The New Nation - Internet Edition

Tarique freed at last

From left: Tarique's wife Dr Zobaida presenting
bouquets to him after his release from captivity; Former
ministers Ehsanul Haque Milon, Barkatullah Bulu and ex-MP
Bilqis Islam came under attack from the BNP activists for
what they said their pro-reform a

Staff Reporter

Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, was freed on bail yesterday through withdrawal of jail guards from the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital after about 18 months in detention.

He, however, would remain in the hospital until being sent abroad for treatmen.

Jail guards were withdrawn from his cabin in the prison cell of BSMMU at about 4:30PM leaving Tarique Rahman, also the Senior Secretary General of BNP, free from detention as he got bail from all 13 cases filed against him after the 1/11 changeover.

The cases were filed on various charges, including extortion, tax evasion and on charges of graft.

Hundreds of leaders and activists of BNP and its front organisations thronged the BSMMU to celebrate the freedom of their party's leader.

Tarique Rahman was arrested on March 7 last year from their Cantonment residence by army-led joint forces during a drive against corruption.

The release of Tarique Rahman, suffering from spinal cord complications, came into reality after the High Court granted him bail in all 13 graft cases and later on the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order by rejecting Government and Anti-Corruption Commission's appeals for stay of the bail.

After receiving the last bail document yesterday afternoon, the Jail Authorities set him free from custody, but he remained under treatment in a different cabin of the hospital.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prisons Maj Shamsul Haider Siddiqui told reporters that they were waiting to receive the last bail document to arrive. "After receiving the last bail document we have withdrawn the Jail guards from his cabin in the prison at 4:30PM and set him free," he said.

Tarique's physicians told reporters that he would remain under treatment before taking necessary measures to send him abroad for treatment.

Party sources said Tarique Rahman would be brought to their Cantonment residence within a day or two and he would meet his detained mother Begum Khaleda Zia before going abroad for treatment.

According to sources, Tarique might be sent to England or Germany for treatment.

Earlier, separate medical boards were formed for his health checkups and they have suggested sending him abroad for treatment.

Meanwhile, after his release Tarique's wife Dr Zobaida Rahman went to the BSMMU and spent some time with him.

BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain also met him at his cabin after his release and talked to him for a few minutes.

Delwar Hossain told reporters that Tarique Rahman expressed his gratitude to the people and sought their blessings.

Later on, the DIG Prisons visited the detained BNP Chairperson, Begum Khaleda Zia to inform her about the release of her son.

Begum Zia expressed her satisfaction over the release of her son and directed her party followers to express gratitude to the Almighty Allah.

Tarique's younger bother Arafat Rahman Koko, who was also arrested on graft charges, was released on July 17 on health grounds. He is now undergoing treatment for his respiratory complications at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand.

BNP mob roughs up Milon, Bulu at BSMMU

Former BNP minister and Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal
President was assaulted in front of BSMMU yesterday for what
the BNP activists say pro-reform role. NN photo

Staff Reporter

Three reformist ex-BNP lawmakers Ehsanul Haque Milon, Barkat Ullah Bulu and Bilkis Islam were assaulted by angry BNP adherents at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) yesterday.

The reformist leaders went separately to the BSMMU hospital hearing the news that Tarique Rahman would be released anytime yesterday.

As former State Minister for Education Ehsanul Haque Milon went to the BSMMU, JCD and Jubo Dal workers raised slogans against him. Later, the activists surrounded him and slapped and punched him. Some threw slippers and shoes at him that left him bloody. The intervention of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal general secretary Moazzem Hossain Alal and police saved him from the mob.

Former Commerce Adviser Barkat Ullah Bulu also came under similar assault by angry JCD and Jubo Dal workers. The angry mob surrounded him and punched and slapped him grabbing by his hair. They also stripped Barkat Ullah Bulu of his shirt and tore it. Later they rejoiced with his torn shirt.

Meanwhile Bilkis Islam, a former MP from women's reserved seat in Nilphamari, was also assaulted by the women activists of BNP. Police rescued Bilkis and escorted her into a car.

Later, Milon told journalists that he was not a reformist. But those, who called him (Milon) a reformist, were conspirators, he added.

Bilkis told journalists that she had been at the BSMMU before Milan came. After the assault on Milan, Dhaka City Mahila Dal secretary Shirin Akhter provoked others to attack her.

Other pro-reforms leaders fled the scene in a hurry seeing the fate of the Milon, Bulu and Bilkis.

Pak PM survives attack

Yousuf Raza Gilani

In this picture released by the Press Information
Department, bullet marks are seen in a window of the car of
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani which was
attacked in Islamabad.

