeed, most are from middle and lower income groups whose families endure a great deal of sacri� ce. The incidence of VAT will ultimately be passed on to them.

While the students of public universities enjoy the bene� ts of government subsi-dies, those in private universities are being saddled with an even bigger burden. This is clearly discriminatory. One must remember, unlike income tax, which is progressive, VAT is a regressive tax imposed on consumption. The poorer a person is, the greater the inci-dence of the consumption, and therefore the tax, as a proportion of his total earnings in a given period.

Under our constitution, education is not a fundamental right. But one should not lose sight that under the fundamental principles of state policy enshrined in the constitution, the state is supposed to ensure universal and free education. In this sense, the existence of private universities acknowledges the continuing failure of the state to attain this. This in itself can be excused, since in terms of economic development, we are not there where we can have a welfare state.

But having thus failed, is not the state rubbing salt into a wound when it makes education in a private university even more expensive? Even if the fundamental princi-ples of state policy are legally unenforceable, are they not supposed to be a beacon that guides the government?

Indeed, these principles have a sanctity which is beyond the law. They are the em-bodiment of the spirit of 1971. They represent the true ideals that the Bengali nation fought for, and is still striving to attain. They ought to be the true stu� of Shahbagh.

Seen as such, is not the government being terribly wrong here? Is the unpopularity that it is garnering worth the value? Should not the party which led us in our glorious deliv-erance imbibed in that spirit take a second look? l

Musta� zur Rahman Khan is a freelance contributor.

Worth the value?The sanctity of education goes beyond the law, and the government is wrong to make it more expensive

As far as subjecting the tuition fees to VAT is concerned, in the absence of there being any legal control on the fees, one fears that even if it is made out to be an imposition on the private university, and not the student, in the end it would be used as a pretense to increase fees

Students will ultimately be the ones bearing the brunt of the VAT BIGSTOCK

OPINION 13D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

n Ridwan Quaium

In most big cities around the world, it is common to see pedestrians crossing the road using the designated crosswalks or using road-crossing facilities such as foot

overbridges or underpasses. In fact, in many big urban centres, while crossing the road using a crosswalk, pedestrians also have to abide by the pedestrian tra� c signal. Pedes-trians are not even seen crossing roads using the crosswalk if the pedestrian tra� c signal does not tell them to.

This is because jaywalking, or pedestrians crossing the road when and where they are not permitted to do so, such as crossing the road at places where there is no crosswalk, climbing across the road divider, crossing the intersection when they are not permitted to

do so, violating the pedestrian tra� c signal, etc, is dangerous and is considered a tra� c o� ense. And just like any other commuter, a pedestrian found to be committing a tra� c o� ense is supposed to be penalised.

Jaywalking is considered a tra� c o� ense because motorists only expect pedestrians at a crosswalk when they are permitted to cross the road, but when a pedestrian jaywalks, drivers are often caught unawares, having to swerve abruptly or slow down or even come to a complete standstill, to avoid hitting the pedestrian.

If the motorist is attentive then he or she may be able to avoid hitting the pedestrian and the pedestrian may be able to cross the road safely.

However, if the driver is driving at a high speed, or is unaware, or if the tra� c is heavy, then they may not have enough time to slow down or swerve in order to avoid hitting the pedestrian, or even realise the presence of the pedestrian, leading to a vehicle-to-pedes-trian collision. In the worst cases, jaywalking may lead to a multi-vehicle pile up, including the pedestrian getting hit, creating a proper tra� c mayhem.

To ensure safe and smooth � ow of tra� c, just like vehicles, it is important for pe-destrians to adhere to tra� c laws, such as having to cross the road using designated road-crossing facilities and at crosswalks -- they have to cross the road only when they are permitted.

Pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions happen

almost every day here in Dhaka. There is no doubt that reckless driving is one of the major reasons for pedestrian casualties but jaywalking is also another prime reason for pedestrians falling into danger. Pedestrians are even seen to be running across the road even when they are next to a foot over-bridge.

Jaywalking also severely hampers tra� c � ow. In the daytime, many of the roads in Dhaka remain clogged due to tra� c congestion. However, when vehicles get a chance to move, they have to continuously slow down or come to a halt to avoid hitting jaywalkers or even other vehicles. This is worsening the already “stop and go” tra� c condition and disrupting tra� c � ow even further.

Although most pedestrians understand the risk of jaywalking, they seem to be doing it anyway. To encourage pedestrians to refrain from jaywalking, authorities need to conduct large-scale campaigns about the dangers of jaywalking, provide more safe and convenient road-crossing facilities through-out the city, and maintain the existing road-crossing facilities.

In addition, to prevent jaywalking, the au-thorities have to increase the height of road dividers, � x them in the spots where they are crumbling down, and most importantly, penalise jaywalkers. l

Ridwan Quaium is a transporting engineer working in Thailand.

Is there a way to improve this tra� c?As bad as Dhaka's tra� c conditions are already, rampant jaywalkers are making it worse

To ensure safe and smooth � ow of tra� c, just like vehicles, it is important for pedestrians to adhere to tra� c laws

This is not how roads are supposed to work SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

OPINION14DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

n Arild Engelsen Ruud

Until May this year, things seemed to be going fairly well for Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi. He sailed o� smoothly, riding on the back of a

very convincing election victory last year. He has a majority in parliament, a foundation so solid that prime ministers around the world can only dream about it.

And he retains it until the next election. In addition to the majority in parliament, his election victory gave him a mandate from large sections of society to carry out new reforms. Even reforms that had not been part of the election campaign.

The campaign Swachh Bharat, “Clean In-dia,” for example, received broad public sup-port, even from members of the opposition. And his call to the country’s bureaucrats, to be in o� ce early and get the � les moving, was met with loud cheers and applause.

But now, � nally, things don’t seem so rosy anymore. It has been pointed out, over the summer months, that Modi does not deliver on economic reforms. Business leaders who were his warmest admirers express them-selves now in cooler terms. The economic reforms many hoped he would deliver on are still waiting.

And on the foreign relations front, the optimistic belief that Modi would constitute a new source of energy, bringing about a long-awaited rapprochement between India and Pakistan, evaporated early, although a little hope remains. That hope was e� ectively killed during last month’s shootings across the border.

Then, the man himself. The speech he gave on August 15 last year was sparkling and was greeted with enthusiasm. Modi’s conspicuously colourful turban, his con� dent attitude, and the ideas he expressed thrilled even his opponents.

This year, however, newspaper comments have been much less enthusiastic. His turban was much less colourful, his speech ordi-nary, almost drab, as in Manmohan Singh's days, and it was empty of exciting initiatives. His speech was just an ordinary review of government policies and an invitation to support it.

And now? There is steady � ring across the line of control in Kashmir, and Pakistan re-

mains a signi� cant foreign policy challenge. At home, the opposition has recovered its composure and continues to � re away at will at the government’s errors.

Rahul Gandhi is self-consciously grabbing popular protest issues; and the campaign to weaken the dynasty by taking on Rahul’s brother-in-law has been side-tracked. In addition, there are the riots in Gujarat, in the state he ruled for over 12 years and where his successors now rule.

The demands behind the riots give rise to much irritation and criticism in the rest of the country. There is no support or any understanding, and the matter re� ects badly on the party even if it is not directly involved. And lastly, most recently, trade unions joined forces and launched a strike against a new transport policy. The strike was not convinc-ing, but it was a concerted e� ort by mainly, rather new, leftist organisations.

In other words, India is now back to “politics as usual.” The � rst year with Modi’s “Raj” was a bit of an exception, with a prime minister who was extraordinarily popular and inspired high hopes among large parts of

the population. Today, he is a prime minister just as any other prime minister, with good and bad qualities, caught in the political web which he himself, to some extent, helped spin.

One would need broad shoulders and a lot of courage to want to change India’s deep economic and political structures. Modi had that, but he needed friends and allies and people to work with him. And the further out from the prime minister’s o� ce, the clearer it is.

His party and the administrative appa-ratus he is part of, and his monied friends, are all part of wide networks reaching across di� erent and contradictory interests. Things will not easily move, and the natural gravity is towards the middle. l

Arild Engelsen Ruud is Professor of South Asia Studies, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Norway.

Modi in the middle The hope that Modi had initially inspired is slowly fading away

In other words, India is now back to “politics as usual.” The � rst year with Modi's “raj” was a bit of an exception, with a prime minister who was extraordinarily popular and inspired high hopes among large parts of the population. Today, he is a prime minister just as any other prime minister, with good and bad qualities

Is Modi's support waning? REUTERS

OPINION 15D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

n Rainer Ebert

Last year, a Pew Research Centre survey found that Americans have a signi� cantly less favourable view of atheists than of Jews, Christians,

Buddhists, and Hindus. Only Muslims were rated more negatively than atheists. That is consistent with another survey conducted by the same institute in the same year, which found that about every second American would not be happy with a family member marrying an atheist.

In a 2012 Gallup poll among Americans, 43% of respondents said that they would not vote for a presidential candidate who was an atheist. Simply put, Americans do not like atheists. As everybody knows who knows anything about Bangladesh, neither do Bangladeshis.

It is hard to give a comprehensive explanation of why atheism is so unpopular in both the United States and Bangladesh, but part of the explanation surely lies in the common belief that, without religion, there is no morality. What shall we make of that belief? It is sometimes argued that, if one does not believe that there is a divinely revealed set of moral rules, and that there will be consequences for not abiding by these rules, then one has no reason to do what is right.

That argument, however, is insulting and unfair not only towards atheists, but also towards religious people, as it suggests that the only thing that stops religious people from murdering and stealing is a sel� sh fear of punishment in the afterlife. If you are religious, I suspect you would take issue with that suggestion, and instead agree that your religion forbids murder and theft not arbitrarily, but for a reason, which lies in what murder and theft do to the victims.

Then, however, you must recognise that atheists too have reason not to engage in immoral behavior. In fact, they have more or less the same reason. They too can understand that murdering and stealing are failures to show due respect to other people, and cause harm to the victims, their families and friends, and society.

Just like believers, atheists can understand that, if we do not want certain things done to us, we should not do them to others. This is not to say that all atheists do, in fact, understand these principles, and act accordingly, but neither do all religious people. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the infamous leader of the barbaric ISIS/Daesh group, is a Muslim, but so was Begum Rokeya, the Bengali social activist and promoter of women’s education.

