Bangladesh News and Discussion

[Gerard]

Dhaka won't hand over top ULFA leader to India

[shyamd]

Lashkar-e-Toiba Network in Bangladesh

By: Wilson John

The recent arrest of two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives from Bangladesh, Maulana Mohammad Monsur Ali alias Maulana Habibullah and Mufti Sheikh Obaidullah, revealed the emergence of a trans-national network of jihadi groups aligned with criminal syndicates working to expand Al Qaida’s south Asia reach into the Bay of Bengal and beyond. Besides LeT, the network has Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), a terrorist group linked to the Afghan jihadis and Al Qaida, a little known Indian criminal-terrorist group. Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) and the D-Company, a trans-national criminal syndicate run by Dawood Ibrahim which has been facilitating funding, weapons purchase and logistic support for terrorist activities in India.
Investigations carried out by the Bangladesh security and intelligence agencies have so far revealed that LeT has been active in the country for over 14 years and has had support from some of the political leaders, including some ministers in the Bangladesh National Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) coalition government led by Khaleda Zia. Obaidullah and Ali had managed to establish LeT bases in Shibchar in Madaripur, Srinagar in Munshiganj and Nababganj in Dhaka. Ali is 16th in the list of 280 Afghan jihad veterans prepared by the US agencies.
LeT, a terrorist group set up by Osama bin Laden to carry forward Al Qaida’s long-term strategic mission in Pakistan, has carried out spectacular attacks in India for more than a decade. Some of the most serious terror attacks in India, including the December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, the July 2006 and November 2008 attacks in Mumbai had a clear LeT footprint. Besides, LeT has also been training cadres for fighting the NATO forces in Afghanistan for the past seven years. LeT has also been involved in several global terror attacks, for instance the London tube bombings of July 2005. The group’s linkages have been found in 21 countries so far.
In Bangladesh, LeT has been actively pursuing its anti-India terror campaign from the country for quite some time. One of the top LeT commanders, Abdul Karim alias Tunda, had been operating out of Bangladesh, collecting funds and weapons besides training men for terrorist attacks in India. Tunda, a resident of Hissar in Haryana, was one of the first LeT recruits in India to launch terrorist attacks in 1993 and had fled India after his teammate, Dr Jalees Ansari, was arrested. LeT Operational chief Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi, an Afghan jihadi veteran and an Al Qaida activist (His brother-in-law Abu Abdur Rahman Sareehi is a close associate of Osama bin Laden), handled Tunda and his team-mates. Lakhvi is currently on trial for the Mumbai attacks. LeT has been piggyback riding on Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), another Al Qaida clone with bases in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), a local ally in West Bengal which shifted its base across the border after its leader, Asif Raza Khan, was found to be a key fund raiser for the 9/11 attack. Both HuJI and ARCF had also carried the 2002 Kolkata American Centre attack.
During questioning, Obaidullah said he was in constant touch with Asif Reza in Pakistan with the help of mobile phones; he had six mobiles. Police officials said ARCF was a LeT proxy and operated in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan as a facilitating agency for terrorist groups. LeT, for instance, funded HuJI activities in Bangladesh with the help of ARCF. Obaidullah got a monthly salary of 7000 takas from LeT.
Both Habibullah and Obaidullah are key to the LeT network in Bangladesh. Both had come to Bangladesh in June 1995 and had trained in using weapons and explosives at HuJI training centres before leaving for Afghanistan. Habibullah, an Indian Railway employee, had gone to Pakistan in the early 80s after he was persuaded by some extremist leaders to take part in the Afghan jihad. He reportedly went back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan during the jihad days at least 25 times and was trained in guerrilla warfare and weapons by Army trainers at the Afghan camps. After the Soviet troops left Afghanistan, Habibullah left for India and began networking with likeminded people to launch jihad in India.
But soon, Habibullah came to the notice of the Indian security agencies and he escaped to Bangladesh in 1995. There he took up teaching at several madrasas and began setting up LeT network in Bangladesh. He was closely associated with HuJI leaders Mufti Abdul Hannan and Maulana Abdur Rauf. Mufti Hannan ran a terrorist training camp in Chittagong where many Indian terrorists trained, including Nalgonda resident Ghulam Yazdani and Mumbai resident Feroz Abdul Latif Ghaswala. Yazdani, prime accused in the assassination of Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Haren Panda, was involved in recruiting several LeT cadres from Andhra Pradesh and other States and had a hand in several terrorist attacks in India. Ghaswala was one of the main accused in the 2005 July Mumbai serial train bombings.
Interestingly, both Habibullah and Obaidullah were arrested following the interrogation of two Dawood Ibrahim--D Company--associates, Zahid Sheikh and Daud Merchant. Sheikh is wanted in the murder of Indian music baron, Gulshan Kumar, in 1997. The D-Company and LeT alliance had been substantiated on several occasions in the past decade or so. In 2003, the US Treasury had proscribed Dawood for his links with Al Qaida and LeT. Dawood and his men have also been funding and facilitating the LeT networks in Mumbai and other cities in India. Dawood’s nexus with LeT in Bangladesh has been not so well known till now. Sheikh and Merchant said there were over 150 paid D-Company agents in Bangladesh and an equal number aligned to the group. The D Company, the duo said, enjoyed the patronage of at least two former ministers, three lawmakers and seven businessmen.
LeT, in recent times, has been under pressure to keep its terrorist activities low key in Pakistan. With groups like HuJI and its allies entrenched in some areas of Bangladesh, LeT has been making moves to establish an operating base from the eastern border of India. The group has been expanding its influence along the India-Bangladesh border for quite sometime by setting up Ahl-e-Hadis mosques, particularly in Murshidabad and Maldah districts of West Bengal. The attempts to widen its base in Bangladesh came into focus in the recent times when one of its operatives based in Nepal, Mohammad Omar Madani, was arrested in Delhi. Madani was coordinating with several terrorist and extremist outfits in Bangladesh to expand the terrorist group’s base.

[Stan_Savljevic]

For Bangladesh, these issues -- sea boundary, implementation of land boundary, including exchange of hundreds of enclaves, sharing of waters of trans-boundary rivers, deep concern on the proposed construction of Tipaimukh dam on the Barak River, transit through India to Nepal and Bhutan and reduction of trade deficit -- appear to be top priority.

For India, transit or transhipment by road or railway or waterway through Bangladesh, cooperation in terrorism, and extradition treaty with Bangladesh seem to be the priorities.

What did we gain with Dipu Moni's visit to India:
1) transhipment of goods to Tripura via Ashuganj -- check, India allowed to ship heavy machinery, do not know if this is a one-time measure or if other goods at a later point will be allowed.
2) Asian highway project -- win-win for both as long as BAL does nt one-step forward, two back and suspends AH-1 and AH-4, but that would be like shooting on their own foot if only the highway to Cox's Bazar and Teknaf are allowed to run. Chittagong port and Teknaf are heavily militarized due to Burmese aggression on the oil blocks, so very minimal exports can happen from there, esp to SE Asia. The only way forward is via India through to Burma and elsewhere.
3) Extradition treaty -- talks ongoing, not much here. I hope Anup Chetia will be handed over silently but thats a great bargaining chip for BD despite SHW's niceness. What we may see is an agreement to grandfather "joint interrogations", but the BNP and the J-e-I are gonna jump up and down if they smell blood.
4) Railways -- win-win for both. India has the expertise of running the world's biggest railways, and India is helping BD in modernizing their system. Besides the Lahore - Delhi - Dhaka line may prove to be a big bugbear esp if security is handled like its done on Moitree Express.
5) transit for BD to Nepal and Bhutan -- India has agreed to facilitate onward movement, but noone has a clue if the para-tariffs and other tariffs will go down. This is India's big bargaining chip and unless BD does something really deeply constructive on ULFA/Anup Chetia, nothing is gonna move on the ground. For India's side, we helped the Chakmas demilitarize and only now are we seeing some demilitarization from the BDs on the ground. So yes, this is gonna have to wait.
6) Tipaimukh -- bullshit, if BD does nt understand what the project is about, they should talk to people who are on the ground running the show. Not let J-e-I and BNP act like custodians of BDeshi sovreignty.
7) Farakka -- well, time will tell.
8 ) Sea boundary -- you have the UNSCLOS to file claims to. Every country does stuff in its best interests and the same holds true for India. Indian claim has been filed, and if BD likes, it should talk to India or let UNSCLOS decide after BD has filed its claim with legal documentation of what its claim is.
9) Enclaves -- except for some whining by jingoes, noone cares two hoots about some of these enclaves. They will get resolved over time.
10) Reduction of trade deficit -- well, India is 6-7 times the size of BD. What did BD expect from India in terms of trade deficits? Did the BDs question the trade deficit they have with china? The last time I saw they were running far more in terms of deficit with china than India. So much for their selective concerns. Whenever some Indian company tried to invest in BD and reduce deficits, there have been spokes in the works. The last was the Tatas, but surely they were not the first. If there is someone who has to take the cake, please put it on the 4 party rule. Thank you.

In the past, India sought to negotiate a single issue on a bilateral basis, without appreciating that it was connected with other issues and therefore did not admit an easy solution.

If this is the logic BD follows, which seems to be a remnant of its days as East pakistan, sorry, India-BD issues will fester for eternity and BDs can call Indians hegemons and what not. Not gonna solve your problems nor ours. What is funny is that this commentator who is whining about a single issue soln, has nt realized that the BD foreign service now resorts to "lets solve one issue by one" now, and Indian folks have suggested sometimes "go take a hike, you are twenty years too late."

At the same time, Bangladesh has to live with the reality that it cannot remain insular from neighbouring countries and it, being geographically close to India and China, must explore the advantages of its strategic position for its benefits. It must act as a bridge between South and South East Asia through economic integration and interconnectivity with multi-modal transport.

Escusez moi, what has BD done to become a bridge between the Indian subcontinent and SE Asia?! The Asian highway file was dusted only after SHW came to power, no?! Same for modernizing Temabil, Ashuganj, Chittagong etc. It is NOT enough if you sit on your arse and hope that modernity will dump its crap-load on your head, action people. Thats what matters.

The majority of people in neighbouring countries look at India, the larger and resourceful neighbour with both admiration and apprehension. Admiration is felt because the neighbour, having common bonds of history and geography, is emerging as a global political and economic power. Apprehension emanates from stresses when neighbours are not sure of their position in the new geopolitical environment.

Apprehension arises also because you see folks who are supposed to be "naturally" pulling apart, but instead coming closer because of shared history, culture and values. That value is different between India and its neighbors, barring a microscopic few. Whatever you call the elephant, when it stomps on your head, you meet your maker, pardon the pun.

[kittoo]

10) Reduction of trade deficit -- well, India is 6-7 times the size of BD.

A small correction, India is 22.3 times Bangladesh (if you meant area) and 15 times if you meant GDP.
Great post nonetheless.

[ashish raval]

Dhaka won't hand over top ULFA leader to India

A very simple and straight forward conclusion of any damn country refusing to hand over or refuse anti-India terrorists is that country is 100% involved at state level in anti-India activity. They risk being exposed by handing over these pet piglets to India.

[suryag]

It si really sad, cant we even carry out one hit job in BD?

[Stan_Savljevic]

Guys, take a chill pill!

Regarding ulfa and other terrorist organizations, let us not come to conclusions so soon. Lets wait and see some more, this rule is more promising than before. The thing that noone talks about in the Ctg. arms haul case is that the shipment arrived from china. Besides, I have posted one news item where paresh barua and nscn folk (as well as prachanda) were seen meeting and coaxing support from chinese pla folk. The hand of china in all these matters is very clear, even if not pinpointed by ddm. Saag folk, who know more than what they seem to indicate, have nt uttered a single word about china in the arms drop case.

BD is mostly a facilitator, I say mostly because it is not clear if the rabid among the bnp/j-e-i would have the power to fight a losing battle on their own legs. Yes, it is a losing battle against India if they stand alone without the support of china, pak etc. Also dont discount the hand of USA in this. Their ambassador, who is rightly named James Moriarty, and his country have been playing a triple game as some of the recent de-listed documents from the 71 saga shows. My hunch as to why babu-log dont talk about ulfa more openly than armchair jingoes is that most of the powers that be have joined hands on the case of BD, some in the name of superpower chessboard. It is a sobering experience to realize the games that are being played beneath the surface.

Remember in 71, we had USS enterprise in the BoB, our army were about to march into Lawhore and PoK and split it asunder when both the SU and the US forced their hands and asked IG to stop that. From the horse's mouth, we have this:

By 10 December seven days after war was raging both in East and West Pakistan, the US began to show concern about the threat to the territorial integrity of West Pakistan as a result of the Indian onslaught. A significant aspect of this anxiety was that India might eject Pakistani troops and officials from “Azad Kashmir”, as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is known. The Indian ambassador to the US, L.K.Jha, was called to the State Department more than once and asked for assurances that India would not liberate Pakistani-occupied Kashmir and would not attempt any territorial annexation in West Pakistan. Jha assured the Americans that India had no territorial ambitions in West Pakistan, but as far as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was concerned, India would take a decision dependent on the military situation. He said he would seek instructions from Delhi. It was this anxiety about the disintegration of West Pakistan, coupled with the hope that a telling strategic signal from America might prevent the separation of East Pakistan, that led the US to order the Seventh Fleet, led by the aircraft carrier Enterprise, into the Bay of Bengal. The Seventh Fleet crossed the straits of Malacca on 13 December 1971, and sailed into the Bay of Bengal. The ostensible justification offered for the arrival of the Seventh Fleet, armed with lethal weapons, tactical nuclear warheads and strike aircraft, was that it was moving towards Chittagong port to safeguard foreigners in East Pakistan, and to evacuate them from an area where war had reached critical dimensions, threatening the civilian population. The operational implication of this move, however, was the possibility of American marines and soldiers landing in East Pakistan and intervening in the military operations, backed by the air and firepower of the Seventh Fleet.
.....
It was in the context of the Seventh Fleet’s presence in the Bay of Bengal that the two Soviet deputy foreign ministers, Firyubin and Kuznetsov, arrived in New Delhi. In discussions with them, D.P.Dhar and Mrs Gandhi conveyed India’s determination not to succumb to US military pressure. They also indicated that India expected the Soviet Union would stand by it at that moment of crisis. It was also pointed out to them that Yahya had formally requested military support under the defence arrangements Pakistan had signed with the US in 1954 and 1959, and under the terms of Pakistan’s membership of CENTO and SEATO. Firyubin and Kuznetsov had come to New Delhi carrying briefs from President Brezhnev formulated on the basis of his interaction with President Nixon. At the superpower level a stage had been reached where the Soviet Union was not ready to jeopardise its gradually growing détente with the US. It desired a practical strategic equation with Washington in the context of the US new and expanding relations with China. The message the Soviet ministers brought with them was in substance the following. The Soviet Union would convey an appropriate message to the US to ensure the withdrawal of the Seventh Fleet from the Bay of Bengal, and that India should complete the operations in East Pakistan by December end. Once the operations in East Pakistan were successfully completed, Moscow wished that India should declare a ceasefire, stopping military operations in the western sector. The Soviet ministers pointed out that the USSR had steadfastly supported India in the Security Council by casting its veto. However, this was an exercise which could not be continued.

The Soviet Union sent a cautionary message to the US, late on 13 December or on the 14th morning, that the Soviet fleet in the Western Pacific had been alerted about the presence of the Enterprise in the Bay of Bengal and that it would be sent to stabilise the situation in East Pakistan. The message apparently also contained an assurance to the US that India would declare a unilateral ceasefire in the western sector after the operations in East Pakistan were over. India agreed to the suggestions that came from the combined pressure of the US and the Soviet Union. The only stipulation that India made was that it would not disengage itself from the conflict in East Pakistan till the liberation of Bangladesh was achieved. India indicated simultaneously to the Soviet Union that operations in East Pakistan would be over by 15 or 16 December. The Seventh Fleet started to withdraw from the Bay of Bengal by 15 December.

Status quo was preferred, BD was tolerated, but anything further would have created a nuclear response on us. This is what the de-listed archives allude to, even if noone bandies about these in so many words.

