print edition december 17, 2013

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AL turns backthe clock ‘tocompromise’Ershad’s U-turn made the rulingparty change the game plann Emran Hossain Shaikh and

Syed Samiul Basher Anik

As part of a “compromise” deal withits once ally Jatiya Party, the AwamiLeague has allegedly pressured manyof its candidates to withdraw nomina-tions so that JaPa candidates could beelected uncontested.

In many such constituencies, let-ters were sent to the retur ning offi cersinstructing them to accept withdrawal

applications from Awami League can-didates. Some of these letters were re-portedly signed by HT Imam, adviser tothe prime minister and co-chairman ofthe Awami League’s Election SteeringCommittee.

The last date for withdrawing nom-

ination was Friday, December 13. Theprocess is to le an application tellingthe respectiv e returning offi cer that the

candidate did not wish to contest thepolls anymore.

Reportedly, in many of these con-stituencies, where JaPa leaders werewanted, the Awami League c andidatesrefused to withdraw nominations.

There are allegations that some ofthese candidates were forced to with-draw their nominations and the return-ing offi cers were ins tructed to accepttheir withdrawal applications even if itwas after December 13.

Some of these nomination with-drawal papers, submitted after thatdate, were reportedly accepted with ret-rospective effect. For example, an appli-cation – dated December 12 and submit-ted on December 14 – was accepted.

The Awami League “compromised”these seats to ensure JaPa’s participa-tion and a credible look for the upcom-ing polls.

Sources said the Election Commis-sion took more than usual in nalisingthe list of “elected uncontested” candi-

dates because of those “compromised”constituencies. PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Bangladeshrewrites recordbooks with largesthuman agn Emran Hossain

What could be the greatest strength ofa country not larger than a tiny dot onthe globe? Its people, obviously!

It was in an emotional display of pat-riotism that over 27,000 people provedtheir collective strength yesterday asBangladesh set the world record for thelargest human-ag ever made. And itcould not be done at a more opportunemoment or against a more desired op-ponent.

Just days ago, the country sawlong-denied justice nally deliveredwhen Abdul Quader Molla – whoearned notoriety for his crimes againsthumanity as a collaborator of the Pa-

kistanis in the 1971 War of Liberation– was nally executed. Yesterday, Vic-tory Day created an ideal occasion tocelebrate that justice.

The fact that the previous humanag record was held by none otherthan Pakistan, having recreated its agusing 24,000 people, was the icing onthe cake. Pakistan broke the earlier re-cord of 21,726 people set by Hong Kongabout ve years ago.

The National Parade Ground, wherehistory was rewritten yesterday, was buzzing with enthusiasm from theearly morning, with as many as 27,117

participants – students, members ofBangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force and PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

TMAGSchools ghtingback againstthe hartals

BAN JAMAAT SHIBIRP2

Rawshan settled on a dealof 60 uncontested seats,including one for herself,to be elected uncontested

12 pages, plus 16-page T Mag tabloid | Price: Tk10

Poush 3, 1420Safar 13, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 1 No 263 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013 www.dhakatribune.com

10 SportBarca to faceMan City inknockouts

6 InternationalProtests, prayersmark one yearsince Delhi rape

Blockade againn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Main opposition BNP-led 18-party al-liance yesterday called for another 72-hour spell of nationwide rail, road andwaterway blockade starting 6am today.

The fresh blockade came at a timewhen country was celebrating VictoryDay with renewed enthusiasm follow-ing the execution of war criminal andJamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul QuaderMolla.

The opposition combine – of whichJamaat is a key component – came upwith the programme after a four-day

recess. Source said this spell might con-tinue till December 25 – the Christmas PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

A staggering 27,117 people stand united, holding green and red boards above their heads, to put up the world’s biggest ever human agat the National Parade Ground on Victory day yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Five killed in shootoutn Ashif Islam Shaon

Five activists of Jamaat-e-Islami andIslami Chhatra Shibir died while en-gaging in a shootout with law enforcersduring a police raid in two upazilas ofSatkhira yesterday.

The joint force, formed with police,Rapid Action Battelion (Rab), BorderGuard Bangladesh and Ansar, arrestednine from the spots.

Being tipped off, police went to thespots to arrest Jamaat-Shibir men ac-

cused in different cases led in con-nection with the recent incidents ofviolence in the district.

Later, locals vandalised and torched14 houses of some Jamaat-Shibir activ-ists in the upazilas out of fury.

Three Jamaat-Shibir activists diedin separate incidents of clashes in thesadar upazila while two other diedin Debhata upazila, said ChowdhuryManjurul Kabir, superintendent of thedistrict police.

Police identied one of the deceasedas Jahangir Hossain, 25, a shibir activ-ist. Abdur Rauf, 32, and Reyazul Islam,35, the two bullet-hit Jamaat men and a

local Ainul Islam, 38, were admitted toSatkhira sadar hospital. PAGE 2 COLUMN 4



News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Ban terrorist Jamaat,Shibir, urge activistsn Muktasree Chakma Sathi

Terming the Jamaat-e-Islami and itsstudent wing Islami Chhatra Shibir“terrorist organisations,” noted citi-zens, freedom ghters and socio-cul-tural leaders of Ganajagaran Manchayesterday urged the government to banthe party immediately.

At the Bijoy Utsab 2013 held atSuhrawardy Udyan in the capital on theoccasion of the Victory Day, they saidthe Jamaat-Shibir could not be labelledas a democratic political party.

The speakers also called upon peo-ple to resist every sort of attack carriedout by the Jamaat-Shibir men.

Sector Commanders’ Forum chief AKKhandker said the recent spate of vio-lence during the so-called political activ-ities of the Jamaat- Shibir could only be

termed "new version of atrocities in 1971."Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman

said: “Those who were against the hu-manity [in 1971] will have to face thetrial. Human life is valuable, but for thesake of justice, we demand the high-est punishment for the perpetrators assoon as possible.”

Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said theJamaat had not been a party that fol-lows Islam, “rather they are very muchinto terrorism.”

Later, different platforms performedat a cultural programme. At 4:31 pm,the moment when the Pakistani occu-pation army had surrendered in 1971,thousands of people sang the nationalanthem in chorus.

The Ganajagaran Mancha organiserssaid people in different districts and alsoabroad observed the historic moment. l

Jamaat-Shibirholds secretprogramme onVictory Dayn Manik Miazee

Jamaat-e-Islami in a statement yester-day claimed that it had held a discus-sion on the occasion of the Victory Day.But the opposition 18-party ally did notmention the venue of the event.

Earlier also, when Jamaat had an-nounced a series of programmes, in-cluding the Victory Day discussion, itdid not mention the venue and did noteven invite media to cover it.

Its statement said at the discussion"held at an auditorium in the city" par-ty leaders had criticised the ongoingwar crimes trial, execution of AbdulQuader Molla, and holding the January5 polls without the opposition alliance.

When the Dhaka Tribune contactedseveral senior leaders they declined todisclose the venue.

Jamaat, which has lost its registra-tion as a political party, along with the18-party allies has been enforcing se-ries of blockades that has seen mind-less violence since the election datewas announced on November 25.

According to the statement, CentralExecutive Committee member and cityunit Ameer Abdul Halim said the Ja-maat-Shibir leaders and activists wouldplay a leading role to resist the activitiesof the “Awami League fascist group.”

He said: “Even after 42 years of inde-pendence, it has not turned meaning-ful. Unity of a nation is needed for itsdevelopment, but mal-politics of theAwami League is dividing the country.”

The press release said Halim presid-ed over the programme while other se-nior leaders also spoke.

In a separate press release, Jamaat’sstudent wing Islami Chhatra Shibirclaimed that it had carried out a colour-ful procession at Khilgaon and held dis-cussions in Dhaka, Bogra, Moulvibazar,Chapainawabganj, Dinajpur, Comillaand Noakhali to mark the day. l

Nation observes Victory Dayn Abu Bakar Siddique

The nation yesterday observed its 43rdVictory Day commemorating the un-sung heroes who sacriced their livesduring the Liberation War and broughtthe victory for the country on the sameday in 1971.

The celebration began with a 31-gunsalute at dawn to pay respect to the he-roic struggle that brought the indepen-dence for the country.

The National Flag was hoisted atopall government, semi-government andother important establishments.

Marking the 43rd Victory Day, Pres-ident Abdul Hamid and Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina yesterday morning paidtheir tributes to the heroic sons of thesoil who had laid down their lives to beindependent from Pakistan through anine-month-long war.

The president and the prime minis-ter paid tributes to the martyrs of theLiberation War by placing wreaths atthe National Memorial at Savar at about6:40am.

After placing the wreaths, PresidentHamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Ha-sina stood there in solemn silence forsome time to show their respect to thememories of the martyrs of the greatLiberation War in 1971.

The Chief Justice, Ministers, law-makers, the chiefs of the three forces,freedom ghters, diplomats and highcivil an d militar y offi cials, wo undedfreedom ghters and family membersof the heroic award-winning Birshres-tha were present on the occasion.

Later, along with her party leaders,Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also pres-ident of the Bangladesh Awami League,placed another wreath at the NationalMemorial on behalf of her party.

Leader of the opposition KhaledaZia along with her party’s prominentleaders placed wreath to honour theheroes at the National Memorial.

The day was a public holiday.People of different political, social,

cultural and professional backgroundsgathered at the monument with ow-ers and banners to show respect to thesons and daughters who sacriced ev-erything possible for the independenceof Bangladesh.

In addition to the capital, sametypes of programmes were organised tohonor the martyrs across the country.

Following t he high offi cials, t hou-sands of people full with the spirit ofindependence gathered at the NationalMausoleum to pay homage to the free-dom ghters and commemorate thesacrices of those who are living withthe memories of 1971.

Asked about how he felt on the day,a Jahagirnagar University student Ah-san who went there to place wreathat the National Mausoleum with hisfriends told the Dhaka Tribune it gavehim inspiration to do something for thecountry.

“I have been coming each morningof the Victory Day since I got enrolmentin the University in 2010, he also said,adding that I am happier this year aswe have made it possible to hang Ab-

dul Quader Molla, one of the war crimeconvicts.”

Like every year, parts of the citywore a festive look since early morn-ing. A number of buildings, vehiclesand road islands were decorated withnational ags of different sizes.

In many streets and shops, popularpatriotic songs played through loud-speakers throughout the day.

Men, women and children in greenand red ocked into various monu-ments and parks including the Nation-al Mausoleum and the Jatiya SangsadBhaban area and many other publicplaces to participate in the many cul-tural programmes across the city.

“I had been taking my children tothe National Mausoleum at Savar to paytributes to the war heroes for the lastfew years to make them understand thesignicance of the day,” said MahjabinIslam, a mother of two children.

Bangladesh missions, deputy mis-sions and consulates abroad also ob-served the day.

Similarly, foreign missions in Dhakagave separate messages on the occa-

sion of the Victory Day.In his message, Russian Ambassador

to Bangladesh H.E. Alexander A. Niko-laev congratulated all citizens of thecountry on this great occasion.

He said: “Today on behalf of mine aswell as the Russian Embassy in Dhaka Iwould like to pay tribute to the Fatherof the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mu- jibur Rahman and freedom ghters ofBangladesh.”

The ambassador observed that thediplomatic relations between Russiaand Bangladesh had always been com-prehensive from the moment of its es-tablishment in the early 70-s, from thevery rst days of Bangladesh as an in-dependent state.

Russia and Bangladesh share a com-mon approach to ideas of peace and de-mocracy i.e. multi-polar global architec-ture and a fair international economicsystem, said Alexander A. Nikolaev.

“Taking this opportunity on thisauspicious day I would like to wish allour Bangladeshi friends happiness andprosperity, health and new achieve-ments in their further move to the na-

tional progressive development,” readthe message.

The ambassadors of EuropeanUnion member states did not attendthe Victory Day programme yesterdaymorning.

An offi cial o f the E U Embassy inDhaka said: “They could not attend theprogramme as they had an internal co-ordination meeting.”

He, however, said ambassadorswent to Bangabhaban and greetedPresident Abdul Hamid and Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina.

On this day in 1971, the chief of the Pa-kistani occupation forces, Gen AAK Nia-zi along with his 93,000 Pakistani troopssurrendered at Ramna Racecourse, nowSuhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka followinga miserable defeat to the joint forces ofMukti Bahini and Mitra Bahini.

In one of the heinous acts of geno-cide in human history, the Pakistanarmy and their local collaborators hadlaunched a barbarous crackdown onMarch 25, 1971 in the erstwhile EastPakistan at midnight past, killing inno-cent and unarmed people. l

Bangladeshrewrites recordbooks with largesthuman ag

PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Ansar Bahini – ready to be a part of the big moment.

They stood shoulder to shoulder,holding placards of a rectangular shapeoverhead, froming an exact replicaof the national ag. As they raisedtheir hands high into the air, thewhole ground became a triumph ofgreen and red.

They stood there for six minutes and16 seconds in that order.

It was a moment of pride andsatisfaction for both the participantsand millions of viewers watchingthe event on the ground or live on tele-vision.

Saiful Islam Rabiul, a student vol-unteer from the Agargaon-TaltolaGovernment Colony High School,who led the front section madeup of his schoolmates, described whatit was like to be a constituent part ofthe ag.

“I woke up at seven in the morningand came here. It felt really wonder-ful to be here,” said Rabiul, now in hissixth grade.

However, it was not an easy taskfor the organisers to manage such alarge group of people, formed mostly by young girls and boys from differentschools and madrasas.

The hardest part was making surethey synced up with their older, andmore organised, counterparts from thearmed forces.

There were several thousand view-ers, most of them relatives of the par-ticipants, present on the ground whowatched in awe as the ag slowly tookshape.

They cheered when it was nallydone, after over three hours of effort.

Their inspiration and elation, aswell as that of the organisers, wasclearly rooted in the fact that it wasPakistan which had lost its claim to theGuinness World Record for the largesthuman ag.

“We defeated Pakistan on this day in1971 and we did the same thing today,”said Faridur Reza Sagar, managing di-rector of Channel i, one of the mediapartners for the event organised byprivate mobile phone operator Robi –with the help of the Bangladesh ArmedForces Division.

The Dhaka Tribune, BangladeshPratidin, Kaler Kontho, and Radio Foor-ti were the other media partners.

Noted actor Afzal Hossain, whomoderated the event, said documentsrelating to the record would be sent tothe Guinness aut horities fo r their offi -cial recognition. l

Five killed in shootout PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

They started the drives from 2am, saidManjurul Kabir.

On the other hand, a union-levelBNP leader and a worker died in a gun-ght with Rab personnel during a raidin Laxmipur Sadar upazila during theearly hours yesterday.

A driver of a CNG-run Auto-rickshawsuccumbed to burn injuries yesterdayat Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Blockade supporters set re to his ve-hicle in Hathazari upazila of Chittagong15 days back.

The SP said around 4am, one teamhad reached Satani village of the sadarupazila where the local Jamaat-Shibirmen cordoned them off prompting toopen re. Jahangir was left dead o n thespot in the incident.

Around 5am, another team reachedShatkhira and Shakhipur areas inDebhata upazila where the Jamaat-Shi- bir men enclosed them and pelted bricks towards them. The armed cadresopened re at one stage.

“When we retaliated four of theirmen died on the spot,” the SP said.

However, they could not ascer-tain names of the deceased as the Ja-maat-Shibir activists took the bodyaway, he added.

Jamaat district unit’s Publicity Sec-retary Azizul Islm claimed that one oftheir activists had died being hit by a bullet and another named Sayeb Babu,32, of Sadar Upazila died in a heart at-tack during the raid.

He told Dhaka Tribune that thenumber and names of the deceased

would be disclosed today.He also alleged that the joint forces

have ransacked, looted and torchedresidences of a number of their leadersand activists during the drive.

Shatkhira has turned into a “placeof terror” during the last three spatesof blockades called by the oppositioncombine.

Satkhira, known to be a strongholdfor the Jamaat, has been beset with vi-olence and anarchy after the executionof war criminal Quader Molla on De-cember 12.

Around hundreds of residences ofAwami League leaders, activists andsupporters, and business establish-ments were torched in last four days.The Jamaat-Shibir men looted and van-dalised 30 houses and establishments ofpeople of the Hindu community there.

To contain the situation, local ad-ministration decided to conduct drives by forming the joint forces.

Meanwhile, a union-level BNP lead-er and a worker died in a gunght withRab in Laxmipur sadar upazila earlyyesterday.

The deceased are Asaduzzaman Ba- bul, 50, BNP joint secretary general ofDighulia union unit, and his close asso-ciate Khorshed Alam Sumon, 48. Listedcriminal Babul, accused in a number ofcases including murder with Sadar po-lice station.

Babul’s wife claimed that Rab-11members stormed into the house andopened re when Babul and Sumonwere having dinner .