Similarly, Joseph Stalin, the murderous Soviet dictator, was an atheist, but so was the South African anti-apartheid activist and writer Nadine Gordimer who, according to the committee that awarded her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, has “been of very great bene� t to humanity.”

Whether someone is an atheist or a theist says nothing about that person’s character.

Another common misconception about

atheists is that they hate religion. As is the case with many misconceptions, there is a grain of truth in it. There are, in fact, atheists who hate religion, and some of them go as far as to o� end religious people just for the sake of causing o� ense and no other purpose.

But then there are also plenty of religious people who hate atheism, and talk about their contempt for atheists. Neither behaviour is nice or civil, but it is one of those things we must tolerate in a free and open society. Free speech has no meaning if it is only the freedom to say nice things, things which everybody � nds agreeable.

When the American author Sam Harris, for

example, says that Islam is the “mother lode of bad ideas,” as he recently did in a heated exchange with Ben A� eck, the best we can make of it is to take it as an opportunity to have a public conversation that, ideally, bene� ts everybody. While there is no doubt that there are ideas in the history of Islamic thought, like in virtually every intellectual tradition, that are problematic and should be criticised, we have to look no further than the fundamentals of Islam to cast doubt on Harris’ assertion.

Take the Third Pillar of Islam, Zakat: One should give a portion of one’s income and wealth to the poor and needy -- a great idea,

one that atheists can whole-heartedly agree with, and surely not the only great idea in Islam.

An atheist is a person who does not believe in the existence of any god, and being an atheist hence, is perfectly consistent with recognising and appreciating the beauty and wisdom which can be found in all religions.

A lack of belief in one or more gods neither entails moral corruption nor contempt for religion. Conversely, belief in one or more gods neither guarantees good character or moral behavior, nor proper appreciation for what is good in religion, as the current series of murders of bloggers in Bangladesh painfully demonstrates.

Unfortunately, public perception of atheism and religion is too often shaped by people who are less than sophisticated, divisive, and -- in the case of religious fanatics -- even violent. Let us judge people on the basis of their actions and character, rather than their religious a� liations, or lack thereof, and learn to see the diversity of thought as a treasure for all of humanity, and listen more to those for whom neither atheism, nor religion, is a dirty word. l

Rainer Ebert is a PhD candidate at the Department of Philosophy at Rice University in Texas, and an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. He blogs at rainerebert.com.

Atheism is not a dirty wordAtheism and morality aren't mutually exclusive

A lack of belief in one or more gods neither entails moral corruption nor contempt for religion. Conversely, belief in one or more gods neither guarantees good character or moral behavior, nor proper appreciation for what is goodin religion

Atheism does not imply immortality

HERITAGE16DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

n Tim Steel

Bangladesh, to the interested observ-er, may seem akin to a splendidly colourful tapestry. Close inspection reveals some extraordinarily rich

threads comprising the vibrant image. Few nations in the world can compete with a history of wealth, trade, natural endeavour, indigenous resources, lush environment, and constant political change and enrichment.

It comes as no surprise to � nd that, throughout the ages, the peoples of these lands around the delta of three great Asian rivers have both grown their own empires, and been indispensable to the growth of others, including the greatest empire the world has ever seen -- the century-and-a-half British Empire.

It o� ers real pleasure to anyone interested in history and heritage -- such a valuable magnet in today’s international tourism business -- to not only stand at a distance and admire, but also to stand closer and trace

some of those threads of the kaleidoscope of inheritance.

We have no real evidence, beyond about � ve centuries of the histories written in Europe’s Classical Ages, to enable us to be sure of the extent of the invasion of the north Indian sub-continent by the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great. He was the � rst, and arguably least, successful of the foreign invaders with an eye on the wealth of these lands.

Similarly, the second major invasion by armies from beyond the protective barrier of the Caucasian and Himalayan mountain rang-es, by the Khilji, is thinly documented. The Khilji, probably descendants of Alexander’s army, left in Kandahar in Afghanistan, and converted to Islam. They � rst raided across India in the 13th century, and arrived to settle early in the 14th century, � eeing in the face of the Mongol advance across their homelands.

Possibly, it was the experience of their earlier raids, delivering up, almost certainly, the enormous wealth of Buddhist Vihara and Hindu Temples experience, that led them to settle in the rich centres of agriculture and trade around the Ganges delta. What we can easily believe is that they found the area around Panam City of today, located close by the conjunction of the three great rivers, the

Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna, a good location for controlling revenue collection.

The arrival of the Mughals, from the Tur-kic lands that had been medieval Persia, and their struggles to take and consolidate a hold of these same rich lands of the delta, referred to by the sixth Mughal Emperor Auranzeb as “the Paradise of Nations” for its wealth and trade, is far better documented. The stages of their almost titanic struggle to defeat both the freedom � ghters, such as Isa Khan, and Pradapaditya, perhaps the greatest of the Baro-Bhuyan of Bengal, as well as the di� -cult, often water-logged, terrain of the deltaic lands, are not di� cult to trace.

Unsurprisingly, as the most recent lands even further developed in literature and learning, it is the European invasion that is best documented. Perhaps that would be better expressed as invasions, since so many European nations, independently and usually in great rivalry, participated. And, of course, the Portuguese were the vanguard of this European advance.

The arrival of Vasco da Gama in the Indian sub-continent in 1498 led these evolving invasions, and the eventual conquest by the British, as the � rst European merchant adventurer to open an oceanic route between Europe and India. At least the � rst direct route for European traders since the closure of the ancient canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, by which we may believe that Phoeni-cian sailors may possibly have reached the same destination in the late centuries BCE, and the early centuries of the Common Era.

We should not be surprised that it did not take long for this Portuguese-sponsored explorer to appreciate that woven cloth originated most plentifully in the north east corner, the lands around the Ganges delta. No doubt the Portuguese also rapidly appreciat-ed that this great entrepot was well connect-ed to the valuables of Asia, especially spices, gems, and precious metals. They arrived in Chittagong about 30 years after their � rst arrival in the sub-continent.

It is fair to attribute to the � fth son of the Portuguese King, John 1st, Prince Henry, subsequently known as “the Navigator,” the surge in Portuguese adventuring for trade. To him is credited the initiation of what has become known as “the Age of Discoveries.”In fact, the mercantile adventures he patron-

ised and supported merely re-opened direct trade between European nations and places in the east that had � ourished nearly 2,000 years earlier, but had relied, for the previous millennium, largely on middle-men of the Middle East.

The focus of his adventuring, initially, was the Atlantic, with its islands, such as the Azores, and the west coast of Africa.

Clearly an excellent administrator, in 1434 he established the Casa de Ceuta, to focus on North African trade, initially on the city of Ceuta that he had persuaded his father to conquer. There followed the “Casa de Arguim,” and then the, “Casa da Guine,” to administer his monopoly of the development of further African trade.

This became the pattern established for the development of such Portuguese trading adventures, and following da Gama’s � rst voyage to India, “Casa de India” was established in 1506. A pattern emulated by the English nearly a century later, as such establishments in the City of London as “the

Portuguese BangladeshPortugal’s relationship with Bangladesh is a long and storied one

No doubt the Portuguese also rapidly appreciated that this great entrepot was well connected to the valuables of Asia, especially spices, gems, and precious metals. They arrived in Chittagong about 30 years after their � rst arrival in the sub-continent

HERITAGE 17D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Baltic Exchange” suggests.Initially, like subsequent Europeans, es-

tablishing themselves on the west coast with Goa, eventually the last Portuguese toe-hold in the sub-continent, established in 1510, and only � nally annexed into India in 1962, it did not take the Portuguese long to realise that Bengal held most promise.

They arrived in the ancient port of Chittagong that they called Xatigan around 1528. They were to remain as a politically signi� cant presence, throughout the period of Arakan over lordship, until the Bengali re-conquest in 1666.

In many ways, these earliest of Europeans have left a more enduring, and perhaps more fondly recalled, impression, than all the Danes, Dutch, Belgians, French, German, and British put together.

From the “Portuguese eyes,” grey, green, and blue, so lovingly identi� ed even by the most devout Muslims, in the smiling brown faces of so many of the inhabitants, espe-cially south of Chittagong, to the brick-built

gothic structures of historic Roman Catho-lic Cathedrals, and to the large number of descendants bearing Portuguese names with which many indigenous peoples were endowed on their conversion or intermar-riage with Portuguese who never went home, echoes of their presence can be seen and read everywhere, today.

Such 16th century travellers as Ralph Fitch, the English merchant, were impressed by evidence of the work and in� uence of these � rst adventurers. And few local histo-ries, from the 16th century onwards, do not involve participation of Portuguese soldiers, often as mercenaries in local armies, trades-men, traders, pirates, and, perhaps above all, ship-builders.

Although, when the English � rst arrived, the homeland of the Portuguese, tradition-ally England’s oldest ally, was under the rule of the Spanish king, one of England’s greatest foes, architect of the infamous Spanish Armada of 1588, there seems little doubt that the ancient friendship may have survived politically, if not when it came to competition for trade.

Renegade Portuguese may well have taken to a level of piracy, especially in alliance with the Arakanese who had also been driven out of their original host city in Chittagong, that put them � rmly at odds with the highly com-mercial interests of the East India Company.

Eventually, however, they seemed to have been fairly well-assimilated into British rule. It comes as no surprise to � nd that, speaking no local languages, Portuguese is said to have been the language in which Clive communicat-ed with the native troops under his command.

Ultimately, perhaps, it is the Portuguese who came to trade, rather than conquer, who have found the softest spot in the hearts of today’s people of Bangladesh when the extraordinarily rich heritage of the nation is considered. l

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing, and tourism consultant.

The arrival of Vasco da Gama in the Indian sub-continent in 1498, led these evolving invasions, and the eventual conquest by the British, as the � rst European merchant adventurer to open an oceanic route between Europe and India

ARTS & LETTERS18

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Send your submissions to: anl@dhakatribune.com

Filling that oddball space n Shehtaz Huq

On my � rst day of American high school in Colleyville, Texas, I walked into my 7th period creative writing class expecting nothing.