For all of Indian as well as Bangladeshi concerns, folks such as jmjb, ulfa, huji, hizb ut tahrir etc mean harm both ways. BAL, for all its majority, is still a reflection of BDeshi polity, which in itself has a good mix of the Islamist lot as well as the rabid secular lot, and many shades of gray in between. The close-to-100-day bal government has been doing a good deal more than what the 4-party rule did for us (as well as them). There is more to the eye than what is reported, whatever is happening now is far better than we had to put up with, that is the least bit of half-filled milk I can see. Of course, my pontificating is loaded with a truckload of united salt.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Dipu Moni meets Clinton, but no concrete outcome ---- Arshad Mahmud

Washington, Sept 17 (bdnews24.com)--Foreign minister Dipu Moni met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday for her first official bilateral talks, but the meeting appeared rich in symbolism and poor in substance. Appearing jointly at a news briefing at the historic Treaty Room of the State Department, both Moni and Clinton expressed high hopes about strengthening bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the United States in the coming years. When asked in what way the relationship could be strengthened and whether there would be any metrics to measure the progress in coming years, the foreign ministers declined to explain in concrete terms how they planned to go ahead.

It turned out that Bangladesh, during the meeting, received no firm commitment from the United States about the two critical issues that Dhaka has been pursuing for years—duty free access to the American market and inclusion in the Millennium Challenge Account, a multi-billion dollar US fund created six years ago to support developing countries which are committed to promote democracy and fight corruption. Secretary Clinton said in order to qualify for the fund the recipient countries must fulfill certain conditions like embracing democracy wholeheartedly, respect for human rights and tackle corruption vigorously. There are still some issues that need to be settled, she said, before Bangladesh could qualify for the MCA.

Although she didn't say it loud and clear, the corruption issue still appears to be a major hurdle for Bangladesh to be considered for the MCA fund. The recent reports of widespread hooliganism by ruling party supporters in tender biddings and other government contracts could further dim Bangladesh's prospects. {This is serious hogwash, the US wants access to the oil blocks like chevron got one recently, corruption is all bullcrap. How much corruption is there in pakistan?! BDeshis, realize this, the US means harm to you, nothing more nothing less. Sucking up to the US like Maj. Gen Zia-ur-Rehman did will bring nothing concrete on the ground for BD.}

As for the other major issue of duty-free access to the U.S. market, Secretary Clinton was equivocal, saying it would take more time to resolve the matter. {And the BNP was whining about what India had to say, where is their silence now?!} Some U.S. officials said the matter cannot be resolved without the backing of the Congress even if the American government was serious about acceding to Bangladesh's request.

Foreign minister Moni said she also asked her counterpart to handover the confessed killers of father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, some of whom are widely believed to be staying in the US. But that request also didn't receive any firm commitment from her counterpart, ostensibly because the US government cannot influence the judicial process. {Wow, so the US has been against BD independence right from the 71 days even now. Why else would they prevent access? This razakar trial is a non-starter howmuchever SHW acts like she can DO it. The time for it was 71-75, but even SMR started kissing up to KSA, pak and US after independence was achieved. When Zia came after Aug 15, 1975 he promptly brought back Gulam Azam from exile in pak.}

Some observers say, the visit of Dipu Moni may not have accomplished much in terms of concrete outcome, but the fact that she was invited by Secretary Clinton itself is an achievement for Bangladesh and a recognition that the new Obama administration is perhaps sincere about focusing some attention to the country. But unless Bangladesh can show some real progress in political and economic terms, observers say, it would be difficult for the country to gain the acceptance it covets from the United States.

So far that appears to be a far cry. The lack of any interest from the American media about the visit of the first female foreign minister from Bangladesh is a case in point. {BDeshi folk, welcome to reality. The US loves to pamper dictators, your scope for recognition is if the army takes over a la pak and starts making anti-India noises. Else the US could nt give a rats behind about BD, even if sky falls down.}

The joint briefing by Clinton and Moni was attended by only two reporters including this correspondent. The other reporter present was from the AFP news agency. And the only question he asked had nothing to do with US-Bangladesh relations; he sought Clinton's views on the new Japanese government.

For her part though, Dipu Moni seemed to make a good impression with US officials. Clad in a deep green sari and matching full sleeve blouse, she appeared relaxed but confident. Her impeccable English was also impressive. {That is NOT how bilateral progress is measured, seems like Mahmud janaab could nt find anything positive at all, that he has to describe sari color, duh!}

Delhi doing its bit to reduce trade gap: Chakravarty

Dhaka, Sep 15 (bdnews24.com)—India's offer to assist Bangladesh in certifying more goods for export could help reduce the trade gap between the two neighbours, Indian high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said on Tuesday. Bangladesh's trade deficit with India was continuing to widen despite duty-free access on selected Bangladeshi goods to the neighbouring country, Chakravarty said at a trade fair organised by Indian export promotion council, CAPEXIL, at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries office in the city.

He said India had removed duty on around 480 items imported from Bangladesh, although the goods were still subject to domestic taxes and VAT, but the trade gap had grown to $300 million, from only $60 million five years ago. Chakravarty said modernising the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) would help raise Bangladeshi goods up to international export standards. "India has offered to assist Bangladesh with experts and technical support to BSTI that would help certify export oriented products, especially food items," said Chakravarty.

He requested the Indian trade delegation to invest in the growing Bangladesh economy through joint ventures. Also attending the event, state minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs, Dipankar Talukder, said the government was fully committed to reducing the trade deficit between the two countries through a range of bilateral initiatives. "Bangladesh has a huge potential for investment, where 40 percent of industrial raw materials are imported from India," said Talukder. Talukder said according to the Board of Investment, 181 proposals from Indian companies, worth a potential $460 million, in the agricultural, textile, chemical and engineering sectors were currently under scrutiny.

"Some 57 Indian enterprises are already operating in the country," he said. The state minister said SAARC should be strengthened to provide "a powerful trade group" that can compete effectively in the global market. The CAPEXIL trade delegation showcased Indian manufactured goods including marble tiles, glass, chemicals products, printing ink and paper. CAPEXIL is a non-profit making organisation sponsored by the Indian ministry of commerce and industry.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Warning: Long post alert...

Found this at http://www.e-bangladesh.org/2009/05/28/ ... mment-8916, dont ask me to confirm its truthfulness or otherwise, but at the very least I found the responses quite amusing and like a whiplash. Written by a Bangladeshi of the Hindu orientation, which would make it discountable in quite a few folks minds out there.

INDIA’S HYDRO-ELECTRIC PROJECT AT TIPAIMUKH AND THE HOT DEBATE IN BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT:
The government of India has taken up a project for the construction of a dam for the purpose of power generation at a place known as Tipaimukh on Barak river in Assam. After having preliminary information from that government, the government of Bangladesh under Begum Khaleda Zia got prepared a report regarding the affects of this dam on Bangladesh by a number of experts working as consultants. The report they gave was found mostly favorable for Bangladesh. This year, after the Indian government declared their program to initiate the project, the opposition party led by Begum Khaleda Zia nearly declared war saying that it would ruin the country. She has been successful in accumulating a number of like-minded experts and political leaders to speak in her favor. On the other hand, the government of Bangladesh seems to be in favor of its construction. In the meantime various experts and non-experts have expressed their ideas, explanations and predictions about the affects of the project. These have profusely confused the people, specially because while explaining matters some experts use technical terms in which the common people are not conversant. In such a situation this article would endeavor to give a transparent picture regarding the affects of the dam, reason of ‘war cry’ by the opposition, deficiencies of the present government to take right decision etc. avoiding unknown technical terms.

INTRODUCTION :
Before emptying it in the Bay of Bengal, river Karnafully was snaking her way through a number of hillocks in Chittagong hill tracts. In the years of heavy rain the river used to create flood and wash away everything including habitations on the river bank. Experts discovered that if a dam could be constructed on this river thus creating a large reservoir, it would be possible to (i) permanently solve the problem of seasonal flooding due to this river, (ii) generate large quantity of hydro-electricity, the cheapest type of energy, (iii) culture fish in the reservoir etc. They also discovered that its construction would create serious problems for the tribal people living in the to-be submerged areas. It was easily possible to rehabilitate these people. But the government of Pakistan did not take the issue seriously. Even though Islam declares equal rights for all, Pakistan, the Muslim country practiced the principle of having concern only for the Muslims and hating others. Naturally the tribal people found hard days. The country however, got huge power at minimal cost. Still today Bangladesh is enjoying that benefit.

India discovered a similar site a Tipaimukh, where from they could generate hydro-electricity by constructing a dam. The government of India prepared a proposal for it at Tipaimukh, a place 100 miles upstream from Sylhet of Bangladesh and handed over the project proposal to the BNP-led government of Bangladesh in 1979. After this the project could not proceed as usual course because of India’s internal problems. The issue was raised again with the BNP-ruled government under Khaleda Zia in 1993. The Bangladesh government employed SNC-Lavalin International, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants to prepare a report. The report was given with the following observations:
Due to the construction of dam at Tipaimukh :
(i) “occurrence of flood will decrease in the Barak, Surma and Kushiara rivers”,
(ii) “the amount of floodwater will decrease by 20 percent” and
(iii) “water level in the Surma and Kushiara will decrease by 1.60 metres during floods”.
India raised the issue of Tipaimukh dam with BNP government in the 35th and 36th meetings of Joint River Commission (JRC) in 2003 and 2005 respectively, where the then government did not oppose the idea.
In 2009 when Bangladesh Awami League is in power, however, the same person (Khaleda Zia) raised severe objection against the construction of the dam, alleging it that would ruin Bangladesh. Begum Khaleda procured a number of experts and leaders to talk for her. At this time, various spokesmen of the government also explained the government’s views. Various claims, predictions, explanations and comments given by the opposition and the government have profusely confused the common people. In such a context the objective of this article is to find out the affects of this dam on the neighbouring country, Bangladesh, causes that encouraged Begum Khaleda to take the abnormal and new stunt and related issues.

POINTS OF DEBATE:
From the data so far received, (i) the dimensions of the dam will be : Height = 166 m, (or 180 m above sea level, 178 m maximum reservoir level and 136 m minimum draw down level), Length = 390 m, Water carrying capacity = 16 m cu m. It would submerge 266 families in 8 villages. The project would generate Electricity = 1500 MW. Estimated cost : App. Rs 1,078 crore.

The speciality of location of the project is, it is an earth-quake prone zone near the meeting point of two tectonic plates with possibility of earth-quake in the range 7.0 in Richter scale. That indicates that India would have to design it strong enough to withstand this hazard. Needless to mention that the failure of the dam would bring disaster first in the 100 mile stretched land inside India and then, vast area of Bangladesh.

Now we shall mention and clarify some of the points raised and confusingly explained by various leaders under Begum Khaleda’s influence.

DAM AND RIVER WATER FLOW : Some people opine that the dam would reduce the flow of water in Barak river and its descending branches in Bangladesh. The fact is, after a dam for hydroelectricity project is commissioned, the authority would have to release all excess water from the dam for the safety of the dam and smooth running of the generators. So, it does not reduce water flow. The dam however, can give additional advantage of flood control by holding excess water in the rainy season and increase water flow in the winter by slowly releasing that water.

DAM AND SILTATION : Some leaders have opined that the dam would create siltation in the rivers of Bangladesh. Such statements may be given by people lacking in intelligence. In a hydro-electric project only silt-free water is fed into the turbines below, and the over-flowing water (spillway) on top cannot contain silt.

DAM AND EARTHQUAKE : Some leaders have opined that the dam would create earth quake due to weight of water or for drying of rivers. All these are wrong statement. Those who have little knowledge of geology and earth science know how huge and mighty the earth’s tectonic plates are, and in comparison how tiny or insignificant the reservoir or weight of the water in it are.

DAM AND SALINITY : It is unfortunate that some of the leaders opine that the dam would result in increase of salinity in the region near the mouth of the river. Their ideas are erroneous. The salinity at the river mouth among many other factors depends upon the velocity of water emerging out through the river. In the rainy season it is pushed away due to rainy water from the origin and catchment area. The possibility of the same to move up may take place during the winter season when the flow is feeble. The release of water from the reservoir can improve the situation.

DAM AND DESTABILIZING THE NATURE : Some people always think that any new project in the nature is harmful because it destabilizes the balance of nature. It is well known that whenever the original setup of the nature is interfered, there may some problems. However, intelligent and sincere men have always been able to solve those. Only the fools may shout for keeping everything in nature “unchanged” for the sake of “stability”. Had the intelligent men followed the principle of the fools, then the world would have still remained in the same primitive state. In case Kaptai dam was not constructed at the cost of many things including miseries for the tribal people, neither Bangladesh would enjoy the huge benefit of power nor the region would become free from the propensity of flood.

PROBABLE PROBLEMS OF BANGLADESH :
In case the design and commissioning of the project does not take place by keeping in view the necessities of Bangladesh, then Bangladesh would definitely suffer from some evil consequences. It should however, be mentioned that before Bangladesh starts suffering from those hazards, the 100-mile long Indian region on both sides of the river would start tasting those. The most severe problem may occur during the period of first-time filling of the reservoir. The process may take several years even with the entire annual supply of water. In such a situation the dam authority should continue the filling-process at a slow rate, such that the rivers in the down stream do not get dry.

In the above situation Bangladesh should be kept closely associated with every aspects of the project. The river Barak flows in two countries such that both the countries have rights on its contributions like water, transport facilities, hydroelectricity etc. In case Bangladesh could contribute proportionate share of land and finance for the hydro-electric project, the country could claim the share of electricity. We know, the country is not in a position to do that.

After the project is complete we shall find two new phenomenons. These are :
(01) At present the country suffers from the varying flow of water in the river due to nature’s act on which no one has any control. After the construction of the dam, the control of water would depend up on human control, which will be in the hands of the operators in India. When the control is with the nature, Bangladesh cannot censure anyone for hazards. But after it would come to human hand, they can always hold the operating country responsible for genuine or fictitious reasons.
(02) The huge quantity of sand, stone, fish etc. flowing from the Indian rivers is enjoyed by Bangladesh absolutely free. The construction of the dam would stop that possibility.

In the above situation, there remain ethical reasons for Bangladesh to ask for a share in the generated electricity and India should consider the same, if not for logical reason, but as a gesture of goodwill.

KHALEDA’S ABOUT-TURN :
Those who do not have clear idea about Begum Khaleda and her party might find her recent attitude quite mysterious. The gentleman-like question is, why does the person who knew everything so well since 1993, who employed experts and got their positive comments, who were kept informed in 2003 and 2005, suddenly turns furious in 2009. In order to understand this mystery one needs to have in-depth knowledge of Begum Khaleda and her party.

Begum Khaleda Zia, the ex-prime minister and now leader of the opposition is not highly educated, a harsh truth that compels her take advice from others in complicated matters. She however, fails to get advice of honest and superior quality persons, because the nature and principle of her party are not conducive for them. She does not have proven records of honesty, religious un-biasness or patriotism. Also she is renowned for short memory, anti-Indian and pro-Pakistani mentality. In addition, right now she is having extreme problems in organizing her party, rehabilitating her two sons, handling legal cases against the party members etc. Naturally she desperately looks for a platform for bargaining with the government.

Brief descriptions of Begum Khaleda’s problems are mentioned here under:
(i) Honesty : During the period of the caretaker government she whitened huge money. The amount is such as can never be earned honestly by the prime minister of this country. It has been reported that she sent over 300 boxes of valuable items to Saudi Arabia. No body still knows what materials or documents those boxes contained. She allowed her two sons to earn unlawful money. Part of this money has been detected in foreign banks.
(ii) Religious biasness : She is well remembered for her statement that “Hindu religious sounds will be heard from the mosques if Awami League wins”. During her regime the minorities were treated as no class citizens. Her government and party’s atrocities on the minorities after her win in 2001 nearly shattered the world.
(iii) Patriotism The people of Bangladesh are aware that before the 2001 election one ex-president of an influential country offered the Awami League chief to extend assistance in winning election in lieu of “gas deal”. The chief did not agree. Few months ago prime minister Sheikh Hasina disclosed this incident. She also disclosed that Begum Khaleda agreed to that proposal and won the election.
(iv) Short memory : During her past regime, on one occasion she visited India and discussion on sharing of water at Farakka was one of the issues. After return she replied that did not do that because she “forgot”.
(v) Anti-Indian mentality : Begum Khaleda is well known for her extreme anti-Indian and pro-Pakistani mentality. During her regime high officials allowed 10 truck-loads of arms and ammunitions to use Bangladesh territory to reach ULFA, one of the worst terrorist organizations of India. Also, during her tenure many top-grade culprits working against the interest of India and patronized by Pakistan got safe asylum in Bangladesh. These are being revealed now and there are ample reasons to believe that her government was associated with such incidents.
(vi) Party problem : At present Begum Khaleda is entangled in serious problem with her party. The party could not do the most essential “Council” in 16 years and she has recently requested for extension of time for the same.