A team of Rab personnel went to the

house in Uttar Jamiltoli area around12am to arrest them , said a Rab offi cial

He claimed that sensing presence ofthe force, Babul’s cohorts opened re,prompting them to retaliate.

Meanwhile, another driver of CNG-run Auto-rickshaw, Mohammad AbdulAziz, 50, succumbed to burn injuries atDMCH’s burn unit around 4:30am yes-terday.

Blockaders set re to his vehicle inHathazari upazila of Chittagong 15 days back during the opposition combine blockade of roads, rail and waterways.

The pickets hurled petrol bombswhile he was on his way home in Hath-azari upazila of the port city.

Miscreants torched valuables anddocuments inside Sirajpur Union Par-ishad offi ce in C ompanyganj upaz i-la yesterday. Locals said a group ofmiscreants sto rmed int o the offi ce breaking its lock around 1:15am.They brought out some furniture, two com-puters and some necessary documentsoutside the offi ce and burned them.

Six idlols vandalisedSome Jamaat-Shibir activists allegedlyvandalised six idols of Hindu deitiesin a 200-year old temple in Patgramupazila of Lalmonirhat during the ear-ly hours yesterday. They entered thetemple by breaking its gate and vandal-ised the idols at night, said HarendraNath Roy, caretaker of the temple.

“We, the Hindu people, cannot goout of our houses around midnightfearing subversion of the activists,” he

said.l

Blockade again PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

and a national holiday – with only one-day pause on Friday.

“We urge the people of the coun-try to observe blockade programmespeacefully from 6am on December to6am Friday for realising the demand forsuspending polls schedule and holdingthe elections under a non-partisan gov-ernment,” said BNP Standing Commit-tee Member Nazrul Islam Khan whileannouncing the fresh programmes at apress brieng at the party chairperson’sGulshan offi ce yesterday.

On Sunday, the Awami Leagueleaders asked party men to resist andlaunch counter attack on “those whoare inciting anarchy across the coun-try.” Awami League Joint General Sec-retary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif siad:“Enough is enough. Stop terrorist acts.After the Victory Day, every attack will be dealt with betting replies.”

The opposition-combine has so farobserved similar nationwide blockadeprogrammes on three spells, whichsaw widespread violence and deathsand injuries in clashes, arson attacksand bomb blasts.

Among the three modes of commu-nication, railway was the biggest vic-tim of sabotage and arson attacks.

“The government is adamant tohold the polls on January 5. A total of154 have already been elected uncon-tested. There is no hope that the pollsschedule will be deferred. That is whywe have to continue the movement.There are chances that a non-cooper-ation movement may be announcedfor January 1-voting day,” a BNP leader,seeking anonymity, said.

In the press brieng, Nazrul allegedthat the country was being pushed to-wards a civil war as the governmenthad asked the Awami League leadersand activists to assist the law enforcersto oppress the opposition. He asked thegovernment to withdraw such an “ille-gal order.”

The BNP leader alleged that the gov-ernment was heading for a “farcicalpoll” ignoring the people’s demand.More than 150 candidates getting elect-ed uncontested was rare in world his-tory.

“What sort of democracy is this? 154are elected uncontested. People will

not forgive those who are playing todestroy democracy wearing the muskof democracy. It would be marked asa stigmatised chapter of history,” headded.

Earlier, in a Victory Day discussionorganised by Dhaka city unit BNP, op-position leaders alleged that the gov-ernment was killing people indiscrim-inately in the month of victory.

“There is no rule of law in the coun-try. The country has been turned intoa prison because of the government’srepressive policy,” said Jamiruddin Sir-car, another standing committee member of BNP.

Vice-chairman of the party Hazud-din Ahmed termed the government“terrorist.”

Criticising the leaders of the coun-try’s business community, ShahjahanOmar, adviser to BNP chairperson,said: “You are not creating any pres-sure upon her [Sheikh Hasina]. Ask herto quit and then all the problems will be solved.”

Oli Ahmed, chairman of the LiberalDemocratic Party, said this victory dayhas been a “mourning day” for many. lAL turns back the clock

PAGE 1 COLUMN 2Remarkably, the names of three JaPacandidates – M Shawkat Chowdhuryfrom Nilphamari 4, Moshiur RahmanRanga from Rangpur 1 and FakhrulImam from Mymensingh 8 – were sentto the EC on Sunday, two days after thedeadline for nomination withdrawal.

After having joined the “all party”interim government, JaPa chief HM Er-shad, in a sudden U-turn, announcedon December 4 that he and his partycould not join the polls unless partici-pation of all parties was ensured.

The unexpected announcementreportedly forced the Awami Leagueto change its game plan and contactErshad’s wife Rawshan, a presidiummember of Japa.

Rawshan was one from a group ofJaPa leaders who did not want to pullout of the polls.

However, frightened by the attacks onsome of the Awami League candidatesduring the ongoing political unrest, Raw-shan did not want to risk the lives of theJaPa leaders, who were with her.

Sources said she settled on a deal of60 uncontested seats, including one forherself, to be elected uncontested sothat they needed not to run campaignson the eld.

Up until December 13, a total of“only” 11 JaPa candidates were electeduncontested, which outraged Rawshan.

Sources from the two parties saidsenior Awami League leaders TofailAhmed and Gowher Rizvi went to Raw-shan’s house and managed to convinceher. Later, the Awami League instruct-ed many of its candidates to withdrawtheir nomination papers.

As of yesterday, a total of 21 JaPa

candidates have been elected uncon-tested.

Zafar Alam, a former Awami Leaguecandidate from Cox’s Bazar 1 constitu-ency, told the Dhaka Tribune that theyhad no option but to withdraw. “Theleader [Sheikh Hasina] gave us nomi-nation. It was she again who instructedher to withdraw.”

When asked what date his nom-ination withdrawal application wasmarked with, Zafar smiled and said:“My nomination withdrawal applica-tion was dated December 13.”

He also said: “This is not the lastelection. We may have another onewithin a year or two. Bless me so thatI can get nomination for that election.”

Former Awami League nomineeRagebul Ahsan Ripu from Bogra 6 said:“Central command’s instruction for mewas to withdraw nomination if JaPacandidate did not. Since the JaPa can-didate did not withdraw nomination, Iwithdrew.”

The Awami League leader claimedthat he led withdrawal application at8pm Friday, although the deadline was5pm.

Awami League Presidium MemberBegum Motia Chowdhury, also agri-culture minister of the polls-time gov-ernment, told the Dhaka Tribune thatthey had not been hiding anything; theprime minister had sacriced for thesake of democracy.

“We left some seats to them [JaPa].Moreover, if Khaleda Zia joined thepolls, we would not have nominatedanyone in her constituency,” Motia said.

She claimed that the delay in placingwithdrawal papers was systemic, rath-er than anything else. l

President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia pay their respects at the National Memorial Monument at Savar yesterdayDHAKA TRIBUNE



News 3DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

SETTLED WAR CRIMES CASES

Documents left mostly unprotectedn Udisa Islam

Offi cials at the Inter nationa l CrimesTribunal are busy preparing a room inthe tribunal building for preservingdocuments and certied copies of thewar crimes cases already completed.

Three labourers have been workingrelentlessly for the last couple of daysto prepare a room on the ground oorof the tribunal building on old HighCourt premises. The temporary room,a 100 sq-ft one, would have securitymeasures installed.

All the documents of Abdul QuaderMolla case were set to be sent back fromthe Supreme Court yesterday. The war

criminal was executed on Thursday.But archive specialists have ex-

pressed concern over the measuressaying that it is not the appropriateplace to store documents as the build-ing is too old. They also said the gov-ernment should take initiative to createa permanent archive maintaining pres-ervation standards with a view to pro-tect the documents for long.

It would be a great loss for the nationif the documents are damaged, they said.

From the very beginning, the tribunal offi cers were facing problems toaccommodate the parties since all therooms of the building were not usable because of the presence of many wild

rats. Most of the rooms are damp too.Shahriar Kabir of Ghatak Dalal Nir-

mul Committee said the organisationhad written to the law ministry in Feb-ruary 2009 about archiving the docu-ments, but they did not bother. “Theyhave courage but are not aware of thechallenges of this trial.”

As an achieve specialist, he said forpreserving the records, “We need acertain humidied room, round-the-year air conditioning system and alsoa self-generator system. Every archivehas its own necessity and for this, weneed a group to do this.”

He spontaneously mentioned aboutthe presence of wild rats at the tribunal

building and lack of damp-proof sys-tem. “To prevent these documents, weneed to take indigenous and technicalsteps too,” he added.

If the ministry would not do this,then they may urge the national ar-chives authorities to take up the task.But Kabir suggested that the govern-ment patronise the archival system.

History teacher Prof Muntasir Ma-mun said: “We offered the governmentto establish a genocide museum andfor this, we have to preserve all thedocuments. In future, many nationaland international researches will beconducted on this trial.”

He expressed frustration as many

documents on the freedom ghters had been lost. “First, we need to appoint acatalyst who will keep the register.”

Following his comments, Kabir said:“We need a man or group of men whoknow how to preserve documents forarchives. If not, then we will be liable toour future generations who will wantto know about their history.”

Arunav Chakravarty, deputy registrarof the tribunal, said they were trying toaccommodate the documents withinthe existing capacity. “It is the responsi- bility of the government to establish anarchive.” Asked why they were yet to pre-pare a room for achieving, he blamed thepublic works department for the delay. l

Teenage boybeaten todeath in capitaln Mohammad Jamil Khan

A teenage street urchin succumbed tohis injuries yesterday, a couple of daysafter being beaten severely by a groupof people in Mirpur suspecting him to be a thief.

Mohammad Imran Hossain, 15, wasdeclared dead at Dhaka Medical CollegeHospital around 11am, said MozammelHaque, inspector at the hospital policeoutpost.

The body was sent to DMC morguefor an autopsy, he told the Dhaka Trib-une. Hailing from Alinagar village ofBhola, Imran used to reside at a slumnamed Chhoy Number Bosti near Kaly-anpur Natun Bazar.

Salma Begum, elder sister of the vic-tim, was found crying in front of theDhaka Medical College morgue. Sheclaimed that Imran had been innocent.

A couple of days ago, corrugatediron sheets of an under-construction building beside their slum were stolen.Following the incident, the securityguard of the building along with someother people beat up Imran badly, shesaid.

“Later, they dumped the body of injured Imran at a local school ground.”

Salma said Imran had been taken toShaheed Suhrawardy Medical CollegeHospital on Sunday. But as his condi-tion deteriorated, he was shifted to theDMCH where duty doctors declaredhim dead.

Anwar Hossain, sub-inspector ofMirpur police station and investiga-tion offi cer of the ca se, told the Dh akaTribune that police had arrested AbulKashem, 42, security in-charge (northarea) of Kalyanpur Samajkalyan Pari-shad for interrogation as he was theresponsible for maintaining the build-ing’s security.

The accused security guard, howev-er, is on the run since the incident.

The incidents of extrajudicial mass beating have become a common phe-nomenon, especially in the rural areasof the country, these days. l

USAID chiefurges PM to ndan agreementover pollsn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

USAID chief Rajiv Shah has urgedPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina to ndan agreement to hold free and fair elec-tions that are deemed credible by thepeople of Bangladesh.

“Your considerable leadership skillscan help the Bangladeshi major politi-cal parties nd an agreed way to holdfree and fair elections that are deemedcredible by the people of BD,” said Shahin a letter sent to the premier in the rstweek of December.

Rajiv Shah’s letter is another one fromWashington, last week six US Congress-men wrote a letter to Hasina and BNPchief Khaleda Zia, urging them to en-gage in dialogue.

The USAID chief referred to the visitof US Assistant Secretary of State NishaDesai Biswal, who discussed the issuewith the prime minister during her visitto Dhaka.

“The US believes constructive dia-logue between the major political par-ties is crucial to resolving any impasseover holding free, fair, and credibleelections,” he said.

The political parties need to have po-litical space to express their views freelyand peacefully, he added. “The peopleof Bangladesh want free, fair and credible elections. I urge you to nd an agreedpath to hold the elections that the Bang-ladeshi people so deeply want.” l

Chittagong tasted freedom on this dayn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong witnessed the hoisting ofthe national ag of a newborn countryon this very day in 1971, following thesurrender of the Pakistani army.

A number of former freedom ght-ers recalled that the formal surrenderwas delayed here as the Joint Force ofBangladesh and India arrived on De-cember 17, a day after the country for-mally achieved victory over Pakistan.

“Victory was our absolute pride. Un-fortunately as the events unfolded, theport city was liberated on December 17,a day later than Dhaka,” they recounted.

Nonetheless, the belated victory wasdistinct. The occupation army lined upat the Chittagong Circuit House to sur-render and witness the freedom ght-ers’ triumph, said Dr Mahfuzur Rah-man, a commander of freedom ghters.

“Two divisions of freedom ghters,one led by Deputy Commander MajorRaqul Islam, was obstructed by the oc-cupation army at Kumira of Shitakundaon December 16. The Joint Commands,

however, defeated them and enteredthe city on December 17,” he said.

Engineer Afsar Uddin, who was the joint commander of the Bengal Libera-tion Front and Freedom Fighters sent agroup of ghters to Kalurghat Radio Sta-tion to broadcast news of victory. “Tomaintain law and order in the city fromDecember 17, we were deployed at thestrategic points. I was responsible forBandar, Pahartali and Double Mooring.

“It was our duty to contain the situa-tion and make sure that the excited Ben-galis did not harm the Biharis,” he said.

Terming the day the most memorableof his life, he said thousands of peopletook to the streets with national ags,rejoicing and chanting “Joy Bangla.”

People from all walks of life em- braced the freedom, except for theRazakars, al-Badrs and the notoriousgang of Fazlul Quadir Choudhry.

Raisul Huq Bahar said although thecountry was offi ciall y free on Decem- ber 16, the formal surrender in Chit-tagong took place held around 9am onDecember 17.

Pakistani Army Offi cer Shamshad AliKhan recalls his experience with his Indi-an counterparts in a Pakistani daily, TheExpress Tribune, on December 16, 2011.

In his writing, he termed the surren-der ceremony as, “My painful journeyto surrender.”

He said he witnessed the citizens ofChittagong celebrating “India’s victo-ry.” Young girls and boys clad in colour-ful clothes, carried Indian and Bang-ladeshi ags. Vehicles ran on roadsplaying loud music. People shoutedanti-Pakistan and pro-India slogansand “Joy Bangla.” Within 20 to 30 min-utes of surrender, people and vehiclesthronged in the streets.

“I am the o nly unfo rtunate offi cerwho witnessed that painful sight. Thetormenting thought and feelings thatcrossed my mind cannot be expressedthrough words,” he wrote.

Dr Mahfuzur said the spirit of theLiberation War could be resurrected by implementing good governance andensuring accountability in every sectorof the state. l

A freedom ghter breaks into tears as the Ganajagaran Mancha takes oath on the occasion of the Victory Day at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The Awami League brings out a victory procession in the capital yesterday. The procession that started from the Engineers’ Instituteended at the Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi Road number 32 RAJIB DHAR

AL brings outprocession tomark Victory Dayn Emran Hossain Shaikh

Awami League brought out a colourfulprocession in the capital yesterday tocelebrate the 42th anniversary of theVictory Day.

Dhaka City Awami League arrangedthe procession, which started fromSuhrawardy Udyan in the afternoonand ended at the Bangabandhu Bhabanin Dhanmondi 32.

The procession marched throughthe main streets of the capital such asShabagh, Elephant road, the ScienceLaboratory and Kalabagan.

Thousands of activists of the par-ty from different age groups; carryingnational ags, colourful placards and banners in their hands; joined the pro-cession and chanted slogans thankingthe government for executing the ver-dict of the International Crimes Tribu-nal against the butcher of Mirpur, Ab-dul Quader Molla.

Before starting the procession, thecrowd held a rally where the speakerswarned against Jamaat-e-Islami, andits student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir,saying Awami League will create re-sistance against the mayhem of Ja-maat-Shibir.

The leaders who spoke at the rallysaid the government would act verysoon to defy the violence, killing andmayhem of Jamaat-Shibir.

Along with other leaders; the party’sPresidium Member Shahara Khatun,Agricultural Minister of polls timeinterim government Begum MotiaChowdhury, the party’s Joint Secre-tary Mahbub-Ul-Alam, Forest MinisterHasan Mahmud, State Minister of LawQuamrul Islam; also spoke at the pro-gramme while the City Awami League’sacting president MA Aziz presided overthe rally. l

New drug testing lablikely to open withoutproper preparationn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

The newly-installed high-tech drug test-ing National Control Laboratory (NCL) islikely to start operations on January 1,after a few months of test service.

With a Tk25 crore cost, the NCL has been set up with the nancial supportof World Bank and the World HealthOrganization on the premises of theInstitute of Public Health in Mohakhali.