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani escaped an apparent assassination attempt when two shots hit his motorcade Wednesday, just three days before the country's presidential election.

Officials said Gilani was not in the targeted car at the time, but the brazen daytime attack underscored the political turmoil and violence that have been shadowing the world's only nuclear-armed Islamic nation.

Gilani's spokesman initially said he was in the hit vehicle but later declined to confirm that, amid the confusion surrounding the shooting in Rawalpindi, the garrison town home to Pakistan military headquarters.

"Two bullets hit the window glass of the bulletproof car," the spokesman, Zahid Bashir, told AFP. "By the grace of Allah, the prime minister is safe."

Television pictures showed cracked glass in the window of a black Mercedes which forms part of the prime ministerial motorcade. Officials said the motorcade was on its way to pick Gilani up at the airport.

Forensic experts examined the car and confirmed it had been hit by gunfire, an investigator told AFP.

"The prime minister and his staff were not in the car," interior secretary Kamal Shah told AFP.

"The prime minister had not yet landed from Lahore when the incident took place. The motorcade was on its way to the airport to receive him."

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik described the incident as "a cowardly act."

"We will catch whoever has done it," he told reporters in the southern city of Karachi.

"It is not politics, but terrorism, and we condemn it."

Information Minister Sherry Rehman, announcing that an investigation had been launched into the incident, told state television: "Those who had designs, have failed."

Gilani has been prime minister since March after an election win by his Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi in December.

Pakistan has a long history of political bloodshed, and the attempt on Gilani's life comes just three days before lawmakers will choose the country's new president to replace Pervez Musharraf on Saturday.

Musharraf, who survived multiple attempts on his life while in office, resigned last month after the ruling coalition threatened to impeach him.

Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is the frontrunner in Saturday's three-way race.

The attempt to kill Gilani comes amid mounting international concern about the stability of Pakistan, a vital ally in the US-led "war on terror" that is increasingly seen as a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Musharraf's resignation and the race to replace him come amid a prolonged battle with Islamic militants who have carried out a series of suicide bombings and clashed with troops on the Afghan border.

A double Taliban suicide bombing at Pakistan's biggest weapons factory last month killed dozens of people. It was the deadliest ever attack on a Pakistani military site, and put fresh pressure on the government to tackle militants.

Pakistan's remote tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan have become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

While many have accused Pakistan's powerful intelligence service of quietly supporting the militants, the country became a close anti-terrorism US ally under Musharraf in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Violence has often spread from those remote areas to other parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad. Nearly 1,200 people have been killed in bombings and suicide attacks across the country in the past year.

Officials declined to speculate on who might have been responsible for shooting at Gilani's motorcade.

Turn Hijab into fad

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a discussion yesterday underscored the need for following the Islamic dress code for women to maintain decency, dignity, social discipline and protecting the local culture.

In the name of beauty, modernisation and personal liberty our new generation is being instigated to follow western dresses that are indecent, dangerous for personal security and detrimental to moral values and social discipline that is contrary to our own culture, they added.

They called upon the parents to choose decent dresses for their children on the religious and other social occasions.

Their observation came at a discussion on "Dresses: Veil and Beauty" jointly organised by 'The Witness' and 'Assembly for Protection of Hijab, Bangladesh' on the occasion of International Day for Hijab Solidarity at the conference lounge of the National Press Club.

Justice Md Abdur Rouf, former Chief Election Commission (CEC) was present as chief guest at the discussion, while Nasima Hasan, Chairman of the Witness presided over.

Shah Abdul Hannan, former secretary and Mostafa Kamal Majumder, Editor of daily New Nation were also present as special guests.

Dr Syeda Sultana Razia, department of Chemical Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) presented keynote paper.

Mahbubul Huq, journalist, Dr Sharmin Islam,

Secretary General, the Witness, Kaniz Fatema, Assistant Prof of Darul Ihsan University and Dr Mira Momtaz Sabeka, among others, took part in the discussion.

The speakers said only Islamic dresses could ensure guarantee for protecting dignity, beauty and personality of women in the society.

They urged all to wage a campaign against indecent dresses and encourage women to wear the Hijab.

Justice Md Abdur Rouf said Hijab is the protection of women to save them from all evils and ensure their personal dignity.

"Many women in Muslim and non Muslim countries put on the Hijab not only on religion consideration but also for scientific reasons, like protecting themselves from dust or cold," he said.

He hoped that constant campaign would definitely impress the next generation to put on the Hijab.

Shah Abdul Hannan said Islam does not permit any dress that breaks personal moral values and social discipline.