CONCLUSION :
In case Tipaimukh dam is constructed as per proper design and with due consideration of the interests and requirements of Bangladesh, then Bangladesh can be immensely benefitted from it. While the common people may think in this way, BNP, Begum Khaleda Zia’s opposition party however, may think differently. They are aware that good achievement or success of the present government would push away the possibility of their win the future elections. So, it is natural that they would endeavour their best such that the present government cannot do anything praiseworthy. In such a situation only the future can say, whether this project would at all be materialized.

In the above issue, however, Bangladesh Awami League has committed the blunder at the very beginning by appointing one Hindu minister in the concerned ministry. They should have known that all the water related issues would have to be settled with India and a Hindu minister can never be the right choice for this job. Begum Khaleda, however, took full advantage of their mistake. The government should immediately appoint a Muslim minister in this position.

As mentioned earlier, Prime minister Sheikh Hasina disclosed that she was proposed to sell gas to outsiders in lieu of assistance in election. She added that she declined, while the other party agreed and got elected. This time, however, before any foreigner could approach Begum Khaleda Zia her she sent a letter to the prime minister of India explaining her position in this issue. Does she expect the “same old proposal” from that corner? By all means, what is taking place in Bangladesh with the issue of Tipaimukh project of India is purely political. From what we have explained in extremely simple language, even a child with good knowledge of science would understand that, if properly designed and commissioned with due consideration of the interests of Bangladesh, what this dam can do for this country is complete control over flood due to some rivers and to increase water level during the winter months, what the experts have reported long ago.

Bijon B. Sarma, Professor (on LPR), Khulna University, Khulna. Bangladesh.

TIPAIMUKH DAM : MR. MEER HOSSAIN’S RESPONSE AND MY SUBMISSION

Mr. Meer Husain, P.G., Environmental Geologist, Kansas, USA in his writing “India’s Hydro-Electric Project At Tipaimukh And The Hot Debate In Bangladesh-A Response to Professor Bijon Sarma” (date : Monday July 27 2009), requested me, among others to review the article titled “Construction of Tipaimukh dam-A Threat to the national interest of Bangladesh”, recently published in the NFB for a general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dams”. Accordingly I went through those. The advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dam as mentioned in the article are given hereunder. The bracketed and underlined portions are my (Bijon B. Sarma’s) addition.
(Quoted from the article : Construction of Tipaimukh dam – A Threat to the National Interest of Bangladesh by Meer Husain, Ref: http://www.newsfrombangladesh.net/view. ... ord=274285
Monday July 13 2009).

ADVANTAGES :
01. Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced at a constant rate. (What an discovery ?)
02. If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved for use another time when electricity demand is high. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce electricity. (This point is totally wrong and inapplicable in case of running rivers).
03. Dams are designed to last many decades and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many years / decades. (Excellent advise to be given to the children).
04. The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for water sports and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large dams become tourist attractions in their own right. (Seems mockery in any serious discussion. These can never be the purpose of an expensive hydro-electric dam).
05. The lake’s water can be used for irrigation purposes (Let the children know).
06. When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the atmosphere. (Unnecessary. Such point may be raised when one is comparing a thermal and a hydro electricity plant).
07. Hydropower is a fueled by water, so it’s a clean fuel source. Hydropower doesn’t pollute the air like power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or natural gas. (Unnecessary, repetition and wastage of time to mention).
08. Hydropower is a domestic source of energy, produced locally near where it is needed. (Let the kids know).
09. Hydropower relies on the water cycle, which is driven by the sun, thus it’s a renewable power source so long as the rain keeps falling on the dam catchment area. (Excellent information for the kids).
10. Hydropower is generally available as needed; engineers can control the flow of water through the turbines to produce electricity on demand. (Repetition. May be of interest to the kids).
11. Hydropower is not only a cleaner source of energy than oil but is it more cost effective as well. The most efficient coal burning plants are only able to convert around 50 percent of their energy into electricity, whereas modern day hydro power turbines convert up to 90 percent of their energy into electricity. (Should have been mentioned when asked about better option).
12. Hydropower can cost less than a penny per kWh (Kilowatt Hour) compared to fossil fuel power plants at around 2 to 3 cents per kWh. That may not seem like a big difference, but when factored out over a year and the millions of kW h’s Americans burn, it adds up to a huge savings. (This calculation is USA based and has absolutely no value in India or Bangladesh).
13. Hydropower plants also have an added bonus as they create recreational opportunities for people as well as electricity. Hydro power dams provide not only water-based activities, but since much of the surrounding land is public they also encourage numerous other outdoor activities aside from boating, skiing, fishing, and hunting. (Repetition. Unnecessary).
14. Hydropower plants provide benefits in addition to clean electricity. Impoundments hydro power creates reservoirs that offer a variety of recreational opportunities, notably fishing, swimming, and boating. Most hydro power installations are required to provide some public access to the reservoir to allow the public to take advantage of these opportunities. Other benefits may include water supply and flood control. (Repetition. Unnecessary).

DISADVANTAGES :
01. Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard. (The children should know).
02. The high cost of dam construction means that they must operate for many decades to become profitable. (Obvious, but why should one call it disadvantageous ? Who compelled you for quick profit ?)
03. The flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed. (Flooding of large land may happen when the land is plain. For this reason dams are constructed only in terrain lands, like Chittagong hill tracts, Tipaimukh etc.).
04. People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that hydro-power schemes can go ahead. (These are obvious. But these can be a subject of lesson for the students of elementary school and the NGO’s who would find out ways of making money from it).
05. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earth’s surface at its location. (In this age, all those who go for constructing dams know and hence consider points).
06. Although modern planning and design of dams is good, in the past old dams have been known to be breached (the dam gives under the weight of water in the lake). This has led to deaths and flooding. (Unnecessary point)
07. Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following country is out of their control. This can lead to serious problems between neighbouring countries. (Dams “producing hydro-electricity and blocking water” may be something new that the world has not yet seen).

08. Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. For example, the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt has altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many of its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from ‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level. (It is the example of a very specialized case having no general implication).
09. Hydro power dams can damage the surrounding environment and alter the quality of the water by creating low dissolved oxygen levels, which impacts fish and the surrounding ecosystems. They also take up a great deal of space and can impose on animal, plant, and even human environments. (Good imagination).

10. Fish populations can be impacted if fish cannot migrate upstream past impoundments dams to spawning grounds or if they cannot migrate downstream to the ocean. Upstream fish passage can be aided using fish ladders or elevators, or by trapping and hauling the fish upstream by truck. Downstream fish passage is aided by diverting fish from turbine intakes using screens or racks or even underwater lights and sounds, and by maintaining a minimum spill flow past the turbine. (Theoretical importance only. Kaptai lake has defied it long ago).
11. Hydro power can impact water quality and flow. Hydro power plants can cause low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, a problem that is harmful to riparian (riverbank) habitats and is addressed using various aeration techniques, which oxygenate the water. Maintaining minimum flows of water downstream of a hydro power installation is also critical for the survival of riparian habitats. (Repeated)
12. Hydro power plants can be impacted by drought. When water is not available, the hydro power plants can’t produce electricity. (New invention ? )
13. New hydro power facilities impact the local environment and may compete with other uses for the land. Those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. Humans, flora, and fauna may lose their natural habitat. Local cultures and historical sites may be flooded. Some older hydro power facilities may have historic value, so renovations of these facilities must also be sensitive to such preservation concerns and to impacts on plant and animal life. (Repetition and unnecessary).
14. By 2020, it is projected that the percentage of power obtained from hydro power dams will decrease to around four percent because no new plants are in the works, and because more money is being invested in other alternative energy sources such as solar power and wind power. (Unnecessary).

As per Mr. Meer Husain’s advise I went though the above article in order to have “a general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dams”. After I finished I could understand that these were written by a high school student accustomed to writing repeated, and at times unnecessary points to fill his answer sheet. Even though such answers may be “praiseworthy” for a student, mentioning these in a scientific article written by an Environmental Geologist is painful. It amused me to know that the answers were obtained from “Wikianswer.com”. Even though I use it at times to see and enjoy, what others say, I never advise my student to believe in answers from such unauthentic and often doubtful sources, where computer-crazy boys are the “source of knowledge”. I thank the boy giving the above answers, but I cannot do the same to an Environmental Geologist, using those in a serious article.

In the said article Mr. Meer Hossain also mentioned the example of failure of a dam on May 12, 2008 in the Great Sichuan Earthquake in China that killed 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless. The incident is of course heartbreaking. But no one would be astonished for its failure when they would know (quoted from Mr. Meer Hossain’s article) : “The 511 foot high Zipingpu dam is(was) located (only) about 550 yards from the fault line and the epicenter of the earthquake was 3.5 mile away from the dam site.” If the engineers commit similar blunders in Tipaimukh, there will be disasters. But I am sure, they are more intelligent and would collect information from better and authentic sources.
A country that goes for constructing a dam in its own land (at a distance of 150 kilometres from the border) knows how severely it will be affected due to its failure. It is now known to all that like Chittagong, the Sylhet-Monipur region also is earthquake-prone, and that during earth quake the vast water of the reservoir creates additional momentum. The engineers know these phenomenons much better. Also they know how to construct a befitting dam. If a country finds a potential site for producing hydro-electricity, in this age of science and technology, there is no reason to abandon the idea simply because “the region is earth-quake prone”, specially when the appropriate solution is at hand. The efficient running of Kaptai project should act as eye-opener for all.

Professor (on LPR) Bijon B. Sarma. Khulna University.

COMMENTS ON DR. NARGIS BANU’S PAPER AND
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TIPAIMUKH DAM.

PREAMBLE :
When we write in websites normally we do not write with utmost seriousness, and we know the reason. Even though lapses/problems in languages are acceptable, in the articles on serious science-based subjects, ideas and thoughts by all means should be specific and expression of intelligence. I did not have any intention to review Environmental Geologist (Kansas, USA) Mr. Meer Husain’s article “CONSTRUCTION OF TIPAIMUKH DAM – A THREAT TO THE NATIONAL INTEREST OF BANGLADESH”. I did it because he requested me to go through that. Accordingly I did and published my submission. However, the time I went through his paper I was really shocked to see that a person with such expertise uses “a high-school student’s essay” collected from source like ‘wikianswer.com’ in his paper. Then I felt tempted to review Dr Nargis Banu’s article “PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATURE FROM TIPAIMUKH DAM”, posted by the Bangladesh Expatriate Council. Dr. Hasina Banu is an environmental scientist working with Sydney Water Corporation, Australia. It was mentioned that the paper was presented at a seminar at the Australian National University on July 3, 2009. By disclosing this information the writer has given us a scope to know what type of papers are presented in such seminars. This author has experiences of such presentations at home and abroad, including Australia.

COMMENTS OF PAPER BY DR. NARGIS BANU
01. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : At the beginning (probably Introduction, where Abstract is missing) Dr. Nargis Banu narrated the background story of Tipaimukh project. Here she mentioned two notable issues: (Quoted).
(a) WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF TIPAIMUKH DAM, INDIA WOULD BE DIVERTING THE BARAK’S WATER FLOW FROM ITS NORTH TO ITS SOUTH AND EAST. IT WILL HAVE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON NATURE AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE NORTH-EASTERN DISTRICTS IN BANGLADESH.
(b) NOW INDIA HAS STARTED ANOTHER INTERVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL RIVER BARAK AT TIPAIMUKH AND WILL CONSTRUCT A DAM AT FULERTAL (100 KILOMETRES DOWNSTREAM FROM TIPAIMUKH) BY 2012.

MY SUBMISSION : The truth is, India initiated construction of a barrage at Fulertal (adjacent to Bangladesh border) long ago and the same has now been abandoned. Now India has proposed for the construction of a dam for the production of hydroelectricity at Tipaimukh, a place located at a distance of over 150 kilometres. Dam and Barrage are two different things. Where as withdrawal of water is the essential objective of barrage, a dam may or may not have such provision. India has already assured that there will be no withdrawal of water. In such a situation a comment like “WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF TIPAIMUKH DAM, INDIA WOULD BE DIVERTING THE BARAK’S WATER FLOW FROM ITS NORTH TO ITS SOUTH AND EAST” is misleading. And if this statement is wrong, the comment based on it and expressed in the following line i.e. (quoted) “IT WILL HAVE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON NATURE AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE NORTH-EASTERN DISTRICTS IN BANGLADESH” is also wrong.

Those who are aware of the topography, soil condition and climate of Monipur region might know that this region does not really need such diversion of water for irrigation. Let me briefly explain the reason.
There may be two prominent reasons of depositing water in the mountains or hills.
(a) In the high rocky mountains water is deposited in cavities and on the picks as ice during the winter. In the summer season those melt and flow down.
(b) The earth-made hills and mounds get wet during rains and release that water as spring or fall, resulting in small canals (local name “Chhara”). Depending of the size of the mounds, this water may flow throughout the year.
While the main source of water in Barak river is the first type, that locally used in Monipur region belongs to the second type.

02. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : The author has given some information to prove that there is probability of severe earthquakes in this region.
MY SUBMISSION : It is an established fact that
(a) Monipur-Assam-Sylhet zone is highly earthquake prone,
(b) Large deposit of water at heights intensifies vibration during earth-quake and
(c) Breaking of dam during such hazard would cause havoc.
It is obvious that when such a site is found economically feasible and ecologically superior (in comparison with other means of generation of electricity) for a hydro-electric project, the engineers would go for the construction of a safe dam, even if it is costly. In case of breakage of this dam the most affected country will be India due to the following two major reasons :
(a) Failure of an extremely expensive project and
(b) Catastrophic flooding in the 150 kilometre-stretched land within India.

03. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : The author mentioned (quoted) “THE EXPERT APPRAISAL COMMITTEE OF INDIA REVEALED THAT THE DESIGN OF THE DAM CONTAINS MANY ERRORS, AND OMISSIONS, AND FALLS SHORT OF COMPLIANCE OF STANDARDS SET BY THE SCIENTIFIC AND ACADEMIC COMMUNITY IN INDIA AND THE WORLD”.

MY SUBMISSION : The fact is, the design of Tipaimukh dam has not been finalized. No one should wonder about such comments by various corners (like, expert appraisal committee) during the preliminary stage of its preparation.

04. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “INDIA CONDUCTED DETAILED STUDIES, COMPLETED THE FINAL DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT WITHOUT CONSULTATION WITH BANGLADESH AS A DOWNSTREAM STAKEHOLDER”.

MY SUBMISSION : The statement like “COMPLETED THE FINAL DESIGN” is definitely untrue.

05. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS NOT CLEARLY STATED THE AMOUNTS OF WATER THAT WILL BE STOPPED OR DIVERTED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TIPAIMUKH DAM”.

MY SUBMISSION : The author’s statement is not only untrue, but also misleading because the Indian government has stated that it would not divert any water.

06. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “THE EROSION JUST DOWNSTREAM OF THE TIPAIMUKH DAM WOULD BE EXCESSIVELY HIGH AND THIS EROSION WOULD CONTINUE AS LONG AS HUNDRED KILOMETRES DOWNSTREAM OR MORE IN THE SURMA-KUSHIARA SYSTEM”.

MY SUBMISSION : This statement is wrong. As a matter of fact, after a dam is constructed, the erosion in the down stream is reduced. Let me explain the reason in brief. Soil erosion among other factors depends upon on the velocity of water. The velocity depends among others on two principal factors : (a) Quantity of water and (b) Inclination (also known as gradient) of flow-path. After the construction of the dam, the flow of water will be less in the lower region during monsoon months (because the dam would reserve additional water) and the same would increase a little during lean period. In fact the flow would never attain the highest level that it had before the construction of the dam.

As we mentioned, the flow also depends upon inclination of flow-path. A dam constructed on a river considerably reduces this inclination. The dam in fact utilizes the potential energy (in this case energy stored in water due to gravitational force) of the water in the reservoir. After the water starts its fresh journey from a considerably lower level, it loses degree of inclination. Naturally it loses velocity and eroding capability.

07. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “THE … DEPOSITION …. WILL RAISE THE OVERALL BED LEVEL OF THE RIVERS”. About the affects of silting she commented (01) “… AN EXTREME CASE IT WOULD BLOCK THE MOUTH OF CERTAIN TRIBUTARIES, and (02) “WILL INDUCE THE AVERAGE MONSOON FLOOD TO BECOME MODERATE TO SEVERE FLOOD IN THE SURMA-KUSHIARA FLOODPLAIN”.

MY SUBMISSION : All these are against the natural rule of science. The fact is, the water carried by the river after the dam would create less siltation because (i) It would erode less due to the reduced velocity of water and (ii) The dam would arrest the entire sedimentation particles coming from above.

08. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “ABOUT 71 PER CENT OF THE UPPER SURMA-KUSHIARA BASIN AREA WOULD NO LONGER BE FLOODED. … THE KUSHIARA-BARDAL HAOR …. WOULD BECOME COMPLETELY DRY. THE KAWARDIGHI HAOR …. LOSE AROUND 2,979 HA (26 PER CENT).”.

MY SUBMISSION : If it really happens like it, then the people of this area would think them fortunate to become free from flood hazard and to get new land.

09. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “ … KUSHIARA WOULD CUT ITS CONNECTION WITH ITS RIGHT BANK FLOODPLAIN …… AND THIS PART WILL BECOME ‘RESERVOIR RIVER’ RATHER THAN A MOST VALUABLE ‘FLOODPLAIN RIVER” (prophesy).

MY SUBMISSION : If this prophesy is based on the author’s hypothesis of “increased siltation”, then I have explained why it would not take place. However, those who have knowledge of soil structure, inconsistency of river flow etc. of Bangladesh can guess that the new situation might help in straightening the snaking and winding courses of some rivers, thus generating a number of ox-bow lakes. This should be taken as a positive contribution because the more land the rivers would release the better it would be for the country.

10. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE DEPENDENT ON … BARAK FOR AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES. THE DAM WOULD CAUSE THE SURMA AND KUSHIARA TO RUN DRY FROM NOVEMBER TO MAY”.

MY SUBMISSION : This is a wrong statement. The fact is, release of submerged land due to lower level of water in the rainy season and straightening of rivers may release more land, such that more people may be engaged in agriculture. Before making such a statement the author should have studied the basic principle on which a dam for hydraulic project works. Let me explain briefly.
In hydro-electric project the available height of water in the reservoir above the exit-hole is of extreme importance. For the running of the generators water has to be constantly released from the reservoir. The quantity of power generated is proportional to the height of water in the reservoir. With normal discharge let the height of water during the rainy season is (all arbitrary numbers) say, 100 Feet and that in the lean period (i.e. winter) say, 50 Feet. For optimum production and economic feasibility the designers would have to arrange generators to run by a height in between these two figures (not necessarily the average). Let us say this number is 60 Feet. In this case the generators would not be able to run at full swing unless during winter nonths unless there is arrangement for storing additional water in the reservoir. This indicates, what the Tipai-authority would do for the smooth-running of their plant throughout the year is, storing extra water during the peak period and releasing the same during lean period. This is exactly what the experts employed by Khaleda Zia’s BNP government opined, and to which any scientist or expert would have to agree.

N.B. STRAIGHTENING OF RIVER : It should be noted here that human interference is essential for initial straightening of river. In the country with soft soil, intermittent flow acts against straightening. Once the rivers are cut straight and constant flow is ensured, river may continue to flow in straight line. Such a program can release huge land on both sides.

11. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “SHORTAGE OF WATER IN THESE FEW MONTHS WOULD DECREASE THE BOOST OF GROUNDWATER. OVER THE YEARS THIS WOULD LOWER THE GROUNDWATER LEVEL, WHICH IN TURN WOULD AFFECT ALL DUGOUTS AND SHALLOW TUBE-WELLS. AGRICULTURE DEPENDENT ON BOTH SURFACE AS WELL AS GROUNDWATER WOULD ALSO BE AFFECTED. ARABLE LAND WILL DECREASE AND PRODUCTION OF CROPS WILL FALL, LEADING TO AN INCREASE IN POVERTY”.

MY SUBMISSION : After we know the report of the expert committee formed by BNP government during FAP (Flood Action Plan) project, we have to ignore her prophesies.

12. DR. NARGIS BANU IN HER PARAGRAPH ON “BIODIVERSITY AND ECOLOGY” SAYS : (quoted) “CONSTRUCTION OF A HIGH DAM WILL OBSTRUCT THE MIGRATORY PATH OF FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC FAUNA… (AND SILT, “MICRONUTRIENTS”)”.

MY SUBMISSION : This comment on FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC FAUNA is correct, the claim of preventing of “MICRONUTRIENTS” however, is not. What is true is, as soon as the flowing mountain-river water would come to a stand-still at the reservoir, there will be considerable changes in the micro-nutrients, fish and other aquatic animals. The dam would not arrest the micronutrients, even though it would not be possible for larger fish to escape. However, nowadays it is made possible by using fish-pass.

13. DR. NARGIS BANU SAYS : (quoted) “ABOVE IMPACTS WOULD DESTROY THE NATURAL INTEGRITY OF THE ECOSYSTEM, LOSING RIVERINE HABITAT AND SPECIES, AND A LACK OF ENRICHMENT OF LAND WITH THE NUTRIENT-FULL SILT. THIS WOULD LEAD TO THE ULTIMATE DECLINE IN THE NATURAL PRODUCTIVITY OF THE TWO MOST ABUNDANT RESOURCES OF BANGLADESH – LAND AND WATER”.

MY SUBMISSION : From what I have explained above, the above statement is wrong. However, even though we do not know what type of changes would take place in the micro-nutrients, from the experience of Kaptai dam we may guess, it would not be anything hazardous.

14. DR. NARGIS BANU IN HER PARAGRAPH “CLIMATE CHANGE” DAYS (quoted) : “THE TIPAIMUKH DAM WILL PERMANENTLY SUBMERGE AN AREA OF 275.50 SQUARE KILOMETRES IN INDIA”.

MY SUBMISSION : This one is India’s problem and they would consider it in comparison with their gain from the project.

15. OTHERS : The author’s claim on “DAM BREAK AND HUMAN CATASTROPHES” has been answered earlier. In her paragraph on “WATER QUALITY” she said : (quoted) “THE EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION DOWNSTREAM OF THE TIPAIMUKH DAM WOULD BE EXCESSIVELY HIGH AND WOULD CONTINUE AS LONG AS OVER 600 KILOMETRES DOWNSTREAM IN BANGLADESH. THIS EXCESSIVE EROSION DOWNSTREAM OF THE DAM WOULD INCREASE THE OVERALL SILTATION AND WATER TURBIDITY IN THE SURMA-KUSHIARA SYSTEM. THESE WILL ADVERSELY AFFECT THE WATER QUALITY OF THE ENTIRE SURMA-KUSHIARA-MEGHNA SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH”. I have already mentioned why the author’s conceptions of increased siltation and erosion are wrong.

She also said, “THE DAM WILL HAVE WARMING IMPACT DUE TO METHANE DEGASSING FROM THE RESERVOIR”. Those who are aware of the quantity of degassing from (i) Huge marshy lands throughout the world, (ii) Water-dipped rice fields and domestic cattle in Asia and Africa, (iii) Rotten leaves and algae deposited in the oceans would just laugh to hear about the “additional methane gas generated in 275 Square Kilometre area”. I failed to understand the comment “CARBON EMISSIONS OF LARGE DAM CONSTRUCTION”.

The author has mentioned some information in the paragraph “VIOLATION OF LAWS AND AGREEMENT” about which I have nothing to say.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF DAM FOR BANGLADESH :
DISADVANTAGES :
(i) Due to the construction of the dam Bangladesh would lose silt, sand and fish coming through Barak river. By special arrangement and design, however, the movement of fish can be retained.

ADVANTAGES : (i) Due to its construction it will be possible to control flood due to Barak river and its tributaries in Sylhet region.
(ii) Considerable portion of land can be saved from inundation during the rainy season.
(iii) During winter irrigation may be easier due to higher level of water.
(iv) There will be less silting in the tributaries of Barak river.
(iv) There will be less erosion in these rivers.

CONCLUSION : I am least worried about the construction of Tipaimukh dam. It is a project by the Indian government, who would get cheap electricity from it. Due to its construction Bangladesh would lose silt, sand and fish coming through Barak river. With due cooperation of the authorities however, Bangladesh (i) can achieve control over flood by ensuring less flow of water during monsoon, (ii) may have easy irrigation in the winter due to higher level of water etc. This plain truth has been expressed by the expert committee employed by the BNP government long ago. When motivated politicians (like those from the opposition) shout against this project with all sorts of unscientific, imaginary, biased and non-intelligent remarks, I understand the reason. And I endeavour to expose the secret reason, where possible. But when men of science express non-intelligent remarks, I fail to understand the reason and feel the need for protest.

I however, did not protest against Mr. Meer Hosain’s writings. When he expressed his response to one of my writing I just replied. In his response he requested me to acquire knowledge on certain issues from one of his writing. I went through that and was shocked to know that he used the “answers” from computer-crazy school boys. Had I known it earlier, I definitely would not have wasted my time. In course of reading that I came across the article of Dr Nargis A Banu, an environmental scientist working with Sydney Water Corporation, Australia. I became specially interested because it was Posted by Bangladesh expatriate council and earlier presented in a seminar at the Australian National University.

I got interested in it due to my experiences of similar presentations abroad including Australia. But after reading it, I came confused to differentiate between a scientific paper and an essay written by the column writer. I know how a column writer writes his essay. He picks up a running or important issue, decides in which way he wants to motivate his readers inclusive of common people, bureaucrats and political leaders and then starts writing. In doing so he picks up those data, information and comments that would help him to reach the targeted destination and at the same time avoids all those might go against. He cares least for honesty and most for fulfilling his objective. Such an endeavour is completely quite different from a scientific paper to be presented in international seminars/conferences. After such a paper is presented it comes in the discussion of the community of wise-people. And when published in the website (as happened this time due to the courtesy of the Bangladesh expatriate council) it comes within the domain of discussion of the common people. Instantly the people know what type of papers are presented in such seminars.

As I mentioned, scientific papers are different from the column writer’s essays. Such papers are revelations of facts. Here the scientist does not keep any preconceived idea like “I will prove it, or disprove that”. The approach of the scientist will be, “I believe this is the truth. So I shall try to prove it with the knowledge and revelations so far made by science. In case I do not get defence from these sources, it will be my hypothesis”.

A scientists’ deliberations or course of thought will be different even from that of a university teacher. The teacher of a university is supposed to teach generalized principles, applicable in general throughout the world. In doing so, most of the time he needs to simplify things. The teacher does not have the time or scope to show how those principles apply in various conditions. The duty of the researcher/scientist is to make threadbare analysis of the situation in which those principles would apply and observe how the results differ from the preconceived ones and why. Only such findings are expected to be presented in scientific papers for international seminars. From Dr Nargis A Banu’s paper it seemed to me as if she first made up her mind to show that “Tipaimukh dam would cause serious damage for Bangladesh” (alike what the column writers do). And then she started presenting information and analysis in favour of her conviction, many of which were self contradictory. I find weakness in her analysis also. For example, when someone visits the site of a dam, he usually finds water falling down from a great height, resulting in turbulence in muddy water below and then, water to rush away. That might initiate the general concept of “erosion and sedimentation” in the river. I have endeavoured to show in details, (i) why the river starting after a dam loses flow of water, (ii) why the water loses velocity and (iii) why this water carries less silt etc.

Once again I beg to state that I have little interest regarding the construction of Tipaimukh. I know many important and essential projects are not taken up because “those do not fulfil the personal interests of the dishonest group among the concerned authorities”. On the other hand, a project that in no way is justified in the overall condition of the country is taken, because it satisfies the above condition. “Underground rail line in Dhaka city” is one such project. Probably this project is going to be materialized because it is capable of ensuring financial benefit for some.

For the above reason, when I write about Tipaimukh, I only endeavour to show the science-based truth to the best of my knowledge and experience. I believe, the scientists and experts should continue in their predestined track, which is so pure and true, and which is so different from those of the politicians and column writers. Seeing “column writers’ essays” as scientific papers is really painful.
Lastly I express my sorrow to those who may be hurt due to my writing.
Prof. (on LPR) Bijon B. Sarma, Khulna University. Bangladesh

[Stan_Savljevic]

Benapole port goes into hibernation

Activities in the country's largest land port Benapole are set to face an eight-day halt straight through Eid, Durga Puja and weekly holidays. Normal port activities will remain suspended for five days at a stretch, and with two workdays in between, it is assumed that not much will get done then. With a weekend pause, the port will be closed on account of Puja. So the port will virtually remain closed for eight days. Several thousand goods-laden trucks are waiting in line at the Indian Petrapole port to enter Benapole in Bangladesh. These goods will now enter after the holidays.

Immediately after Eid, the Puja celebrations will kick off in full swing in India and import and export would remain suspended till September 28. Many industrial units may face raw material shortages due to the long holiday session. Officials from the Indian side said no goods would be imported or exported during the time. Every day 300 to 350 trucks come from India, carrying raw materials for industries and different types of food items.

When the Customs House and the port will reopen after 5 days, goods will be stuck at the port. Work will resume from September 29, as many officials and employees of the customs and port will go to their village home during the holidays. It is a general practice that even though the port reopens after Eid, many officials remain absent for several days. The role of the Benapole port is significant in the country's economy, with 90 percent of goods imported from India coming through the port. Goods can be imported through the port with only 7 days' L/C. The distance between Kolkata and the Benapole check post is only 81 kilometres. So the importers prefer using the port. Port users fear that import and export would face a negative impact.

Bangladesh needs to take the issue of Myanmar's reinforced military presence seriously

Dhaka: Bangladesh needs to take the issue of Myanmar's reinforced military presence along the border more seriously, in order to safeguard its national security, The Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) was reported as saying in a 12 September article in the Independent. The BIPSS is a think-tank that deals with security issues in South and Southeast Asia. It recently issued a publication suggesting that there are many contentious issues with neighboring Myanmar that need to be resolved to protect the national interest. Such issues as the Rohingya refugees and the dispute over the maritime boundary have daunted relations between the two neighbors recently, said an article published in the periodical BIPSS Focus.

The article said that Myanmar's recent strengthening of its military presence in Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, is a big concern. "Bangladesh needs to take Myanmar's recent military ambition seriously," the article, titled "Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations: The Security Dimension" stated. The article points out that Myanmar has increased movement of troops while construction of concrete pillars and barbed-wire fences along the border has been sped up. The military junta in Myanmar has also extended the runway of the Sittwe airport, enabling operation of MiG-29 multi-role combat aircraft and all 12 MiG-29 aircraft of the Myanmar Air Force currently deployed in Sittwe, the article stated. Land has also been acquired for the construction of another airport in Buthidaung, it adds.

The BIPSS says that massive repair and reconstruction of road, bridges, and culverts is being carried out in the Western Command area while tanks, artillery guns, Recoilless Rifles, and mortars are being unloaded regularly at the Buthidaung river jetty. Saying that such developments are "alarming" for Bangladesh, the BIPSS article adds that Myanmar has been constructing barbed-wire fencing along the border with Bangladesh since March 2009, and approximately 38 kilometers of fencing was completed by July of this year.

Considering all these issues, the article states, "It is observed that Bangladesh - Myanmar relations have developed through phases of cooperation and conflict." "Conflict in this case is not meant in the sense of confrontation, but only in the sense of conflict of interests and resultant diplomatic face-off," it says. The article further warns that "unfriendly relations with Myanmar can benefit small insurgent groups living in the hilly jungle areas of the southern portion of the Chittagong Hill Tract, which can cause some degree of instability in the area and become a serious concern for national security."

The article also suggests that Bangladesh can benefit in ways by maintaining a good relationship with Myanmar, which in turn has a good friendship with China. "[Myanmar] is the potential gateway for an alternative land route opening towards China and Southeast Asia other than the sea," it says. "Such a road link has the potentiality for a greater communication network between Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore." Moreover, with a rich natural resource base, Myanmar is a country with considerable potential, the article continued. "Myanmar's forests and other natural resources like gas, oil, and stones are enormous, from which Bangladesh can be benefited enormously," it says.

The article suggests that policymakers review the existing defense priorities to suit the magnitude of the threat currently facing Bangladesh. "The policy regarding Myanmar needs to be a careful combination of effective diplomacy while safeguarding our security interests," it said.

Maritime Boundaries: Dhaka yet to Counter Indian Claims ---- Raheed Ejaz

Bangladesh will take time, at least several months, to raise its objection at the United Nations to New Delhi’s claim over certain areas in the Bay of Bengal which has led to a dispute over demarcating maritime boundaries between the two neighbours. Foreign ministry officials told that India has already submitted its claim on maritime delimitation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body to deal with the law of the seas, in May 2009, one month ahead of its deadline.

‘The commission is scheduled to ask Indian authorities for the hearing over its submission by March, 2010 and we are preparing to submit our response on Indian claims immediately before the hearing,’ said an official dealing with the process of Bangladesh’s claims over maritime boundary. Officials in Dhaka said that they were working out the country’s response to the Indian claims in the Bay of Bengal, but preferred to take time to strengthen its claims incorporating various arguments.