The class: A smorgasbord of mis� ts and jocks and preppy cheerleaders and burnouts. I added to the mix, insisting on saying “lift” instead of “elevator” and “trolley” instead of “cart.”

The � rst time a writing assignment of mine was displayed on the overhead, I was critiqued for my “archaic” language. The � rst time I was reduced to tears in American high school, it was because my response to the prompt “Describe your last Christmas” did not “meet the requirement.” “What do you mean, you’ve never seen snow?” asked my teacher, and I stood in front of the class and blubbered.

To write in America has been a quandary. On the one hand, my creative writing classes will tolerate blood and sex and rock and roll, will only discreetly roll eyes at thinly-veiled knock-o� s of 50 Shades of Grey or Harry Potter. On the other hand, the � rst mention

of eating � sh curry or taking a rickshaw or arranged marriage will send heads in a tizzy. “Wow,” you’ll hear. “That’s so exotic.”

To be an exotic writer was not my intention. Yet, I � nd myself gravitating towards those topics. One must, after all, pander to the audience. Give them more Slumdog Million-aire (with a dash of ilish maach to boot). Give them more Life of Pi, minus the sea and with more Royal Bengal Tigers. Give them stories of escaping hurricanes on bamboo rafts, sto-

ries of grandparents walking barefoot uphill in both directions to get the most dismal of an education.

However, I can only imagine the head-scratching that will ensue if I wrote a paean to Thanksgiving, or white Christmas-es, or voting in the primary. The audience, it seems, likes their writers with just a dash of spice -- nothing too crazy, nothing too post-colonial or critical or multi-faceted. You may risk losing your audience. You may risk

being relatable.(On the � ip side, you may have your au-

thenticity doubted. “How can you authenti-cally write about the American experience?” I once received this insightful critique in a creative writing workshop. “What’s your perspective?”)

The reality is that I am no more relatable now than I was when I came to America seven years ago. Yes, I have adopted the ver-nacular. Yes, I have dropped the extraneous “u” from many words. Yes, my accent sounds vaguely Midwestern, vaguely Southern.

However, my dark skin and the soft “a” in Bangladesh are dead giveaways: I am an imposter. I am an imposter with a Yankee twang, and when I write about white Christ-mases or shopping at Macy’s or the intrica-cies of trying to board a � ight to Bangladesh with my American passport, I am neither here nor there. I cannot relate to my Ameri-can audience, or my Bengali audience, even if my tale is humorous or candid or tear-jerk-ing. I occupy that oddball space. I � ll that space with my words.

Shehtaz Huq is a teacher based in Rochester, NY.

Dhaka mornings

The audience, it seems, likes their writers with just a dash of spice -- nothing too crazy, nothing too post-colonial or critical or multi-faceted. You may risk losing your audience. You may risk being relatable

I say to my soul wake up lazy squirrelEyes open and shut open and shut Lifting the blue mosquito net andPicking up headlinesBloggers hacked to deathFemale student gang-raped on the campusSlaughter grounds for sacri� cial animals � xedCan slaughter be religion?Crows croak apocalyptically in the mango treesMen sni� up their snot and spit it outCo� ee on my tongue thick asThe mud on the monsoon-� ooded streets where Tra� c’s one wild hurly-burlyElephants on rickshawsRickshaws on horsesBuses and cars onHuman shouldersAt the crossroad I stumble over a sleeping beggar whoBurps melodically and says thank you, Boss.

Marie Kretzschmar is from Berlin. She teaches German as a foreign language at Dhaka University.

CLIMATE CHANGE 19D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

This page has been developed in collaboration with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and its partners Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). This page represents the views and experiences of the authors and does not necessarily refl ect the views of Dhaka Tribune or ICCCAD or its partners.

n Abu Bakar Siddique and Masroora Haque

It looks like a usual workshop on a certain development topic where the participants talk, share ideas, and discuss the issue. As an observer, you will be surprised to see the depth, direction of discussion, and dedication of the participants attending this intense week long program called “Resilience Academy.”

The academy is meant to provide a platform for connecting communities of expertise (early phase practitioners, academics researchers, and policy analysts) examining a speci� c development issue. The academy provokes participants to think independently, critically, conceptually, and practically from their experiences, all the while challenging them to question what they know. They are here to generate ideas and solutions for one of the world’s most pressing issues -- losses and damages caused by climate change and enhancing the resilience of systems to minimise these losses and damages. Some of the top researchers, academics, and practitioners from 22 di� erent countries working on loss and damage have come this year to participate in the academy. The knowledge and evidence generated from the

academy is targeted at policy-makers attending the meetings and negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to help them understand and make better decisions to tackle climate change.

The participants meet once in Bangladesh to shape the main points of a research papers that captures these rich discussions and perspectives. After working on the issue the next few months, the participants will reconvene in Germany next year where the publications will be � nalised. These research outputs form a signi� cant body of work that creates new knowledge, synthesises existing best practices, and shape a global idea on enhancing resilience to minimise losses and damages from climate change.

The academy just concluded its third session at CCDB Hope Centre in Savar, Bangladesh from September 6-12. “The participants came together at the academy to brainstorm and develop their ideas and prepare for their individual research paper on the issue that they will work for next few months,” said Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)

The Resilience Academy is a collaboration between ICCCAD, United Nations University

Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), and Munich Re Foundation. This Academy is the third in a series which started in 2013. The � rst Resilience Academy held in 2013 explored livelihood resilience amidst global transitions. In 2014, the same group of participants reconvened to generate knowledge on the transformations, forced and managed transitions and abrupt changes of livelihoods. This group published a paper titled: “Livelihood resilience in the face of climate change,” in the prestigious publication Nature Climate Change last year. A set of working papers looking from di� erent perspectives have also been published which examine livelihood resilience in the face of environmental threats and concepts that foster resilience. These papers are available online at http://www.icccad.net/gibika/.

For this year, a new group of participants have been selected whose research products like the last cohort will feed into big policy milestones. Addressing the academy, Koko Warner, Section Head Environmental Migration, Social Resilience, and Adaptation at UNU-EHS said that the academy will help researchers develop their ideas and papers from extensive group learning and sharing. This type of group work creates

consensus that ultimately helps produce better results.

Expressing satisfaction on the knowledge obtained from the academy, a participant from Bangladesh, Golam Rabbani, said he believes the discussion that has been taken place at the Hope Centre is extremely helpful for any researcher, practitioner, or academic. “The academy is helping me to reshape my understanding to prepare my report on loss and damage,” added Rabbani, a senior researcher from Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies.

Running parallel to the academy is a research-to-action project called Gibika which aims to advance a scienti� c understanding of livelihood resilience in Bangladesh, and to apply scienti� c conclusions towards community-led solutions that improve the living conditions of vulnerable people.

The work on loss and damage is new and emerging. If given due attention by policy-makers, it will address the needs and plights of the world’s most vulnerable people and shape a more equitable global climate policy. l

Abu Bakar Siddique is the environment reporter of Dhaka Tribune and Masroora Haque is the communications coordinator of ICCCAD.

Resilience Academy: A platform that shapes ideas to tackle the world’s most pressing problems

n Liam Upson

Since the inception of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate (UNFCCC) over 20 years ago, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has advocated the need for loss and damage from the impacts of climate change to be recognised under the convention.

At the 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) held in Warsaw, all 196 UN member states agreed to set up a mechanism on loss and damage. Known as the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM), an executive committee (Excom) of 20 members was appointed from both Annex 1 (developed) and non-annex 1 countries (developing). The Excom is responsible for reporting back to the UNFCCC, at COP22 in 2016, in Morocco where the e� ectiveness, structure, and mandate of the WIM will be reviewed.

In the meantime, there are many technicalities surrounding loss and damage, which the Excom have to attend to, one of which is identifying a de� nition of what we call “loss” and what we call “damage.” Currently there is no uni� ed internationally recognised de� nition for loss and damage. The open framing of loss and damage was the founding reason why an agreement could be reached by all countries. Annex 1 countries

have long been averse to even talking about loss and damage and are particularly opposed to accepting loss and damage as liability and compensation.

Nonetheless, in order to operationalise what is considered loss and damage it is essential to form a commonly agreed de� nition. The WIM Excom will meet in Bonn from September 24-26, aiming to identify a workable de� nition for loss and damage, before COP 21 begins in Paris, in December. How loss and damage is conceptualised through this de� nition will have a signi� cant bearing on how we prepare for a world where mitigation and adaptation cannot prevent or avert damage from disasters such as cyclones, drought and sea level rise.

Opportunity for cross-collaboration The UNFCCC states that the WIM should “draw upon the work of and involve” existing bodies and expert groups under the Convention, as well as involving relevant organisations “at all levels.” This represents an opportunity for professionals and communities, across all sectors to collaborate.

At the end of July this year, ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in collaboration with Global Network of Civil Societies on Disaster Reduction (GNDR) hosted a multilogue in

Dhaka with a cross-sector of professionals, aiming to create a dialogue on loss and damage.

Dr Nurul Quadir, part of Bangladesh's climate negotiating team and member of the loss and damage Excom, was present at the multilogue and encouraged civil society and NGOs to share their experiences on the ground with the Excom before the next meeting in Bonn.

Loss and damage is one of the few cross-cutting issues where there are synergies across each of the four international parallel processes happening this year (Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Finance for Development, Sustainable Development Goals and COP 21). A strong, workable de� nition on loss and damage therefore, relies on the involvement of and collaboration of many working areas.

With non-Annex 1 countries pushing for loss and damage to be mentioned as part of the global agreement at COP21 and Annex 1 countries wanting no reference of it, a global agreement in Paris with the inclusion of a new reference to loss and damage may be dependent on the de� nition which is to be agreed upon in Bonn. l

Liam Upson is project o� cer, UK Youth Climate Coalition and a visiting researcher at ICCCAD.

Cross-sector collaboration essential in de� ning ‘loss and damage’

A broken embankment in Uttar Bedkhashi village in Southern Bangladesh. Loss and damage asks what happens when the best laid plans to adapt to climate change fail? STEPHANIE ALICE ANDREI

What is loss and damage from climate change?

The negative e� ects of climate variability and climate change that people have not been able to cope with or adapt to -- Warner, Koko, et al. Evidence from the frontlines of climate change: Loss and damage to communities despite coping and adaptation. UNU-EHS, 2012.

