The New Nation - Internet Edition

Manik Mia’s death anniversary today

Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia

Staff Reporter

The 39th anniversary of death of late journalist Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, a legend in the domain of journalism of Bangladesh, will be observed today (Sunday) in a befitting manner.

On this day in 1969, Manik Mia, pioneer of fearless journalism and founder editor of the Daily Ittefaq, breathed his last at the age of 58 only.

Manik Mia, who was popularly known for his powerful political column under the pen name 'Musafir' in the Daily Ittefaq, dedicated his entire life for the cause of emancipation of the people in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and establishing democracy in its truest sense.

Journalist, editor, columnist and pioneer of democratic politics Manik Mia was a close companion of Hosayn Shaheed Suhrawardy. He always used his mighty pen as a weapon of struggle being inspired by patriotism, love for humanity and social responsibility. He was turned into an institution during his lifetime.

Manik Mia never compromised with his mighty pen to write against military rule, autocracy and violation of fundamental rights of people. In spite of repression, torture and harassment, he never compromised or surrendered to any evil force.

Different socio-cultural organizations have chalked out elaborate programmes to observe the death anniversary of Manik Mia.

The programmes include placing of wreaths, offering fateha, arranging Qurankhawni and milad mahfil, and holding discussions on the eventful life and work of late journalist.

Leaders and workers of different organizations and individuals will visit the mazar of Manik Mia at Azimpur in the city this morning to pay homage by placing wreaths and offering fateha there.

A Qurankhawni will begin at 6:00am today at the mazar premises of late journalist at Azimpur and munajat will be offered there at 9:00am.

Another Qurankhawni will be held at the rooftop of Ittefaq Bhaban at 1, Ramkrishna Mission from 8:00am. After Zohr prayers, there will be a milad mafil and munajat seeking divine blessing of almighty Allah for the eternal peace of the departed soul of late journalist.

In observance of the 39th anniversary of death, Manik Mia Parishad and Mehendiganj Awami Forum will jointly place wreaths at the mazar of Manik Mia at 7:00am and hold a discussion at Bangladesh Shishu Kalyan Parishad auditorium at 22/1 Topkhana Road in the city at 11:00am.

Awami League presidium member Abdur Razzak will attend the discussion at the chief guest, while poet Asad Chowdhury, former president of Dhaka University Teachers Association Prof AASM Arefin Siddique, president of Biswa Bangali Sanmilon poet Muhammad Abdul Khaleque, president of National Front Comrade Nurul Huq Mehedi, general secretary of NAP (Bhashani) Abdul Matin Master, chief editor of Weekly Ajker Surjodoy Khondker Mozammel Huq and president of Muktijoddha Palli Society AH Alamgir will attend the discussion as special guests.

Mizanur Rahman Arzu, president of Mehendiganj Awami Forum, will preside over the discussion.

Countrywide crackdown: Over 200 held: Bid to ward off possible violation of emergency laws

Joint Forces in a crackdown yesterday arrested
Rohonpur Pourashava Chairman Golam Mostafa, Nachole BNP
leader Majidul Haque, Jamaat Rokon Ayub Ali, district BNP
labour leader Nasir Ali, Bholahat Upazila AL chief Wazed
Ali, Bholahat BNP leader Aziz Layek

Mamunur Rashid

The Joint forces in a countrywide crackdown yesterday, just 17 days after the Caretaker Government relaxed the ban on indoor politics, have arrested at least two hundred local leaders in different districts.

The mass arrests, under Emergency Powers Rules, included Awami League, BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jatiya Party leaders and union parishad chairmen.

BNP leaders at a party discussion meeting at the Institute of Engineers in the city yesterday informed that a large number of their activists have been arrested since Friday night.

Awami League informed 38 of their leaders have been arrested till yesterday afternoon from different districts.