Selim Barami, director at the Direc-torate General of Drug Administration(DGDA) and also the director (in-charge)of the NCL, conrmed the date and toldthe Dhaka Tribune: “The NCL is fullyready to start its activities. We will startour operation from January 1, 2014,whether it is formally opened or not.”

Saying the installation of the labora-tory had been completed a year ago, headded that the NCL faced a delay in go-ing into operation because of a re acci-dent which destroyed some equipmentand cables, while additional fund wasnot available at the time from the gov-ernment for repair and replacement.

However, seeking anonymity, asenior offi cial sa id the NCL was stillnot ready to run its activities smooth-ly. Although the laboratory was ful-ly-equipped with modern machinesand other testing facilities, there wasstill a shortage of well-trained expertmanpower behind the machines, theoffi cial added.

Moreover, the NCL did not have itsown nancial budget to administer thelaboratory activities as per demand,the offi cial inf ormed.

Currently, the NCL has been runningunder the Institute of Public Health,which is providing the cost of day-to-day expenses and also supplying chem-icals and other materials.

It has been learnt that the newly in-stalled lab is likely to test up to 10,000medicine samples a year, compared tothe existing laboratory’s capacity oftesting only 3,000 medicine samples –an amount which was inadequate giv-en the current size of the pharmaceu-ticals market.

The testing fees for existing andnew medicines have been increasedto Tk5,000 and Tk15,000 respectively,compared to previous fees of Tk1,500and Tk7,500.

The NCL would also be able to testvaccines, a feature which was not pre-viously offered in the country. TheDGDA and top pharmaceuticals hadto send vaccine samples to Singaporeor Thailand for testing earlier, but theNCL would now offer the same servicesat one fth of the expense.

Although the current state-owned lablacked international standard, the new-ly-installed one is aiming to get WHO ac-creditation within a year, as inspectionteams will visit and assess the NCL’s per-formance in different phases. l

The US believes constructivedialogue between the majorpolitical parties is crucial toresolving any impasse overholding free, fair, and credibleelections

The security guard of thebuilding along with some otherpeople beat up Imran badly forthe alleged burglary



News4DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

City High Low

Dhaka 27.0 13.0Chittagong 26.6 15.2Rajshahi 25.3 10.2Rangpur 24.8 12.2Khulna 27.6 12.6Barisal 27.5 11.4Sylhet 27.2 12.8Cox’s Bazar 28.5 15.8

PRAYER TIMESFajar 5:14am

Sunrise 6:3 4amZohr 11:55am

Asr 3:38pmMagrib 5:14pm

Esha 6:35pmSource: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Dry weather likelyto continuen UNB

Weather is likely to remain dry withtemporary partly cloudy sky over thecountry until 6pm today.

Light to moderate fog may occurover Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka andSylhet divisions during late night tillmorning, Me t Offi ce said.

Night temperature may fall slightlyand day temperature may remain near-ly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:15pmtoday and rises at 6:35am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 29.0degree Celsius was recorded yesterdayat Khepupara and lowest 08.4 degreesat Srimangal. Highest and lowest tem-perature recorded in some major citiesyesterday were:

Chhatra League assaults teachers in CUn FM Mizanur Rahaman

Activists of Bangladesh ChhatraLeague allegedly made an attack onBNP Jamaat backed teachers whenthey’d formed a human chain at Chit-tagong University campus, yesterdaymorning.

Two activists of Jatiyatabadi Chha-tra Dal— Abdul Quayum, former nan-cial secretary of the party’s CU unit,and Mohammed Yasin, a second yearstudent of the History department,were injured in the attack.

Raqul Islam, offi cer-in-charge of

CU’s police outpost, said, protestingthe attack, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal ac-tivists blockaded the road and vandal-ised a Satkaniya College microbus.

Raq added that the police nallydid manage to remove the barricadefrom the road after assuring the agi-tators of taking the necessary stepstowards catching the individuals con-nected to the incident.

Witness said around 15 teachers ofthe BNP Jamaat backed White Panel,accompanied by Chhatra Dal men,formed a human chain at BuddijibiChattar demanding the release of Mir

Nasir Uddin, adviser to BNP chairper-son Begum Khaleda Zia, and Golam Ak- bar Khandokar, organizing secretary ofthe party’s CU unit.

At one point during the programme,a group of Chhatra League people, loyalto ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, presi-dent of the city’s Awami League unit,rushed in and burnt the programme banner after snatching it away from theteachers.

During the attack Chhatra Leagueactivists harassed a number of teach-ers and beat up Chhatra Dal men whenthey tried to resist. l

Crashes kill ve in three districtsn Tribune Report

Five people were killed in separateroad accidents in Chittagong, Natoreand Jhinaidah yesterday. Seven otherpeople were injured in those accidents.

In Chittagong, one person was killedas a human haulier overturned in Pati-ya upazila in the early hours of yester-day. The deceased was Md Alauddin,20, of Jaldi under Banshkahli upazila.

In Natore, three passengers of a hu-man haulier were killed and six oth-ers were injured in a head-on collisionwith a goods-laden truck in the D akma-ra graveyard area of sadar upazila.

Senior Assistant Superintendentof Police Tariqul Islam said the colli-sion happened around 9:15pm, withtwo passengers dying on the spot. Onemore passenger died on the way to Ra- jshahi Medical College Hospital. The

driver and helper of the truck ed afterthe incident.

In Jhinaidah, an elderly woman waskilled and another injured as two hu-man hauliers collided head-on at themain bus stand in Kotchandur town.The deceased was Banu Bibi, 60.

Kotchandpur OC Shahjahan Ali saidthe accident happened around 2pm.Both the drivers managed to ee. Acase was led in connection. l

City people enjoya peaceful dayafter a long timen Abu Hayat Mahmud

The People of Dhaka city enjoyed adifferent and peaceful day yesterday,celebrating the 43rd Victory Day ofBangladesh.

City residents of different ages andprofessions came out of their homesto celebrate the memorable day. Peo-ple visited the national parade groundat the old airport, attended culturalevents, and went to different parksand shopping malls; leading to hugecrowds across the c ity.

City dwellers had been panicked because of the political unrest. Theywere fearful of coming out due to theoppositions’ violence which includedsetting re to vehicles, hurling petrol bombs – and cocktail bombs – at publictransport, vandalising public property,and blockading roads whilst demand-ing a c aretaker government.

However, the scenario in the capitalwas totally different yesterday. The op-position parties did not wage any po-litical movements. Moreover, securitywas strengthened in the city.

Different cultural organisations per-formed music, dance, literature recitalsand street theatre. The f estivities werespread across several venues includingthe Central Shaheed Minar, RabindraSorobor, Shaheed Buddhijibi Smriti

Soudha Mancha, Mirpur, TSC, DhakaUniversity and Shishu Academy.

Although government and privateoffi ces were closed for th e public hol i-day, most of city’s shopping hubs andfootpath shops were open without anyfear of attack by pickets. Vehicles wereavailable, so there were tailbacks on afew roads in the capital.

Umme Habiba, a class four studentof Shahid Anowar Girls School, came tothe old airport parade ground to watchthe Victory day parade. Habiba said:“My nal exams nished in the lastmonth, but I did not visit anywhereafterwards because of the political un-rest. So I am very happy to have thechance to come here freely today.”

Kamal Uddin, a vendor at PuranaPaltan said: “I have not been able to runmy business since the blockade start-ed. During hartals and blockades weare scared to open our shops, but todayhas been a satisfactory day. I hope thesituation continues in future.”

Meanwhile, vehicle drivers andstreet vendors expressed delight atthe violence-free day. The people whorun business at the entrance and exitpoints of the capital have been facinghard times during the blockades, asthe number of customers, mainlyinter-district passengers, droppedsignicantly. l

JaPa to stage demos forErshad’s releasen Manik Miazee

Jatiya Party yesterday announced atwo-day programme starting todaydemanding release of its chairman HMErshad, who, the party claims, was be-ing detained.

At a Victory Day event at the party’sBanani offi ce yesterday, JaPa Secreta ryGeneral ABM Ruhul Amin Howladersaid programmes would also includesubmission of memorandums to deputycommissioners in all districts tomorrow.

“If the government does not releaseparty chief Ershad within two days, wewill take tougher stance and announcefurther programmes.”

Law enforcers “picked up” Ershadfrom his home on Thursday and admit-ted him to the Combined Military Hos-

pital saying he was “ill.”“Since 1991, the country’s develop-

ment has been impeded because of un-democratic activities by the two majorparties” said JP presidium memberGM Quader, who is a minister in thepolls-time cabinet. His resignation wasnever accepted. “We took part in theinterim government to hold peacefuland credible elections, expecting thatall parties would be with us. But sincenot all the parties are taking part inthe polls, we resigned as our chief an-nounced that JP would not participatein the elections.”

Meanwhile, Party Offi ce Secret aryTajul Islam Chowdhury said on Sundaythat candidates who were yet to with-draw their nomination papers wouldparticipate in the elections. l

Khaled Khan newULAB treasurern Tribune Desk

The authorities of the University of Lib-eral Arts Bangladesh appointed KhaledMahmood Khan as its new treasureryesterday.

Khan was appointed to the post for afour-year term, said a press release. Hewas previously the nance director ofthe institution and had earlier servedas the registrar and deputy director ofadministration.

Khan achieved his MCom degreefrom the University of Dhaka, and laterworked as a theatre artist. He has re-ceived many awards including the ITTheatre Award 2013. l

Rizvi admitted to BSMMUn Kailash Sarkar

BNP Joint Secretary General RuhulKabir Rizvi who has been unwell sinceyesterday afternoon, was shifted toBangabandhu Sheikh Mujib MedicalUniversity (BSMMU) from Dhaka Cen-tral Jail Hospital in the evening, afterhis health started deteriorating.

Dr Mohammad Shamsuddin, in-charge of Dhaka Central Jail Hospital,told the Dhaka Tribune that Rizvi had been referred to the BSMMU since hehad been suffering from an ‘acute ab-domen’ problem.

“He had been vomiting and suffering

from severe abdomen pains since 2pm,”Shamsuddin said adding that the BNPleader was shifted to the BSMMU around5:30pm. “Though we had given himmedicines, there was no improvement inhis health so he was referred to BSMMUfor some tests and better treatment,” thedoctor added. Forman Ali, senior super-intendent of Dhaka Central Jail said Rizvihad been suffering from stomach com-plexities for the last few days.

The BNP leader was arrested in theearly hours of November 30, from BNP’scentral offi ce in Nayapaltan , in connec-tion with the arson attack on a bus nearMotsya Bhaban on November 28. l

JU VC driven away fromcampus on Victory Dayn JU Correspondent

A group of teachers of the Jahangir-nagar University yesterday forciblyseized the Vice Chancellor’s car anddrove him away from the campus.

On December 9, under the banner “JUTeachers-Students and Offi cers-Employ-ees United Forum,” they announced thatVC Prof Anwar Hossain was unwantedon campus and sealed his house.

Sources said Prof Anwar, who is cur-rently on medical leave until December20, came to the campus around 8amafter paying homage at the NationalMemorial in Savar.

He went to the residence of Pro-VCProf Afsar Ahmed and found his resi-dence sealed. Upon hearing the newsof his arrival, the forum members gath-ered at the Pro-VC’s residence.

They punctured the tyres of the carthat the university had given to him,removed the university ag from it andforced the VC to leave immediately,sources said.

Prof Anwar Hossain left the campusin the treasurer’s car sometime around

10am when the teachers chanted abu-sive words against him calling him a“rajakar” and killer of BangabandhuSheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Prof Kamrul Ahsan, member sec-retary of the forum told: “Prof AnwarHossain is prohibited in the universityand he is not our VC anymore. There-fore we have seized the car from him.”

Prof Anwar Hossain told: “I’m stillthe VC of the university since I havenot resigned, still, the teachers forcedme to leave the campus and seized mycar under duress.”

He added that this was not the endand his turn would come soon.

Pro-VC Prof Afsar Ahmed told theDhaka Tribune: “As Prof Anwar is cur-rently the VC of the university, he canuse the VC’s car according to the rulesof the university.”

A section of pro-Awami Leagueteachers backed by ousted formerVC Prof Shariff Enamul Kabir andpro-BNP teachers have been jointlyagitating against the VC demandinghis dismissal or resignation for the lastninth months. l

Ganajagaran Mancha reco nstructed the Decemb er 16, 1971 ceremony of the Pakistan army’s surrender at the Suhrawardy Udyan as part of the Victory Day observation yesterday. Thepicture shows restaging of Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora of the Allied Force escorting Pakistan Army’s Lt Gen AAK Niazi to the venue of signing the surrender intrument SYEDZAKIRHOSSAIN



5Tuesday, December 17, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE Photo Feature

Exuberance in red and greenCelebrating Victory Day 2013

People taking an oath, uniting against the anti-liberation forces at Suhrawardy Udyan SYED ZAKIR HOSSAINPeople rejoice after making the Guinness world record for the largest human ag at the National Parade Ground SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Flags abound at the National Memorial Monument at Savar DHAKA TRIBUNE

Forty-two years have passedsince we won our victory as anindependent nation. It has not been easy and it is not either.Every year was full of events thatdragged our souls to the troughand made it soar high as well.However, through thick and thinthe people showed an unfetteredlove towards this land. Each timethey dealt with challenges withthe same resilience as was seenduring our Liberation War. Thatspirit is starkly evident among thepeople, for whom every day is astruggle for victory. As the yearsgo by, an increasing determinationto do better is evident. This ismanifested even more clearly incelebration of colours, especiallywithin the young generationwhere it matters.

A wave of red and greenoods the roads as a cheerfulbunch of cyclists roll along ina massive column of almost

5,000 riders. Many cyclistgroups from Dhaka as well as

all over the country joined theevent organised by BDCyclists

to mark the Victory Day FAISAL NIZAM BDCYCLISTS

Suhrawardy Udyan SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

RAJIB DHAR

A friend giving a hand to another wearing the colours RAJIB DHAR

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN



Tuesday, December 17, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE InternationalDHAKA TRIBUNE6

Clash in China’s Xinjiang kills 16n AFP, Beijing

Sixteen people were killed in a clash inChina’s restive Xinjiang region, hometo the mostly Muslim Uighur minority,reports and activists said Monday, lessthan two months after a ery attack inTiananmen Square.

Police attempting to detain criminalsuspects in Shufu county near the SilkRoad city of Kashgar, deep in far west-ern China, were attacked by several“thugs” armed with explosive devicesand knives, reported the tianshannetnews portal, which is run by the Xinji-ang government.

Two poli ce offi cers were killed and14 of the “thugs” shot dead on Sunday,it said, adding that two criminal sus-pects were detained.

But an overseas Uighur rights groupsaid police had broken into a housewhere members of the ethnic minoritywere “gathering” and opened re rst.

All 14 people killed by police wereUighurs and two of them were minors,Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the Mu-nich-based World Uyghur Congress,told AFP.

“The abusive use of force by au-thorities in the area has deprived theUighurs of their right to live,” he said.

The incident comes less than twomonths after an attack in TiananmenSquare, the symbolic heart of the Chi-nese state, when according to police,three Xinjiang Uighurs ploughed intocrowds of tourists, killing two peopleand injuring 40, before crashing out-side the Forbidden City and settingtheir vehicle ablaze.

All three attackers – named by au-thorities as Usmen Hasan, his wife

and his mother – died.Beijing described the assault, the

rst blamed on Uighurs outside Xinji-ang, as “terrorism” and said separatists backed by the militant E ast TurkestanIslamic Movement were responsible.

But outside experts pointed to theunsophisticated nature of the attackand the lack of an established Islamistextremist foothold in China.

Xinjiang, a vast area bordering Pa-kistan and Central Asia beyond thefurthest reaches of the Great Wall, hasfollowed Islam for centuries.

For years it has seen sporadic unrest byUighurs which rights groups say is driv-en by cultural oppression, intrusive se-curity measures and immigration byChina’s Han majority, but Beijing attri- butes to religious extremists, terrorismand separatism.

China’s foreign ministry spokes-woman Hua Chunying said the latestincident “shows once again the an-ti-human and anti-society nature ofthe terrorist groups.”

“This kind of attempt will not winpublic support and is doomed to fail-ure,” she told reporters at a regular brieng.

Authorities in Kashgar were not im-mediately available for comment whencontacted by AFP.

In the worst outbreak of sectarianviolence in recent years, around 200people died and more than 1,600 wereinjured and hundreds arrested in riotsin the regional capital Urumqi in 2009.

A total of 11 people – nine attackersand two auxil iary poli ce offi cers – werekilled in an attack on a police station inSerikbuya township near Kashgar lastmonth, according to the offi cial Xinhuanews agency.

Another incident in June in the Tur-pan area left 35 people dead, and 139people have been arrested in recentmonths for spreading jihadist ideology.