Loss and damage is incurred when the costs of adaptation are not recuperated; or when adaptation e� orts are ine� ective, maladaptive in the long term or altogether impossible -- Huq, Saleemul, Erin Roberts, and Adrian Fenton. “Loss and damage.” Nature Climate Change 3.11 (2013): 947-949.

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Cry, Bengali, crySeptember 8

Molla A Latif ... And cry Bengali, cry for Bangladesh that still survives, defeating the conspiracies hatched to turn it into Pakistan.

People tell me to keep my mouth shut but I dare to defy them. Because after the demise of the great man, vultures just shattered the country to its present state of ugly desperation. But they talked of a so-called democracy and religious tolerance.

rose  A poignant write-up indeed! Obviously there is truth in it.

Bangali Meye’r Maa  Thank you for inadvertently (?) proving that farcical Gallup study from a while back oh so very wrong.

Sammy Bangali Meye’r Maa: Lol, very well said!

Raheem  How about, for a change, we stop crying and moaning and instead re� ect on the small things each of us can do to make our country a better place. Any takers?

Fahmida Chowdhury FC Paragon Raheem: What’s the point? Even if we try, there are corrupt forces who will take us down, because they love milking out everything from the country and the people for their own sel� sh bene� ts. Corruption runs so deeply through the veins in Bangladesh that if you try to do something good, you’ll end up dead on the streets.

The only way this country can ever change for something good is if the leader is good, and the government is good. People striving for excellence is

not going to work, to make a country better. Both the government and the people need to work as a team, and unfortunately our government can do nothing other than complain about BNP and smoke on their own money. It’s going to need a miracle to make Bangladesh great.

And God forbid, if people do come together as a force, there might be a civil war, where we try to gain independence from our OWN government. It’s funny isn’t it, how Sheikh Mujibur Rahman fought for our independence, and her daughter is doing everything to snatch that away from us?

Sammy Fahmida Chowdhury FC Paragon: Even saying that could land you in jail in this Nobo Sonar Bangla … unless you are fortunate enough to live abroad :)

Allah Walla Raheem: I don’t think that’s ever going to be a possibility. We’re too in love with the poetry of our plight to actually do anything to rectify it.

sundar Raheem: No, we can’t make it a better place. Whenever we tried it we made it worse than before. Our fathers used to say the British were better than the Pakistanis. After liberation, our elders used to say the Pakistanis were better than the AL, after the AL was overthrown by BNP, people were heard to say AL was far better, and now people are saying BNP was a hundred times better than AL.

So I suppose there is no alternative to constant weeping. We now realise Buddha was right in saying life is painful, try to bear it, don’t grumble, that will be of no use.

DTTaslima: Hasina govt works

hand in hand with fanaticsSeptember 2

SamAs a consummate critic of the govern-

ment’s failures, I reject Ms Nasrin’s unsubstantiated allegation against

our PM. On the contrary, I believe the honourable PM is doing a good job in balancing the interest of free speech

and safeguarding religious sentiments. Lax rule of law is the main culprit of

the recent spate of serious crimes, something the government must take

swift action against.Lad of Asia 

Sam: Besides the government’s swift action, free-thinkers should also rein

in their mouths of slanderous gush-ing words which hurt the religious

sentiments instigating mainly religious bigots.

It is probably not the lax rule of law, it is the unrestrained mouths

of free-thinkers which get them killed. No one should hurl a stone at

a beehive! Atheists should keep their ideologies to themselves.

Osmania Lad of Asia: There’s nothing unre-

strained about a free-thinker express-ing their ideology or a newspaper re-

porting an event. What’s unrestrained is people murdering other people

because they claim (often falsely) that someone has said something which

hurts religious sentiments.Your idea that BD is a beehive waiting

to sting people who are not religious is an insult to law-abiding tolerant Bang-

ladeshis and suggests to me that it you, not Ms Nasrin, who likes inciting

violence.

Emotion sicknessAugust 30

Marie  Thank you for re� ecting on that � imsy little survey and creating that funny, smart, yet serious article that allows some insights into the soul of Bangla-desh! Enjoyed reading!

A desire for an undistorted republicSeptember 1

sundar  I think our self-proclaimed democratic leaders, having sipped the autocratic tea in the military cup for long and in abundant quantity, � nd it di� cult to for-get the test of autocracy. For making the tea of democracy popular and making our leaders addicted to it, this new tea should be marketed and distributed free of cost for at least 10 years among the leaders if not to the people at large. And the ruling government is doing exactly that. Their name will be written in gold-en letters in the history of democracy.

Sakeeb Faruque If you have a complaint, go to the government o� ces. Why disturb the public when they have nothing to do with it?

Private university students’ demos hit tra� c in DhakaSeptember 10

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INSIDE22drama mama

Daughter to wed crazy man

23letters to Mars

Ain’t nothing but a gold digger?

24diy

Felt ball garlandPHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Simplicity is perfection

The � nal presentation and stakeholder consultation for Bangladesh’s National Youth Policy 2015 was held at the Jubo Bhaban recently. Ejaj Ahmad, the principal consultant for the project and president of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), presented the policy. Nur Mohammad, secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, attended the event as the chief guest, along with government o� cials, youth representatives, and other guests.

During the presentation, Ejaj Ahmad said, “We have tried our best to have the policy re� ect the needs and aspirations of the youth of Bangladesh so that they can be adequately prepared to take on the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.”

“More than half of our population is

aged below 25 and the next � fteen years present a great opportunity for us to reap the bene� ts of demographic dividend,” said Nur Mohammad.

During his remarks, Anwarul Karim, director general of the Department of Youth Development said: “The National Youth Policy 2015 is forward looking and has been formulated to ensure overall development of our youth.”The project was undertaken with technical assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Ejaj Ahmad led a team of researchers over the past year to conduct extensive desk research, a nationwide survey and stakeholder interviews to draft an evidence-based national youth policy. l

news

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ARIES (MAR 21-APR 19): Your heart will be pouring out tumultuous honesty this week, but before you blabber everything out to yourself and to the world, ask yourself this: are you ready to handle the truth?

TAURUS (APR 20-MAY20): Be ready for an emotional roller-coaster ride this week, as tears will � ow and words will jab the thickest of skins. Try not to shield yourself from a much-needed emotional confrontation with loved ones.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): You’re a magnet attracting minds of a similar nature this week. Perhaps you could form a Brain trust and rid the world of poverty?

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY22): The rebel in you will rise this week in a boisterous and enraging tone telling the world that you are anything but ordinary. Having said that, you may want to tone down that hubris of yours.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG 22): Grab a shovel and dig a little deeper into what’s really going on with you. They say you can bury the past but

the past always comes back to haunt you.

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 22): Let the sunshine in and illuminate your soul. This is a terri� c week for you to just let your creative energies � ow and merge together with the energies in the present.

LIBRA (SEP 23-OCT22): You’re a map, you’re a guide and yet you’re the one who’s always so alone. Perhaps it’s about time you pave the way for yourself and � nd light through darkness.

SCORPIO (OCT23-NOV21): Somebody’s � t as a � ddle. Will being physically � t su� ce? How sharp is your mind? Sometimes in order to win a war one must master a few diabolical tricks. SAGITTARIUS (NOV22-DEC 21): Busy

week for you ahead as you’ll be dealing with a wide range of social and political issues. Keep yourself guarded and safe.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN19): Body language is an integral part of interaction, you may present yourself to someone with the sweetest of words. However, your body language may show hostility, which would defeat the purpose of your intention.

AQUARIUS (JAN 20-FEB 18): This week you’ll meet someone whose wit will charm you beyond belief. Such characters are very rare, try to hold on to them for as long as you can.

PISCES (FEB 19-MAR 20): Something smells fresh. Is that your new outlook on life? Well let’s hope it stays that way for a while. l

HOROSCOPE

drama mama

n T-Junction desk

My 23-year-old daughter introduced me to the man she’s seeing around two months ago. It’s been a long, serious relationship on her part but it’s bone, which I don’t approve of. Although I know she doesn’t really care much about my approval, I have made it my responsibility to be as understanding about them as possible. L, the man she’s seeing, along with my husband and I went for dinner a month ago. From the offset he gave us an odd vibe – he was rude to the waiters, started swearing loudly on his phone and at one point even had an argument with my daughter in front of us. The experience was humiliating for all of us. My husband intervened and told him not to dare talk to her like what and my daughter instantly took offense. She asked her father not to talk to her “to be husband” like that! Ever since then, we haven’t been in good terms. She has mentioned to my sister that she intends to

marry him soon, but I won’t ever let that happen while I’m alive.

It is clear that your daughter has taken more than just a keen liking for this man. She is blind to his faults to such an extreme extent, she won’t defend her own father if it comes down to that. If he can misbehave with her in front of her parents, God only know how he treats her behind closed doors. Try to talk to your daughter without accusing or blaming her for what happened. Sit down with an open mind and tell her she can talk to you if there’s ever anything that bothers her, and that you will support her with it. This way, she is more prone to sharing her life with you and telling you what’s wrong. Once you’ve gained her trust, gently explain to her that no one can ever change a man, no matter what they think. In her case, that is also true. Ask her to think about her decision to marry him before going ahead with it. l

President of BYLC presents National Youth Policy

Photo: Bigstock

Daughter to wed crazy man

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015Tell

Ain’t nothing but a gold digger?

letters to Mars

n T-Junction desk

My girlfriend and I have been together for four months now, with our courtship running its course. There’s something that really bothers me – her miserly attitude towards spending. She comes from a wealthy family, lives in Baridhara and also has a high paying job on top of all of that. I am comfortably well-o� too, but not to the extent that she is. I am okay with “being the man” and “picking up the tab” all the time, but what bothers me is her lack of appreciation for this. She often tells me how she leaves the house with Tk5,000 everyday, but once she goes back home, she has the whole money intact. She takes pride in her ability to “save.” Once she even made me get her extremely expensive tickets to a concert, once we were there, she said she found it boring and wanted to go for dinner to an upscale restaurant. Once there, she racked the bills, ordering so much that I had to

pay with my card. She never realises that this is unfair and hurtful how she never wants to pay. There’s no way I can make her understand how di� cult it is for me to cater to her lifestyle. How do I explain this to her without sounding like a cheap guy myself ?

