The New Nation - Internet Edition

Countrywide wildcat launch strike: Thousand of passengers stranded at Sadarghat terminal

Passengers were stranded at Sadarghat terminal
yesterday following launch strike. NN photo

Mamunur Rashid

River transport workers started countrywide wildcat strike from Thursday midnight demanding higher wages, resulting in the suspension of water transport on major river routes and crowding road transports system.

Source said the lighterage vessels were also on strike since Monday.

The Deputy Director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Alamgir Kabir told The New Nation that the water transport workers went on strike convened by BWTWF since midnight Thursday demanding better wages.

However, the vice president of Bangladesh Water Transport Workers Federation (BWTWF), Shah Alam, said, "Water transport workers are observing the spontaneous strike, but the federation had no prior knowledge of the call."

Shah Alam said price of essentials have doubled and tripled in recent years but the water transport workers have not seen any pay rise and were still surviving on a meagre monthly wage of Tk 1,900.

"Launch owners seem oblivious to the needs and sufferings of the workers, which is why the strikers have put a stop to water transport across the country, the federation official said.

Officer in charge of Kotwali police said, "No launch has left from or arrived at Sadarghat launch terminal today, since the launch workers went on strike."

Elsewhere in the country no launches left the river ports in Barisal, Chandpur, Bhola or Patuakhali since midnight.

Our Barisal correspondent describes that the quay looked desolate after hundreds of passengers returned home failing to board any launch for their respective destinations.

Thousands of passengers remained stranded and huge quantity of goods piled in different launch terminals of the 78 inter-district routes in the country.

Crowd of passengers were seen in Railway Stations, bus stands and steamer ghats, as services of government-owned BIWTC and small engine boats were plying. Trawler rides on rough rivers and coastal routes in the stormy monsoon season have increased due to the strike risking the lives of the passengers.

The strike continued till filing of this report yesterday evening. Golam Mawla, Barisal district president and central vice president and Khorsed Alam, leader of launch owners association, said that negotiation meetings between the launch owners and workers were held yesterday noon.

The strike may be withdrawn at night, if the meeting between the two parties was successful, they hoped.

They said that launch owners have full sympathy for the workers and were ready to fulfill all legitimate demands according to their capacities.

“We have already agreed to increase 15 per sent salary against the government proposal of 20 per cent. But the workers were demanding 100 per cent increase in their salaries, which was beyond our capacity and business position,” one of the launch owners said.

“We hope the workers will also consider the worst business condition prevailing in water transport sector after the increase in fuel, maintenances, operations and management costs and adopt reasonable attitude about their demands and programmes,” he added.

Abul Hashem, general secretary and Eakin Ali, joint secretary of Barisal Noujan Sramik Samity (water transport workers association) said that they had participated in the joint meeting with Secretary of labour ministry, officials of sea transportation directorate and launch owners association on July 10.

After the failure of the meeting they declared the weeklong programmes of sit-in strike in front of launch owners and labour directorate offices, processions, handing of memorandum with ultimatum to launch owners and different administrative authorities.

At present a lascar, cook and sweeper receive Tk 1,900 per month, a Sukani and clerk Tk 2,100, third-class master Tk 2,800, second-class master Tk 3,300 and first-class master Tk 4,500 per month as salary, including all benefits.

JCD, Shibir students clash: CMC declared closed sine die

Female students of the Chittagong Medical College
are leaving the dormitories as the institution was closed
following a clash between the activists of the Jatiyatabadi
Chhatra Dal and the Islami Chhatra Shibir yesterday. Focus
Bangla

Chittagong Correspondent

Chittagong Medical College (CMC) has been declared closed for indefinite period after a series of pre-dawn fierce clashes reportedly between the activists of two student organisations JCD and Shibir.

Academic Council of the college in a pre-dawn emergency meeting yesterday finalised the decision and asked the students to vacate the dormitories. The meeting also postponed all ongoing examinations until next announcement.

Four dormitories barring the foreigner's one have already been vacated and students moved away to the safer places. The foreign students will also quit the dorm as quickly as possible.