Information in the area is tight-ly contr olled and diffi cult t o inde-pendently verify.

In August, a Chinese policemanwas killed in an incident in Yilkiqi de-scribed by state media as an “anti-ter-rorism” operation, but overseas mediasaid 22 Uighurs were shot dead in theconfrontation.

More than 190 “terrorist” attackswere logged in Xinjiang last year, rising“by a signicant margin” from 2011,state media reported last month.

Most of the attackers were in theirearly 30s or younger and increasinglyact in small groups or individually as “alone wolf,” they added.

At a meeting last week, top Tur-pan offi cials sa id violent “ terrorists ”remained active in the area despitethe authorities’ “strike hard with highpressure” campaign, according to astatement posted on a governmentsite.

They ordered local offi cials to charta “relationship tree” of links betweenstudents in Turpan and those overseas,it said. l

Gunmen kill Shia scholarin Pakistan: policen AFP, Lahore

Gunmen killed a Shia Muslim scholarand wounded two other people in thelatest sectarian attack to hit Pakistan,police said on Monday. Allama NasirAbbas from Islam’s minority branch waskilled late Sunday in Lahore, the capitalof Punjab province, after addressing areligious gathering, police said, addingthat the attackers managed to ee.

“Two attackers on motorcycle openedre on his vehicle. Primarily it was an in-cident of targeted killing,” senior policeoffi cial Rana Abdul Jab bar told reporters.

Local media said the cleric’s driver and asecurity guard were wounded in the at-tack. Groups of Shias protested over thekilling at the hospital late Sunday and infront of the Punjab governor’s house ear-ly Monday, police said.

There has been a rise in in sectarianviolence in Pakistan after several dead-ly clashes between Sunni and Shia Mus-lim groups near the capital Islamabadin November. On November 19 gunmenkilled a senior Shia university directoralong with his driver in Lahore, whileanother Shia leader and his guard werekilled in Karachi in early December. l

India judge orderedto release daughterheld over lovern AFP, New Delhi

India’s top court Monday ordered a judge release his 30-year-old daughterwho was being detained because hedisapproved of her marrying her boy-friend from a different caste.

The Supreme Court ordered SupriyaRathore be reunited with her boyfriendwho was forced to take legal actionto have her released from her father,a high court judge in the northwest-ern state of Rajasthan. “She is a majorand has the liberty to make her choicein marriage,” judges H.L. Dattu and C.Nagappan told the couple, who were inthe court in New Delhi for the ruling.

The boyfriend, Siddharath Mukher- jee, had petitioned the court, sayingthe father, who belongs to the Hin-du Rajput warrior caste, opposed hisdaughter marrying a man from theBengali-speaking Brahmin caste.

Rathore herself had also emailed po-lice and the courts during her month-long detention at the family home inJaipur city, seeking their help to get herreleased and reunited. Acting on the boy-friend’s petition, the court ordered policeon December 12 to transport Supriya toNew Delhi for Monday’s hearing.

“I have no complaints against any-one including my parents,” Supriyatold the court during the hearing.

“I love them all but I want to go withSiddharath Mukherjee as I want to mar-ry him,” she said, as the court offeredher protection if she felt threatened inany way. l

Last Australian combattroops leave Afghanistann AFP, Sydney

Australian combat troops have com-pleted their withdrawal from Afghani-stan, Prime Minister Tony Abbott saidMonday, marking the end of the na-tion’s longest war which left 40 of itssoldiers dead.

Abbott announced that more than1,000 troops would pull out from therestive southern province of Uruzgan before the end of the year during a sur-prise visit to their base at Tarin Kot inOctober.

The drawdown was completed Sun-day and most soldiers were expected to be home for Christmas.

“This war is ending, not with vic-tory, not with defeat, but with hopethat Afghanistan is a better place andUruzgan in particular is a better placefor our presence,” Abbott said.

“I rmly believe that to be the case.”Canberra rst committed troops to

Afghanistan following the September11, 2001 attacks on the United States, but they have been in Uruzgan sincelate 2005. l

N Korean soldiers swearloyalty to young leadern AFP, Seoul

Thousands of North Korean soldiersvowed Monday to protect leader KimJong-Un with their lives at a memorialrally for his late father, days after thestunning execution of the leader’s uncle.

State TV showed soldiers marchingin a square outside the Kumsusan Pal-ace of the Sun, which houses the em- balmed bodies of the country’s founder

Kim Il-Sung and of his son Kim Jong-Il,who died on December 17 two yearsago.

Kim Jong-Un, who took power afterhis father’s death in the country’s sec-ond dynastic succession, apparentlymissed the event.

Soldiers clad in winter hats andcoats gathered outside the Pyongyanglandmark in freezing weather and re-affi rmed loyalt y to the young leader. l

N Korea threatens attack onfrontline island: reportn AFP, Seoul

Thousands of North Korean propagandaleaets fell Monday on a frontline SouthKorean island, warning of an attack onsoldiers stationed there, a report said.

A South Korean marine unit basedon Baengnyeong Island in the YellowSea had collected the leaets whichwere carried across the border, Yonhap

news agency said.

The South’s military declined toconrm the report.

The leaets carried threats of bomb-ings, describing the marines as the rsttarget to be wiped out.

The North also warned in the leaf-lets that its troops were always readyto strike the island with their “un-precedented” ire power and turnit into “a large graveyard,” Yonhap

said.l

22 dead as busplunges offPhilippine highwayn AFP, Manila

Twenty-two people were killed whena commuter bus plunged from an ele-vated highway onto a van in Philippinecapital Manila on Monday, police said,warning the death toll could rise.

Twenty of those who died in theaccident in the sprawling city were on board the bus, with the other two fatal-ities from th e van, traffi c investiga torJose Abuyog said.

“It (the death toll) could go even high-er,” as some of the injured are in seriouscondition, he told AFP, adding that thecause of the accident was still being deter-mined. A further 20 people were injuredwhen the bus fell six metres (20 feet) f romthe highway onto the road below.

The bus driver, who survived, willundergo tests and questioning, saidland transportation regulatory boardchairman Winston Ginez.

Don Mariano Transit, the bus com-pany involved in the accident, has beensuspended for 30 days as its other vehi-cles are examined, Ginez told ABS CBNtelevision. In 2011, three people werekilled and four injured when a bus fellfrom the same elevated highway. l

Protests, prayers mark one year since Delhi rapen AP, New Delhi

Students, Bollywood actresses andwomen’s groups held rallies and can-dlelight vigils across India on Mondayin memory of a young woman whosefatal gang rape on a moving bus oneyear ago shook the nation’s conscience.

The victim, a 23-year-old student,was heading home with a male friendafter watching the movie “Life of Pi”when six men lured them onto a private

bus. They beat the man with a metal bar,raped the woman and used the bar to in-ict massive internal injuries.

The two were dumped naked onthe roadside, and the woman died twoweeks later. Protesters and politiciansat a public meeting in New Delhi spokeof changes in social attitudes, toughnew laws and police reform adoptedafter the massive street protests thatfollowed the gang rape.

In New Delhi, Bollywood actress

Swara Bhaskar led a group of musicianson a bus that performed street plays atseveral places along the same routetaken by the rape vic tim’s bus.

In central Delhi, a candlelight vig-il was held by dozens of students inmemory of Nirbhaya, or “fearless,” thename given by the Indian media to thewoman because rape victims cannot be identied under Indian law. Prayerswere held in a temple in a southernsuburb. l

AAP buys time forDelhi governmentformationn Agencies

The newly-elected Delhi assembly,which hangs in balance, has received awee bit of hope with the debutant AamAadmi Party (AAP) agreeing to formgovernment if the opposition Congressand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agreeto 18 conditions.

The assembly, with no clear winner,is all set for federal rule. But, followingprocedure, Delhi state governor invitedthe AAP, after the BJP refused to formgovernment citing lack of support.

Following elections to the 70-seat as-sembly, the BJP and allies won 33, theAAP 28 and the Congress eight. Since noparty crossed the half-way mark, gov-ernment formation has come to a halt.

The AAP has not accepted the uncon-ditional support offered by the BJP andthe Congress as it had fought the elec-tions on an anti-corruption platform.

The debutant party, which performedspectacularly, has hesitated to ally withthe two bigger parties as it views both ashaving compromised with corruption.But, pressure is building on the AAP assome analysts have said it can be viewedas a party that is not responsible enoughif it throws away the opportunity to formgovernment. At the same time, led byits mercurial chief Arvind Kejriwal, theAAP is not willing to form governmentas it cannot take any decision being in aminority.

Under pressure from colleagues andsupporters, Kejriwal sent a list of 18 de-mands to the Congress and the BJP say-ing the AAP would form governmentif the opposition agreed to his party’sdemands. l

BJP backs India gay sex bann Agencies

India’s opposition nationalist Bharati-ya Janata Party (BJP) has declared itssupport for a top court verdict whichruled that gay sex is illegal, and liablefor life in jail.

Puncturing the bubble of proteststhat have rocked India since the Su-preme Court gave its order last week,the BJP after initially hesitating tomake known its stand came o ut strong-ly against gay sex.

BJP president Rajnath Singh made itclear that his party was of the v iew thatgay sex “is an unnatural act that cannot be supported.”

Singh’s colleague and vice-presidentMukhtar Abbas Naqvi backed him say-ing that Indian culture and traditiondid not allow gay sex, and that theywould oppose what he called “westerninuence” on this issue.

The court, in its ruling, had stated thatit was the prerogative of the parliamentto amend the existing law if it so felt.

The ruling Congress party has takena rm stance in support of gay rights.The chief of the party Sonia Gandhiregretted that the Supreme Court hadreversed an earlier verdict of a lowercourt which had “wisely removed anarchaic, repressive and unjust law thatinfringed on the basic human rights en-shrined in the Constitution.”

Gandhi’s son and Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhi had said“matters of personal freedom should be left to individuals... I think I wouldagree more with the high court… Thecountry is known for its freedom of ex-pression.” The BJP leadership appearsto have taken the stand against gayrights and in support of the apex courtverdict in a calculated move not to ruf-e its conservative vote base. l

A plane ies into the sunset and LaGuardia Airport December 4, in New York AFP

‘The abusive use of force byauthorities in the area hasdeprived the Uighurs of theirright to live’

An Indian kitemaker arranges kites bearing the portrait of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad AFP

Flowers and candles are placed near a placard reading: ‘Damini,’ a symbolic name given to a gang-raped victim, in New Delhi AP

INTO THE SUN



7Tuesday, December 17, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE International

Israel re on Lebanon inretaliation for soldier killingn AFP, Jerusalem

The Israeli army said Monday it redacross the Lebanese border in retalia-tion after accusing Lebanese troops ofgunning down one of its soldiers as hedrove near the frontier.

The shooting was the rst time anIsraeli soldier had been killed alongthe border with Lebanon in more thanthree years, although commentatorssaid it was unlikely to spark a confron-tation.

The army said the soldier was shot by Lebanese troops as he was drivinga civilian vehicle along a section of the border near Rosh HaNikra on the Medi-terranean coast.

“After the incident, we reached thearea to conduct searches as part of the in-vestigation, and saw two suspects on theother side of the border,” army spokes-man Major Arye Shalicar told AFP.

Troops opened re and hit at leastone of them.

“We shot at them, and saw we hitat least one. We think they were Leb-anese soldiers... involved in the shoot-

ing of the soldier,” said Shalicar.The army led a protest with the UN

peacekeeping force UNIFIL over theincident which it described as an “out-rageous breach of Israel’s sovereignty.”

The military said it had “heightenedits state of preparedness” and wouldmaintain its “right to exercise self-de-fence.”

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon saidthe shooter was understood to be “aLebanese soldier.”

“We hold the Lebanese governmentand Lebanese army responsible forwhat happens on their side,” he said.

Yaalon conrmed Israeli and Leba-nese liaison offi cers would mee t withUNIFIL to investigate the incident lateron Monday.

“We will demand of the Lebanesearmy to explain exactly what hap-pened and if this is a case of a soldieracting on his own initiative, what wasdone with him and how the Lebanesearmy plans to prevent a recurrence ofsuch events,” he said.

“We will not tolerate a breach of oursovereignty on any border, especially

not the Lebanese one.”The army named the soldier as

31-year-old Master Sergeant ShlomiCohen, and said “six to seven rounds”were red at him. It was not immedi-ately clear whether it was the work ofa sniper.

There was no immediate reactionfrom the Lebanese army but it issued astatement Monday to the incident, but astatement saying an Israeli drone had vio-lated Lebanese airspace in the same area.

“At 10:15 pm (2015 GMT) yesterday,a drone belonging to the Israeli ene-my violated Lebanese airspace overNaqoura, and performed a y-over ofthe southern area, then left at 12:40am,” it said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency(NNA) reported that troops had openedre at “an Israeli army unit” near theNaqoura border post.

But a secur ity offi cial den ied sol-diers had opened re.

“The sound of gunre was heardnear the area of Ras al-Naqoura, andthe army is trying to nd out what hap-pened,” he told AFP. l

Militants attackcity council as Iraqunrest kills 42n AFP, Tikrit

Militants attacked and temporarily oc-cupied a city council headquarters andassaulted a police station in Iraq onMonday, as v iolence across the countrykilled 42 peopl e, offi cials said .

The attacks on the city council andthe police station, both in Salaheddinprovince north of Baghdad, illustrate theimpunity with which militants in Iraq canstrike even targets that should be highlysecure. Violence in Iraq has reached a lev-el not seen since 2008, when the countrywas emerging from a period of brutal sec-tarian killings, and has raised fears it isslipping back into all-out conict.

The attack on the city council head-quarters in Tikrit began when militantsdetonated a car bomb near the buildingand then occupied it, with employeesstill inside. Iraqi security forces sur-rounded the building, and then carriedout an assault that Counter-TerrorismService spokesman Sabah Noori saidfreed 40 people who were held inside.

“We freed all the hostages... and ourforces killed one suicide (bomber), buttwo others blew themselves up,” Nooritold AFP. l

US offers new support forVietnam maritime securityn AFP, Hanoi

Secretary of State John Kerry said Mon-day the United States would help Viet-nam and other countries police theirseas better amid territorial disputeswith China, as he met top leaders inHanoi.

Kerry, who arrived on Saturday ona trip aimed at shoring up ties withSoutheast Asia, said the US wouldprovide $32.5 million to help regionalnations including Vietnam patrol “ter-ritorial waters.”

“Peace and stability in the SouthChina Sea is a top priority for us,”Kerry said, adding that “no region

can be secure in the absence of ef-

fective law enforcement in territorialwaters.”

Speaking to reporters in Hanoialongside Foreign Minister Pham BinhMinh, the one-time presidential hope-ful said his government’s supportwould include training and new fastpatrol vessels for coastguards.

But he also carried warnings overVietnam’s human rights record.

Washington is eager to underscoreits commitment to Asia. Its eastwards“pivot” policy was shaken earlier thisyear when the US government shut-down forced President Barack Obamato cancel a trip to the region, allowingChina to occupy centre stage at region-al summits. l

Minister: South Sudanrepulses coup attemptn AP, Juba

Disgruntled soldiers and politiciansled by a former v ice president attempt-ed to overthrow the South Sudanesegovernment, a top govern ment offi cialsaid Monday, as sporadic ghting con-tinued between factions of the militaryin the latest violence to hit the world’syoungest nation.

Some troops within the main army base raided the weapons store in thecapital but were repulsed, South Suda-nese Foreign Minister Barnaba MarialBenjamin told The Associated PressMonday. The military insisted the situ-ation in Juba was tense but unlikely toget worse.

Some politicians had been arrested,he said, but could not conrm if for-mer Vice President Riek Machar —whohe said led the attempted coup —wasamong those in detention. PresidentSalva Kiir had ordered a dawn-to-duskcurfew, he said.

Explosions and sporadic gunrerang out early Monday in Juba amid re-peated clashes between factions of themilitary, according to Col. Philip Aguer,

the South Sudan military spokesman,who insisted later on Monday that thearmy was now “in full control of Juba.”

An Associated Press reporter sawheavily armed soldiers patrolling thestreets of Juba Monday amid the gunreemerging from Juba’s main army bar-racks. The streets were largely empty ofcivilians, with most Juba residents stay-ing indoors. EgyptAir reported that ithad cancelled its ight to Juba on Mon-day, saying the airport there was closed.

The United Nations Mission inSouth Sudan on Monday reported thesound of mortar and heavy machine-gun re, saying hundreds of civilianshad sought refuge inside UN facilities.