Your lady love knows full well what she’s doing. Clearly she knows how much she’s making you spend on concert tickets, and how much a fancy dinner in the city costs. It sounds like she’s taking advantage of your good nature, and why wouldn’t she? You’ve given her every opportunity to. If you really want to make things work, you must know that you can’t go on like this. One day your funds will run out. Try to sit her down and gently tell her how much you earn and how di� cult it is to keep up this lifestyle. Explain to her that you aren’t trying to be cheap, rather, you’re being realistic about what you can or cannot o� er her. Good luck! l

Photo: Bigstock

letter to Venus

Not his babyn T-Junction desk

I’m seven weeks pregnant with my boyfriend’s baby. Me and K have been together for the past three years, and a month ago I found out that I am pregnant. This is totally out-of-the-blue and unexpected. I had the emergency pill but it didn’t work. I’m 27 and ready to abort the child, but there seems to be no co-operation from my boyfriend’s part. He thinks it isn’t his baby, swearing at me and accusing me of being with other men. He refuses to take responsibility and thinks this is my way of trapping him into a marriage I’ve always wanted. Two years ago I did cheat on him with a man from work, but the man’s wife found out and told K. We had a disastrous break-up but afterwards he forgave me and we have been ever since. I don’t want to keep the baby, but I’m terri� ed of the idea of not having K by my side while I go through with the abortion.

If you want an abortion, then go right ahead and get it. As for your boyfriend – do you really want to be with someone who treats you like this during such a crucial

time? Yes, It Is agreeable that you made a mistake before when you cheated on him, but that is in the past. If he’s unwilling to shoulder the responsibility of a child, that is entirely his problem. Please try to understand that he is not the right man for you. Find help and assistance from your friends, and if possible your family to help you through your abortion. As for him, it is best to call it quits. l

n T-Junction desk

My friend has gotten into the habit of paying for his needs. Be it from cheap hookers around town, or going to hotels to find his right match, for a price, he is always on a lookout for paid thrills. As a 32-year-old man, this is alarming for me because he wasn’t always like this. He had a break up with his fiance of six months, a woman who would really demean his performance in the bed room. Ever since then, he finds satisfaction in paid pleasures. It has come to a point where he’s gotten into debt, along with having a terrible reputation. I want him to be able to get over this phase in his life, but he seems addicted. Please help.

Sounds like your friend is in a bit of a rut. Not only has he found himself an expensive distraction, he has also made his way to the debt hell hole. If you two are close, try to talk to him about his problem, without making it seem like you’re attacking or judging him. It seems like the hole left in him by his fiance is now being filled by these women he pays for. Make him understand that this is only temporary, And these women only need his cash so they satisfy him. He’ll keep going in endless circles of self hate and loathing if he doesn’t break free and Needs To do so quickly. Urge him to talk to someone he trusts or find a counselor who can help him break this unhealthy sexual habit. l

issues

Addicted to paid pleasure

Photo: Bigstock

Photo: Bigstock

Try itT-JUNCTION24DT

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The certi� cate award ceremony of the special course “Filmmaking and Television Journalism for Peace and Tolerance” was held on September 10 at the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) campus in Bashundhara. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and IUB jointly organised the special course. A total of 23 participants from Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University, American International University (AIUB) and IUB participated in this four-month-long project.

Prof M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor of IUB, attended the programme as the chief guest and distributed the certi� cates to the participants. Wallied Shirzoi, representative from UCSD, spoke on the occasion. Among others, Dr G M Shahidul Alam, head of the department of Media and Communication and the country director of the project and Prof Dr Zakir Hossain Raju, dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, IUB, also spoke on the occasion.

Jessica Tartila, faculty member, IUB, conducted the ceremony.l

Award giving ceremony held at IUB

Felt ball garland

n Saudia Afrin

Colourful and a symbol of simplicity, this little ball-string will make any dull surface light right up. Easy to make as it is easy on the eyes, take a look!

Things you need • Soft felting wool• Pitcher of soapy water (A general

way of making the formula is adding 4 tablespoons liquid dish-washing detergent to 6 cups of water. Try to use detergent without scents or dyes.)

• Pitcher of hot water • Tray • Embroidery � oss• Needle

What to doGrab a small wad of wool in the colour of your choice, pull it and part so that no big clumps remain on any area. Now put a small amount of soap water in the centre

and rub it through your � ngers. Roll it from hand to hand till the � u� y ball gets approximately twice the size you want it to be.

This ball doesn’t have to be perfect. Take the hot water pitcher and pour over the ball. Since you don’t want to burn your � ngers, hold the ball from the edge while doing this. Roll it again, gently, without squeezing. In the process, you may make the wool into a scraggly mess. At that point, continue rolling the ball with a bit pressure for about 10 minutes. Keep pouring hot water as it cools down.

When it has shrunk into your desired size, stop rolling and rinse with cool water. Let it dry on the tray. Once you have enough of the felt balls made, arrange them in the order you want to a string of wool. Double up the wool � oss for durability and use the needle to weave the balls together.

You can now hang the felt ball garland wherever you wish to from over the curtain or on the edge of any wall piece. l

The largest International Model United Nations conference outside Dhaka, the UNYSAB Model United Nations (UNYSAB MUN) 2015 was held from September 4 to 7 at the University of Rajshahi. United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB) - Rajshahi Divisional Wing, organised the conference for the second time after the successful completion of UNYSAB MUN-2014 with University of Rajshahi and UNIC Dhaka as the strategic partner. The theme of the MUN conference was “Reinstating good governance for equitable and sustainable economic growth,” an important issue in today’s world.

The conference started with a grand opening ceremony in the presence of Md Shahriar Alam MP, state minister of the Ministry of Foreign A� airs as the chief guest. Pro-vice chancellor of Rajshahi university, Prof Dr Chowdhury Sarowar Jahan, student adviser of the Rajshahi university Prof Dr Sadequl Are� n Matin and o� cer in charge of UNIC, Dhaka Moniruzzaman were also present as the special guests. Sarit Kayum Talukder, director general of UYSAB MUN 2015 and co-ordinator of UNYSAB-Rajshahi divisional wing hosted the opening ceremony of the conference and it was presided over by the secretary general of UNYSABMUN 2015 and president of UNYSAB, Mohammad Mamun Mia.

The opening ceremony was followed by a plenary and committee session. With the participation of 266 students from around 40 colleges and universities, UNYSAB 2015 has become the largest international MUN conference outside the capital. The participants were appointed as delegates from di� erent countries under � ve committees and debated on di� erent agendas. The � ve committees were, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Economic and Financial Program (ECOFIN) and Specialized Committee for Bangladesh A� airs (SCBA).

A general assembly similar to that of the actual UN was held on the forth day at the Senate Bhaban to pass the resolution.

UNYSAB MUN- 2015 ended with a festive closing ceremony. Member of parliament Fazle Hossain Badsha MP, was the chief guest while the Vice-Chancellor of University of Rajshahi, Prof Dr Muhammad Mizanuddin and student adviser Prof Dr Sadequl Afe� n Matin were present as special guests.

Mahmudul Haque Menom from the University of Dhaka, a delegate of Tunisia from the SCBA committee, shared his opinion: “It is a platform where you stand with the responsibility of the betterment of the world. UNYSABMUN 2015 is such an exact motion to guide you on how to.” l

UNYSAB ends

vdiy

news

news

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TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

MAYWEATHER ‘DOPES’ BEFORE PACQUIAO FIGHT

OZ VICE CAPTAIN WARNER TO MISS BANGLADESH TOUR

26 2827Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois

needs knee surgery and will be out for ‘quite a long time’, manager Jose

Mourinho said on Friday

RULED OUT

SportBARCA VISIT TESTS ATLETICO’S TITLE CREDENTIALS

Record-breaker Rooney aims to steal spotlight from Martialn AFP, London

Wayne Rooney has set his sights on stealing the spotlight from Manchester United new-boy Anthony Martial when England’s fresh-ly-crowned record goalscorer returns to Pre-mier League action in Saturday’s clash with bitter rivals Liverpool.

Rooney passed Bobby Charlton as Eng-land’s most proli� c marksman when he netted his 50th international goal with a powerful penalty in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Switzerland at Wembley.

It was a much-needed jolt of con� dence for Rooney, whose only goals in United col-ours this term have come in a Champions League rout of Club Brugge.

The 29-year-old hopes his memorable mile-stone provides the springboard for a dynamic display against Liverpool at Old Tra� ord, and ideally an end to his 10-match goalless run in the Premier League that stretches back to April.

“To achieve what I have, I would be lying if I said it didn’t put a spring in my step and make you want to carry on (scoring),” Rooney said.

“I am very happy and grateful. Now I have to get back into training and start focusing on Liverpool.

“Hopefully getting two goals in the last two games will mean I continue scoring.”

United manager Louis van Gaal could do with a sustained run of in� uential perfor-mances from Rooney as he looks to ease the

weight of expectations on new signing Martial.The 19-year-old was lured from Monaco

on transfer deadline day for a £36 million ($55 million) fee that could rise to £58 million.

The vast sum is a major gamble on the raw French forward’s untapped potential and even van Gaal, who needed an additional threat to pep up a spluttering attack that has scored only three goals in four league games, has de-scribed the fee for Martial as “ridiculous”.

Both United, 2-1 losers at Swansea, and Liverpool, shocked 3-0 at home by West Ham, were beaten for the � rst time this season in their last matches before the international break, raising doubts about their ability to � ght for the title.

Liverpool’s Brazilian mid� elder Lucas Lei-va, likely to start against United with Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen struggling with injuries, admits the outcome of Saturday’s match will have a signi� cant impact on how both clubs fare this season. l

De Gea agrees 4-year Utd contract Sky Sports to telecast England’s Bangladesh tour next yearn Mazhar Uddin

Sky Sports will broadcast the two-Test and three-ODI series between hosts Bangladesh and the visiting England, scheduled for October next year. Pay-TV company Sky con� rmed the development while releasing its schedule for the next two years.