With regards to delimitation of maritime boundary, the two South Asian neighbours have contentions over two areas—that of natural prolongation of the continental shelf and the baseline. India has argued that the course of the natural prolongation of continental shelf is from east to west which is rejected by Bangladesh saying it is from north to south. For delimitation of maritime boundary both Bangladesh and India have some overlapping claims on baselines. Bangladesh is preparing its case for extraction of marine resources, especially gas exploration, in the Bay of Bengal, but has not been able to invite tenders for block biddings as its maritime boundary has not been demarcated as yet.

According to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009 and Myanmar by May 21, 2009. ‘We are taking preparations to put forward our objection at the UN by June to Myanmar’s claim and by November to India’s claim in the Bay of Bengal,’ an official involved with the issue told. Myanmar has already submitted its claim on maritime delimitation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and Bangladesh put its response at the UN to Myanmar’s claim in July, 2009.

As per the UN provision, claims submitted by any country would not be taken for final consideration before settling the objection raised by a neighbouring country which might have overlapping claims. Bangladesh resumed negotiations with India and Myanmar last year, during the regime of the military-controlled interim government, after a lapse of almost three decades. Dhaka opted to go for negotiations as India and Myanmar recently opposed Bangladesh’s offshore block biddings for exploration of oil and gas even within its own territorial waters as Dhaka did not have an internationally accepted exclusive economic zone.

Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the issue of ‘starting point’ on how to mark the coastlines from the exclusive economic zone that has apparently overlapped claims of the three neighbouring countries due to the funnel-like shape of the Bay of Bengal. A country is supposed to enjoy its rights to fish and extract and explore other marine resources in its exclusive economic zone, an area of 200 nautical miles into an adjacent sea, according to international maritime law.

http://www.energybangla.com/index.php?m ... ticle=2099

[Stan_Savljevic]

Stuff I learnt from somewhere: china furtively negotiating with the Government of Bangladesh for a pipeline to carry gas from Bangladesh to Yunnan via the Arakan area of Myanmar. Now do the Bdeshis have enough gas to export?!

BKZ has returned from ksa following an umrah visit.

Her entourage included her younger brother Shamim Eskander, his wife Kaneez Fatema, Khaleda's younger son Arafat Rahman Coco's wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman, her daughters Zasia Rahman and Zahia Rahman and former foreign secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury.

Why would a family event to ksa have a former furrin secretary?! Obvious, if you get my point. Any of three things could happen at this stage. Something overtly anti-Indian, a la whipping emotions/long march for the sake of Tipaimukh and condemning Dipu Moni's visit to India and the Ashuganj-Ctg stuff, or something overtly anti-Bangladeshi, a la whipping emotions on the razakar trial. Perhaps after the Ramzan/Durga Puja holidays. {Aside: Dipu Moni goes to India and then usa, BKZ goes to ksa. Are all these visits timed so immaculately? Why is noone off to china yet?!}

The third possibility is something anti-western in the guise of pro-Bangladeshi action. For what that can be, look no further than the next report:

The national committee has said it would accept any formal invitation of the government to sit in discussion, provided the proceedings of gas exploration deals with two foreign companies are halted. Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah, convener of the National Committee on Protection of Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, a public pressure group backed by left-leaning parties, told reporters at a press conference Saturday that a parliamentary committee had asked for talks. "But the request came through the newspapers; there has been no formal invitation at a fixed date and time. On the other hand, the government has asked the two companies to complete the contract procedures immediately. In this situation asking us to discussion is cheating," Shahidullah said.

The press conference was held at Mukti Bhaban at Paltan, where leaders of left parties and supporters of the movement were also present. Regarding the cooperation of the large political parties with their movement against foreign oil-gas deals, Shahidullah said, "We neither lean for support on any party, whether known as 'anti-liberation' or 'communal', nor back either with our movement." The citizen's group recently enforced a half-day hartal in capital Dhaka, the first in nearly three years, in protest at two Bay exploration deals with US-based ConocoPhuillips and Irish Tullow Oil Ltd. The movement's leaders, during the hartal on Sept 14, gave the government until Oct 15 to meet their five-point charter of demands including cancelling the deals which they claimed gave the two companies the right to export 80 percent of any gas extarcted.

In other news,

WE, in Bangladesh, are used to waiting. We have been waiting to find out the perpetrators of the BDR massacre, who were really behind the August 21 grenade attack, or who killed one of the most brilliant sons of our soil, Shah AMS Kibria. Our waiting does not stop at that -- even for cases for which we know who the perpetrators were, we wait for them to be brought to justice. Some of the self-declared murderers of Bangabandhu and his family are still at large. So are the "war criminals" who attempted to eradicate the intellectual backbone of the nation in 1971, only to be riding cars bearing our national flag in less than a generation, as no less than ministers. We live in this 'strange' country where one can emotionally survive this uncertain and excruciating wait only if one knows how to wait, wait and wait only to see the reason for the wait becoming a distant memory at one point.

Golam Azam, MR Nizami, DH Sayedee, SQ Chowdhury remember the names we want to see evicted....

Recently, Dr. Alauddin Ahmed, prime minister's advisor, issued a statement that Brig. Azmi, son of Jamaat leader Golam Azam, was sacked from the army on national security ground. This statement appears outrageous that after so many years of distinguished service and career, a person has to leave his service in this manner. Golam Azam should have faced war criminal charges long time ago. However, Golam Azam's misdeeds should not be the reason to inflict any unjust act on his son. Some people responsible for such inconsiderate and morally wrong acts should think again that they will not be in power forever. My request to these people is, please do the right thing. Do not victimise people for actions of their parents.

For us in India, bnp and bal are essentially the same when it comes to extremist tendencies. BAL has no balls to nip the extremism, and we have ample evidence for that. On the contrary, we have ample evidence to conclude that BAL wants to control the tap of extremism in BD to ensure its own numero uno position in the hierarchy of looters of BD, playing one card against another and vice versa. This, we saw, even during SMR days, so nothing new here.

Mosques 'silent' on anti-militancy message

Dhaka, Sep 18 (bdnews24.com) – The government's strategy to combat militancy and terrorism through a 'motivation' programme targeting religious institutions, among others, is yet to get off the ground, officials say, though the home ministry says the programme is underway. The plan was supposed to take in educational institutions and the media as well as mosques, to encourage them to spread anti-militancy and anti-terrorism messages, but efforts have so far fallen short, a top official of Rapid Action Battalion, the elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism force, has said. "We are stuck in the first phase of containing militancy and terrorism," the official, not wishing to be named, told bdnews24.com this week. "We are yet to tackle the source of militancy or recruitment processes to prevent terrorism. We are only catching them in the act of destruction."

In particular, the anti-militancy campaign appears to have fallen short in the nation's mosques during the month of Ramadan—a period when the mosques see some of their largest gatherings—despite government directives. State minister for home Shamsul Haq Tuku directed mosque leaders, ahead of Ramadan, to disseminate anti-militancy messages following Tarabi and Jummah prayers as a part of the motivation programme. But many mosque goers say they did not hear any anti-militancy discourse from the Imams. Correspondents from districts as widespread as Brahmanbaria, Jamalpur and Thakurgaon said they have not heard any such message in their mosques.

Muslims in the capital flocked to the national mosque on Jumatul Wida, the last Friday of Ramadan to hear Maolana Salauddin, Khatib of Baitul Mokarram National Mosque, deliver a 15-minute khutba sermon to mark the special day. But, the mosque goers said, Salauddin did not deliver any anti-militancy message. The government formed a special committee in April, headed by the then state minister for home Tanjim Ahmed, to formulate and monitor an anti-militancy strategy. Its first meeting was held on May 12 at the home ministry. The second meeting was held on August 11 after Shamsul Haque Tuku took over as state minister for home.

The 17-member body includes secretaries from the prime minister's office, home, education, law, religion, social welfare, information and local government ministries. It also includes the inspector general of police, heads of DGFI, NSI, BDR, RAB and other law enforcing agencies. In addition to ongoing drives by law enforcers, the committee formulated short-term strategies, mid-term and longer-term strategies to combat militancy, Tanjim Ahmed had said after the first meeting in May. One of the short-term strategies was a 'motivation' campaign of anti-militancy messages, to counter the spread of militant ideology and propaganda. But officials are issuing contradictory statements on where the campaign stands.

According to the state minister for home, the anti-militancy message is being spread in mosques. Tuku told bdnews24.com on Friday: "We have directed mosques to disseminate the information that militancy is the great enemy of the state. Imams of the mosques I have attended are delivering anti-militancy sermons. I have heard anti-militancy sermons at the High Court mosque. I believe it is going on in all mosques. But there may be exceptions," said Tuku. A deputy secretary of home told bdnews24.com, "The committee has held only two meetings since April. I don't think there has been much advancement in the campaign. The committee has discussed the issue, and what directions to give to concerned agencies for the motivation campaign. But I don't know how far they are being implemented. The progress is not worth mentioning," he said.

Secretary for religion Abdur Rab Hawladar told bdnews24.com on Thursday that he did not have specific information on how the motivation campaign was progressing. Tuku has said the campaign will be evaluated at the next meeting of the committee. The next decision will be taken after evaluation and discussing the matter with Khatibs of different mosques and officials of the Islamic Foundation, he told bdnews24.com. It will also be discussed with Imams divisionally if needed in future, he said. The RAB official, meanwhile, told bdnews24.com, "Everyone would realise the terrible impact of militancy and fight together against those involved in these activities if the religious leaders explain where militancy and terrorism stand in the eyes of Islam."

[Stan_Savljevic]

While SHW has an excuse to fly out of BD, I have no clue why the others are shuttling back and forth between US, UK and KSA. In that sense, BD emulates pakisatan.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is due to leave for New York on Monday night, to attend the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Summit. Flying out on a regular Emirates flight at 10:30pm, the prime minister will land in the US on Sep 22. She is scheduled to stay for a week, before returning on Oct 1. Foreign minister Dipu Moni is already in the US. Hasina will address climate change issues and join in talks with leaders of countries contributing UN peacekeeping troops around the world, as part of a packed schedule, said foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, who will join the prime minister's 23-member delegation to the UN assembly.

Others include cabinet secretary M Abdul Aziz, the prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad, former envoy Mohammad Ziauddin, MP Nasrul Hamid Bipu and columnist Mustafa Nurul Islam. The prime minister will attend a meeting of 25 heads of state and government on climate change, convened by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, on Sept 22, where she will seek to unite the worse-affected countries and resolve compensation claims for climate change, Quayes has said. Hasina and US president Barack Obama are also scheduled to attend a sideline meeting of nine countries contributing major UN peacekeeping forces around the world to be held on Sept 23. Bangladesh is a leading contributor to the peacekeeping missions, with around 10,000 personnel from the country engaged in different missions around the world.

The prime minister is scheduled to attend a luncheon hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in honour of women heads of governments and women foreign ministers, on Sept 24. Hasina is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Sri Lanka's prime minister, Kenya's prime minister the Commonwealth secretary general, and OIC secretaries general on Sept 25. She will address the General Assembly on Sept 26.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will leave for the USA on Monday night, while president Zillur Rahman will fly for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia returned home on Saturday morning after Umrah in Saudi Arabia and will spend the festival without her sons. Tarique Rahman will observe Eid with his family in London while Coco in Bangkok. Both of them have been seeking medical treatment abroad since last year.

AL member of the advisory committee Abdul Jalil, foreign minister Dipu Moni, BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed, JSD president Hasanul Haque Inu and Islami Oikkyojote president Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini will be abroad during the Eid festivals.

Ruppur plant is constructed with Russkie assistance....

Proposed nuclear plant to produce 600mw initially: Osman

State Minister for Science and ICT Yafez Osman has said the proposed nuclear plant in notrthwestern Ruppur is expected to produce initially at least 600-mw electricity as the country reached an initial understanding with Russia for technological assistance for the ambitious project. "We will have elaborate talks with Moscow for technological supports for the project but it depends on Russia what type of assistance it would offer," Osman told BSS on Friday as the country's desperate efforts for power increased generation sends him next month to the Russian capital for discussion. Officials earlier said they expected the plant to generate 600-1000mw power. They said Osman would lead an 8-member delegation to Moscow to visit their nuclear energy installations and talks with Russian authorities on the possible assistance for the Bangladesh's first such nuclear venture estimated to cost US $150 million.

Bangladesh and Russia in May this year signed a deal on nuclear energy for Moscow's assistance in installing the first ever nuclear power plant with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) saying "Russia will assist in the development of nuclear energy infrastructure in Bangladesh". Science and ICT Ministry Secretary Nazmul Huda Khan and deputy director general of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) NN Spasskiy signed the agreement in Dhaka for peaceful cooperation on the use of nuclear energy. Under the MoU Russia will supply Bangladesh with nuclear materials and provide services in the field of nuclear fuel cycle in accordance with national legislation of the two states and international treaties to which both Bangladesh and Russia are parties.

Bangladesh planned to install nuclear power stations 44 years ago in 1964 when 259.90 acres of land were acquired for the project at Ruppur while a draft was also signed with Canada at that time. International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) allowed Bangladesh to install nuclear power plants in 2007 along with seven other developing nations while Russia, France, South Korea, China and Pakistan expressed their interest to offer their assistance for developing the infrastructure. Under the current plan, initiated following the IAEA green signal, two nuclear power units with capacity of 1000 megawatt will be installed at Ruppur against the backdrop of dwindling reserve of natural gas, which now accounts for 90 percent of electricity generated in the country.

Indian apparels dominate Eid shopping in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Expensive Indian saris and other apparels have virtually monopolized the city's top retail outlets just before the Eid ul-Fitr festival as the nation's busiest shopping season nears the end. Big names among the city's popular destinations for Eid shopping including Texmart, Shoppers World, Zaara or Vasavi, which have experienced a boom in sales over the last weeks, are virtually flooded by Indian made panjabis and saris -- the two most coveted items on Eid occasions.

While differing little from their local products in quality and design, this Indian apparel items, whose sales usually increase manifold during the Eid holidays each year, are sold at high prices. As the flooding of Indian garments in the local market ahead of the Eid season is not a new phenomenon in the country, the scenario at the retail outlets in Gulshan and Uttara areas is one of an absolute monopoly of Indian apparels. "All the saris and panjabis showcased in our store are exclusively Indian and our sales have increased by almost 150 percent since the Eid shopping spree started," a sales official of Zaara was quoted by the Financial Express (FE), a local newspaper, as saying.

"Most of our buyers come from upper and upper middle class echelons, but the upper middle class people are larger in number as this segment of the society is usually more enthusiastic about the Eid shopping," he added. The price range of an Indian made kurta or panjabi- traditionally one of the most sought after items on Eid occasions, for example, usually varies from BDT 7,000.00 to BDT 30,000.00 in such outlets. Some are costly as high as BDT 60,000. The price range of Indian sari in such places is no less than BDT 20000, while the range of the highest price has no limit, according to the newspaper reports.

[Gerard]

Another BDR jawan dies of 'cardiac failure'

[kidoman]

Yet Another BDR jawan dies of 'cardiac failure'
Another Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) member died yesterday on his way to Dhaka from his Comilla house.

A press release issued by BDR said havildar Jasim Uddin of Rifle Battalion-30 was on casual leave. He complained of chest pain at around 12:00 noon and later died in Miabazar area on his way to Dhaka at around 2:00pm.

As many as 46 BDR members have died so far since the BDR mutiny on February 25-26.



Just thinking of Conspiracy Theories, is it possible that BD Army would murder and then label them as Cardiac Failure cases??

[kidoman]

BD-Burma Border Tension

Bangladesh has reinforced its troops along the border with Myanmar as tension went high following repeated provocative acts by the latter's military forces including violation of international border and illegal construction of barbed-wire fences along the front

angladesh in the past always resolved all disputes with its neighbours B{ya ya remeber Pyrduwah..very very peacefull method onleee} through bilateral discussion but this time the authorities had taken it seriously and they are taking steps accordingly, said the sources

The tension ran high as Myanmar troops fired several shots towards Bangladesh territory, witnesses said.

I dont get it man..why the hell does BD protest all the time when India and Myanmmar erect barb wire???
Wats their problem???
Do They want that they keep on sending their people to us and we should not do anything about it?
Its our land ,its our money.who the hell are they to protest?

Anyways myanmar will hammer them if they enter into a war with them.