Tension had been mounting in theworld’s youngest nation since Kiir redMachar as his deputy in July. Machar,who has expressed a willingness tocontest the presidency in 2015, saidafter he was red that if the country isto be united it cannot tolerate a “oneman’s rule or it cannot tolerate dicta-torship.” His o uster, part of a wider dis-missal of the entire Cabinet by Kiir, hadfollowed reports of a power strugglewithin the ruling party. l

Ukraine ruling party demands government reshuffl en AFP, Kiev

Ukraine’s ruling party on Monday de-manded a sweepi ng cabine t reshuffl e,as political leaders seek to defuse thecountry’s biggest political crisis in adecade.

President Viktor Yanukovych’s de-cision to scrap key agreements withthe EU last month and then use policeforce against protesters sparked thelargest demonstrations in the ex-Sovietcountry since the 2004 pro-democracyOrange Revolution.

Yanukovych has offered a numberof concessio ns, sacking senio r offi cialsover police violence and announcingan amnesty for arrested protesters, ina bid to defuse the tension.

But the pro-EU opposition hasdismissed these moves as half-mea-sures. It is demanding the resignationof Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, andearly presidential and parliamentaryelections. “We have put forward a de-mand before Azarov to reformat thegovernment by 90 percent,” Anna Ger-man, a lawmaker with Yanukovych’sRegions Party, told reporters after talkswith Azarov.

“Azarov said that he will today letthe position of the faction be known

to the president and conclusions willcertainly be made,” she told reportersafter the closed-door meeting attended by the entire cabinet. German, a formerYanukovych aide, said the resignationof Azarov was not discussed.

The president’s parliamentary rep-resentative, Yuriy Miroshnychenko,told reporters “decisive steps” wereneeded. “An emotional conversation based on principals was held. We haveto take the decisive steps necessary tosolve the problems,” he said.

Azarov proposed creating a workinggroup, but the details and timing of anyreshuffl e had yet to be hamm ered out,Miroshnychenko added.

The announcement comes after therst direct talks between Yanukovychand the opposition collapsed on Friday.

On Sunday nearly 300,000 pro-testers ooded central Kiev despitefreezing temperatures to demand thegovernment sign the EU pact. The au-thorities staged a counter rally bussingin thousands from the provinces.

The protest movement, now in itsfourth week, is planning another majorrally on Tuesday when Yanukovych isdue to discuss a strategic partnershiptreaty with Russian President VladimirPutin. l

‘Barrel bomb’ raids inSyria’s Aleppo kill 76n AFP, Damascus

The Syrian air force was on Mon-day accused of killing 76 people byunleashing barrels packed with ex-plosives on Aleppo, a focal point forighting between regime and rebelforces.

The bombardment, which activistsdescribed as “unprecedented,” came asthe United Nations said the number ofSyrian war refugees in the Middle Eastwas likely to double to 4.1 million bythe end of 2014.

The number of people slain in Sun-day’s bombing of Aleppo “with explo-sive-packed barrels... rose to 76,” in-cluding “28 children and four women,”said the Syrian Observatory for HumanRights, updating its previous toll of 36

dead.l

Attacks on Lebanonarmy posts leaveve deadn Agencies

A Lebanese soldier and four attackerswere killed in two separate assaults onarmy checkpoints in the southern city ofSidon, the military said in a statement.

The attacks in the Mediterraneancity, around 40km south of Beirut,were likely co-ordinated, said a securi-ty source.

“At 9:15pm (1915GMT) today [Sun-day] an armed man approached anarmy checkpoint in the north of Sidon,and launched a hand grenade towardsit, injuring two soldiers,” the armystatement said. “Troops manning thecheckpoint red back at the attacker,leading to his death.”

Then at 10:20pm (2020GMT), threearmed men in an off-road vehicle ap-proached a second army checkpoint atanother location in the southern city.

One of them “blew himself up witha hand grenade he was holding, killinghim and a soldier,” said the army, add-ing that another soldier was woundedin the attack.

“Then troops at the checkpointopened re at the other armed men andkilled them,” the military added. l

Chad looms large over Central Africa crisisn AFP, Bangui

Since the Central African Republic de-scended into crisis a year ago, Chad has been front and centre, described in turn– and sometimes all at once – as coup in-stigator, victim and peacekeeper.

“Ubiquitous but unclear,” was howone seasoned observer in Bangui de-scribed Chad’s presence in the impov-erished country where sectarian vio-lence has left 600 dead in a week.

Offi ciall y, the troubl ed countr y ishome to a diaspora of some 15,000Chadians, but Muslim northerners areoften referred to also as Chadians.

The broader “Chadian” communityhas been the main target of reprisal at-tacks by majority Christians.

Many Central Africans accuse Chadof masterminding the Seleka rebellion,which disintegrated after its coup inMarch, releasing rogue ghters whohave carried out killings, rapes andlooting ever since.

Former colonial power France isleading the ongoing military effort torestore order but Chad’s inuence over

its southern neighbour has been un-challenged for years.

A Western diplomat describedChadian President Idriss Deby Itno asthe perennial kingmaker of Central Af-rican politics.

The presidency has numerousChadian advisers, leading to a common

perception that the Central AfricanRepublic is a Chadian province and itspresident little more than “Deby’s ad-ministrator.”

Francois Bozize seized power withDeby’s support in 2003, but a decadelater Chad backed the Seleka rebel co-alition that toppled him. l

Rwandan ex-mayor handed25 years for genociden AFP, Arusha

The UN tribunal for Rwanda on Mon-day handed a 25-year jail term to a for-mer mayor found guilty of genocide forthe 1994 bulldozing of a church with2,000 people inside.

Gregoire Ndahimana, now in hisearly sixties and mayor of Kivumu dis-trict in western Rwanda at the time ofthe 1994 genocide, had initially beensentenced to 15 years in jail in 2011.

The UN court had found him guiltyof failing to take measures against po-lice involved in an April 1994 attackon Tutsis who had taken refuge in thechurch in Nyange, a parish in Kivumu,and of having “tacitly approved” thedestruction of the church the followingday.

The appeal judges conrmed thatNdahimana was guilty of genocide andextermination as a crime against hu-manity.

They also ruled he had acted “as partof a joint criminal enterprise aimed atexterminating the Tutsi in Kivumu dis-trict.”

The judges said Ndahimana had cel-ebrated the bulldozing of the church bydrinking beer with othe r local offi cials.

“The appeals chamber overturnsthe jail term of 15 years and imposes 25years in prison,” judge Theodor Merontold the court.

When the sentence was read out,the former mayor collapsed into a chairand his wife wept in the public gallery.

Ndahimana was arrested in August2009 in the east of the Democratic Re-public of Congo, to where many Hutuextremists ed after the genocide.

He is the third person to be tried bythe International Criminal Tribunal forRwanda (ICTR) over the destructionof the Nyange church, after the parishpriest Athanase Seromba and business-man Gaspard Kanyarukiga.

The role of the church in the geno-cide, in particular the Catholic church,remains controversial.

In the anti-Tutsi pogroms of 1959and 1962, Tutsis who sought refuge inchurches were spared.

Three decades later, during the geno-cide, they ocked by tens of thousandsinto churches to escape their execu-tioners. This time round however, theydied there massively, hacked to death, burned alive or blown up with gre-nades.

Formed in late 1994, the UN-backedICTR is responsible for judging prima-ry suspects in the Rwanda genocide inwhich an estimated 800,000 people,mainly Tutsis, lost their lives. l

Russia moves nuclear-capablemissiles closer to EU: Ministryn AFP, Moscow

Russia’s defence ministry revealed onMonday that it has moved nuclear-ca-pable Iskander missiles closer to Eu-rope’s borders in response to the US-leddeployment of a disputed air defenceshield. Germany’s Bild newspaper rstreported over the weekend that Russiahad placed the ballistic missiles in itsKaliningrad exclave near Poland overthe past 12 months.

A top Russian d efence offi cial sai din response to the report that severalIskander batteries had been stationedin Russia’s Western Military District –

a region that includes the exclave and

also borders the three Baltic states,members of the European Union.

He did not conrm that the missileshad been placed in Kaliningrad.

“Iskander operational-tactical mis-sile systems have indeed been commis-sioned by the Western Military District’smissile and artillery forces,” Russiannews agencies quoted defence ministryspokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.

He added that Russia’s deployment“does not violate any internationaltreaties or agreements” and shouldtherefore not be subject to protestsfrom the West.

The Kremlin warned in 2011 that itmay deploy short- and medium-range

missiles along the EU’s eastern frontierin response to NATO’s deployment of amissile defence system.

Both the United States and NATOhave long argued that the shield is notaimed against Russia but is designed toprotect the West from potential threatsfrom so-called “rogue states.”

But Moscow fears the system – whosecomponents include both ground- based radar and missile-positioning sat-ellites – may one day be turned into anoffensive weapon that targets Russia’ssoil. The Kremlin also believes that thesystem may one day be expanded to apoint that makes Russia’s own vast nu-clear arsenal ineffective. l

‘The appeals chamberoverturns the jail term of 15years and imposes 25 years inprison'

Soldiers of the Multinational Force of Central Africa (FOMAC) monitor a United Nations(UNICEF) cargo plane carrying medical and food supplies AFP

A man walks in front of a barricade in central Kiev, December 16, 2013. The European Union said on Sunday it was halting work on alandmark trade and political pact with Ukraine, hardening their rift even as tens of thousands took to the streets of Kiev urging PresidentViktor Yanukovich to mend ties with Brussels REUTERS



A spineless conversationDecember 8

Naffy SahAgree with the sentiments of the article, except

the criticism of the civil society, as I feel it drownsthe actions and reasoning. Unfortunately, whenthey are only ones on the street and there isbarely anyone there, talk shows are the only at-tempt left to wake up the inactive mindset of the“janogan.” Just like the attempt to nudge peoplethrough this article. I personally watch some ofthese members of civil society, certain memberswho work themselves to the ground but have toface such critiques.

People have to look at the role of civil societyand the role of the citizen. Civil society willprotect the rights of the common public, untilpeople don’t empower themselves to take action.Politicians will provide the entertainment, writerswill write, intellectuals will theorise, and the weakand vulnerable will suffer until the privileged areable to realise (if they ever wake up) it is up tothem. Finger-pointing needs to evolve; it’s timefor people to propose solutions. People who areprepared to die for their values. In times like these,I have to say I respect those who stick their neckout to speak the truth. Think they’re trying to passthe flame they have been carrying for years to the

next generation.

Robert ImamIt’s a tragedy, it’s a comedy. Deep down there’slethargy if I think about it. I just don’t have thetime, to stand up for justice, to stand in that line. Icould just live my life, with my head hanging downand praying to the sublime. You can be opposedto a government and the opposition, and then youdon’t know who to stand behind any more.

Bangladesh to attempt largesthuman agDecember 12

Ridha RahmanOur spirit of liberation is limited here.

Sanzida RahmanI believe it’s a good way to keep the spirit of ourcountry up, even through all the despair.

Mizanur RahmanThis is a call for Bangalis to go with the flow.Disgusting!

Laila HasanWhat’s the point? We dishonor the flag by allthe political violence. The country has become aslaughterhouse. Will the party with the highestkills take home the seats this yr? Pity.

Sanzida RahmanLaila Hasan: At least, apu, during the bad timesthis would keep some people engaged in goodthings.

Shopno LokWow!! Great idea.

Shaba ShamsI feel proud.

End the crisis tosave economy

Evidence is mounting of the damage being done to the econo-my by strikes and violent blockades.

The IMF projects that growth in GDP will fall to 5.5% inthe current scal year, from an average of over 6% in the last fouryears and the government’s current target of 7.2%.

The National Board of Revenue is reporting a growing shortfallin revenue collection, as businesses of all sizes are being hit hard by the political crisis.

All sectors, including vitalRMG exports, are being hit byshortages in raw materials anddelays in being able to ship prod-ucts to market. The opportunitycost of investment and long-termplanning being delayed dueto fears of political violence isincalculable.

By disrupting transport andsupply chains, the blockadeshave triggered a rise in foodination which is hurting allhousehold budgets hard. Milkproduction has dried up as mil-lions of litres of milk have beenwasted by interruptions in dis-tribution and supply. The six major national poultry associationsreport losses of more than Tk4,000 crore in the last three monthsas farmers and poultry breeders have been forced into selling stock below production cost.

Farmers and food processors are incurring mounting debts andaround 30% of farms are reported closed in the poultry sector. Theknock on effect on suppliers of feed and all those who depend onproducing and selling food is impacting on millions of workers and businesses, both large and small.

The country cannot afford to continue suffering these levels oflosses.

Politicians must stop being complacent about the economy andact urgently to end the crisis.

Battery exports anengine for growth

J apan’s Ambassador visited the GLOBATT factory at Ishwardi toinaugurate its rst export order this month.

Automotive battery producer Rahimafrooz Globatt current-ly exports batteries to 57 markets around the world and is recog-nised as one of the leading brands in this area. It has successfullysecured export orders to the exclusive Japanese market whichrequires the highest quality standards.

This is a good illustration of the growing ability of manufactur-ers from Bangladesh to producemarket-leading products inhigh value areas. We hope thatthis will inspire a much-neededdiversication and maturationprocess for our manufacturingsector.

The Japanese market is par-ticularly signicant since Japan isa highly competitive and qualityconscious market for automotiveproducts.

Manufacturing and exportsectors in Bangladesh have thusfar been dominated by utilisingthe availability of cheap labour asthe main competitive advantage.The success of Rahimafrooz Globatt shows that it is also possiblefor Bangladeshi manufacturers to be competitive in products thatrequire a high level of technical know-how and prociency.

Diversication of our manufacturing output will allow us reacha broader range of markets. We hope others can be inspired by thisexample to work towards improving skills and resources to gener-ate higher-value exports.

By following this example, entrepreneurs can help develop andrealise the potential of the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh.

Editorial8

www.dhakatribune.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

LETTER OF THE DAY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Letters to the Editor

It is possible forBangladeshimanufacturers to

be competitive inproducts that require ahigh level of technicalknow-how andprociency

All sectors, are beinghit by shortages in rawmaterials and delaysin being able to shipproducts to market.Politicians must acturgently to end thecrisis

Can our politicians learn from Mandela?December 14I must congratulate a local English daily for h aving published a section titled “Wise Words From Mandela.”This must be read by all leaders, of all educational institutions and all political parties in Bangladesh. Hope-fully they will understand and appreciate Mandela’s noble ideas and follow his sage advice.

Let the PM, for the sake of national interest, set a noble example by introducing the caretaker govern-ment, headed by a recognised and respected judicial mind like Dr Kamal Hossain, or even the last ChiefJustice. Let there be ve advisers nominated by AL, and from BNP, and two from Jatiyo Party to form thead-interim government till the election.

This will be a great move on her part, and will, I am sure, ensure her victory in the next election. Thisgovernment should ensure that till the next elected government is formed; they will only carry out routinework, ensure law and order, and that the election is held peacefully.

Let us, for God’s sake, shun violence and have peace.Frustrated Bangali

How to behave insomeone else’s countryDecember 15I liked the article by Mamun Rashid, “Howto behave in someone else’s country,” inyour paper on December 12. It is full ofpassion and emotion. I also agree with theauthor that we have to shed our colonialmentality.

However, emotions seem to have gottenthe better of him. We protest against Su- jatha Singh, but have no diffi culty in givingbetter treatment to visitors much junior toher from the West and other countries. Welisten to them wide-eyed and invite them toget involved in our affairs. Please, let us nothave double standards.

Selim Hossain

Wake up to the economiccosts of political unrestDecember 12

Regarding this editorial about theeconomical costs during these politicaldisturbances, you should have added thevery real possibility of the internationalgarment buyers scaling back orders oreven pulling out of Bangladesh altogether.

These politicians could end up shootingthemselves in the foot!

Haydn Pritchard

Crossword

Sudoku

CROSSWORD CODE CRACKER YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Bludgeon (4)5 Fissures (5)8 Tempt (6)9 Heavy substance (4)10 Lyric poem (3)12 Colour (6)13 Laid bare (6)15 Pliant (6)18 Well-mannered (6)20 Beverage (3)21 Peruvian capital (4)23 Garden ornaments (6)24 Time in grammar (5)25 Inherited characterunit (4)

DOWN1 Stringed instrument (5)2 United (3)3 Theatre (5)4 Concealed (3)5 That remaining (7)6 Stupid person (4)7 To let stand! (4)11 Businesstransaction (4)12 Trace (7)14 Game of skill (4)16 Charge (5)17 Efface (5)18 Separate (4)19 Incline (4)21 Ship’s record (3)22 Males (3)

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9Op-Ed Tuesday, December 17, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Mohammad Ali Sattar

Ican’t nd the words appropriateto articulate the dire circum-stances we are in.

It is election time. People,or for that matter, the whole

nation, should have been awash withthe colourful banners, head-gears,

party ags, festoons, and engagingslogans. Groups of animated youngand old party or non-party activistswere supposed to keep the cold wintermornings or the dark foggy eveningswarm with their piercing slogans.