According to English tabloid the Guardian, Sky will broadcast the tour of Bangladesh live, meaning they already have an agreement in place with Gazi TV, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s o� cial broadcaster. BCB media manager Rabeed Imam corroborated the recent turn of events, saying broadcasting matters will be discussed between the two broadcasters, and not the BCB.

The last time England toured Bangladesh was back in 2010 when the tourists, led by captain Alastair Cook, blanked the home side, skippered by Shakib al Hasan, in two Tests and three one-day internationals.

Prior to that, England only ever toured Bangladesh in 2003 when the Michael Vaughan-led visitors repeat-ed the theme in two Tests and three ODIs against Khaled Mahmud’s Bangladesh. l

PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS

Team P W D L GD PTS

1 Man City 4 4 0 0 10 12

2 Crystal Palace 4 3 0 1 3 9

3 Leicester City 4 2 2 0 3 8

4 Swansea City 4 2 2 0 3 8

5 Man United 4 2 1 1 1 7

6 Arsenal 4 2 1 1 0 7

7 Liverpool 4 2 1 1 -1 7

8 West Ham 4 2 0 2 3 6

9 Everton 4 1 2 1 1 5

10 Southampton 4 1 2 1 0 5

11 Bournemouth 4 1 1 2 -1 4

12 Aston Villa 4 1 1 2 -1 4

13 Chelsea 4 1 1 2 -3 4

14 Norwich 4 1 1 2 -3 4

15 West Brom 4 1 1 2 -3 4

16 Tottenham 4 0 3 1 -1 3

17 Watford 4 0 3 1 -2 3

18 Stoke City 4 0 2 2 -2 2

19 Newcastle 4 0 2 2 -3 2

20 Sunderland 4 0 2 2 -4 2

Martial cut a relaxed � gure as he headed out with his childhood sweetheart on Thursday

FIXTURES Arsenal v Stoke Crystal Palace v Man City Everton v Chelsea Man United v Liverpool Norwich v Bournemouth Watford v Swansea West Brom v Southampton

n Reuters, London

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has signed a new four-year contract, the club said on Fri-day, a week after a proposed transfer to Real Madrid collapsed.

The Spain international, 24, almost joined Madrid on transfer deadline day, but the deal fell through as the necessary paperwork was not � led in time and the clubs blamed each other for the bureau-cratic failure.

His previous deal was set to expire at the end of the season, and he had been widely expected to join Madrid on a free transfer next year.

His decision to commit his future to United will give the club a timely boost ahead of Saturday’s clash at home to rivals Liverpool.

“I am delighted to be starting this new chapter in my United career,” De Gea said in a statement on the club website (www.manutd.com).

“I have always enjoyed play-ing with these great players in front of our fantastic fans. Manchester United is a special club and Old Tra� ord is an ideal place for me to continue to develop my career.

“I’m looking forward to putting a di� cult summer behind me and concentrating on working hard to improve and help my team mates to be successful.”

De Gea was left out of United’s opening games of the season, with manager Louis van Gaal openly questioning whether the player could deal mentally with the ongoing speculation.

Argentina international Sergio Romero was installed as � rst-choice keeper and kept three clean

sheets in the league before being criticised following a 2-1 defeat by

Swansea City.Van Gaal has yet to con� rm

whether De Gea will be brought back into the side for Satur-

day’s home clash with Liverpool. l

Sport26DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Barca visit tests Atletico’s title credentialsn AFP, Madrid

Atletico Madrid have a great opportuni-ty to show their La Liga title challenge is to be taken seriously this season when an un-der-strength Barcelona visit the Vicente Cal-deron on Saturday.

Both sides took the maximum six points from their opening two league � xtures last month, but it is Atletico after a summer of heavy investment in the transfer market that have looked the more impressive.

Diego Simeone’s men won 3-0 at Sevilla last time out and are at full-strength as left-back Filipe Luis has recovered from the ham-string problem that kept him out the trip to the Sanchez Pizjuan.

“Although they have some players out the Barca squad is practically the same as last year, they have plenty of options to choose from and they are favourites for every match,” said Luis.

“We have the advantage of playing at home and I am sure it will be a great, hard and intense game. We have a lot of con� dence and we need to continue in the same way as the previous two games where we have won and not conceded a goal.”

By contrast, Barcelona are likely to be without three � rst team regulars as Dani Alves and Claudio Bravo miss out through in-

jury, whilst Gerard Pique is suspended unless a last minute appeal to Spain’s administrative court for sport is successful.

Pique endured a testing time during the international break as he was booed by sec-tions of the home support during Spain’s 2-0 win over Slovakia after mocking Real Madrid during Barca’s treble winning celebrations at the end of last season.l

Security team return home after Pakistan visitn Mazhar Uddin

The four-member Bangladesh Cricket Board security delegation returned to Dhaka last Thursday following their four-day visit of ter-ror-stricken Pakistan. The quartet assessed the security situation there ahead of the Bangladesh women’s proposed tour, sched-uled for later this month.

The team comprised three government of-� cials and Hossain Imam, head of security of the BCB. They spent two days each in Karachi and Lahore and are expected to soon submit reports containing their observations on the security situation in Pakistan right now.

BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Younus informed that they will take a � nal decision on the tour after going through the security report.

If the tour does go ahead, the Bangladesh women are expected to play three ODIs and as many Twenty20 internationals. Following the Pakistan series, Salma Khatun and her troop are scheduled to entertain South Africa at home. l

FIXTURES Espanyol v Real Madrid Sporting Gijon v Valencia Atletico Madrid v Barcelona Real Betis v Real Sociedad Barcelona’s Brazilian sensation Neymar (R) and Spaniard Jordi Alba were in a con� dent mood during

practice yesterday at their Joan Gamper training-base

MESBAH, SHIRIN RETAIN 100-METRE CROWNSBangladesh Navy duo Mesbah Ahmed (304) and Shirin Akter (R) retained their respective 100m crowns yesterday in the National Athletics Championship at Bangabandhu National Stadium. Fastest Bangladeshi male Mesbah took 10.6 seconds to complete his sprint while Shirin clocked 12.2 seconds. This was the second consecutive national athletics 100m gold for both former BKSP students Mesbah and Shirin. Mesbah also holds the 100m gold in the Bangladesh Games while Shirin is the current gold-medal winner of the Summer Athletics Championship. Kazi Shah Imran and Mehedi Hasan bagged silver and bronze respectively in the men’s 100m event yesterday while Jakia Sultana and Shamsun Nahar Chumki notched second and third place respectively in the women’s category

Sport 27D

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Messi available for big match despite not trainingBarcelona forward Lionel Messi is ready to play in Saturday’s La Liga match at Atletico Madrid despite missing training on Friday for personal reasons, according to coach Luis Enrique. Messi has not trained since returning from interna-tional duty with Argentina but is in the squad for the clash at the Calderon, which pits the champions against the 2013-14 title winners.

–REUTERS

Bastia fans banned from Marseille tripBastia supporters are banned from travelling to Marseille for Sunday’s tension-charged Ligue 1 clash, France’s Interior Minister announced on Friday. “Individual or collective travel between the communes of Corsica and Marseille, by any means, for anyone claiming to be a fan of SC Bastia or behaving like one is forbidden,” read the statement from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

–AFP

Coaching role could have kept Gerrard at LiverpoolSteven Gerrard might still have been at Liverpool if the club had o� ered him the chance to shadow Brendan Rodgers and learn about managing a team, the former England skipper has told the Daily Mail in an interview. The comments by Gerrard, who joined Los Angeles Galaxy after last season, are at odds with those of Rodgers, who said when the 35-year-old announced his departure that the mid� elder was not yet ready for coaching as he was focussed on playing.

–REUTERS

Mihajlovic launches derby migrant crisis challengeAC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has launched a plea for this weekend’s city derby to bene� t “those less fortunate than ourselves” as Eu-rope  reels from an unprecedented migrant cri-sis. Milan visit city rivals Inter Milan on Sunday for the season’s � rst “Derby della Madonnina”, with both sides eyeing victory amid what will be a crucial season for both.

–AFP

James, Danilo sidelinedReal Madrid su� ered a double injury blow on Thursday when tests con� rmed Colom-bia playmaker James Rodriguez and Brazil fullback Danilo had returned from international duty with injuries. Scans showed James had damaged a thigh muscle in Colombia’s match against Peru, while Danilo, who joined Real from Porto in the close season, had torn the plantar fascia in his right foot.

–REUTERS

Zenit ready without AVBBanned Zenit St Petersburg boss Andre Vil-las-Boas is con� dent his reigning Russian cham-pions will cope in his absence against unbeaten league leaders CSKA Moscow on Saturday. He will be missing from the bench in Moscow as he serves a six-match suspension for pushing an o� cial in Zenit’s defeat to Krylia Sovetov Samara.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES Warner to miss Bangladesh tour with broken thumbn AFP, Sydney

Newly appointed Australian Test vice-cap-tain David Warner has been ruled out of next month’s tour of Bangladesh due to a fractured thumb, Cricket Australia said Friday.

Warner su� ered the injury when he got in a tangle trying to play a Steven Finn bouncer at Lord’s almost a week ago, forcing him to miss the rest of the one-day international series against England.

The opener’s injury was examined by a hand specialist in Sydney on Thursday and Cricket Australia said while surgery was not required he would not be � t in time for Bangladesh.

“David has been told that the fracture will take at least four weeks to stabilise and a fur-ther two weeks before he can start batting and catching again,” Cricket Australia’s Pat How-ard said.

“He is naturally disappointed to be missing a Test tour, particularly his � rst as vice-cap-tain of the Australian team.”

Australia are due to play two Tests in Bang-ladesh next month, the � rst such series be-tween the nations since 2006. l

NZ bank on experience to beat Australian AFP, Wellington

New Zealand have settled on an experienced line-up for their three Tests in Australia in No-vember and December, with no new faces in the touring squad named Friday.

The 15-man selection sees the return of several players including captain Bren-don McCullum and bowling spearhead Tim Southee who missed the recent tour of Africa.

Ross Taylor, Trent Boult and Corey Ander-son are also back in the side after recovering from injury.

Anderson is one of two all-rounders, along with Jimmy Neesham, as New Zealand tweak the balance of their squad for the Test cam-

paign after seven consecutive series without defeat.