[arun]

Bangladesh Goes For U.N. Tribunal To Settle Maritime Dispute With India, Myanmar

[Sayak]

India’s Army Chief visits Burma

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burm ... urma-.html

just coincidence??

[Rahul M]

last I heard bangladesh and burma were separate countries.
why in this thread then, when we do have a burma thread ?

[Stan_Savljevic]

Some updates on the BD axis:
1) The 1975 case is ongoing with more and more juicy details coming forth everyday.
2) Pilkhana trials will be held as non-civilian trials.
3) BD sweating over Burmese army exercises by the Nasakha.
4) BD agreement for nuke reactor with Russkies nearing fruition.
5) SHW going hammer and tongs against the 4-party rule (see details below) and pakistan in guise.
6) Women forces start filling in at the bsf level patrolling the I-BD border, much needed to check for infiltration and cattle smuggling by women.
7) Hizb-ut-Tehrir banned and its assets frozen. A belated attempt to hold the fort IMHO.
8 ) Assassination attempt on AL MP Fazle Noor Taposh, SHW and AL claim it was engineered by the folks who masterminded the Bangabandhu family assassination. Taposh's parents were murdered on that ill-fated August 15th.

Some of the details in the 75 case and the following would put Dileep-miah's writing skills to shame , read it all. There is a mention Rezakul Haider and the 10 truck arms haul case, thats the one that dumped arms for ulfa, and came from china. Grenades found after the Aug 21 incident had "Pakistan Ordnance Factory" on it. The masterminds were connected with L-e-T and Dawood Ibrahim, and still the first comment to this story by a "# frustrated patriot" on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 01:20 AM GMT+06:00 (14 hours ago) was

Doesn’t the country have more important issues at hand than all this about who tried to hurt Hasina? People are hungry...businss sector is underperforming. In fact, the country would go hungry if not for ourside asssitance...and all we hear about it...how the trial of the '75 killers is going.

Dear frustoo patriot, even if 1% of the listed stuff is true, and the daily star aint lying through its teeth, which is a giant IF, your country is in for a giant giant fck up, whether your country is pakisatan or bangladesh. Connecting the dots and figuring why the 4-party league had major takleef with the 1/11 ctg or the Pilkhana massacre as a warning shot to stop muck-raking in this incident does not need brain, it just needs common sense. But then I must take umbrage in the assumption that common sense is the norm of humans, not animals.

Kudos to Sh. Hasina for persisting with the arms haul case, the August 21 case, the Pilkhana massacre case, and the 1975 Sh. Mujib assassination case. But her days are counted, and if the 1975 Sh. Mujib case can be handled just now, imagine what will happen if she loses the next polls in 4 years from now, which she is sure to lose if the economic state of affairs continue as is and BD loses the unsclos case against India, which is also a given. {For that "given" logic, one has to only take a look at the pic of geography around New Moore Island and wonder wtf is "equitable" when "equidistant" is the common logic for sea boundary cases. Ok, even if you have equitable, BD folks have to present a case, let them start surveying, yaaaaaaaaaawn. PS: Need wikipedia editors who can put a sticky on Wiki for New Moore and guide it to the South Talpatti stuff at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Talpatti_Island, New Moore is called New Moore as it is the east of Moore Is. in WB, Talpatti is an island in BD and ST is to the south of it, but new moore is held by India from pre-75 accord days.}

Big brother India may have to loosen the crank at some point, but if Burma loses the unsclos case which is also a given {look at the geography around Cox's Bazar and Ctg}, and Burma in a fit of fury attacks BD and as reports suggest, India is siding with BD, SHW may be able to sell some "progress" in Indo-BD relations. Unless of course, Burma has access to some of chini bums for deterrence over the huge BD army contingent vs Burma. But BD has more softer points over Burma than Burma has over BD, but both look up to bade bhai china for conflict resolution these days. Else the tipaimukh and asian-highway-energizer bunnies are going to have a heyday. But BD is one place where engineering an anti-incumbency wave is going to be an effort.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111469

Aug 21 Attack on Hasina, AL Rally
It was Hawa Bhaban plot
The Daily Star investigation reveals some characters behind the chilling conspiracy to kill Hasina; Babar 'supplied' grenades; Huji used as mercenary group ----- Julfikar Ali Manik

It was a long, dark plot. A chilling conspiracy was getting final touches in an eerie August of 2004, a month that brings to mind the memories of a past bloodbath. The plot for a high-profile assassination was awaiting approval, again.

On August 14: At Hawa Bhaban -- the alternative powerhouse of the BNP-led coalition government. At least nine people sat to discuss a recommendation coming from a series of meetings in the past. The Awami League was branded as the archenemy for the country and Islam, and it was recommended that its president Sheikh Hasina must die. State minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, prime minister's political secretary Harris Chowdhury, a fugitive killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a top Jamaat leader, two Huji founders and one leader of Al Markajul Islami found no reason to disagree. In the presence of a top Hawa Bhaban bigwig, they chose to kill.

On August 15: At the same office, the same group sat again. This time they discussed how to accomplish the mission. The fugitive killer suggested Hasina be attacked at her home, on road or at a rally. They settled for a rally, just six days away.

Now it was time they chose weapons. “Grenades are no problem,” said Babar. Earlier on April 2, 10 truckloads of smuggled arms and ammunition were seized in Chittagong and two more trucks reportedly went missing. They decided to use grenades and rifles in the operation that was to be carried out either at Muktangon or in front of AL's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue. The government was dithering over the permission for the rally.

The Daily Star obtained a highly privileged document in which a top accused of the grenade carnage gave some descriptions about how the killing mission had been organised. Most of the people whose names surfaced in the narration are either in jail or on the run and could not be contacted for comment. Apart from Huji leaders, this correspondent talked with investigators and intelligence officials involved with the probe over the last five years, who privately disclosed that Huji men had been used like mercenaries.

Huji made the first abortive attempt in Kotalipara way back in 2000, led by its leader Mufti Abdul Hannan. Several groups had since pressed ahead with plots to assassinate Hasina, and the August 21, 2004 attempt was apparently under the patronage of some BNP-Jamaat leaders, said several intelligence and Huji sources. Detained Salam Pintu is also maintaining the story he told interrogators upon his arrest in 2008 that the administration and Hawa Bhaban were behind the bloodletting. “Go and interrogate Babar and beyond. You will find the truth,” he was quoted as saying by different sources.

Jailed already for 17 years in an arms case, Babar was finally shown arrested in the case yesterday. The Criminal Investigation Department will now quiz Babar to dig more into his alleged role and identify people beyond him in manipulating the administration to orchestrate the horrendous attack on Bangabandhu Avenue that missed its prime target Hasina but left 23 dead and over 300 injured for life.

However, investigators are not sure as yet if the hair-raising conspiracy was designed with or without the knowledge of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia. The alleged conspirators next gathered at Babar's official residence on Bailey Road without the Hawa Bhaban bigwig. A friend of Babar, who was a transport businessman, was present for the first time at the meeting. He handed over Tk 50,000 to Huji leaders for petty expenses upon a review of nitty-gritty in the mission.

On August 18: Babar arrived at Abdus Salam Pintu's residence along with two black jeeps. At his instruction, BNP man Arifur Rahman Arif handed over a dozen of grenades to Huji leaders. Arif, also a Dhaka City Corporation commissioner from ward 53, is now in jail for links to two blast incidents at a CPB rally in Paltan and Narayanganj. Sources said he had been also interrogated over his involvement in the August 21 incidents while on remand. At the time, Mufti Hannan was present along with Moulana Tajuddin, the younger brother of Salam Pintu who has strong connections with Pakistan-based extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Two boxes contained five grenades each and two more were partially wrapped. The grenades were marked with 'POF' (Pakistan Ordnance Factories), Huji sources told The Daily Star. Though the exact number of attackers could not be confirmed, the document unearthed the presence of several groups apart from the Huji to carry out operations on the day. It also claimed that 15 people from Jamaat took part in the attack.

The assailants struck at 5:22 in the afternoon. An influential Huji leader blamed the failure on a lack of coordination among the groups even though they were reportedly assisted by a section of policemen and intelligence officials on the spot. None of the available documents -- the charge sheet of Fazlul Kabir, the third investigation officer in the case, and the confessional statement of Mufti Hannan -- could reveal all the details of the conspiracy before.

Preferring not to be named, a number of officials involved with the investigations told The Daily Star that the truth was buried deep under a heap of lies as Babar led the cover-up mission as soon as the operation fell through. With the nation reeling from shocks, a few groups of intelligence and police officials were busy then destroying, not collecting, evidence systematically from the crime scene. The evidence that could have been invaluable in the probes was swept under the rug, with unexploded grenades being detonated within nine hours after the attack. Two bodies were reported unclaimed and buried in Azimpur graveyard, without any post-mortem.

Steps had been taken to initiate stage-managed probes and fictitious characters were produced out of the blue to scuttle investigations throughout the tenure of coalition government. Even a judicial investigation came into play a day after the attack. The one-man inquiry commission of Justice Joynul Abedin found out the hand of 'a foreign enemy country' in the incident in a quick probe that took only 40 days.

Under the direct supervision of Babar, a criminal investigation led to the arrest of 20 people, including a student, Shaibal Saha Partha, and AL leader and ward commissioner Mokhlesur Rahman. The arrestees had experienced a lot of harassment and torture but were not found guilty in the charge sheet.

A strange twist appeared in the mockery of probes as the government disclosed that a mere criminal gang had carried out the attacks and flashed the 'confession' of one Joj Miah as proof. Finally, the caretaker administration found that those confessional statements had been obtained by force at the diktat of the BNP-led government. CID investigators and supervising officer Ruhul Amin involved with the probe were found to have paid Joj Miah's family Tk 2,000 a month during his detention. Joj Miah walked out of jail recently but three CID officials were 'assigned' to mislead the investigation by their own department.

Upon arrest on October 1, 2005, Mufti Hannan blurted out the involvement of his outfit in all terror attacks including the one of August 21. He was shown arrested in all but the August 21 case during the rule of BNP-Jamaat government. His confession was made officially public in 2007 during Fakhruddin Ahmed's caretaker rule. Former CID inspector Munshi Atiqur Rahman said he tried for long to arrest Hannan following several bomb and grenade attacks but was not successful as the BNP-Jamaat government was 'reluctant'. "They were soft on Mufti," said Atiq, adding that even a number of former ministers and lawmakers recommended relieving Hannan of different cases.

The blatant manipulation of the administration by the BNP government was nothing new, as its front-ranking leaders led by Tarique Rahman, Babar, and Aminul Haque made headlines by patronising Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh from 2004. Bangla Bhai, hanged by the caretaker government in 2007, boasted his relationship with Tarique and visits to Hawa Bhaban. However, amid AL insistence on international probes, the government had eventually let the FBI, Interpol and Scotland Yards fly in. But none of their observations or findings was made public.

On the other hand, Tarique's trip to the US in May 2005 following FBI's several visits to Bangladesh raised a lot of questions, speculation and curiosity both at home and abroad. Strangely, Tarique visited both Pentagon and FBI along with former National Security Intelligence boss Major General (retd) Rezakul Haider Chowdhury. The outcome of the meetings is still under wraps. Rezakul Haider is now detained and shown arrested in the 10-truck ammo haul case. Also, Tarique reportedly went to Dubai along with Rezakul for a meeting with mafia don Daud Ibrahim months before the lethal consignment smuggled into Chittagong.

Meanwhile, officials involved with the investigation appeared hopeful that more of the truth behind the attack is bound to come out in the further investigation by CID. “Point of a compass can be taken from north to south by force, but, when freed, it comes back to its right place. In a free investigation, the truth will come out like that,” an investigator told The Daily Star. But Salam Pintu differed in May while being quizzed again during the further investigation. “What is the point in having a further probe as the charge sheet as it is doesn't represent a complete investigation? A fresh investigation will only expose the links of all influential people behind the attacks.”

[Stan_Savljevic]

Abdur Rezzak Khan, counsel for death convict Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, presenting a witness' testimony said: "Ziaur Rahman was told that the president was dead. Zia in his reply said, 'So what? The vice president is there. Uphold the constitution.'"

Amazes me, BD has a law that allows them to arrest people and detain them and "show them as arrested" much later. I thought this was somewhat like habeus corpus, no, seems far more sinister. They "showed" erstwhile minister Lutfozaman Babar had been arrested in the Aug 21 case a long time after being detained, to help the matters he was already arrested in a different case. But the other recent "showed" "famous" arrestees include HuJI boss Mufti Hannan, NSI top honcho Rezakul Haider, Rid pharma boss Mizanur Rahman who sold corrupt cold syrups that caused paralysis and deaths in kids. These are creme de la creme of BD society, imagine the plight of normal bakras.

To add to this, we have constant cross-fire deaths with RAB, soldiers dying of heart attacks and cirrhosis, outlaws murdered at random, cross-party riots, hartals and mayhem, truly a law-abiding citizen must feel totally stoopid in BD. Heh, if any of you reading this, dont worry guys, you have company .

This threat reminds me of SAMS Kibria, RIP.

Attorney gen, Indian HC get death threat
Anonymous letter demands release of Bangabandhu killers

An anonymous person has threatened to kill Attorney General Mahbubey Alam along with his family members unless the convicts in the Bangabandhu Assassination case are released in 15 days. Alam received a death threat letter by post in the evening. The letter, addressed to the attorney general and dated October 3, reads, "The accused of Mujib murder case have been put behind bars unjustly. You along with your family members will die if they are not released in 15 days". Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty also received an e-mail that issued threats on his life and also threatened to make bomb-attack at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

MAHBUBEY ALAM

The attorney general told The Daily Star that the letter might be sent by any lawyer who does not want him to run the case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. "I am running some crucial cases including a few against BNP leaders including Khaleda Zia. Several attempts have already been made to stop me from conducting the case against the BNP chief," he said. The attorney general said most people did not know the correct spelling of his name but it was spelt correctly in the letter. It indicates that whoever had sent the letter knew him very well. "A quarter has been spreading propaganda against me. But I am not afraid of any threat that comes in the way of my duties," he said. Alam said he informed the home minister and the police about the letter. "The home minister told me not to panic and discharge my duties properly," he said.

Meantime, State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku told reporters at his office that they had asked the law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter and take stern action against the culprits. Tuku pointed his finger at anti-liberation war forces and associates of Bangabandhu's killers for making the death threat. He said the anti-liberation war forces along with a vested quarter are out to destroy the sprit of the Liberation War but they will be resisted. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President AFM Mesbahuddin and its Secretary SM Rezaul Karim condemned and protested the death threat to the attorney general and his family. In a statement, they demanded immediate arrest and punishment of the people responsible. They claimed that the death threat to the attorney general after the bomb attack on Taposh, a state lawyer in Bangabandhu murder case, indicates connection between Bangabandhu's killers and the senders of the letter.

INDIAN HC

The Indian high commissioner informed the home ministry about the death threat mentioning that the threat was sent to him using the name of al-Qaeda. Sources said after the incident, security measures have been beefed up at the high commissioners' offices and embassies of different countries as well as at the diplomatic zone. Meanwhile, the home ministry also requested the Indian High Commission to shift its office. Sources said additional Rab and police personnel have been deployed in the diplomatic zone to ensure security for the high commission offices. According to the sources, on request of the Indian High Commission office, 11 check posts have been set up in the commission area while public movement has been restricted within 120 feet of the office perimeter. Home Minister Sahara Khatun, State Minister for Home Shamsul Huq Tuku and Home Secretary Abdus Salam Sikder talked to Pinak and assured him of total security.

[Stan_Savljevic]

All indications are that the "top Hawa Bhaban bigwig" who took part in the assassination plot was either Tarique Rahman, BKZ's son or BKZ herself. Wow, no wonder SHW is going hammer and tongs at BNP, she has had her nine lives, all this public brouhaha may ensure that BKZ will take off in self-exile or she wont win the next elections. Whatever is going on, needs more attention, this is a system in tremendous flux, I wont be surprised if coordinated bum blasts take place all over BD tomorrow.