The Joint Forces in Jhenidah picked up Joint Secretary of Sechhyasebak League central committee Saidul Karim Minto from his Aratpur residence Friday night. He was sent to jail Saturday after police produced him before the court showing him arrested under the Emergency Powers Rules.

Sources close to the police top brass hinted that more arrests are in the offing to curb any sort of violence in the coming days.

Awami League on Thursday threatened to disobey the law, if party President Sheikh Hasina was not released unconditionally. Taking a similar tough stand against the Government for the release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain had threatened of massive street agitation.

Both the Awami League and BNP leaders, now under detention, are facing corruption charges.

The parties held that no political dialogue initiated by the Government or election set for December will be meaningful or succeed without the participation of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.

In Jessore 13 local leaders including those of AL and BNP, three UP chairmen and one municipality chairman were detained from the seven upazilas of Jessore. Major Ashraf of Jessore Joint Forces Camp confirmed the news and said they were handed over to police.

In Narail the Joint Forces in an overnight drive detained six AL and BNP leaders, who were handed over to the police later. Narail Sadar Police Station Sub-Inspector Abdur Rahman told reporters the detainees include former lawmaker and district BNP General Secretary Abdul Quader Sikder, district Awami League Joint General Secretary and Narail Municipality Chairman Sohrab Hossain Biswas, Narail Municipality Awami League General Secretary and ward commissioners Mansur Billah, Chhariul Biswas, Mostak Hossain and Alam were handed over to Narail Police Station early yesterday.

In Khulna the Joint Forces detained five leaders from the Sadar upazila, Sonadanga and Khalishpur. Khulna Joint Forces Camp official Capt Mohiuddin told reporters that the detainees were handed over to police.

The Joint Forces in Chapainawabganj arrested seven AL, BNP and Jamaat leaders in five upazilas of the district. Chapainawabganj Superintendent of Police SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman told reporters they were sent to jail showing them arrested under the Emergency Powers Rules.

In Bagerhat the Joint Forces arrested an AL organising secretary. Bagerhat Joint Forces Camp official Lt Col Md Shahinul Hoque told reporters he was handed over to the police, while Bagerhat Sadar police chief Md Humayun Kabir said he was shown arrested under the Emergency Powers Rules.

A number of arrests have been reported from Satkhira, Rangpur and Magura. Officials have confirmed the arrests.

Police and RAB, in separate drives, arrested four people along with three loaded firearms in Pabna, Jhalakati and Comilla districts in the last three days till Friday.

In Pabna, Rapid Action Battalion members raided Sadullapur in Sadar upazila on Friday and arrested gang leader Sonai Khan along with a gun and 10 rounds of bullet. He was handed over to Sadar thana later.

Police, acting on a tip-off, recovered a pipe gun and two rounds of bullet and also arrested Mainul Hossain, 35, from a cloth shop at Amuribunia in Kathalia upazila on Friday.

In Comilla, RAB members arrested M Amir Hossain and his accomplice M Sultan alias Sundar Ali from Dakkhingram in Burichang upazila on Wednesday.

They also recovered a gun and one round of bullet from their possession. Amir Hossain was wanted in a number of criminal cases, RAB sources said.

The Inspector General of Police Noor Mohammad said, this crackdown would continue for month. No political leader will be arrested, only listed terrorist will be arrested, the IPG added.

Unregistered cellphone users beware : Disconnection drive soon

Staff Reporter

The operators, within a week, will start to disconnect tens of thousands of mobile phones of the subscribers who bought those before Feb 28, 2006 but could not register it again by yesterday, officials of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said.

"The cut of lines will not start after the zero hour tonight.

It may take some more days, as the operators will have to account the number of re-registered numbers held by Friday," an official of BTRC told The New Nation yesterday.

He, however, said that disconnection of an unregistered SIM account is a must, as the operators will have to oblige BTRC's decision. The BTRC has no decision to extend deadline for re-registration further, he added.

The BTRC officials could not say how much subscribers left out from the re-registration process as huge people gathered at the registration points of mobile operators at the final day of the deadline.