Adequate armed security people backed by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have been deployed in and around the college campus to avert clashes.

Earlier, the workers of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of the BNP, and Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), locked into clashes over possession of seat at the main hostel.

The clash ensued at about 10:50 P.M. when the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed ICS workers together with their hired goons attacked some of the JCD workers who had allegedly been ousting a ICS worker from the dorm.

The attackers vandalised dozens of the JCD workers' rooms at different dorms and assaulted the students indiscriminately. They also torched the books and valuables at the rooms of JCD workers. More than 50 rooms owned by the workers of the warring groups were damaged during the clash that lasted until the intervention of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at 2:40 A.M.

More than 20 students of both groups including some outsiders suffered wounds in the clashes. Supporters of the warring groups freely used lethal weapons. There were sounds of blank shots, witnesses claimed.

Security people nabbed three students from the spot while majority managed to escape police arrest.

The detainees were identified as Jahangir Alam, 5th year MBBS student, Nafiz Alam, 3rd year MBBS student and Paritosh Das, 5th year MBBS student of Barisal Medical College. Political affiliation of the detainees could not be known immediately.

Though the teachers of the Medical College rushed to the trouble spot shortly after the outbreak of the incident, they could not even enter the dorms because of the frenzy.

The frenzy also created panic in and around the hospital and the establishments nearby the college dorms. The round-the-clock pharmacies around the medical college had to pull their shutters down.

Ten of the 20 wounded students fled the trouble spot after taking first aid from the hospital while some went to nearby private clinics.

Three wounded students have been admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Police and college sources identified them as Delwar Hossain, Saiful Islam and Monirul Haq.

Senior police officials visited the trouble spot and later set together with the leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and the Islami Chhatra Shibir separately. Panchlaish Police recorded a case in connection with the incident. The detainees had been placed under police interrogation till the time of writing this report.

Country heading towards polls to get good govt: Gen Moeen

UNB, Patuakhali

Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed yesterday said the country is heading towards an election and will get a good government at the start of next year.

He made the remark while inaugurating ORCA Palli-6, built by Old Rajshahi Cadet Association (ORCA), at Kuakata here in the morning.

"Our country, full of huge potential, will soon progress more if it gets proper and efficient leadership," Gen Moeen said and called upon the people to elect efficient and honest leadership in the next elections. He also urged all not to sell their votes in the election. "If vote is sold, one can eat well for a day, but there will be starvation for five years," he said.

About voter list preparation by the Army, the Army Chief said the countrymen would forever remember the contributions of the Army personnel in voter enrollment. Referring to irregularities and corruption in preparing the previous voter rolls, he said the number of fake voters in the new voter list has reduced by 1.20 crore despite the rising population in the country.

General Moeen urged the government for quick construction of three bridges for the improvement of road communication of Kuakata, a tourist spot.

Under the ORCA Palli 6 project, 80 rooms in four barracks have been built on five acres of land for 80 families at Khajura in cyclone Sidr-hit Kuakata.

GOC 55 Infantry Division Maj Gene Rafiqul Islam and Deputy Commissioner of Patuakhali AGM Mir Mashiur Alam were, among others, present on the occasion.

ORCA president Engr Siddiqur Rahman and Yusuf Ali Gazi also spoke at the function.

High price persists in kitchen market

A human chain was formed in Bogra yesterday
protesting soaring prices of daily essentials. Focus
Banglao

Staff Reporter

The prices of the essential items including rice, soybean oil and lentil continue to maintain a high trend in different kitchen markets of the city. Onion and most of the vegetable prices have also increased Tk 4 to Tk 5 per kg yesterday.

Skyrocketing prices of essential items have put a financial burden on the limited budget of lower and middle-income group of people.

Customers in the city market said they were now unable of to maintain their monthly family expenditure as the prices of essential commodities were going up by everyday.

They said in the past they could easily save a small amount of money even after meeting of the family's monthly expenditures. But in recent days it is no longer possible for them to do that.