Local heavyweights were to tramptheir way through the paths and by-lanes of the prospective voters ofthe areas. Courtyards of the hamletsshould have been swarmed with ex-hilarated souls, both men and women.And you have that 24/7 gossiping inthe smallest tea stand of the tiniestcommunity. In sum, the whole nationnow ought to have been in the grip ofthe craze for the polls day – the muchawaited day their leader would nd hisor her way into the stratum o f powerfor the next ve years.

Whatever the outcome of the polls,our history stands witness that we area poll-crazy nation. Each time the pollsare held we receive things as they ar-

rive. The results, most of the time notinitially accepted by the losing side, arehowever accepted eventually, and thedays pass by, the country keeps going.And we wait for the next polls.

Don’t you forget we want fair po lls.So why do we constantly opt for the

third umpire? We are not prepared fora full-blown democracy. Mutual trustis absent. We are not in a position toconsider fair polls under a partisangovernment. We feel comfortable withthe neutral care-taker system thatensures, though not entirely, fair andopen exercise of voting rights.

Amidst this violence, we do have

something to feel good about. We areall ghting to have an election. Theruling party has a different agendawhile the opposition has diverse plans.But all want elections. If only we couldnd a suitable way to hold those!

Nothing happened. The entire dreamscene turned into horrendous accountof mindless acts of bloodletting. Thecountry is in the grip of evil. Insteadof the polls preparation, it has becomethe reverse. The feuding groups arenot seeking votes; they are busy killingeach other. Instead of holding a serenevoting exercise, they are busy prevent-

ing each other from even wishing toexercise their constitutional right.Prior to coming to power, the AL

declared that it was waging a waragainst the BNP and its allies to restorepeople’s right to vote, which to them,was robbed by the BNP. The previous

BNP-led government did resort to allkinds of maneuvering to hold on topower. There were allegations of fakevoters list, the attempt to put theirman of choice as head of the caretakergovernment, and so on.

Everything went wrong for BNP andits partners. The country went volatileand many lives were lost, until the

army-backed caretaker governmenttook over. While not supporting suchacts of the BNP, one should admit thatBNP and allies were at least trying tohold an election. They never hinted at“arranging” and “compromise” with

their allies and loyalists.The present government of Sheikh

Hasina has lost all trust and con-dence that it initially enjoyed. Theparty has been doing, in the nameof constitution, such things that areclearly in total disregard to the willand wish of the people.

Instead of giving people the voting

rights, the ruling party has snatchedthese away in broad daylight. Morethan half of the parliamentary seatshave been decided long before thevoting day! More than fty per cent ofthe 9.19 crore voters were straight offrobbed of their right to vote.

HM Ershad was picked up from hishome on “medical grounds.” He wastrapped inside the military hospitaluntil Jatiya Party was nally forced to be part of the election or seat distribu-tion process. Ershad has been declareda member of p arliament even withouthis knowledge and consent!

The prime minister was bold to

declare at a meeting that the groundsof being elected unchallenged arethe compromise and understanding between the ruling and other parties.This, she said, could have been donewith the BNP as well, if they took partin the polls. She made no secret of herintentions!

The dialogue continues amidst in-creasing violence around the country.Death and devastation is rising. I ama great proponent of dialogues, but Icannot comfort myself with the hopeof a fruitful outcome.

The main opposition is already outof the race and it has nothing to losein the so-called polls. Therefore, in alllikelihood it will now press for the care-taker government and Sheikh Hasina’sexit as the head of the interim cabinet.

It is evident that pressure fromwithin and without is mounting on thegovernment to play right. How far thepresent regime can hold on to its res-

olute stance remain to be seen. Afterall you cannot have elected represent-atives in the parliament without beingelected by the people. l

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist, politicalanalyst and DT columnist.

Towards post-2020 climate agreementn Vikas Nath

N egotiators from over 190countries gathered recently inWarsaw to lay the framework

for a global climate agreement that isexpected to be signed in 2015 in Paris.Warsaw was an opportunity for nego-tiators to narrow their differences, andincrease their ambition for long-term

action on climate change.

Unfortunately they failed to reach acommon understanding on the shapeof the new agreement, the level of cutsneeded, how they should be divid-ed up, long-term nancing needs ofdeveloping countries, and providesassistance to those suffering loses anddamages from climate change.

Global negotiations, national interestsWhile the climate issue has movedhigh up on the political agenda, andthe platform on which negotiationstake place is multilateral, the interests

pursued by negotiators remain rmly

rooted nationally. Countries have con-sistently refused to look beyond their boundaries and interests to deal withan issue that cuts ac ross borders.

Rich countries have to lead the wayin cutting emissions and providingsupport. But developing countriesalso need to contribute if the warminglimit of 2 degrees centigrade is to bemaintained. Unfortunately the UN

multilateral climate forum is capableof keeping the negotiations alive with-out yielding progressive outcomes.It is likely we may end up at the 2015summit in Paris without any boldambitions and actions to bring downglobal emissions.

Lowering commitments, not emissionsClimate talks so far have distinguished between richer and poorer countries.Richer countries are those who havepolluted their way to economic growthand development and are responsiblefor the bulk of historical emissions.While poorer countries are latecomersto industrialization, their emissionsare increasing as they need to growand lift their population out of pov-erty.

The Warsaw talks saw a major push by developed countries to removethe rewall between rich and poor

countries so that all countries take on

binding commitments to reduce emis-sions. But developing countries cameout strongly against this move.

Developed countries argued thatthe deal struck in Durban in 2011 re-quired all major economies, includingemerging economies, to commit to bringing down emissions, and this wasnot being adhered to.

Developing countries challenged

that these commitments were contin-gent on developed countries playingtheir role and providing climate fundsand clean technology at concessionalrates, and that this was not happening.Most developing countries maintainthat since the Durban decision wasunder the UN Climate Convention, theresponsibilities to reduce emissionsremain differentiated.

For developing countries, histor-ical emissions and the principle ofcommon but differentiated respon-sibility CBDR) are non-negotiable toensure that climate justice and equityis respected. They seek that any newagreement has to come under the 1992UN Framework Convention on ClimateChange on common but differentiatedresponsibilities rather than ignoring it.

Developed countries were againstkeeping any such reference and thisalmost led to a breakdown of the talksuntil a compromise was worked out to

replace “commitments” with the more

exible term “contributions.”The negotiating parties ultimately

agreed to go back home and initiateor intensify domestic preparations fortheir intended “nationally deter-mined” contributions to reduce emis-sions without being legally obliged todo so. Countries ready to do so willsubmit clear and transparent plans by the rst quarter of 2015. The plans

will be assessed by other countries todetermine if they are ambitious andfair, and whether they will be collec-tively effective in preventing climatecatastrophe.

As the emissions reduction goalsthat will come into force in 2020 willnot be decided centrally, but set at thenational level, it remains to be seenhow these contributions will evolve.They may end up as binding targetsin the 2020 framework and take theshape of a new protocol, or simply anagreed outcome to reduce emissionswith legal force.

No interim or long-term financingIn the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks,developed nations committed to mo- bilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 forclimate change. So far there has only been a trickle of funds. Developingcountries want a roadmap on how the

funds will be raised. But developed

countries have resisted demands toput rm commitments on how theyplan to fulll this pledge.

Developing countries also wantricher countries to provide interimnancing between now and 2020to keep up the momentum until2020. But this demand was rejected.Ultimately, no new nancing wascommitted during the talks except

replenishment of funds for the Adap-tation Fund and adoption of the workprogramme for results-based nancingfor reducing emissions from forest-re-lated activities.

Moving ahead from WarsawPolitical and economic realities of bringing down carbon emissions are acomplex process and the Warsaw talksfailed to overcome them. There is stillan opportunity to salvage the trustand ambitions lost at Warsaw. A com-mitment to interim nancing would be a good trust-building gesture andit will also give momentum to get theaccord ready by 2015. This has to befollowed by concrete efforts to closethe pre-2020 ambition gap before anagreement can be hammered out forpost-2020. l

Vikas Nath is the Associate Director, Future

UN Development System (FUNDS).

At the margins ofhomogeneityn Garga Chatterjee

The Union of India is not ahomogenous union. It never

was. What I mean by this is thatits constituent parts are not createdequal nor does the law of the landtreat them equally. There are a hostof special provisions that apply tospecic constituents only.

There is indeed a great deal ofhomogeneity of law – but that is in“mainstream India.” “MainstreamIndia” has typically been those partsof the Union where the Indian army isnot actively deployed at present. Natu-rally, the contour of this “mainstream”has been changing.”

Places where the Armed Forces Spe-cial Powers Act (AFSPA) is in action,there are sweeping powers that thearmed forces have over the life andliberty of people. The AFSPA has beenapplied at different times to most ofwhat constitutes the Union of India’snorth-east. No points for guessingin which other zone, apart from thenorth-east, does the AFSPA remain in

force. But let’s not go there.The non-homogeneity of the lawtypically remains buried from themainstream (for denition of main-stream, see above) because mostpeople from the mainstream simply donot have much reason to venture “outthere.” The converse is not true.

In an over-centralised system,largesse in the form of opportunities,public facilities, institutions, universi-ties, infrastructure, etc are inordinate-ly showered around a zone aroundNew Delhi called the National CapitalRegion (NCR).

Hence, those from “out there” haveto trudge to the centre of the “main-stream,” whether they like it or not. Itis very rare that this non-homogene-ity comes into public scrutiny in themainstream.

Auspicious days have a specialvalue in our lives. So much so thatthe “bad guys” specially choose such

occasions to mar the jubilation. Theymust be having a particularly twistedmind. December 1 this year markedthe 50th anniversary of the Indian Un-ion declaring the state (in the constitu-ent province sense) of Nagaland.

As late as 1936, the British author-ities were not entirely sure where toput most of the “north-east” - in theEmpire of India or in the soon-to- be-created crown colony of Burma.Indeed, after 1937, some Naga areas“fell” in Burma.

Funny, isn’t it, that the land, thatinalienable heritage of ancestors onwhich a people live and their identitythrives are not the most importanttruths – but lines drawn without con-sent and “falling” on people are.

Nagas have witnessed the longeststruggle (someone’s terrorism, some-one’s insurgency, someone’s freedomstruggle – we all know the routine dis-claimer) against both the post-British

Burmese and Indian states. Whetherthey are post-colonial states (and thisdoubtful list includes Pakistan too)depends on whom you ask.

More than 50 years ago, the thenprime minister of the Union of India,Jawaharlal Nehru said in the Lok

Sabha: “We have had for many yearsNagas in the Indian army and theyhave proved to be excellent soldiers.Our policy has always been to give the

fullest autonomy and opportunity toself-development to the Naga people,without interfering in any way in theirinternal affairs or way of life.”

The last sentence is critical, as itgoes against the usual thrust of poli-cies from New Delhi – typically aimedat creating a homogenised, Hindustan(Hindi-heartland) centric identity.However, the context is important.When the Brahmin from Allahabadwas speaking those words, he knewthe stakes.

A few years before that, certain Nagagroups had conducted a plebiscite.The Union of India did not considerany such plebiscite legal and of coursethere was no question of respectingthe verdict of something it consideredillegal in the rst place. Legality issomething. Reality is typically some-thing else. The army was brought in.

These pronouncements by Nehrucame shortly after his discussionswith a group c alled the Naga People’sConvention (NPC). They negotiatedthe subsequent statehood statusfor Nagaland. Given the prevailingconditions, special provisions for thestate of Nagaland were incorporated asArticle 371A of the constitution of theUnion of India.

Now after 50 glorious years of

Nagaland’s life as a state of the Unionof India, the ruling party of Nagalandcalled the Naga People’s Front hasdecided to take Article 371A of theconstitution and certain pronounce-ments by the Petroleum Ministry inthe parliament of the Indian Union atface value.

The Nagaland state governmentwants to use all its natural resourc-es on their own and has cited theconstitution to say it is constitution-al. This is the kind of problem youget into when you have non-pliantprovincial governments. New Delhi isnot amused at the constitution beingthrown at them.

This is a crisis, not so much oflaw breaking, but of law-following.We probably know how this ends.There will be “high-level” “meetings”and “consultations.” The otherwisepassive position of the governor of astate (a New Delhi agent) will become

active. The state government willprobably back down. The courts willgo the “right” way if it comes to that.It will again be “all quiet” on thenorth-eastern front. l

Garga Chatterjee is a freelance cont ributor.

Instead of giving people the voting rights, the ruling party hassnatched these away in broad daylight. More than half of theparliamentary seats have been decided long before the voting day

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Funny, isn’t it, that the land,that inalienable heritage ofancestors on which a peoplelive and their identity thrivesare not the most importanttruths – but lines drawnwithout consent and ‘falling’on people are

A commitment to interim nancing would be a good trust-building gesture and it will also give momentum to get the accord ready by 2015

Whocast my

ballot,damn it!



Barca to face Man City in knockoutsn AFP, Paris

Spanish giants Bar-celona were handedthe toughest possibledraw Monday whenthey were paired withManchester City in the

plum tie of the last 16 of the ChampionsLeague.

Champions Bayern Munich werealso given a hard draw as they pluckedArsenal for the second year in a row atthis stage.

For the English pair, who both n-ished second in their groups, it was yetagain a harsh lesson in the importanceof winning the group.

Manchester United and Chelsea, both group winners, were given farmore favourable draws against Olym-piakos and Galatasaray respectively.

In fairness to Arsenal and City, theydid have the toughest possible groupsfacing one each of last season’s nal-ists.

City came within a single goal of pip-ping Bayern to top spot in their group

when a 3-2 win in Munich was one goalshort of what they needed to overhaulthe Bavarians.

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martinosaid neither side would be delightedwith the draw.

“City will not have wanted to playagainst Barceona either,” he said.“What we need to concentrate on is being in good shape when Februarycomes around. We need to have a highlevel and sustain it.

“They are scoring goals with ease sowe are not going to discover them now.We want to play well in the tie and ob-viously win it.”

Despite drawing the 2009 and 2011champions, City director of footballTxiki Begiristain said he was delighted.

“It’s very tough, but we are happy because we are here and we will ghtfor the trophy,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s a wonderful draw and these aretwo big teams so it’s going to be great,great matches.

“The last game we played in Mu-nich, winning against the championsof Europe has given us a lot of con-

dence. We have shown we can score inall matches.”

Arsenal were within a couple ofminutes of winning their group despitelosing 2-0 at Napoli on the nal match-day but Borussia Dortmund’s late win-ner in Marseille allowed them to snatchtop spot there.

Last season Arsenal drew Bayern inthe last 16 and seemed to be as good asout when they lost the rst leg 3-1 at theEmirates.

But they came within a whisker ofmaking the quarter-nals when takingthe second leg 2-0 at the Allianz Arena,going out only on away goals.

Arsenal have rarely had much luckin the knockout stage draws in recentyears having been paired with AC Milanin 2012 and Barcelona in 2011.

In 2010, having beaten Porto in thelast 16, they drew Barcelona in thequarter-nals.

Olympiakos coach Michel did notsound condent of causing an upsetagainst United. “We like the idea of go-ing to play at Old Trafford; it is a nicedestination for our fans,” he said. l

Raqibul shines on Victory Dayn Mazhar Uddin

Shaheed Jewel XI rode on a superbcentury from Raqibul Hasan to win thetraditional Victory Day cricket matchagainst Shaheed Mushtaque XI by 149runs at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadi-um yesterday.

Batting at number six Raqibul camein at a time when they were reeling at96-4, but the right-hander’s perfectexecution of shots made the opponent bowlers look helpless. Raqibul struck12 fours and three sixes to make 111 off just 87 deliveries.

Earlier, led by Naeem Islam Sha-heed Jewel XI opted to bat rst andwere given a perfect start by Rony Ta-lukder (29) and Junaed Siddique (33) asthe pair added 68 in just seven overs.

Anamul Haque and Naeem Islam

also returned with identical 22s beforeRaqibul took Mehrab Hossain Jr (29)and added 88 runs for the sixth wicketas they eventually posted 285 for ninein the stipulated 40 overs.

Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jrclaimed four wickets while a bit expen-sive Shahadat Hossain took 3-43 off hissix overs.

Wickets in regular intervals sawthe Shaheed Mushtaque XI drift awayfrom the big run chase before theywere eventually bundled out for 136runs in just 27 overs. Number nine batsman Sanjamul Islam’s unbeaten25 was the highest score. Left-armspinner Elias Sunny took three wicketsfor just seven runs while Naeem andMohammad Sharif bagged two wicketseach.

A century in any form is a delight for

any batsman and Raqibul, who playeda crucial role with the bat for DhakaPremier League champions Gazi Tankrecently, said, “I always try to give myhundred percent wherever I get thechance and I am working hard as youknow I have scored over ve hundredruns in the Dhaka league and lookingforward to make a comeback in the na-tional side.”