The exact number might be available within a week, they said. The companies would submit reports to the telecom regulator by this time.

Meanwhile, thousands of mobile phone subscribers thronged the registration centres in the capital during the last two days. People were seen in long queue in all the centres opened by the operators.

The subscribers expressed their dissatisfaction, for they had to come for the second time to register and suffer hazards at the cost of their valuable time.

Many of the operators did not provide any incentive for this. While going back from the Citycell's registration point at Kakrail, Advocate Nurul Islam, a subscriber, said, "I'm going back without re-registration, for the line is so long."

"It is nothing but a ploy to disturb us. Why did the Government and the operator maintain our data that we provided at the time of our purchasing the SIM four years back," he added.

Since last month, the operators started to offer incentives to lure their subscribers to re-register to avoid losses in business by losing a large number of subscribers. Only the latecomers could avail of the opportunity not the people who re-registered in early times.

Grameenphone, that leads the market with 1.80 crore subscribers, has already offered Tk 100 free talk time to a subscriber for re-registering by the deadline.

However, the mobile operators informed that response for re-registration was satisfactory at the fag end of the deadline. The operators kept re-registration points open even longer to cope with the onrush of people.

"Responses of users to re-registration are satisfactory," Mujibur Rahman, Managing Director of state-run mobile phone operator Teletalk told reporters.

As of Thursday, 78 percent of Teletalk users filled out re-registration forms, he informed. He also hoped that that 12 percent more would sign up by Sunday.

On August 16 last year, BTRC asked mobile phone operators to take steps for re-registration of the SIM cards sold before February 28, 2006.

BTRC had extended the deadline four times.

"Users had crowded the re-registration points at the eleventh hour," Syed Yamin Bakht, Director (public relations) of the country's largest mobile operator Grameenphone said.

Sulayman Alam, head of public relations and information of Banglalink, said the company employed additional employees for re-registration.

Bangladesh's total number of mobile users rose by nearly 58 percent in 2007 to 3.44 crore, according to the BTRC.

The six mobile phone operators added 45.30 lakh new subscribers in January-March, lifting the user base to 3.89 crore in one of Asia's fastest growing cellular markets.

Several market surveys have forecast the number of mobile phone users will be around 7 crore by the end of 2011.

Polls are vital, but ultimately only part of equation : Moriarty: Govt-parties dialogue important for sustainable democracy

President of Political Scientists Association Prof
Ataur Rahman handing over the crest to US Ambassador James F
Moriarty at the National Conference on 'Democracy,
Development and Security: Bangladesh Perspectives" organised
by the Association at Sheraton

UNB, Dhaka

US Ambassador James Moriarty attached high importance to the ongoing dialogue between the caretaker government and the political parties to decide what will come out from the election towards the end of this year, as he said the polls should only mark the beginning of building a functional democracy.

"The process of building democracy in Bangladesh will not end when the polls are held in December. For this reason it is important that the ongoing dialogue also includes discussion of what will take place after the election," he said.

Speaking at a discussion arranged by Bangladesh Political Science Association at Hotel Sheraton yesterday, he hoped Bangladesh's political parties would take some of the steps necessary to strengthen the democracy by forming responsible opposition if they don't succeed at the ballot.

Association president Prof. Ataur Rahman and former chief Justice Mostafa Kamal also spoke at the meet. The US envoy said strong democratic parties, both in the majority and in the opposition, are essential to a liable democracy.

He told his audience that the United States recognizes that a sustainable democracy requires democratic practices and institutions. A sustainable democracy requires a societal consensus on certain fundamentals such as diversity, tolerance and the peaceful transfer of political power.

"Elections are a vital, important, visible element of democracy, but are ultimately only part of the equation," he said, adding that being elected in a free and fair election doesn't mean that a government will necessarily rule in a democratic manner.

"…holding free and fair election doesn't mean that a society and government are in fact democratic in their daily activities," the American diplomat said, striking a note identical with that of the reformist interim regime in Bangladesh.