Dr Syeda Sultana Razia said there is a sharp dissimilarity over the conception of dresses between Islamic and the Western countries.

Nasima Hasan urged the fashion designers to include and disseminate Islamic design dresses among the younger generation.

AL to sit with EC Sept 9

Staff Reporter

Awami League yesterday decided not to hold the dialogue with the Election Commission (EC) scheduled for today as a number of party's presidium members including Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and Tofail Ahmed fell ill.

AL Acting president Zillur Rahman told this while talking to the reporters at his Gulshan residence.

Zillur said, " We have decided not to attend in the dialogue because some of our presidium members including Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and Tofail Ahmed have fallen ill. We have decided to go for the September 9 meeting and discuss all the issues at a time."

Reiterating the demand for the withdrawal of all the cases filed against party chief Sheikh Hasina and her unconditional release and said that the party men were determined to participate in the national election only under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina.

"We will sit with the EC only once on Sept 9, to press home our demands for complete withdrawal of state of emergency, holding of the national election ahead of any other polls, cancellation of the Representation of the People order Ordinance-2008 (RPO) and making easier of the conditions for registration of the political parties,'" Zillur added.

Earlier, on August 20, AL sent a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) seeking for a date to discuss upazila issues, parliamentary polls and other related matters.

In response to this letter, EC fixed September 4 for holding dialogue with AL leaders.

Both the EC and AL reached an agreement to hold another round of dialogue to discuss the recently promulgated RPO on September 9.

Zillur also informed that his party would hold meeting with the 14 party allies today and tomorrow.

Ashraul Islam, Acting General Secretary of AL, added that the party leaders had already met with Rashed Khan Menon, president of Workers Party Bangladesh, and Nurul Islam of Ganotantri Party over theses issues.

Asked if Sheikh Hasina's date of return has been confirmed, he said that she would return home in the first week of October. But "I personally imagine that she might come back earlier once her treatment cycle is completed."

Power outage triggers violence at Narsingdi

Norsingdi Correspondent

Workers of Jute and Textile Mills yesterday set fire to 12 vehicles of Narsingdi Palli Bidyut Samity-2 at its Chouala office demanding non-stop power supply in their factories.

At least 500 workers rushed to Narsingdi Palli Bidyut Samity-2 office in the early morning of Wednesday to protest against frequent power cut which is halting disrupting production in their factories. The disruption of production, is affecting their wages, workers said.

The agitated workers ransacked the Palli Bidyut office, damaged furniture and other valuables.

They also set ablaze to nine motorcycles, two pickup vans and a jeep during one-hour protest. The police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

They also barricaded the Dhaka-Sylhet highway to meet their demand several times.

General Manager of Narsingdi Palli Bidyut Samity-2 Syed Wahidul Islam told the reporters that the damages would be around Tk 70 lakh. Narsingdi Palli Bidyut Samity-2 filed a case with local police in this connection.

Some of workers of the textiles mills said they have been demanding uninterrupted power supply to their factories during last two months.

JU drama dept dysfunctional

JU Correspondent

Students of different academic sessions of the Department of Drama and Dramatics of Jahangirnagar University (JU) are frustrated as their academic activities have remained halted for a long time leading to acute session jam.

This department has remained dysfunctional since May 3 due to students' movement demanding expulsion of a teacher of the department for alleged sexual harassment of some female students of the department.

The university authorities formed a three-member probe committee on May 5 to look into the allegations lodged by several female students against Sanwar Hossain Sanni, Chairman of the Department. The report of the primary probe body was presented at the special syndicate meeting held on May 28 for discussion.

But the syndicate opted for another probe body for further investigation.

According to the recommendations of the second probe body, another final investigation committee was formed according to JU ordinance and the committee started its formal functioning from July 7.

The committee is working relentlessly and it has already held 15 meetings to evaluate the progress of the investigation.

On the other hand, the agitated students of the department announced non- stop strike from August 20 but they called off the programme following an understanding reached with the university authorities.

As per the demands of the students, the authorities agreed to disclose the final result of the investigation prior to Ramzan vacation, but it is yet to do it.

However, some agitated students went on a hunger strike from August 30. Though, four students felt seriously ill on their fifth day of the strike, the authorities could not come to any decision. In the meantime, severe cultural personalities of the country expressed solidarity with the student's movement.

Most of the students of the department have sought intervention of the university authorities to resolve the impasse.

TAC clemency: 11 persons deposit over Tk 5.69 cr to state treasury

UNB, Dhaka

Eleven corrupt individuals have deposited over Tk 5.69 crore with the exchequer to buy pardon from the Truth and Accountability Commission for committing the crime of corruption in their respective realms.