They called upon the government to check the escalating price trend immediately.

The coarse variety of rice 'lata' was sold at Tk 34, ' fine quality of minicate' between Tk 42 and Tk 44, 'nazirshail' (depending on variety) from Tk 42 to Tk 44, BR-28 at Tk 36 to Tk 37 and BR-29 at Tk 37 to Tk 38 and 'sarna' Tk 36 and Tk 38 per kg yesterday in the retail markets.

Per kg of soyabean oil was sold at Tk 122 to Tk 124 and palm oil was sold at from Tk 110 to Tk 112 per kg yesterday. Five-litre canned soybean oil of different brands was sold at Tk 610 and Tk 615.

Local variety of lentil (masur) was selling from Tk 108 to Tk 110 and imported ones was sold at Tk 100 per kg and Mug dal was sold at Tk 75 per kg, which was Tk 60 in the last week.

Potato was sold at Tk 17 to Tk 18, local variety of onion was sold at Tk 28, papaya at Tk 16, ladies finger at Tk 22 and Tk 24, patal was sold at Tk 24 per kg respectively yesterday.

Ruhi fish was selling from Tk 150 to Tk 180 per kg , medium size Hilsha from Tk 280 to Tk 350. Prices of beef were at Tk 190 to Tk 200, while mutton from Tk 260 to Tk 280 per kg. And Per hali (4-pieces) of eggs was between Tk 24 to Tk 28.

DAE starts monitoring Aman production

Staff Reporter

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has started monitoring production of 136.59 lakh tonnes of Aman crops on 58.20 lakh hectares of land this year.

"The Aman cultivation will begin from July 15 and it will continue till September 15," Shamsul Alam, Director General of DAE said.

"To achieve the target of 136.59 lakh tonnes of Aman, the Government has already distributed different varieties of fertiliser to the end-users. Besides, the DAE assigned project directors and deputy directors for proper management of the distribution of quality seeds and other agricultural inputs in 64 districts of the country," he said.

"The assigning officials will help the farmers to solve different problems related to Aman cultivation and they will also monitor distribution aspects across the country," he added.

"Our farmers will be able to achieve the target, if they get the support of fertiliser, irrigation facilities on time and of course the help of mother nature," Alam said.

BNP set to join political dialogue

Habibullah Mizan

Despite apparent denial by senior leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party is going to participate in the government-sponsored dialogue shortly.

BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, now detained on charge of various allegations, has already given green signal to her loyal party Secretary General Khodaker Delwar Hossain.

He however, did not discuss the issue with other senior pro-Khaleda Zia leaders except his 'own men' inside the party. Delwar is continuously criticising the caretaker regime as a 'political strategy' only to create pressure on the government side.

White talking to the New Nation, several sources closed to Delwar said very soon the party would select delegates and try to ensure Begum Khaleda Zia's presence in the dialogue. But if the process failed, BNP will go without its chief to realise various demands especially unconditional release of the chairperson and immediate government's initiatives to send her two detained sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko abroad, who have been reportedly suffering from several health complications, sources claimed.

BNP, the immediate past ruling party, which is mainly blamed for the 1/11 changeover, will also place another 7-point demands including lifting of the state of emergency, parliamentary election and in October and before any local government elections and freeing of all political prisoners immediately.

Earlier, Khaleda Zia's appointed BNP Secretary General repeatedly had refused to take part in any talks with the government, whom he alleged to have come to power as part of a 'deep conspiracy' against Bangladesh. But later in a dramatic move they participated in the pre-dialogue and informal talks with the Election Commission.

While talking to her lawyers and journalists after hearing of the GATCO graft case in the special court at Jatiya Sangsad recently, the detained ex-Prime Minister herself proposed to the caretaker rulers a 'peaceful solution' to bring an immediate end to the present crisis. She said that the 4-party alliance also wanted a free, fair and credible election participated by all political parties. ''This is no time to blame one another,'' she said expressing her eagerness for a 'national consensus' to take the country ahead. Replying to a question of the reporters Khaleda, also boss of the BNP- Jamaat led- 4- party alliance said that the decision of the leaders of the alliance would be final regarding the issue of participating in the talks with the government.