Moriarty mentioned three essential components to democracy - freedom and rights, good governance and a vibrant civil society.

These three elements, he said, are as essential to the democracy in Bangladesh as to democracies elsewhere. And success in restoring democracy in Bangladesh would require close attention to each of the essentials.

The ambassador noted that the caretaker government has introduced reform necessary to strengthen democracy in the country. Future government will need to honour, consolidate and expand the reforms.

In his extensive observations on the country's situation, Moriarty mentioned that here in Bangladesh some have criticized the United States and the international community for focusing too much on the need for elections to be held before the end of this year. He said, "US does indeed believe the election should be held by the end of this year. We have welcomed the assurance of the Chief Adviser and others that they will take place in December."

The ambassador made it clear that the Untied States provides hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to promote democracy and human rights globally, including in Bangladesh. Much of this money around the world goes to NGOs that monitor elections, train judges and constitutional drafting committees, support free media and civil society and raise awareness about human-rights standards.

He reminded that promoting democracy is not easy-advances in democracy always are hard one.

Moriarty envisioned a Bangladesh where many good laws on the books are enforced, where political parties play constructive roles, where a vibrant civil society helps ensure clean and effective governments.

During the question-answer session, the ambassador said democracy in Bangladesh is very important to the United States as "Bangladesh cannot be Afghanistan".

He pointed out that 70 percent of Bangladesh export products go to the United States and the US government is providing substantial amount of money for democratic practice and human rights.

Former chief justice Mostafa Kamal said political parties have now come to realize that they have done excess while caretaker government and its backers realize the "limitation of interference".

Pointing to the current impasse over the political dialogue ahead of the election, he said, "If it is full solution, then it is good; if it is half solution, everybody will have to count limitation and wait for the end-results."

Both the sides, he said, are to act responsibly because "people are worried as to what will happen-whether the election takes place or confrontation prevails".

Party decision on political dialogue final, says Hasina

UNB, Dhaka

Detained ex-PM and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the decision taken by her party's extended meeting as well as the central working committee on political dialogue with the caretaker government is conclusive.

The Awami League central working committee, following an extended meeting with grassroots-level leaders, has decided not to go for dialogue or election without party-chief Hasina leading them as a free person.

Her top counsel Barrister Shafique Ahmed, who met with Hasina at the makeshift jail in the morning, told UNB that the Awami League chief wants dialogue and quick holding of the parliamentary elections for transfer of power to elected representatives.

"Prolonged rule by an unelected government will only aggravate the sufferings of the people. Such rule cannot bring welfare for the people," she was quoted by Shafique as having said.

During the consultation, lasting two hours and 45 minutes, Shafique along with Adv Yusuf Hossain Humayun discussed matters related to the Niko scam case, one of 15 graft cases filed against the former premier arrested amid a crackdown on former ruling politicians in the interim period.

A special court set up in the parliament complex will resume today for charge hearing in the Niko case. Her arch-political

rival detained BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is also scheduled to stand in the dock today in another special court nearby for charge hearing in a different Niko graft case.

Earlier, the court had granted a defence petition for consultation with Hasina in connection with the case at the sub-jail.

Hasina firmly told her lawyers that she didn't commit any offence by approving the draft agreement on gas exploration and extraction with the Canadian oil-company Niko under which the work didn't even start. She had only approved a draft agreement based on opinion of an expert committee.

She instructed her lawyers to move bail petition in the Niko case, which is not tagged with the Emergency Power Rules that revokes right to seek bail.

Hasina, who is suffering from acute ear and eye-vision problems, apprehended that her one ear and one eye might be damaged permanently if she is not treated abroad.

On December 9 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station against Hasina and other persons concerned, as a sweeping drive against corruption has been underway under the interim regime.

On May 7, the ACC submitted charge sheet against Hasina and eight others to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka, showing 51 persons as prosecution witnesses. Later, the case was sent to the special court for trial.