Coach Mike Hesson said the ability of An-derson and Neesham at the bowling crease persuaded the selectors to carry only four

frontline fast bowlers - Southee, Boult, Matt Henry and Doug Bracewell.

“A lot of our recent success has been based on the value of our number six batsman bowl-ing some overs, and we’re comfortable con-tinuing in that vein,” Hesson said.

“Rather than having an extra fast bowler not playing in Australia, we thought it more prudent for those in contention to remain in New Zealand and be playing domestic cricket.”

Mark Craig is the sole spinner in the squad while Luke Ronchi has retained his place as the back-up wicketkeeper to BJ Watling.

The � rst Test against Australia starts in Brisbane on November 5. l

NEW ZEALAND SQUADBrendon McCullum (captain), Corey Ander-son, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Ruth-erford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson

Fed Cup women’s kabaddi from tomorrown Tribune Desk

The inaugural Aarong Dairy Federation Cup Women’s Kabaddi Tournament, featuring Insti-tute of Kabaddi Jatrabari, Azad Sporting Club, Dhaka, Narail and Faridpur districts, will get un-derway tomorrow. The details of the event was revealed in a press conference last Thursday at Bangladesh Olympic Association Auditorium.

Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation vice pres-ident Nizamuddin Chowdhury Parvez in-formed that a lot rides on the � ve-day compe-tition for the women kabaddi players who are eager to make the national side in the future.

Parvez said, “So far, we have 16 players in our women’s kabaddi squad who have been selected for the camp of the upcoming South Asian Games. From this tournament, we will pick eight more for the camp.”

Aarong Dairy National sales manager Sai-ful Huda said, “We got to know that in inter-national games, we consistently win medals only in kabaddi. That is why we are happy to be associated with the sport.” l

O� cials and organisers of the Aarong Dairy Federation Cup Women’s Kabaddi Tournament address the media in a press conference at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium yesterday

28DT Sport

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Mayweather ‘broke rules’ before Pacquiao � ghtn BBC

Floyd Mayweather did not follow the rules correctly when seeking approval for an intra-venous drip before his victory over Manny Pacquiao, the Nevada State Athletic Commis-sion (NSAC) said yesterday.

The US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) gave retrospective permission after Mayweather had the drip of saline and vitamins on the eve of his 2 May � ght.

But the NSAC says only it could approve the drip, and not Usada.

Pacquiao wants a rematch, according to the AFP news agency.

Usada said it granted unbeaten American Mayweather, 38, a Therapeutic Use Exemp-tion (TUE) for the infusion, in accordance with NSAC regulations.

But NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told BBC Sport: “Anyone should know world-wide, if you � ght in the state of Nevada we are the sole authority for approving a TUE.

“Usada has been known historically as the premier performance-enhancing drugs-test-ing organisation and they have an outstand-ing record. But they do not have the authority to authorise a TUE to a � ghter in the state of Nevada.”

Why would Mayweather’s use of the drip be a problem?Mayweather’s drip, administered to combat dehydration after a tough training session, had already attracted controversy.

A report claimed he received favourable treatment from Usada in being given permis-

sion to have it. It said, although the substanc-es in question were not banned, an IV drip “can dilute or mask the presence of another substance that is already in the recipient’s system”.

Usada said the report was “riddled with signi� cant inaccuracies and misrepresenta-tions”, while Mayweather highlighted his own anti-doping stance.

What should Mayweather have done?Bennett explained the process of successfully obtaining a TUE, adding that it was very rare for one to be granted so close to a � ght.

“The process is you go online and you sub-mit an application with supportive evidence from your doctor. Upon our receiving it, we give the application to our doctor. After his re-view we will determine if a TUE is approved.

“We are very meticulous, we look a each TUE very thoroughly before our doctors make a � nal decision. We want to do all this for the health and safety of the � ghter.

Will there be a rematch?BBC Sport’s Ade Ade-doyin in Las Vegas said, “The Manny Pacquiao camp are quite unhappy about his situation.

“They point to the fact that before Pacquiao went out to face Mayweather he asked for per-mission to have an injection of pain-killers but was denied by the NSAC.

“One of his business advisors has spo-ken to the media and has been saying how ironic it is for Mayweather to be in this situation now.

“He has also says that perhaps the best way forward is for Mayweather and Pacquiao to have a rematch.”

What does Pacquiao think?Pacquiao has been addressing the me-dia in his native Phillipines and has called for a rematch.

The 36-year-old was refused an anti-in� ammatory shoulder injection be-fore his � ght with Mayweather - the richest in the history of the sport - after failing to notify the correct authorities.

He later blamed the injury for his points defeat, claiming it stopped him using his right hand.

“That is why I want a rematch,” AFP news agency quoted him as saying. “One without any injury and with fair play. No favouritism. Not one where the Mayweath-er camp gets to dictate all the terms and conditions. l

n AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia’s embattled football body ap-pealed to be given a chance to take the country back to the “glory days” on Fri-day after a fan revolt halted a World Cup quali� er, triggering a FIFA probe.

Fury over last week’s record 10-0 de-feat, the worst in a series of poor results, boiled over in Tuesday’s game against Saudi Arabia which was abandoned when fans � red smoke-billowing � ares at the pitch.

The president of the Football Asso-ciation of Malaysia (FAM) has already promised to step down “in stages” but no further resignations were announced after an executive committee meeting on Friday.

“We know football fans are disap-pointed with what is happening to Ma-laysian football and the incident (at the qualifying match),” Football Association

of Malaysia (FAM) Deputy President Afandi Hamzah told reporters.

“Hence, at this meeting we decided that we need to bring back Malaysian football to its glory days” with a greater focus on developing grassroots talent, enhancing local leagues and improving FAM itself, he said.

A task force would meet next week to look into the matter, Afandi added.

It remains to be seen how Afandi’s an-nouncement will go down with critics, including increasingly impatient and as-sertive fan groups.   

Malaysian football was competitive in the region in years past but experts say it is su� ering from decades of inadequate e� orts by FAM to develop the game.

Abdul Mokhtar Ahmad, another dep-uty president, appealed to fans to “give us a chance” to make things right.

“We listen and hear you that there must be changes,” he said.l

‘Give us a chance’‘Give us

a chance’

Sport 29D

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

FIXTURES Frosinone v Roma Fiorentina v Genoa Juventus v Chievo

Ten Sports04:30PM Moto GP: San Marino GPQualifyingUS Open 201510:00PM Men’s Doubles Final 1:00AM Women’s Final Ten Action5:30PM Sky Bet Championship 2015/16QPR v Nottingham Forest French Ligue 1 2015/169:00PM Olympique Lyonnais v LOSC Lille SA 12:00AM

Montpellier Herault v Saint-Etienne Ten Cricket8:00PM Sky Bet Championship Burnley v She� eld Wednesday Sony Six10:00PM Italian Serie A Frosinone v Roma 12:30AM Juventus v Chievo Star Sports 1English Premier League 8:00PM Arsenal v Stoke City Star Sports 2German Bundesliga 7:15PM FC Bayern Munich v FC Augsburg 10:15PM Eintracht Frankfurt v FC Koln Star Sports 4English Premier League 5:35PM Everton v Chelsea 8:00PM Crystal Palace v Manchester City 10:30PM

Manchester United v LiverpoolSony KixSpanish La Liga8:00PM

Espanyol v Real Madrid 10:30PM Sporting Gijon v Valencia 12:30AM Atletico Madrid v Barcelona 2:30AM Real Betis v Real Sociedad

DAY’S WATCH

Rainwater puddles up the ledge of a port hole beneath Arthur Ashe Stadium, re� ecting the not-yet completed retractable roof, after the women’s semi� nal matches were postponed because of rain, in the US Open tennis tournament in New York on Thursday AP

Rain delays Serena’s quest for Grand Slam historyn AFP, New York

Two triumphs from completing a calendar Grand Slam, top-ranked defending champion Serena Williams was confronted Thursday at the US Open by an opponent even she cannot defeat - rain.

US Tennis Association o� cials postponed the two scheduled women’s semi-� nal matches to Friday due to forecasts of rain Thursday lasting through the night.

Top-ranked defending champion Williams now will play Italy’s 43-ranked Roberta Vinci in Friday’s second semi-� nal after Romania’s second-ranked Simona Halep faces Italian 26th seed Flavia Pennetta in the opener at Arthur Ashe Stadium starting at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT).

The winners will meet in Saturday’s � nal.Men’s semi-� nals on Friday were delayed

two hours to 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) to allow for the extra matches.

The delays come in the � nal uncovered year for Arthur Ashe Stadium, which starting in 2016 will have a retractable roof to avoid any bad weather postponements. 

A supporting superstructure is in place around the venue now but there was not enough time to secure the roof in place before the tournament.

Another day of tension only heightened the anticipation and drama around Williams and her quest for more tennis history.

The 33-year-old American, who already holds all four major titles, is chasing the � rst calendar Grand Slam since Ste� Graf in 1988 and trying to match Graf’s Open Era career re-cord of 22 Slam singles titles, two shy of Mar-garet Court’s all-time record. l

Police apologise to Blake over detentionn AFP, New York

New York Police Department commissioner William Bratton apologized Thursday to for-mer tennis star James Blake for an o� cer’s rough actions in detaining him in a case of mistaken identity.

Blake, who is black, said he was slammed to the ground and handcu� ed and detained for 15 minutes. The New York Times reported that the o� cer who stopped Blake has been placed on desk duty after a � rst review of video evidence raised Bratton’s concern over “the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest.”

Former world number four Blake, 35, was in town to make endorsement appearances at the US Open and was met by a group of police o� cers - all of them white - just outside his Manhattan hotel, who sought a person in con-nection with a fraud case. l

Bayern’s new signing Coman ready to ‘explode’ into actionn Reuters, Berlin

Bayern Munich’s latest signing, 19-year-old France youth international Kingsley Coman, is brimming with con� dence since his move from Juventus last month and itching for ac-tion on Saturday against Augsburg.

The speedy teenager joined on a two-year loan deal from the Italian club on Aug. 30, shortly before the end of the transfer window.