Political analysts see Khaleda's latest stand as a clear indication of BNP's willingness to participate in the talks. They said, since all the political parties took part in the talks, BNP and its other alliance partners would go for dialogue to realize their respective demands.

China bans dog from Olympic menu

BBC Online

China has ordered dog meat to be taken off the menu at its 112 official Olympic restaurants in order to avoid offending foreign visitors.

Restaurant workers are advised to "patiently" suggest other options to diners who order dog. Any restaurant found violating the ban would be black-listed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Dog - known as "fragrant meat" - is eaten by some Chinese for purported medicinal properties.

The ban, issued by the Beijing Catering Trade Association, forbids all designated Olympic restaurants from offering dog and urges other food outlets to remove the meat from menus. "If a customer orders dog meat, restaurant staff should patiently suggest another entree," said Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau told Xinhua. The measure has been implemented to "respect the habits of many countries and nationalities," the Beijing News quoted the municipal food department as saying.

The BBC's James Reynolds says the ban is one of several steps taken by China to avoid foreign visitors being amused or offended by local customs.

Authorities have also told people to queue up politely, to smile and not to spit on the streets. During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea also banned doggie dishes from menus. Officials invoked a law banning the sale of "foods deemed unsightly".

5 drown and over a dozen missing in boat capsize

Netrakona Correspondent

At least five including four women and one minor girl drowned and over a dozen were reportedly missing after an engine-driven passenger boat with 40 to 50 passengers capsized in Kangsa river near Takurakona bazar under the district yesterday afternoon.

Police, fire service and witnesses said, the passenger boat was proceeding toward Sewtha Bazar of Barhatta upazila under the district from Takurakona bazaar under Netrakona sadar upazila.

Due to overloading the boat capsized in mid-stream of the river, as the boat was carrying passengers beyond its capacity.

Immediately after the accident, two separate rescue teams of police and fire service rushed to the spot and started its rescue operation along with the local people.

The rescue teams salvaged the boat from the downstream of the river and rescued four women and girl's bodies from inside the boat. But the bodies could not be identified immediately.

The rescue operation was on till filing of this report yesterday evening.

Public servant can marry foreign national with President's permission

UNB, Dhaka

The Public Servant (Marriage with Foreign National) (Amendment) Ordinance 2008 has been promulgated allowing a public servant to marry or promise to marry a foreign national with the permission of the President.

The amended Ordinance said the President may, on an application made in this behalf, grant a public servant permission to marry or promise to marry a foreign national.

Earlier, Bangladeshi diplomats were not allowed to marry foreign nationals under the Public Servant (Marriage with Foreign National) Ordinance 1976.

AL, BNP in polls fracas

Staff Reporter

The major political parties of the country are manifestly taking part in the city corporation and pourashava elections.

At certain places they have set candidates under the party banner and at others in a non-descript manner. It is a departure from their announced policy of abstaining from any election held under emergency. Not only Awami League but also BNP is putting partisan candidates without formally admitting the fact that they are taking part in the elections.

Under the local government election rules political parties cannot directly participate in the local government elections.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in its latest observation said, the ongoing dialogue between the Government and the political parties is going to be counter productive. At a seminar, held in the city, organized by the Sujon, a NGO, Prof Muzzafer Ahmed, Chairman of TIB, observed that the activities of the political parties regarding the up-coming City Corporation and pourasava polls are opposed to the spirit of the Constitution and the pourasava and city corporation regulations. According to the Constitution, the local Government elections are non-party ones. The key political parties have set candidates in the mayoral polls who are holding party positions in their respective districts.

The 14-party candidates for mayoral polls are Talukder Abdul Khaleque (Khulna), Shawkat Hossain Hiron (Barisal), Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran (Sylhet) are out and out partisan political activists in their respective districts.