City AL demands withdrawal of graft case against Tofail

Staff Reporter

The Dhaka City Awami League demanded withdrawal of graft case filed against AL presidium member Tofail Ahmed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and immediate release of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to create a positive atmosphere for the sake of democracy.

The leaders of the Dhaka city Awami League demanded this at a working committee meeting, which was presided over by MA Aziz, Acting President of Dhaka City Awami League, at its central office yesterday.

They also called for making the human chain successful to be formed around the sub-jail where Sheikh Hasina is detained this month.

Criticising the filing of graft case against Tofail Ahmed, Aziz said, " the government has targeted to harass the politicians to disgrace their political career and give opportunity to the real corrupt to escape punishment. The ACC is playing a supportive role to implement the conspiracy of the Government."

"The ACC filed the case a day after AL took the decision not to join the Government-sponsored dialogue at the party's extended meeting on May 26. This had proved that the government created a ploy to put Tofail behind the bar to dampen the movement, as they intend to stay in power for a long time", Aziz added.

He noted that the implication of Tofail's wife and daughter in the graft case is a sign of inhuman behaviour of the Government.

Advocate Kamrul Islam, Acting General Secretary of Dhaka City Awami League, urged the presidium members of the Awami League to declare the human chain programme as a central programme so that the programme can bear much significance to make the movement tougher.

He also expressed the determination to make the human chain programme a success.

Sheikh Bazlur Rahman, Fayazuddin Mia, Shahidul Islam Milon, Dilip Nag, among others, also spoke at the meeting.

Farmers should get inputs: Farmers should get inputs in due time: Experts

Shamim Jahangir

The budgetary provision of huge subsidy to the agriculture sector alone will not help increase food grains production if the government fails to ensure supply of agriculture inputs to the farmers in right time and in adequate quantity, according to farm experts.

The experts also laid stress on research activities in agriculture sector and creation of employment of opportunities for the graduates and others in this field.

The government has decided to increase subsidy in agriculture sector to Tk 8000 crore in the upcoming budget from Tk 3900 crore in the revised budget of last fiscal.

The size of the subsidy will be increased in the coming budget to raise production of 12 types of products including paddy, wheat, potato, maize and jute by 8 to 25 per cent in the next three years, official sources said.

Prof Akter Hossain, Vice- Chancellor of Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU), welcomed the government decision to increase subsidy in agriculture sector and hoped that this measure would help ensure food security.

He at the same time underlined the importance of gearing up research activities in the agriculture sector.

Prof Nazmul Hasan, Student Affairs Adviser of the BAU, maintained that mere distribution of increased amount of subsidy would not help step up foodgrains production unless the supply of inputs and other support to the real farmers could be ensured.

He pointed out that the deputy commissioners in the districts have been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the distribution of fertilisers, seeds and other agricultural inputs to the growers. Proper of distribution of inputs among the farmers would be more ensured if the agriculture officers and block supervisors are involved in monitoring activities, he opined.

He further said that the distribution of agricultural inputs is now controlled by non-government organisations which was earlier done by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).

A high official of department of agriculture extension (DAE) said it is not possible to increase production of foodgrains until the government could ensure fair price to the farmers for their produce.

The farmers didn't get TSP fertiliser during last Boro season. "The farmers could have produced 10 per cent additional Boro crops if the government ensured the supply TSP fertiliser a right time," he also said.

The leaders of the Bangladesh Farmer's Association (BFA) earlier called upon the Government to introduce foodgrain insurance for the farmers to ensure their food security.

"A huge quantity of foodgrains is damaged every year due to natural calamities in different parts of the country," Morshed Ali, General Secretary of BFA said adding, " The losses of the farmers would be compensated if the government launched foodgrains insurance for them from the next budget."

Morshed Ali said the farmers would be encouraged to produce additional crops if they got compensation for damages of their harvest through the foodgrain insurance.