Few hundreds of fans gatheredat the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium,

commonly known as the Abahaniground, to witness their favouritecricketers play while the presence ofmany other former national cricketersset the perfect tune for the friendlymatch. Every year the Victory Daymatch takes the face of a get-togetheramong the cricketers and it wasnothing less yesterday too.

Bangladesh Cricket Board chief se-lector Faruk Ahmed, Habibul Basharand Minhajul Abedin were amongstthe many other board members pres-ent during the match while suspendedcricketer Mohammad Ashraful also didnot miss the chance to meet his fellowfriends.

The rst ever Victory Day cricketmatch was played in 1972 in memory ofLiberation War martyrs Shaheed AbdulHalim Chowdhury Jewel and Shaheed

Mushtaque Ahmed and since thenBangladesh Cricket Board has been ar-ranging the friendly affair every year. l

Shaheed Jewel XI 285/9 in 40 oversRaqibul Hasan 111, Junaed Siddique 33Enamul Haque 38/4, Shahadat Hossain 43/3Shaheed Mushtaque XI 136/10 in 27 overSanjamul Islam 25*, Marshal Ayub 20Elias Sunny 7/3, Naeem Islam 13/2, Md Sharif 17/2Result: Shaheed Jewel XI won by 149 runs

Brief Score

10 DHAKA TRIBUNETuesday, December 17, 2013

SportDid you know?

Luis Suarez hasscored (17) more

goals than 10 of the20 Premier Leagueteams this season

11 Spurs sack AVBafter Liverpool rout

11 Murray takesBBC award

DAYS TO GO

0 8 9

VICTORY DAY SPORTS

Usha start with a winn Shishir Hoque

Usha Krira Chakra started their Walton Vic-tory Day Hockey campaign with a comfort-able 3 1 victory over Azad Sporting Club inthe Walton Smartphone Victory Day Hockeyat the Maulana Bhashani National HockeyStadium yesterday. Maksud Alam Habul,Ajit Kumar Ghosh and Rubel scored for the

victors in the sixth, 15th and 20th minute ofthe game while Shohanur Rahman netted theconsolation for Azad in the 52nd minute. Inthe day’s other game, Bangladesh Air Forcewere held to a 2 2 draw by Bangladesh Police.

Mukitul Islam scored twice for Air Forcein the fth and 44th minute while Rana andJohn scored one each for Police in the 20thand 48th minute. l

Army retain volleyball titleBangladesh Army lifted the title of theWalton LED TV Victory Day Volleyball for thefth consecutive time after beating PowerDevelopment Board by 3 2 set in a dramaticnal at the Volleyball Stadium yesterday.This is the ninth time out of 33 that Army haswon the Victory Day Volleyball title.

After winning the rst set 25 21 Armylost the next two sets by 17 25, 16 25, butstaged a brilliant comeback with victory in

the last two sets by 25 16, 25 12.Masud Milon of Army and Ajay Sarkar

of PDB shared the best player of thetournament award. Meanwhile in the third-place decider match, Bangladesh Arm Forceoutplayed Titas Gas by 25 15, 25 12 and 25-20 points. Bangladesh Olympic Associationsecretary general Syed Shahed Rezadistributed the prizes among the winners asthe chief guest. l

BGB lift Kabaddi titleBorder Guard Bangladesh (BGB) emergedas the champions of the Walton VictoryDay Kabaddi despite being beaten byBangladesh Army at the Kabaddi Stadiumyesterday. Army beat BGB by 10 9 points,but according to scoring point, BGBbecame the champions and Army nished

as runners-up.In the day’s other game, Bangladesh

Police beat Fire Service 37 14 with two Lo-nas to clinch the third place. Shibnath Roy,the secretary of National Sports Council,distributed the prizes among the winnersas the chief guest. l

Army clinch V-day rugbyBangladesh Army emerged as the champi-ons of the Victory Day Rugby Champion-ship beating Flame Boys by 31 7 pointsin the nal match at the Paltan groundyesterday.

A total of four teams took part in theday long meet where Army and Flame

Boys defeated Victoria Club and KhilgaonPragati Sangha respectively to set up thenal clash.

National Sports Council (NSC) guardcommander and freedom ghter ShamsulHaque inaugurated the tournament as thechief guest. l

Fifa World Cuparrives todayn Shishir Hoque

The wait for the Fifa World Cup trophyis nally over as the 36.5 centimetersgolden trophy, coming from UAE by achartered ight, is expected to land atthe Hazrat Shahjalal International Air-port at 2pm today.

After visiting Bangladesh PresidentAbdul Hamid at the Banga Bhaban at3pm, the trophy is scheduled for GanaBhabhan at 4pm where the Prime Min-ister will grace a reception. The trophywill be on display for public on Wednes-day and Thursday at the BangabandhuNational Stadium.

The organisers have planned to ac-commodate 15,000 spectators during itstwo-day stay at the Bangabandhu Na-tional Stadium. There will be an interac-tion zone, hologram zone, trophy room,photo collection and perfect serve zonesfor each of the spectators.

Coca Cola has already offered the tick-ets through a promotion process and,however, no ticket is on sale. The mostattractive feature of the program will bea photograph of the spectator with thecoveted trophy when they leave the ex-clusive zone. The spectators will not beallowed to take any picture with the cel-lular phone they might carry.

According to the organisers and Ban-gladesh Football Federation, this is therst time the original World Cup trophywill be touring the country. Eleven yearsago a replica of the 2002 Fifa World Cuptrophy landed in Bangladesh.

This is the third time that the FifaWorld Cup trophy is taking a world tour.The 2013/2014 Trophy Tour started fromRio de Janeiro on September 12 and willvisit 88 countries in 267 days and cover149,576.78 km (92,942.702 miles) beforereturning to Brazil ahead of the WorldCup next year. l

Raqibul Hasan

Zia nishes 18th

n Tribune Sport Desk

Bangladeshi Grandmaster Ziaur Rahmannished 18th in the 5th London ChessClassic FIDE Open in Olympia Confer-ence Center, London yesterday. Ziaearned six points out of nine games. Hedrew with International Master AlexeySlavin of Russia in his last round game.Grandmaster Hammer Jon Ludviq be-came the champion with 7.5 points. l

ROUND OF 16 DRAW ManCity(ENG) v Barcelona(ESP)

Olympiakos(GRE) v ManUnited(ENG)

AC Milan(ITA) v AtMadrid(ESP)

Leverkusen(GER) v PSG(FRA)

Galatasaray (TUR) v Chelsea (ENG)

Schalke04 (GER) v RealMadrid(ESP)

Zenit(RUS) v ortmund(GER)

Arsenal(ENG) v BayernMunich (GER)

FirstlegsonFebruary18 19orFebruary25 26;returnslegs onMarch11 12orMarch18 19

BHF to receive

fund for new turfn Shishir Hoque

The Ministry of Finance has given thegreen signal in providing the nancialassistance to establish a new articialturf at the Maulana Bhashani HockeyStadium.

Bangladesh Hockey Federation(BHF) earlier demanded Tk61m fromthe nance ministry which the min-istry reject ed. The federati on offi cialstried to convince the ministry and senta letter again asking for the nancialsupport.

“The rst reply from the nanceministry was ‘No’ then we managedto convince them. However, they willnot give all the money at a time. Theywill rst provide Tk11m then the restTk5om will be provided later,” saidwing commander Raul Haque, repre-sentative of BHF president Air MarshalEnamul Bari.

Earlier, president of the FIH Lean-dro Negre promised to assist Bangla-desh hockey with a fund of $250,000for the articial turf after visiting Dha-ka in February this year. l

Fahad leaves forUAE todayn Tribune Sport Desk

Youngest Fide Master of the countryMohammad Fahad Rahman will leaveDhaka today to take part in the WorldYouth Chess Championship which isgetting underway at Al-Ain in UnitedArab Emirates tomorrow.

Fahad will participate in the Un-der-10 group. The chess prodigy will beaccompanied by his father and Inter-national Arbiter Md Haroon Or-Rashid,who will also be there as an Arbiter of

the event.l

Uefa Champions League Final Ambassador,former Portuguese international footballer LuisFigo holds up the name of Barcelona during thedraw for the last 16 of the Uefa Champions leaguein Nyon yesterday AFP

Players of Shaheed Jewel XI and Shaheed Mushtaque XI along with match offi cials and BCB members pose for a photograph before th e start of the traditional Victory Day cricket match at DC S yesterday COURTESY



Spurs sack AVB after Liverpool routn AFP, London

Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked as managerof Tottenham Hotspur af-ter 17 months in the role,

the English Premier League club an-nounced on Monday.

The news arrived a day after Spurswere thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool at WhiteHart Lane, which left the north Londonclub ve points below the ChampionsLeague places in seventh in the PremierLeague table.

“The club can announce that agree-ment has been reached with head coach,Andre Villas-Boas, for the terminationof his services,” read a statement on theTottenham website.

“The decision was by mutual consentand in the interests of all parties. Wewish Andre well for the future. We shallmake a further announcement in duecourse.”

Villas-Boas, 36, had also seen his sidedemolished 6-0 at Manchester City lastmonth, despite Spurs having investedaround £105 million ($171 million, 124million euros) on new players during theclose season.

That expenditure was, however, off-set by the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Ma-drid, but Spurs have scored just 15 goalsin their 16 league games this seasonsince the Welshman left the club.

Villas-Boas’s dismissal represents

his second consecutive failure at a Lon-don side as he was sacked by Chelsea inMarch 2012 after only nine months at theStamford Bridge helm.

He joined Spurs the following July butdespite leading the club to their highestpoints tally of the Premier League eralast season (72), they missed out on aChampions League place to arch-rivalsArsenal.

Speaking after the drubbing by Liv-

erpool, Villas-Boas had vowed that hewould not walk away from the club.

“The call to make that decision is notmine because obviously I won’t resignand I’m not a quitter,” he said.

“The only thing I can do is work hardwith the players to get them back ontrack. This is a top-four squad but in ourPremier League form we are not there.”

While Spurs have misred in theleague, they qualied for the last 32 in

the Europa League after winning all sixof their group games and were pairedwith Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetro-vsk in Friday’s draw.

They are also due to play West HamUnited in the quarter-nals of theLeague Cup on Wednesday.

Villas-Boas becomes the fth PremierLeague manager to lose his job this sea-son.

Paolo Di Canio was the rst to go at

Sunderland, followed by Ian Holloway atCrystal Palace and Martin Jol at Fulham,while West Bromwich Albion partedcompany with Steve Clarke on Saturday.

Russia manager Fabio Capello, theformer England head coach, was swiftlyinstalled as the British bookmakers’ fa-vourite to succeed Villas-Boas, who rstcame to prominence at Porto.

Swansea City manager Michael Lau-drup is also reported to be in contention, but the agent of Guus Hiddink ruled theexperienced Dutchman out of the run-ning as he is due to become coach of theNetherlands for a second time after nextyear’s World Cup. l

11SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Managerial departures in EPLSeptemberPaolo Di Canio (Sunderland)

OctoberIan Holloway (Crystal Palace)

DecemberMartin Jol (Fulham), Steve Clarke (WestBrom), Andre Villas-Boas (Tottenham)

Rapid Chess underwayTen players topped the points table inthe Victory Day Rapid Chess Tournamentwhich began at the Bangladesh ChessFederation hall-room yesterday. Inter-national Master Abu SuanShakil, IMAbu Suan Shakil, CM Sohel Chowdhury,Pratul Chandra Bose, Delwar Hossain,Masum Hossain, Md Hasan Emam,Mohammed Hazul Islam Chapal, AminulIslam Ridoy and Ibrahim Parvej sharedthe top spot with 3 points each after theend of the 3rd round. The event is held inSwiss-League system. A total of 98 play-ers are participating the event.

–SH

Blazers’ Leonard, 76ersOrton suspendedPortland Trail Blazers center MeyersLeonard and Philadelphia 76ers centerDaniel Orton were both suspended forone game by the NBA for a scuffl e dur-ing a game on Saturday. The altercationoccurred during the fourth quarter ofthe Trail Blazers’ 139 105 victory, whenLeonard slammed Orton to the court asthey jockeyed for position. Orton retali-ated with an elbow to Leonard’s mouth.Leonard served his penalty Sunday, sit-ting out Portland’s 111 109 overtime winat Detroit. Damian Lillard was the herofor Portland in that one. The second-year point guard hit the game-winning jump shot with less than a second leftin overtime. With the score knotted at109 109, Lillard drove the lane, spunright and drained the shot. Philadelphiawere idle on Sunday, so Orton will missthe 76ers’ game at Brooklyn on Monday.

–AFP

Nadal shines, Federerfades as big fourbecomes threeRafael Nadal deed the career obituarywriters with his stunning renaissancein 2013 as he and fellow major winnersNovak Djokovic and Andy Murray cutstruggling Roger Federer adrift. Nadalwas sport’s comeback man of the year,collecting 10 titles from 14 nals, includinga landmark eighth French Open, a secondUS Open which took his career majorstally to 13, and a record 26th Masters. Heended the season with 75 wins against just seven losses and another $14.5 mil-lion banked to take his career earningspast the $60 million mark. It was a rebirththat got off to a faltering start when theSpaniard, who had been out of action forseven months, reappeared at the modestChilean venue of Vina del Mar in February.

–AFP

PCB seeks PM’s helpPakistan’s cricket chief has sought thehelp of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as hetries to revive international cricket in thetroubled country after a hiatus of nearlyfour years. Pakistan has not hosted anyinternational cricket since a deadly mili-tant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus inMarch 2009 in Lahore, which promptedforeign teams to boycott tours to thetroubled country. Pakistan twice triedto arrange limited-overs series againstBangladesh last year, but on both occa-sions the tour did not come off becauseof security fears.

–AFP

Marseille ghtback at LyonIvory Coast striker Salomon Kalousnapped his eight match scoring droughtin style as he struck twice to help Lille toa 2 1 win over Bastia and back into theLigue 1 title race. The 2012 ChampionsLeague winner, who was Lille’s topscorer last season with 16 goals, took histally this season to ve with a brace ofrst-half strikes that ultimately downedthe Corsican visitors. Also on Sunday,seven-time champions Lyon were drivenby rst-half goals from Alexandre Laca-zette, his ninth of the season, and Frenchinternational Bafetimbi Gomis to putthem 2 0 up before Marseille launched astirring comeback to snatch a 2 2 draw.

–AFP

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DAY’S WATCH

RESULTTottenham 0 5 Liverpool

Suarez 18, 84, Henderson 40, Flanagan 75, Sterling 89

Juve move six points clearn AFP, Milan

Juventus and Napoli re-sponded to respective ex-its from the ChampionsLeague with convincingwins over Sassuolo and In-

ter Milan in Italy’s Serie A on Sunday.Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick, with

Federico Peluso claiming his maidenJuve goal, as the Bianconeri bounced back from a 1-0 defeat at Galatasaraywhich left Antonio Conte’s men third inGroup B and in the Europa League.

Conte wanted his side to win bothpre-Christmas games, at home to Sas-suolo and away to Atalanta, and Juvecompleted the rst task with consum-mate ease. It was Juve’s eighth consecu-tive win without conceding a goal andgoalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffontold Sky Sport Italia: “It was a good wayto make amends for Wednesday.

“The elimination hurt us, but nowthere’s another trophy we now have totry and wi n.”

He added: “That’s eight straight winswithout conceding. Credit all round, alsoto our strikers, who are our rst defend-

ers.” Juve remain top on 43 points with asix-point lead on Roma, who on Mondaytravel to AC Milan -- Italy’s sole represen-tative in the Champions League.

Roma now have even more incen-tive to win after Napoli closed the gapon them to two points after a thrilling4-2 win over Inter, who were left in fthplace following Fiorentina’s 3-0 defeat ofBologna earlier in the day.

Napoli had lost out on second place intheir Champions League Group F toBorussia Dortmund, despite amassing 12points, and like Juventus wanted theirreturn to domestic duty to be positive.

Coach Rafael Benitez, who had a briefspell at the Nerazzurri in 2010, told SkySport Italia: “We left the ChampionsLeague with our heads held high, andtoday I expected a response. l

Carlos Tevez scores a hat-trick againstSassuolo on Sunday REUTERS

Ronaldo openshis own museumn AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldooffi cially op ened a museum dedicatedto his own achievements in his birth-place of Madeira, Portgual on Sunday.

The museum contains a number oftrophies, medals and memorabilia fromthroughout the 28-year-old’s career, in-cluding the Ballon d’Or he won for beingthe world’s best player in 2009.

And after being named alongsideFranck Ribery and Lionel Messi as thethree nalists for this year’s award, Ron-aldo said that the museum containedplenty of space for another Ballon d’Or.

“We have left space to put more tro-phies,” he told Madrid sports daily AS. “Itis a very special and beautiful day for me.I hope that it is for Madeira as well. l

Murray takes BBC awardn AFP, London

Andy Murray, the rst British man in77 years to win Wimbledon, claimedthe BBC Sports Personality of the Yearaward on Sunday and then apologisedif he sounded bored.