Apparently local government polls are heavily infested by political parties as observers hint, are being dictated by their leaders either from inside the jail or from outside the country. Virtually political parties are setting candidates from their party headquarters in Dhaka at the behest of their supreme leader.

The political leaders said they were warming up for the national elections likely to be held at the end of the year. The local Government poll is a prelude to the national election. The Election Commission said, under the present legal framework they were handicapped to deal with the situation.

Dhaka based politics seems to be vibrant centring around the local Government polls. The local Government polls supposed to be localized ones. But the candidates are being informally set from the party headquarters. The policy making body in Dhaka of each political party is holding meeting one after another for nominating partisan elements.

The City Corporation and pourasava polls scheduled to be held on August 4 are non political in character. The use of political party offices is also prohibited under the rules.

Prof Muzaffer said, the political parties appeared to have taken it as a dress rehearsal for the coming national polls. After winning the election, they will deny the graft charge filed against them, he said.

By the way, Badaruddin Kamran, former mayor of Sylhet, who is under detention under graft charge has also been nominated by Awami, League to contest the upcoming mayoral election of the Sylhet city. Fighting election from detention is an attempt to win sympathy of the voters on the one hand and if elected then to obviously prove himself innocent from the graft charges on the other hand.

The 14 party leaders in their meeting in Dhaka took much trouble to sort out their differences while selecting their candidates. Even their leader Zillur Rahman, Tofail Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Rashed Khan Menon, Bimol Bishwas held closed door meeting at the Ivi Tower to minimise their differences.

The essence and spirit of the much talked about political reform is that the candidates of local government elections are to be selected by the local units of the parties but not on party-line. That principle appears to have been ignored altogether.

'Uphold independence forgetting all divisions’

Staff Reporter

The move to divide the nation in the name of pro and anti-liberation forces 37 years after the independence of the country came under strong criticism at a representatives’ conference of Jatiya Muktijoddah Parishad in the city yesterday.

Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, former chief justice Syed JR Moddassir Hossain called upon all to get united and involve themselves in protecting the independence and sovereignty of the country by forgetting all divisions and shunning meanness.

Referring to the nine-month long bloody war of liberation for independence of the country, he reminded that protecting the independence is tougher than its achievement.

The former chief justice emphasised the need for providing good education to post liberation war generation to imbibe them with the spirit of the war of liberation.

Jatiya Muktijoddah Parishad (JMP) organised the conference at the auditorium of Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) with Eng Moslem Uddin, president of the organisation in the chair.

Sector Commander of War of Liberation Wing Commander (Retd) Hamidullah Khan, Bir Protik, was the chief speaker of the conference. The conference was also addressed, among others, by former adviser for energy Mahmudoor Rahman, former Vice Chancellor of Rajshahi University Dr M Yusuf Ali, journalist Amanullah Kabir, Dr Rejwan Siddiqui, New Nation Editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder, secretary general of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journlaists (BFUJ) Ruhul Amin Gazi, cultural personality Abul Kashem Mithun, secretary general of JMP Md Iqbal, Hannan Hossain, Chapainawabganj Pourashaba Chairman Ataur Rahman, Azizur Rahman, Abu Taher Khan, Prof Abdul Karim Khan, Maulana Nazrul Islam, Prof Abdul Hye, Adv Abdus Salam Khan and Nazmul Karim Sufi.

Sector Commander Hamidullah Khan said some sector commanders want to divide the nation in the name of trial of war criminals to meet their political ends.

“Among those who are introducing themselves as sector commanders, some of them were not in the war field during the War of Liberation in 1971; rather they spent life in luxury in Kolkata,” he said.

Hamidullah Khan said they had taken facilities from all previous governments and were now dreaming to be technocrat ministers in future.

Criticising the roles of some sector commanders during the changeover in 1975 he said if they were active during the period, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman might not have died.

Mahmudoor Rahman said freedom fighters fought for achieving the independence of the country, establishing democracy but not to make the country subservient to other nations.

Alleging that freedom fighters were not being evaluated properly, he said Indian generals are being honoured more than the freedom fighters of the country.