"Till Tuesday, we've already given preliminary verdict to 11 individuals, including the chief engineer of Sylhet City Corporation, a forest official, a sub-registrar under Land Ministry and a BIWTA official, asking them to deposit over Tk 5.69 crore to the exchequer (Bangladesh Bank).

And the money was deposited," TAC chairman Justice Habibur Rahman told reporters at a regular briefing yesterday afternoon.

He said they had pronounced preliminary verdict, and after getting the money-receiving report from the Bangladesh Bank, "all the charges would be withdrawn against them".

Justice Habib said they also took hearing of 7 more clemency-seekers yesterday.

A total of 199 persons have so far approached the Commission voluntarily for clemency in return for their ill-gotten wealth, he said.

TAC sources said among the applicants, 4 came to the commission directly, 44 were sent by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and 151 by the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on serious crime and corruption-the two agencies set in a countrywide chase against suspects for the two crimes under the current purge in the interim period.

The TAC chairman said they did not get any politicians, and businessmen also did not come as expected to the Commission seeking mercy for illegally amassing assets.

Justice Habibur Rahman said most of the mercy-seekers are government officials. "I think they came here for clemency as they would be shamed in socially if any case was filed against them," he added.

He said during their trial, held in camera, the mercy-seekers "really look to be very repentant for their wrongdoing".

Asked if they bamboozled TAC by giving false wealth information, the chairman said the commission gave them the verdict after matching their given wealth statements with the ACC and NCC investigation reports against those individuals.

"If we find they gave false wealth statement, we would definitely send it to the ACC for further investigation," said justice Habibur.

Disaster management: NGO body to help people of coastal, haor areas

Staff Reporter

Social adaptation and people's consciousness will help reduce the loss of climatic disaster as well as dependability on foreign aid, different Non-Governmental Organisation's (NGO) representatives yesterday opined at a press conference.

'NGO Coordination Council for Climate Change (NC4)' is formed with 100 NGOs aiming to help people living in costal belt and haor areas who are more vulnerable to disaster by raising awareness among them, they said. Dilruba Khanam and Md Saidur Rahman of Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BPDC), Md Rafiqul Alam of Deep Unnayan Sangstha, Mostafa Nuruzzaman of Sushilan, Nasreen Ara Bayzid of Shapla Social Development addressed the press conference.

Saidur Rahman said, "NC4 is a network that will facilitate these 100 NGOs to raise conscious on social adaptation among people."

Volunteer group of NGOs, situated at different areas of the country, will help move peoples' essential things to convenient places before disaster, he said.

It will also provide people information and direct lobbing and advocacy on climate change in all spheres of lifes he mentioned.

Prof Moniruzzaman passes away

BSS, Dhaka

Former Chairman of the Department of Bangle of Dhaka University (DU) Professor Dr Mohammad Moniruzzaman, a freedom fighter, passed away yesterday at the Bangladesh Medical College hospital in the city. He was 72.

Dr Moniruzzaman, also a noted lyricist wrote a number of songs during the liberation

war to inspire the freedom fighters. He was critically ill during the last three years.

He left behind wife, a son, a daughter and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death.

US food aid arrives

UNB, Dhaka

A consignment of 26,000 metric tons of wheat as US food aid, worth approximately $17 million, has arrived at Chittagong seaport by a US-registered vessel.

The food-grain, carried into the port Monday by the vessel 'ITB Philadelphia', will be used for the United Nation's World

Food Program's (WFP) national school feeding program and to ensure food availability to the poorest of the poor living in the cyclone Sidr-affected areas, said a US Embassy release here Wednesday.

More than half of the wheat from this shipment (14,887 MT) will be used to assist Sidr-affected families through general food-distribution programs and Food for Work programs.

"These resources will ensure food availability for 1.5 million people affected by Cyclone Sidr in the twelve worst affected districts. The remaining wheat will be used to produce fortified high-energy biscuits that will be distributed to approximately 350,000 primary school students," it said.

This US government assistance, administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is part of the additional $40 million of food aid announced by US Ambassador Moriarty in May.

"This food aid to victims of cyclone Sidr is a direct response to the food-security assessment completed by the WFP," said the release.

In 2008, the US government will provide $176 million in development assistance to Bangladesh.

It has provided more than $5 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since 1971, more than a half of which was in the form of food aid.

The US government's assistance to Bangladesh includes support for free, fair and credible elections and more transparent and accountable governance, assistance for a better educated, healthier and more productive population, funding to increase economic opportunities through equitable economic growth, food assistance, and support for disaster mitigation.