Murray, 26, had defeated NovakDjokovic in straight sets in July’s Wim- bledon championship match for his sec-ond career Grand Slam title. The Scothad won the US Open in 2012 as well asthe Olympic title.

In Sunday’s awards, he beat Brit-ish and Irish Lions rugby union playerLeigh Halfpenny who nished secondand horse-racing jockey AP McCoy whowas third.

Murray received the trophy fromtennis legend Martina Navratilova at histraining base in Miami.

“No matter how excited I try tosound my voice always sounds boring-- that’s just my voice, I’m sorry! I’mvery excited right now! Thank you verymuch everyone,” said an emotionalMurray.

“Thanks to Martina Navratilova forgiving this to me. She’s possibly thegreatest tennis player of all time.

“I’ve got a few people to thank - myfamily rst. They’ve supported mesince I was a kid, making a lot of sac-rices for me. I couldn’t have done itwithout you. My team have been withme for a long time and I also couldn’thave done it without them.

“And nally I’d like to thank all thepublic who voted, for giving me somuch support over the last couple ofyears. It has made a huge difference. Iknow sometimes I’m not the easiestperson to support but I’ve had a lot ofpressure on me for a long time. I’m gladI managed to do it.”

Murray took a 56 percent share of thepublic vote with a total of 401,470. l

Atletico keep pace

with Barca thanksto Costa doublen Reuters, Barcelona

Diego Costa scored twiceas Atletico Madrid beatValencia 3-0 to maintaintheir winning home runthis season and keep pace

with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.The in-form forward broke the

deadlock just before the hour mark andwith Valencia’s resistance broken RaulGarcia added a second moments later.

Costa then missed a penalty butmade amends from the spot with nineminutes to go, allowing him to drawlevel with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ron-aldo with 17 goals this season.

“You need to show personality andght for your achievements so aftermissing the rst penalty I wanted to

take the second,” Costa told reporters.l

England ght as Aussiesclose in on Ashesn AFP, Perth

Rookie Ben Stokes kept England’s fainthopes alive with his maiden Test half-century as the visitors fought to savethe Ashes series against a rampantAustralia Monday.

Set an improbable 504 to win, Eng-land were 251 for ve at stumps on dayfour, still 252 runs behind with just vewickets in hand on a heavily crackedPerth pitch.

Stokes, playing in just his secondTest, was providing resistance on 72,with wicketkeeper Matt Prior on sevenand all of England’s top order back inthe pavilion.

Australia will be heavily favoured tomop up England’s tail on the nal dayand regain the famous Ashes urn for

the rst time since 2007 after their big

wins in Brisbane and Adelaide.But senior England batsman Ian Bell

said all hope was not yet lost.“We are still hanging in there, that is

the important thing,” Bell said.“We need to take tomorrow as deep

as we can and keep playing some shots.“The two guys that are out there

now need to bat until lunch and weneed to keep ghting.”

Bell conceded Australia had out-played England in all facets on thegame so far in the series.

“We are hugely disappointed andwe haven’t shown anyone the kind ofcricket that we can potentially play,”he said.

“Hats off to Australia, they have bat-ted better than us, they’ve caught bet-ter than us and they have bowled bet-ter than us.” l

EPL TOP 10 Team GP W D L GD PTS1 Arsenal 16 11 2 3 16 352 Liverpool 16 10 3 3 21 333 Chelsea 16 10 3 3 14 334 Man City 16 10 2 4 29 325 Everton 16 8 7 1 12 31

6 Newcastle 16 8 3 5 -1 277 Tottenham 16 8 3 5 -6 278 Man United 16 7 4 5 6 259 Southampton 16 6 6 4 5 2410 Swansea 16 5 5 6 1 20

Swansea to play Napoli

in last-32n Agencies

Swansea have been drawn yesterdayagainst Napoli in what appears a crack-ing tie as reward for their advancementfrom the group stages.

Tottenham, the only other PremierLeague side remaining in the compe-tition, will play Ukrainian side DniproDnipropetrovsk.

With the club managerless followingthe sacking of Andre Villas-Boas thismorning, it will be seen as an irony thatthey will come up against a team man-aged by Juande Ramos, who was dis-missed from White Hart Lane in 2008.

While Swansea’s tie will be seen asthe more glamourous, it will be muchtougher to negotiate. Napoli, managed by former Liverpool and Chelsea bossRafael Benitez, may have dropped outof the Champions League, but only ongoal difference in a particularly toughgroup that included Borussia Dort-

mund and Arsenal.Should Spurs come through the

two-legged tie against Dnipro, theyface a last 16 encounter against thewinner of PAOK v Benca, with the lat-ter nishing as last season’s runners-up after they lost the nal to Chelsea.

For Swansea, should they recordwhat would be a historic and shockwin over Napoli, they would faceanother extremely testing two-leggedaffair against the winner of Porto vFrankfurt. l

ROUND OF 16 DRAWLiberec / Alkmaar v Anzhi / GenkLazio / Ludogorets v Kiev / ValenciaPorto / Frankfurt v Swansea / NapoliOdessa / Lyon v Plzen / ShakhtarMaribor / Sevillav Betis / KazanDnipro / Tottenham v PAOK / BencaMaccabi / Basel v Ajax / SalzburgJuventus / Trabzonspor v Esbjerg / Fiorentina

RESULTSJuventus 4 0 SassuoloTevez 15, 45, 68,Peluso 28

Napoli 4 2 InterHiguain 9, Mertens 39, Cambiasso 35,Dzemaili 41, Callejon 81 Nagatomo 45+2

Leon footballers celebrate after defeating America in the nal of the Mexican Aperturatournament at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City on Sunday AFP

Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo poses with his statue during the inauguration ofhis museum in Funchal on Sunday REUTERS



12 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Dhaka jail opened onDec 17, 1971 as jailers edn Kailash SarkarThe Dhaka Central Jail remained openfor all on December 17, 1971, the dayafter Victory Day, as almost all prisonoffi cers and g uards ab andoned t heirposts and ran away, leaving the prison-ers on their own, an offi cial said.

But many prisoners did not leave the jail, despite getting the change to gaintheir freedom, said Forman Ali, seniorsuperintendent of Dhaka Central Jail.

“Although no documented evi-dence is available, it has been found – by talking to many offi cials who wereworking there then – that a major por-tion of the prisoners had left the jail, but many others had stayed behindwillingly,” Ali told the Dhaka Tribune.

Zahir Uddin Babar, assistant inspec-tor general of prisons, said althoughthe jail administration was not verypowerful at the time, there was a sec-tion of offi cials who t ried to perfo rmtheir duties and manage the prisonerswho had stayed behind.

According to a witness, all prisonoffi cers and warders had ed the ja ilon December 17, fearing retaliation forcollaborating with the Pakistani armyduring Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

The witness, a writer named “Jatis-mara” who was incarcerated at thecentral jail from July 20, 1970 until De-cember 17, 1971, recalled that one of theprisoners, Shah Jahan, had snatched a bunch of keys from a trembling warder,who had dared to show up for work in-side the jail that morni ng.

Shah Jahan then got the warder to

unlock all the cells to let the prisonersout, but he asked them to stay in theirrespective places.

“In the afternoon, a freedom ghterwith a gun on his shoulder appeared before us and screamed: ‘Why are youstill here? The jail is empty!’” the writ-er, who was a student activist, said.

The witness also mentioned thatonly three men in his cell block had re-fused to leave, saying the jail was therehome and they had nowhere else to go.

Forman Ali agreed with the witness’sdescription. He added that during thewar, Nirmal Roy was the jailer and lateShamsur Rahman was his deputy.

“I have tried to talk to Nirmal Roy, but due to his old age, he is too sick andnot in a state to discuss things,” said For-man Ali. He also said besides the Dhaka jail, almost all other prisons across thecountry were opened up and prisonersfreed as most jailers and guards had edduring the nine-month war.

“The Comilla Jail was opened toprisoners on April 16. Like Comilla,prisoners in most other jails were alsofreed,” he said.

The historic Dhaka Central Jail wasan old Afghan fort, also known as theOld Fort of Dhaka, built during the ruleof Sher Shah Suri. In 1788, Islam Khan,a Mughal subidar, established the armyheadquarters in a portion of the fortand his offi ce in anoth er part. The f ortwas later turned into a jail by setting upa criminal ward inside.

The Old Fort was converted to theDhaka Central Jail in 1820 during Brit-ish colonial rule. l

Freedom ghters’digital certicatein limboNo proper list of freedom ghters in 42 yearsn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The Liberation War Affairs Ministry isyet to issue machine-readable digitalcerticates to the registered freedomghters of the country under the “Free-dom Fighters Database Project” sched-uled to end by June 2013.

The Tk18.3lakh project aimed to dis-tribute “secured certicate containingdigital signatures,” among the freedomghters of the country to ensure theirrights and help end the long-standingdebate over the freedom ghters’ list.

Although, 187,308 freedom ght-ers had been registered on the gov-ernment database under the project,the Prime Minister was yet to approvethem seeking further verication of thelist. Therefore, the enlisted freedomghters were still waiting for the digitalcerticates, said M Nurul Amin Khan,director of the database project.

In 2011, the government took theinitiative to make a database with thenames and family details of the free-dom ghters by June 2013 to avoid tam-pering of the certicates.

Amin Khan said the ministry re-ceived around 3 lakh applicationsseeking the certicates, however, afterscrutinising, the ministry registered1,87,308 freedom ghters as valid fol-lowing government gazette and MuktiBarta, a list considered to be the mostaccurate list of freedom ghters pre-

pared by the Awami League in its pre-vious term.

The Mukti Barta (Lal Boi) containsnames of around 154,000 freedomghters.

However, the list prepared duringthe tenure of BNP-led four-party alli-ance in 2002-2005, the number stoodat 2.10 lakh.

Even after 42 years of the country’sindependence, the ministry is yet toprepare a nal and authentic list of thefreedom ghters.

Although successive governmentshave prepared several lists of freedomghters so far, they cited differentnumbers of freedom ghters with dif-ferent lists, according sources in theLiberation War Affairs Ministry.

A statistics prepared by the minis-try before December 2011, had enlist-ed 206,000 names of freedom ghtersthrough a government gazette.

Another list, popularly known as‘voter index list’, was prepared in 1994that enlisted 86,000 names of freedomghters and was actually a voter listprepared for the election of BangladeshMuktijoddha Sangsad.

A national list prepared in 1986 men-tions that there are 102,458 authenticfreedom ghters in the country; how-ever, another list prepared in the sameyear by Muktijoddha Welfare Trust in-dicated that there were around 69,833freedom ghters in the country. l

HRW: Compensate RMG workersn Tribune Report

The survivors of Tazreen Fashions re,which killed at least 112 garment work-ers last year, are still suffering from theirinjuries and loss of income and havenot received adequate compensation,Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

The brands that were sourcing gar-ments from the factory should imme-diately join an International LabourOrganisation effort to fund full and faircompensation to all the injured andthe families of the dead, the New York- based rights body said in a statement.

Meaningful compensation has so faronly been provided by the BGMEA, theBangladesh government, and the Eu-ropean retailer C&A, and Li & Fung ofHong Kong. But injured workers who re-ceived Tk100,000 ($1,267) each told theHRW that the money was i nsuffi cientand ran out after the rst few months.

The Amsterdam-based Clean

Clothes campaign has calculated thatthe amount of long-term compensationfor the injured and deceased should beat least $5.7m, and could be shared be-tween the factory owner, retailers, theBGMEA, and the government.

This is based on a formula previous-ly used by Bangladeshi trade unionsand foreign retailers, including Gap, toset the amount of compensation fol-lowing a factory re in 2010 in which29 people died.

Some workers and relatives of twomissing workers told the HRW that ayear after the November 24, 2012 re,they had received no compensation.

Survivors said they had been forced tosell off their possessions to pay for treat-ment. One said her husband was now begging for money. Others said they couldnot afford medical care.

In the months leading up to there, Tazreen’s workers made clothesfor prominent international retailers

including Walmart, Sears, Karl Reiker,and Teddy Smith.

Each company later said the gar-ments had been produced at the Taz-reen factory without their knowledge.The HRW wrote letters to these and 16other companies seeking claricationof their connection with Tazreen, butnone have responded.

In the wake of the Tazreen re andthe subsequent collapse of Rana Plazain April when over 1,100 workers died,Walmart and other foreign retailerspledged to improve the re and build-ing safety of Bangladeshi factories.They recently announced a joint pro-gramme for inspecting factories, andfor the rst time published some de-tails of the factories that supply them.

The companies have not, however,pledged to help other factories in thesupply chain. The retailers have alsonot agreed to a compensation packagefor the Rana Plaza victims. l

Another arson victim dies after 15 daysn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Another victim of arson attack duringthe opposition imposed blockade, diedyesterday after battling for life for 15 daysat the burn and plastic surgery unit ofDhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

“Abdul Aziz, 50, a CNG auto-rick-shaw driver had 35% of his body burntdied around 4.30am today, as his respi-ratory system was badly damaged bythe re,” Dr Partha Shankar Pal, Resi-dential Surgeon at the DMCH burn unittold the Dhaka Tribune.

Aziz, from Nangalmura of Hathaz-ari, Chittagong, received burn injuriesafter pickets hurled a petrol bomb athis vehicle at Muhrihath area while he

was on his way home on December 1.Immediately after, he had jumped intoa nearby pond to save himself but there had already burnt several parts ofhis body.

He was rst taken to Chittagong Med-ical College Hospital, but as his condi-tion deteriorated, he was shifted to theDMCH on December 4. He was undergo-ing treatment at the Intensive Care Unitand responding to treatment as well.However, severe damage to Aziz’s respi-ratory system led to his death.

Following Aziz’s death, his brotherKamal Uddin, was seen running hereand there to take the body home with-out autopsy.

While trying to contact, Kamal in an

angered voice said: “You people havekilled my brother, you are responsiblefor this.”

“You have no right to ask anythingas you cannot bring my brother back,then why you are disturbing me?”asked Kamal.

Meanwhile, Aziz’s wife Munni Ak-ter, left shell-shocked by the death,was standing in a corner of the morguegate at the hospital without saying any-thing or crying out. She was too upsetto even respond to her three-year-old boy, Hassan Ferdous, who was c ryingfor water.

Munni said two of her daughters– Rinsi Akter, 8, and Rimsha Akter, 5,were home and waiting for their father.

“Rinsi studies in class three at Nan-galmura Primary School, but her edu-cation might has to be stopped as noone is left to support us,” she said.

“He had just paid off a loan taken for buying the CNG auto-rickshaw and hasno deposit. He used to tell me that hewould take care of his children but hewould not say how. Now, without him,how will I be able to do so without hissupport,” Munni said.

Aziz had stopped talking since Sun-day morning and spent his last coupleof hours at the ICU staring at his son,she said.

Liakat Ali , offi cer-in-charge at Ha-thazari police station, told the DhakaTribune that a case have been ledwith them in this regard and they weresearching for the criminals.

With Aziz’s death, the death tollfrom arson attacks reached 15 whileanother 16 patients were undergoingtreatment at the burn unit with two ofthem still in the ICU. l

Bullet riddledboy in a fever,bullets to stayin bodyn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Eleven-year-old Shanto Islam, whotook around 79 rubber bullets to hishead and back during a clash betweenpolice and Jamaat-Shibir activistson Friday, was reported to be in fe-ver but doctors said it was nothingserious.

“There is nothing to be worriedabout. It’s completely normal to catch afever at this stage,” said Dr Pijush KantiMitro, an assistant surgeon at the neu-rosurgery department of Dhaka Medi-cal College Hospital.

“He is responding well to our treat-ment and likely to recover soon. Amedical board is supervising his treat-ment.”

However, Mitro said, Shanto wouldhave to grow up with dozens of bul-lets inside his body since “if we wantto remove those, it cannot be donewithout surgery which may causefurther bleeding and worsen hiscondition.”

“Only bullets safe to remove will beremoved, once he becomes stronger.Those staying back won’t be much of aproblem.”

On Friday, Shanto was caught inthe ring line of police as he was going back to his aunt’s house at Fakirapool.He came to Dhaka from Munshiganjafter his father had purchased a gro-cery store at the Kamalapur RailwayStation. l

The baby boy has no idea that his father, who was burnt 35% in an arson attack on Decmeber2, has nally died at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Thousands yesterday enjoy a spectacular reworks show at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan, where Pakistan army surrender ed on this day in 1971 RAJIB DHAR

Editor: Zafar Sobhan Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publicatio ns Limited 153/7 Tejgaon Industrial Area Dhaka-1208 Editorial News & Commercial Office: FR Tower 8/C Panthapath Shuk rabad Dhaka 1207