“Bayern play the kind of football I like to play, and has already had a lot of success,” he told reporters on Thursday.l

 Juve waiting in trapsn AFP, Milan

Champions Juventus host surprise Serie A leaders Chievo on Saturday hoping to kick-start their season. Juventus’s start to the � edgling season has been anything but pos-itive, Massimiliano Allegri’s men slipping to two consecutive defeats to sit in the unfamil-iar reaches of the table’s bottom four.

Given Juventus, the four-time consecutive champions, have never succumbed to two

opening defeats, the vultures are already cir-cling above Turin.

“Something has changed,” former AC Mi-lan and Inter player Andres Guglielminpietro told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Juventus underwent major changes during the summer. In Italy right now, a lot of the big teams have started the season on a level footing, and with the belief they can win the scudetto.”

Only months after Juventus capped a rare league and Cup double-winning season by progressing to the Champions League � -nal, where they were beaten by Barcelona, the champions are certainly stuttering as they adapt to life without three players who proved crucial in recent campaigns - Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez. l

DOWNTIME30DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 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 1 represents C so � ll C every time the � gure 1 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 Thin fog (4)4 Encounters (5)9 Flightless bird (3)11 Sooty matter (4)12 Small branch (5)13 Fork spike (4)14 Region (4)15 Build (5)19 Lazy person (5)21 Company of cattle (4)25 Greedy (4)26 Garden tool (5)28 Money drawer (4)29 Billiard rod (3)30 Smooth (5)31 Pace (4)

DOWN 1 Untidy state (4)2 Little devil (3)3 Strong wave-like volume (5)5 Landed property (6)6 Eastern ruler (4)7 Melody (4)8 Place (5)10 Incited (5)16 Enigma (6)17 Shut (5)18 Talks easily (5)20 Respond (5)22 Wicked (4)23 Annoy (4)24 Part of a castle (4)27 Owing (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

WHAT TO WATCH

Nargis @Nargis-Fakhri It’s 8wks & I have gone from 64.5kg to 59.3kg just by changing my eating habits & light to moderate exercise. Not a miracle just discipline.

Dwayne Johnson @TheRock My next workout shirt. Whoever makes these make sure you send me one in XXXL.…

Ellen DeGeneres @TheEllenShow @JimmyFallon must be really excited to have me. He put my name on the door and everything.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s ChestStar Movies 09:30pmJack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones’ service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well.Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley Transformers: Age of ExtinctionHBO 02:26pmAutobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor Main Hoon NaStar Gold 01:10pmAn army major goes undercover as a college student. His mission is both professional and personal: to protect his general’s daughter from a radical militant, and to � nd his estranged half-brother.Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Sunil Shetty

Bon Jovi’s China concert cancelled

n Showtime Desk

Quite mysteriously, Bon Jovi’s concert was cancelled a week before it was scheduled to run in Shanghai and Beijing. It has been reported that the government o� cials objected against the band’s use of an image of Dalai Lama in a concert which took place � ve years prior in Taiwan.

AEG Live Asia stated the concerts were cancelled due to “unforseen reasons” and o� ered full refunds to those who had bought the tickets.

No o� cial explanation was o� ered, but the Financial Times reported that the Culture Ministry felt a picture of the Dalai Lama in a video backdrop during a concert in Taiwan in 2010 was inappropriate, and they acted accordingly.

Sensitive to any support for the exiled Tibetan leader, whom it regards as a separatist and denounces as a “wolf in monk’s clothing,” the Chinese government highly regulates all related matters very closely. l

New Bond on the shelvesn Showtime Desk

Trigger Morgis, a new and o� cial James Bond novel, has recently been published and written by Anthony Horowitz. It includes unpublished material from Ian Fleming, the creator of the British Spy Series in 1953.

Set two weeks after the famous Gold� nger chapter, it features one of the most iconic Bond girls – Pussy Galore. Her days may be numbered, like the many before and after her.

The story begins with Bond being sent to a dangerous race track in Germany, the Nurburgring, where he tries to halt a plot to take down a British racing driver. The job takes him farther into unfolding another larger plot threatening the entire world.

“This is the � rst book that’s actually looked at what happens to a Bond Girl once the bed has been made and curtains have been drawn as it were, so that’s something quite new,” says Horowitz.

Since Ian Fleming’s passing 1964, six authors had a go with the series with varying success rates. Let’s hope this one makes the mark. l

QUIZ

Guess who the singers are

BACK PAGE32DT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

NEW BOND ON THE SHELVES PAGE 31

IS THERE A WAY TO IMPROVE THIS TRAFFIC? PAGE 13

DE GEA AGREES 4-YEAR UTD CONTRACT PAGE 25

Land reclamation planned for climate migrantsn Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dhaka

Bangladesh is going ahead with an ambitious plan to reclaim land from the sea to help relo-cate people who have lost their homes to sea level rise, erosion and extreme weather.

Climate change-linked natural disasters are common in Bangladesh, with cyclones and storm surges displacing huge numbers of people.

“River erosion alone claims about 20,000 acres of land in Bangladesh every year,” said Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud.

That leaves up to 200,000 people homeless each year, according to a 2013 study by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit at the University of Dhaka and the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the Universi-ty of Sussex in Britain.

Now Bangladesh is taking back some of that land. The government plans to use the natural movement of sediment through the country’s rivers to build new land on which to house displaced communities.

In June, the government signed a deal with the government of the Netherlands to coop-erate on land reclamation e� orts. Under the partnership, the Netherlands will conduct a feasibility study, and develop and implement land reclamation programmes in Bangladesh.

The Padma, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna carry huge silt with their water.

According to a study by the Dhaka-based Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), about 1 billion tonnes of silt � ow through the country’s river channels every year, most of it eventually set-tling in the southern coastal area.

According to Malik Khan, the CEGIS deputy executive director, if sediment can be direct-ed into low-lying areas of the coastal Noakhali district through a system of cross dams and polders, new land will emerge from the sea.

Zahirul Haque Khan, director of the Coast, Port and Estuary Division at the Dhaka-based Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), notes that many chars have already emerged nat-urally in the coastal areas near Nijhum Dwip and Monpura islands.

With the tide bringing large sediment deposits to the areas around Urir Char in Noakhali and Sandwip in Chittagong, large areas of land could be reclaimed from those areas by constructing cross dams, he said.

One of the � rst systematic e� orts to study the potential for land reclamation in Bangla-desh was the Netherlands-supported Land Reclamation Project launched in 1977. Since then over 1,000 square kilometres of land from the sea south of Noakhali has been reclaimed.

Inspired by the construction of the Bestin cross dam, a project that was completed in 2010 and connects Char Montaz with Char Khalifa in Noakhali, the World Bank is now carrying out studies on the possibility of con-necting Urir Char and Noakhali.

In addition the government has identi� ed 18 other potential cross dams to accelerate the building of land at the coast. Together they could help reclaim about 600 square kilo-metres of new land, said M Shamsuddoha, the director engineer with the Bangladesh Water Development Board.

The government has not yet said what the project would cost. Government o� cials have declined to give an estimate, instead saying they hope to add to the country’s own funds with donor support and by encouraging pri-vate companies to promote tourism and set up industries on the reclaimed land.

Over the next 20 years Bangladesh hopes to reclaim a total of 10,000 square kilometres of land, according to Water Resources Min-ister Anisul Islam Mahmud. “As siltation is a natural process in the Meghna estuary, a cross dam would be a cost-e� ective way to reclaim land from the sea.” l

Autorickshaw driver burned to death in Kishoreganjn Tafsilul Aziz, Kishoreganj

Drug addicts tied up an autorickshaw driver with his own clothes and burned him to death in Kishoreganj because he actively protested their fatal habit.

The incident took place in Kishoreganj Sa-dar upazila, in Amati Shivpur area, on Thurs-day night. The victim was Md Shamim Miah, 24, resident of the same area.

Shamim’s uncle Manik Miah said Shamim had always been vocal against drug addiction and vehemently protested when he saw any-one taking drugs.

That is why he protested vehemently when he found local boys Jonny, Al Amin, Sha� q and one other taking drugs inside a � shery

near his house. However, Shamim’s open disgust at the

boys’ addiction did not sit well with them, and they started beating Shamim. The alter-cation was broken up by the locals who me-diated between Shamim and the boys and re-solved the issue.

However, around 8pm on Thursday, the same group of boys stopped Shamim on his way home and took him to a � shery in the area, where they attacked him again.

They beat Shamim, took o� his shirt and trousers, tied his hands and feet with his trou-sers and blindfolded him with his shirt.

Then they poured petrol on Shamim and set him on � re, before � eeing the scene.

Shamim jumped into a pond nearby to save

himself. Hearing his scream, locals rushed to the spot and rescued him, who had sustained critical burns by then.

They rushed him to Kishoreganj General Hospital, where the doctors referred him to the burn institute of Dhaka Medical College Hospital after seeing his critical condition.

But Shamim succumbed to his injuries on his way to Dhaka, around 1am yesterday near Kalikaprasad area in Bhairab.

“He [Shamim] sustained 80% burn inju-ries,” said Dr Manoj Kumar Roy, the on-du-ty doctor at Kishoreganj General Hospital’s emergency room.

When police went to the scene later, they found a petrol bottle, match box and burnt clothes. They even found charred parts of

Shamim’s body at the scene, sources told the Dhaka Tribune.

Shamim’s body was sent to Kishoreganj General Hospital for an autopsy when this re-port was � led, said Mir Mosharraf Hossain, OC at the police station.

Shamim’s uncle Manik � led a case against Jonny, Al Amin, Sha� q, Sajon and a few oth-ers with Kishoreganj Sadar Model police sta-tion yesterday. Among them, police arrested Sajon and Jonny separately late yesterday af-ternoon.

Police also detained Al Amin’s mother Nasima Akhtar for interrogation. The interro-gation for all three are in progress and police are working to arrest the rest of the culprits, the OC said. l

Freedom � ghter Md Sadekur Rahman is a well-known face in the capital’s Shymoli area because of his love for nature. Currently a resident of the war veterans’ rehabilitation centre in Mohammadpur, he fought to save the country in ‘71 and is now trying to save the environment. Riding his Vespa, Sadek goes to a di� erent area every day and plants trees, all the while encouraging others to do the same. Yesterday when he was caught on camera, he was on his way to Aminbazar to plant saplings SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

MAN ON A MISSION

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com