DB arrests suspected Indian separatist

Dhaka, Oct 28 (bdnews24.com) – Detective Branch on Tuesday arrested a close associate of Jiban Singh, chief of the outlawed Kamtapur Liberation Organisation who is also suspected of stealing Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize medal. Thirty-year-old Tapan Patwari, also known as Palash Dash, was arrested near a mosque in the capital's Hazaribagh area, Hazaribagh Police Station sub-inspector Ruhul Amin told bdnews24.com. A case was filed against him Tuesday afternoon for illegal entry into Bangladesh, Amin said. A DB police officer, requesting anonymity, said
Tapan is also alleged to be one of the top leaders of the outlawed KLO, fighting for a separate state for Rajbongshi tribals in the northern part of West Bengal, and wanted in the Tagore Nobel theft case.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=145759&cid=2&aoth=1

Govt okays BDR proposal to disband 4 battalions

The government has approved a proposal from Bangladesh Rifles for disbanding four of its battalions for direct involvement in the BDR mutiny. Battalions 13, 24, 36 and 44 at the Pilkhana BDR headquarters actively participated in the February 25-26 mutiny that claimed lives of 74 people including 57 army officials. "We have approved the BDR proposal for disbanding the four battalions," said Home Affairs Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder. He told The Daily Star that most members of the four battalions were involved in the mutiny. The secretary said since they have been detained, the four battalions now don't have enough manpower to operate as individual units. He said the BDR has given the government a proposal for replacing the four battalions with new ones but their names are yet to be finalised.

"We have received government permission and will disband the four battalions at the end of the process of trying the mutineers," said BDR Director General Maj Gen Mainul Islam. He said a few members of the four battalions would be attached to other battalions. Gen Mainul however said those who are in the four battalions will not lose their jobs after the disbanding. He said they will provide the home ministry with the names of the new battalions after finalising them. BDR in its reform proposals to the home ministry proposed disbanding of the four battalions and replacing them with new ones.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111768\

Ex-DIG quizzed in Ctg arms haul case

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) here yesterday interrogated former deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Shamsul Islam in connection with the sensational Chittagong arms haul case. Shamsul Islam was the DIG of special branch and a member of the five-member probe committee the home ministry formed following the seizure of ten truckloads of firearms on April 02, 2004. The investigators started quizzing Shamsul Islam around 10:45am and continued till 4:30pm at the CID Chittagong divisional headquarters at Dampara Police Lines.

They inquired about the high-level probe committee's findings that implicated only five persons creating scope for most of those involved in the incident escape the charge, said the sources in CID. The former DIG said they had to submit the probe report in a haste following the directive of former home secretary Omar Faruk who led the probe body, the sources added. Besides, the investigation was in the primary stage while time constraint was also a factor, said Muniruzzaman Chowdhury, investigation officer (IO) of the case and a senior ASP of CID Chittagong region, quoting Shamsul Islam.

The then National Security Intelligence (NSI) director Enamur Rahman Chowdhury, another member of the committee, would also be interrogated within next two weeks, said IO Muniruzzaman. Former DGFI director Maj Gen (retd) Rezaqul Haider Chowdhury and former CID DIG Farruk Ahmed Chowdhury were also in the probe committee as members. Rezaqul is now behind bars in connection with the case.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111778

Non-Banking Financial Institutions asked to freeze Hizb-ut-Tahrir's A/Cs

Dhaka, 27 October : The central bank of Bangladesh has ordered the non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) to freeze accounts of the banned Hizb ut Tahrir Bangladesh, officials told reporters. The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, issued a fresh order in this connection on Monday and asked the chief executives of the country's 29 NBFIs to find out the organization's accounts and freeze them. The fresh order came a day after the central bank asked the chief executives of the country's 48 commercial banks to freeze accounts of the banned Islamic outfit.

Political matters within BD:

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday said the possibility of their return to parliament is becoming slim due to autocratic attitude of the present Awami League-led government. "The government is showing such a hostile attitude towards opposition leaders and workers that it is spoiling the atmosphere in and outside parliament and making slim the possibility of our lawmakers to return to the House," he said at a press briefing at the chairperson's Gulshan office in the city.

The High Court yesterday granted an anticipatory bail for six months to BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury in a defamation case filed in Panchagarh. The High Court bench of Justice AFM Abdur Rahman and Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad also issued a rule upon the government to explain within four weeks why SQ Chowdhury should not be granted regular bail in the case.

But Mufti Hannan has been recently shown arrested in the 2004 bombing case, how can he be produced in court so soon?

A Sylhet court yesterday again deferred charge-framing against the accused in the case for bomb attack on Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta's public meeting in Sunamganj in 2004 as prime accused Mufti Abdul Hannan could not be produced in the court. Judge Mohammad Mahbub Ul Islam of the Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal fixed November 15 for framing charges against the accused, court sources said. Five of the six other accused --Mufti Hannan's younger brother Mofizul Islam alias Mohibullah, Shariful Alam Bipul, Delwar Hossain Ripon, Hafij Nayeem Ahmed and Mufti Main Uddin-- were produced in the court. Another accused Naziur Rahman Nazu has been absconding since the incident.

By issuing the order to arrest Abdul Jalil the Awami League government has committed a blunder, because it came in the wake of Abdul Jalil's comments which he made on September 22, 2009. In a media interview in London, the Awami League lawmaker said that the party had reached an understanding with the immediate past military-backed government before the December 29 election.

A Dhaka court has fixed Nov 30 for submission of the investigation report in an ACC money-laundering case against Tarique Rahman and business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun. Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Mohammad Abdur Rahim set the date after receiving the case files on Tuesday. Anticorruption Commission assistant director Mohammad Ibrahim filed the case with Cantonment Police Station the day before.

Tarique and Mamun are accused of laundering Tk 20.4 crore (Tk 204 million) from Bangladesh by several routes to Singapore that violated the Money Laundering Act, Dhaka Cantonment police chief Hosne Ara Begum told bdnews24.com, quoting the case details. Ibrahim told bdnews24.com that Mamun received the money in exchange for awarding a work contract for a proposed 80MW power plant at Tongi. The amount was deposited to a Citi N.A. account in Singapore.

"Tarique is also accused as he was also a beneficiary of the money," Ibrahim said. Mamun has previously been questioned by a special taskforce about the laundering during the past caretaker government. Later, the amount, transacted in Bangladeshi currency, was recovered by the government and deposited in the Sonali Bank, Ibrahim said. Tarique, elder son of former prime minister and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia, is in London for medical treatment on bail from the Supreme Court. He already faces 14 graft cases against him. Mamun is currently behind bars in Bangladesh also facing a raft of corruption cases.

Bangla team on trade recce

Guwahati, Oct. 28: A seven-member business delegation from Bangladesh will meet industry representatives and government officials of Assam tomorrow to explore opportunities for investment in the state. The team comprises members of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With the demand for Bangladeshi products increasing in the Northeast, the delegation will seek to convey its interest of tapping the region’s market from a broader perspective, to the Assam government. The team will also invite the business community of the region to enter into joint ventures, especially in the mining-based industry.

Annisul Huq is leading the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry while the India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry is being led by Abdul Matlub Ahmad. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry is the apex representative organisation safeguarding the interests of the private sector (trade and industry) in Bangladesh. The team is expected to meet chief minister Tarun Gogoi tomorrow. Apart from providing a platform for one-to-one interactions among the entrepreneurs, prospects of trade and investments between Assam and Bangladesh will also be discussed in detail during the meeting.

An official of the Indian Chamber of Commerce said an interactive session was planned for tomorrow where the state government would be represented by industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi and other top officials from the industry department. A river cruise is also being thrown in for the Bangladesh delegation. The Assam government will apprise the delegation on the new initiatives being taken up to speed up industrialisation besides the creation of an investment cell. The investment cell, which is a single point source for investors seeking information and assistance in the various sectors of investment in the state, will help them establish their industrial units.

The previous talks between India and Bangladesh in September had been fruitful on the trade front as both sides discussed designating Ashuganj as a new port of call under article 23 of the Inland Water Transit and Trade Agreement as well as the use of Chittagong port by India. Bangladesh had agreed to provide access to the Ashuganj port to facilitate transportation of over dimensional consignments for the Palatana power project in Tripura. The neighbouring country specifically raised the issue of duty-free access to Bangladeshi commodities, removal of non-tariff barriers and improvement of infrastructure on the Indian side.

http://telegraphindia.com/1091029/jsp/n ... 669932.jsp

[Stan_Savljevic]

If the Jatiya Sangsad deliberations by the AL MPs are posted here, people will accuse me of being "unparliamentary." Yet that is exactly what is going on in JS. Conspiracy theories and counter-conspiracy theories are not the forte of brf alone, I pity the boor voter in BD.

Future trial of BDR under army act ---- Govt to notify soon

The government is planning to issue a gazette notification stating that any future mutiny and other offences in paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) will be tried under the army act. Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder confirmed The Daily Star that the matter has been under the government's consideration. Meanwhile, highly placed sources said the government already drafted the gazette and will finalise its content today at a meeting in the law minister's official residence.

The move came as the BDR headquarter in its recent proposal to the home ministry had said the gazette notification is very necessary prior to the start of the trial process of the recent mutineers, which is likely to start early next month. In the proposal, the BDR headquarter said the notification will help boost the morale of the command structure at all levels of the force, and the upcoming trial of the recent mutineers will also be benefited. Sources said today's meeting is expected to be attended by Law Minister Shafique Ahmed, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan who is coordinating the BDR reformation process on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Law Secretary Kazi Habibul Awal, BDR Director General Maj Gen Mainul Islam, and legal experts.

The meeting was called as BDR in its proposal just a few days ago also suggested holding of a coordination meeting immediately. The meeting is also expected to review whether there will be any legal complication, if future mutiny like offences in BDR are to be tried under the Army Act 1952. One of the officials who is expected to be present at the meeting told The Daily Star that there will be no legal complication as the decision will be applicable to future incidents.

Talking to The Daily Star, Faruk Khan said the government decided to try any future mutiny or other offences in BDR under the army act. The trials of serious offences like killings and lootings during the recent BDR mutiny however will be held in speedy trial tribunals on completion of investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department of police. The BDR DG will lead the upcoming trials in the six divisional cities.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111915
The chicom oiseaules trying to act like big brother

BD-Myanmar ----- China hopes for peaceful solution to disputes

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Xianyi said the disputes and disagreements between Bangladesh and Myanmar on issues like maritime boundary could be solved only by peaceful negotiation. "There may be disputes and disagreements between the neighbours. I think the problem would be solved by peaceful negotiation," he told the journalists at the Meet the Reporters session at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) yesterday. DRU organised the event on Bangladesh-China bilateral relations. Quoting Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, he said there was no tension on Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Asked whether China would agree to mediate the border disputes between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said neither side has approached them yet. Replying to a question, he said, "It's my strong belief that military attack is not the solution to any issue."

The Chinese ambassador said China and Bangladesh are close neighbours enjoying traditional and time-tested friendship and both the countries have gained fruitful and genuine cooperation in all fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations. Xianyi said the economic cooperation between China and Bangladesh is gaining momentum and the trade volume in 2008 amounted to about $4.67 billion. "We are now planning to implement several aid projects in Bangladesh, including the seventh Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, two rural primary schools and Bangladesh-China Exhibition Centre," he said.

Asked about trade gap between the two countries, he said he would do his best to explore the potentials of trade in the country in order to reduce the trade gap. "We want to import more from Bangladesh," he said. "We buy about 10 percent exportable jute and jute products from Bangladesh and we could buy jute, leather, frozen seafood, tea and textile from Bangladesh," he added. {Wow, wow where are the BNP, J-e-I and JP oiseaules protesting the trade imbalances?} He also invited Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to attend the trade fairs in China to introduce their products.

Regarding the Bangladesh-Myanmar-China highway, the envoy said China wants to be connected with Chittagong via Myanmar. {Yes, the chinis prefer the route via Teknaf and not the Temabil one because India and BD will benefit with the latter, but only BD will benefit with the former. But but wait puh-lease, BD can do squat now that it has signed the agreement unless India, Burma and BD all jointly agree for changing the sub-regional highway via Teknaf to a regional status. In other words, BNP and the 4-party coalition by not signing the agreement by the due date only weakened BD's hands because if they had signed by the due date, they would have had more power to coerce India to bless the sub-regional highway to a regional one than they have now. Truly, for ye poor Bangladeshis, those who vow to protect your H&D turn out to be ignoramuses of the neanderthal kind. Karma is truly a biatch, take that.} The proposed highway was under consideration of the three governments, he said adding, "Bangladesh-Myanmar-China road is still on the table. All governments are positive about the project." {Yes, and it will remain on the table for as long as it is economically more viable to use the Temabil-Benapole route, thank you.}

Asked whether China is going to construct a dam upstream on the Brahmaputra river, he said the spokesman for the Chinese government made it clear that the news in the Indian media about constructing dam is inconsistent with the fact. China would come up with consultation with Bangladesh if it wants to do anything that would have an impact on the country, he said. {Yes, chinis will apologize to Nigeria for sending them fake drugs in the Indian name, they will explain to BD about constructing dams on what is the life source for BD, and yet they could nt give a squat about explaining India about much. Heh, chicom drones, every dawg that you dont eat today will have its day, and no the Injun dawg is not up for sale now that your drones in the govt have been thrown out.}

DRU president Shamim Ahmad was in the chair while general secretary Pathik Saha, among others, addressed the session.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111916

India may allow Nepalese trucks into Bangladesh

The Indian government is considering allowing Nepalese trucks to enter Bangladesh territory, an official release said here yesterday. The discussion between Commerce Minister Faruk Khan and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma during the Safta Ministerial Council meeting held in Kathmandu on Wednesday. India is developing land customs infrastructure, the Indian minister informed. Both the ministers emphasised the importance of enhancing bilateral trade while Faruk Khan requested his Indian counterpart to withdraw the 4 percent special additional duty levied on items that enjoy duty- free access under Safta provisions. The Indian minister agreed to consider it too.

Commerce Minister Faruk also met his Nepal counterpart Rajendra Mehta when the trade relations between the two countries came up for discussion. In a response to a request from Faruk to Nepal to lift the ban on export of lentils, the Nepalese minister agreed to consider, according to the same release. He also requested encouraging the Nepalese importers to import Bangladeshi medicines. Both the ministers agreed to hold commerce secretary-level talks in December in Dhaka.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=111956

Anisul Huq, the president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said both the countries could progress much more, as there was a huge trade potential. “We have enough potential to do business with Assam,” Huq said, adding that infrastructure in the border areas was still weak. The non-tariff barrier is still a big impediment.

Abdul Matlub Ahmad, the president of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the idea of shipping readymade garments and knit garments to Assam under the duty free quota of 8 million pieces, of which still around 4 million was still unutilised, should be explored. Ahmad said the joint efforts of the trade chambers of both the countries paid dividends and paved the way for Bangladesh to start export of products to Tripura.

“Possibilities of export of new products from Bangladesh should be explored, as the country is near Assam and there is an advantage of lower transportation costs,” Ahmad said. He added that Assam had significant natural resources that could find markets in Bangladesh and items like limestone, coal and other minerals could be utilised to set up joint ventures.

Ravi Capoor, the commissioner of the industries and commerce department of Assam, said the Suterkandi trade centre was functioning well but the infrastructure at the corresponding site in Bangladesh was inadequate. Trade centres are also coming up at Golokganj and Mankachar.

http://telegraphindia.com/1091030/jsp/n ... 675170.jsp

Bangladesh rounds up 3,000 in anti-militancy drive

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police have detained 3,000 suspected Islamist militants in just two days after a bomb attack on a lawmaker and threats against Indian interests and a top prosecutor, a security official said on Thursday. Eight grenades, 28 firearms, dozens of ammunition and 30 motorbikes were seized in the nationwide crackdown, launched on Wednesday and the biggest since the government took power in January. "We have detained 15 hardcore Islamists and about 3,000 suspected militants in the past two days," a senior police officer said.

http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsia ... 7620091029

[Sachin]

Amazes me, BD has a law that allows them to arrest people and detain them and "show them as arrested" much later.

Are you sure about this? It may not be a law (because that is like legalising illegal detention), but a wide-spread practise. Indian police agencies also do this regularly. The chap whom they want would already be inside the lock-up, every information pulled out of him and then an arrest is registered with some times amusing narrations like - "SI xyz and party doing night patrol at abc R.S found the wanted man waiting to board a long distance train".

I thought this was somewhat like habeus corpus, no, seems far more sinister

Habeous Corpus is a legal provision to thwart illegal detention (by police or any other person/group as well). Habeus Corpus writ is generally filed by the missing chap's friends/relatives etc.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Amazes me, BD has a law that allows them to arrest people and detain them and "show them as arrested" much later.

Are you sure about this? It may not be a law (because that is like legalising illegal detention), but a wide-spread practise.

It may not be a law as such, but noone seems to be complaining in the media about this aspect. That plus regular cross-fires or BDR soldiers just dropping dead. Sure BD press culture is very different than the bunnies in our media, but still... If I dig something interesting, I will post here.

Meanwhile, interesting tidbits in BNP vs the daily star, rejoinder + rebuttal. Posting only selected bits, read the full contents from
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=112196

3. As to sourcing, our story is based on those whose authenticity we have verified independently. It is the product of a long investigation starting from the bloodbath itself. As we watched with horror the repeated attempts made to divert the investigation, especially by the then state minister for home and some key investigating agencies, we decided to follow the story on our own. Our report is the fruit of years of hard investigation.

5. We respect BNP's right to reject our story. At the same time, we think the readers have a right to know where our story is untrue, weak or distorted. We have mentioned by name Lutfozzaman Babar, Harris Chowdhury and Abdus Salam Pintu of being involved in the plot to assassinate Sheikh Hasina. The rejoinder does not refute any of these. It is rather silent on the three, two of who held important ministerial positions and the other was the political secretary to the then prime minister. It only protests the mention of two names--Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman. The former appears more to prove her innocence rather than guilt. As for the latter, the facts speak for themselves.

9, 10 and 11. Here the rejoinder claims that the investigation was diverted during the state of emergency. The fact is while Khaleda Zia as prime minister promised proper investigation, her party started holding AL responsible for the grenade attack within days into the blasts. On September 2, 2004, the then prime minister said the attack on AL rally was a "conspiracy to mar her government's image". Anybody familiar with our political parlance can understand who she was holding responsible for the so-called conspiracy. On September 13, 2004, BNP lawmakers directly blamed AL for the August 21 carnage, terming it "a pre-planned game". On September 15, 2004, BNP MP Shamsuzzoha Khan said in parliament that AL itself exploded bombs at its rally as part of a conspiracy against the government. On the same day Foreign Minister Morshed Khan in parliament said, "We know who sheds crocodile tears meeting foreign envoys and who takes money for treatment from where." The same day BNP MPs asked the government to take action against AL. September 2 that year Law Minister Moudud Ahmed said certain quarters had initiated a massive anti-Bangladesh campaign immediately after 2001 election trying to portray Bangladesh as a terrorist country. "I think the August 21 incident is part of that campaign," he added. On June 13, 2005, BNP lawmakers alleged in parliament that "extremist elements in AL" were involved in the August 21 grenade attack, and that Sheikh Hasina was giving false statements to divert public attention. Fazlur Rahman Patal, the then state minister for youth and sports, said, “The cat has come out of the bag during interrogation, and facts reveal their [AL men] involvement in the grenade attack." Kalimuddin Ahmed, another BNP MP, made similar statement amid loud desk-thumping by his party colleagues including the then Leader of the House Khaleda Zia. Perhaps the most glaring example of attempts to divert the investigation was the Joj Miah chapter. A hapless person, Joj was forced into admitting involvement in the blasts and was later found to have been paid by an investigation agency. So much for the caretaker administration diverting the BNP government's "proper" investigation into the August 21 attack. {A frontal attack, if there is one}

16. Tarique Rahman's links with Bangla Bhai, the notorious killer who was hanged during the caretaker rule, was stated by IG Police Nur Mohammed in an interview with this paper in June 2007. Nur Mohammed said Tarique had been supporting Bangla Bhai's militant activities. It may be mentioned here that at the initial stage the BNP government had denied the existence of Bangla Bhai and termed him a creation of the media.

Meanwhile, elsewhere

Attack on Taposh ----- Swapan, Rahim remanded again

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Kamrul Haque Swapan and Freedom Party leader Abdur Rahim on fresh four-day remand each in a case filed in connection with the bomb attack on Awami League lawmaker Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. Assistant Commissioner of Police Akbar Hossain, also investigation officer of the case, produced Swapan, younger brother of Bangabandhu murder case convict Maj (retd) Dalim, and Abdur Rahim before the court with a prayer for seven-day remand each. The court of Magistrate AKM Emdaul Haque granted four-day remands for both of them.

In the forwarding letter placed before the court, Akbar said police found Swapan and Rahim's link with the attack on Taposh. Following information gleaned from the two, police made four arrests, he stated. He also said police gleaned important information from Swapan and Rahim about the August 15, 1975 killings as well. On Friday police took Mehnaz Rashid Khandaker, eldest daughter of Lt Col (retd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, on a fresh four-day remand after grilling her on a five-day remand in the bomb attack case. {It is amazing that BD police can arrest family members at will and still get away with it, Jee, these laws can be abused so easily. It just reminds me of that paki video where the old peole get thrashed for their kids fighting the baki army.}

On October 23, detectives arrested Swapan, and Rahim on October 22 in connection with the attack. The following day they were taken on eight days' remand. Mehnaz was arrested on October 24 and placed on a five day-remand in the first spell of remands in this connection while Nazmul Hasna alias Sohel and his younger brother Mahbubul Hasan, sons of Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed, a convict in Bangabandhu murder case, were arrested on October 27 and later placed on five days' remand. Detective police arrested six people for their suspected links with the bomb attack and of the arrestees, four are from the families of convicted killers of Bangabandhu.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=112208

Bangladesh losing edge in tea exports ---- Shahidul Islam, Chittagong

Bangladesh continues to lose edge in tea exports because of increasing domestic consumption that takes up around 90 percent of annual production, a reversal of a two-decade trend. Once a global competitor to tea giants such as Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, the country saw the export volume coming down to 10 percent in recent years. Total domestic consumption is around 50 million kilograms. Industry insiders assume that Bangladesh will require tea imports in five to six years if the current pace of internal consumption continues. The annual tea output remains static for the last 10 years -- between 53 and 56 million kg -- barring 2005 and 2008 when the figures were 60 million and 58 million kg respectively. Around 56 million kg of tea is also this year's projected production.

Even in a period between 1985 and 1990, Bangladesh used to export up to 90 percent of its total tea and the importers include Pakistan, Afghanistan, former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. But domestic tea consumption has increased so much in the last five years and the country exports only five to six million kg. As a result, most previous importing countries lost interest in Bangladeshi tea, exports of which are now confined to Pakistan and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Other factors that contributed to the present tea sector scenario include low hectare-wise production, lack of development initiatives and replacement of century-old saplings. Some gardens in Moulvibazar and Sylhet region in recent times however showed a remarkable improvement in quality and raising per-hectare production because of their adherence to pragmatic initiatives, according to the sector people.

Taking the current rate of domestic consumption into consideration, the figure in Bangladesh will stand at 500 gram after five to six years, meaning the country will need to import around 20 million kg of tea to meet internal demand. Bangladesh is also lagging in hectare-wise production of tea, compared to major tea producing and exporting countries such as Sri Lanka, India, China and Kenya, said Abu Taher, vice-chairman of Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh. He said the local tea gardens on an average produce 1200 to 1250 kg per hectare, some a maximum of 2500 kg and a few selective ones 3000 kg and more. On the other hand, per hectare production ranges from 3000 to 3500 kg or more in Sri Lanka, India and Kenya. Arif Rahman Shahin, senior executive of Purba Bangla Brokers Ltd, observed that the country failed to make any great leap in hectare-wise production in the last 62 years since the 1947 partition.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=112179

C&F agents urge govt to keep Bhomra port under Khulna customs

Clearing and forwarding agents (C&F) yesterday urged the government not to shift Bhomra Land Port to Benapole Customs Commissionerate from Khulna Customs Commissionerate. The C&F agents made the demand at a press conference in Satkhira yesterday. The finance ministry placed Bhomra land port under Benapole Customs Commissionerate in September. In 2000, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged at a meeting in Satkhira to upgrade the port for expansion of foreign trade, the C&F agents said. But a vested quarter is now hatching a conspiracy against the port ignoring Hasina's pledge, speakers alleged.

Bhomra Land Port, established in 1996, earned Tk 123 crore in revenue in fiscal 2008-09, higher from Tk 91 crore in fiscal 2007-08. The C&F agents said businessmen are now showing more interest in the land port for export and import trading, as the port is closer to Kolkata. The construction of Mawa Bridge on the Padma will also decrease the distance from Dhaka to Bhomra. On the other hand, the Indian government has taken steps to upgrade Ghojadanga land port -- across from Bhomra land port -- considering its importance. Bhomra Land Port Clearing and Forwarding Agents (C&F) Association General Secretary Kazi Nawshad Dilwar Raju read out a statement while its President Ashrafuzzaman Ashu and others were present. The discussants threatened to take tough agitation if their demand is not met.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=112187

[pgbhat]

Huji founder Salam held AoA!!

[RoyG]

Two top ULFA leaders arrested in Bangladesh; handed over to India

5 November 2009

GUWAHATI: The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), an influential separatist group has claimed that two of its top leaders were arrested in
Bangladesh and then handed over to India, a spokesperson for the outlawed group said. There is, however, no confirmation from Dhaka or New Delhi.

The spokesperson said the outfit's foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury and finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika were picked up by Bangladeshi intelligence sleuths at midnight Sunday from a house in Dhaka's Uttara area.

"Seven to eight people in civvies took the two leaders saying the duo were being summoned for some interrogation by senior officials. After that there was no information of them and we suspect they might have been handed over to our enemies (meaning India)," ULFA's military spokesperson Raju Baruah told the local media via telephone and email.

Assam police and Indian intelligence officials expressed ignorance about the reports.

"We do not know anything about the developments if any. We have also not heard anything from Dhaka about any arrests being made," a home ministry official said.

New Delhi had in the past repeatedly claimed that northeast militants were operating out of bases in Bangladesh with several of their top leaders staying in safe houses in Dhaka. Bangladesh had earlier denied such allegations.

However, the new Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina assured New Delhi of all support and cooperation to evict any Indian separatists from Bangladesh.

Last month, Bangladeshi State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku was quoted by their country's media that the government had directed the law enforcement agencies to crack down on ULFA bases in view of intelligence reports that the outfit was planning major strikes in Dhaka.

A top ULFA leader Amal Das was arrested by security forces in Dhaka last month, as part of a crackdown, media reports from Bangladesh said.

India and Bangladesh do not have an extradition treaty.

ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia -- in a Dhaka prison since 1997 -- is in Bangladesh due to the absence of any extradition agreement between the two countries, despite New Delhi's formal appeals to hand him over for trial in India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 198638.cms

[Stan_Savljevic]

Some more details...

However, unlike on previous occasions, the mail was not sent on Ulfa’s official letter pad. While Sasha Choudhury hails from Helosa village in Nalbari, Chitrabon Hazarika is from Jakhalabandha in Nagaon. The two are among the five remaining leaders in Ulfa’s top hierarchy, which also includes commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and Raju Barua.

http://telegraphindia.com/1091105/jsp/n ... 701805.jsp
To be read with,

A top Assam police official, however, said a few faulty moves by the army had compelled the cadres of the Bravo company of the 28 battalion not to join the pro-talks group, comprising cadres of the Alpha and Charlie companies. “Had the army been cautious and not carried out a series of killings of Ulfa cadres just before the ceasefire declaration of the pro-talks group, the entire battalion would have come overground.” He said the killings had scared B company cadres, including its leader, Bijoy Chinese, who then decided to stay away.

http://telegraphindia.com/1091105/jsp/n ... 698891.jsp
and, also....

Northeast to have new mechanism to tackle militants

IANS, Agartala, 4 November : To tackle guerrilla groups operating in India's northeast more effectively, a Regional Cooperation Mechanism (RCM) would soon be set up under which the police of the eight states, the central paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies would work in close coordination, a senior official said here Wednesday. The proposed RCM will be of help to the security agencies since guerrilla groups have developed links with each other and were using each other's territory to move about easily. "Under the proposed RCM, district police chiefs of all the eight northeastern states, intelligence and Central Para Military Force (CPMF) officials would work in close coordination and share information among each other," Tripura Director General of police (DGP) Pranay Sahay told IANS.

Dismantle 90 camps of northeast militants, BSF to tell Bangladesh

Agartala, 4 November : India’s Border Security Force (BSF) will ask its Bangladesh counterparts to dismantle around 90 camps and hideouts set up by northeastern Indian militants on their territory, officials said here Wednesday. A four-day meeting between senior officials of BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), that began Wednesday in Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh, will also seek to adopt strategies to jointly tackle infiltration, border crimes and other border related problems. “Though BDR and Bangladeshi security forces have of late taken some action against the Indian militants taking shelter in their territory, there are about 90 camps existing in Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeast Bangladesh and Sylhet besides other regions,” a BSF official told newspersons before leaving for Bangladesh.

An India-EU FTA will put BD, whose main export destination is EU, at severe loss of profit.

Bhutan may give free trade facility for most Bangladeshi items

Dhaka, 4 November : Bangladesh is likely to enjoy free trade facility for most of the items imported from Bhutan when the bilateral trade agreement is renewed during the four-day visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit the monarchy country on 6 November where commerce ministers of Bangladesh and Bhutan will sign the agreement on behalf of the respective countries. “Both sides examined the free trade agreement issues and Bhutan has already agreed to give the facility for their products exported to Bangladesh,” said an official preferring anonymity. Though Bhutan is likely to seek similar facility from Bangladesh during the prime minister’s visit to that country, no decision has been made yet.

Bangladesh, India, other SAARC states to prune negative lists

NEW DELHI, Nov 2 (bdnews24.com)--Bangladesh, India and five of the six other SAARC member-countries will prune their negative lists by 20 percent to boost regional trade under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). The move is aimed at increasing the number of goods that could be traded duty free under the SAFTA. Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma told journalists in New Delhi that Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives had agreed upon a Tariff Liberalization Programme (TLP) during the fourth meeting of the SAFTA Ministerial Council in Kathmandu last week.

Sharma, Bangladesh commerce minister Faruk Khan and their counterparts from five other SAARC countries attended the meet. Pakistan was represented by a senior official from Islamabad. The meeting decided that only the goods with substantial trade coverage would be taken out of the Sensitive Lists to ensure that the initiative results in trade creation. Apart from pruning the negative lists by 20 percent, the proposed TLP also includes bringing down the tariff on 30 percent of the tariff lines outside the Sensitive Lists to zero over the next two years. The TLP is to be confirmed by the member-states by December.

The SAFTA Ministerial Council exempted Bhutan, which has just last year transformed from an absolute monarchy to constitutional democratic monarchy, from accepting any time-bound programme to lessen the number of items on its negative lists. But it might appropriately accommodate some of the requests from other SAARC countries. The SAFTA came into existence on Jan 1, 2006, but the South Asian nations are still far away from harnessing the full potential of the free trade agreement, particularly due to the huge negative lists they maintained. For example, the negative list of India has 27 major exportable products of Bangladesh, including readymade garments, textile materials, footwear, meat, sports item, ceramic and tiles.

Sharma said that India had unilaterally withdrawn 264 items from its sensitive list for Bangladesh and other Least Developed Countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He said that intra-regional trade share in South Asia in 2008 was of the order of 4.31 per cent as against 27.06 per cent for Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "One needs to see the rapid integration within ASEAN and its emergence as an important economic bloc inAsia to understand the opportunities that beckoned SAARC and the unutilised potential in the region," said Sharma. The SAFTA Ministerial Council decided that the non LDC or NLDC countries would reduce the tariff lines taken out from the sensitive list by 0-5 per cent for the NLDCs over the next three years, LDCs would do the same to all contracting states in eight years and NLDCs for the LDCs in three years.

War-ravaged Sri Lanka has been given six years to reduce the tariff lines. A highly-placed official at the Indian's Ministry of Commerce said that an expert group had cleared the text of the Draft SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services and a deal could be signed during the 16th summit of the eight-nation bloc in Bhutan in April next year. This SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services would provide real and effective market access to all Contracting States in an equitable manner. Negotiations for schedule of specific commitments would take place in subsequent meetings keeping in view the national policy objectives, the level of development and the size of economies of Contracting States both overall and in individual sectors, said the official.

http://biz.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=4&id=146096

[Stan_Savljevic]

Something is a-cooking, eagle eyes says so...

Dhaka apparently plans to crack down on Indian insurgent groups in Bangladesh in the run-up to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s likely visit to India next month. “The next targets are Paresh Barua and (Ulfa chairman) Arabinda Rajkhowa, along with others like Ranjan Daimary of the National Democratic Front of Boroland and Jeevan Singh of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation,” a source said.

If that happens in the near future, Barua will have been apprehended after almost 20 years in Bangladesh. For most of these years, Dhaka had refused to acknowledge the presence of northeastern militant leaders on Bangladeshi soil. Since last year, however, there have been joint efforts by the border forces of both countries to contain militancy and catch their leaders. Dhaka apparently wants to repay New Delhi for its co-operation during the crisis last year, when the BSF had shown extreme restraint as the Bangladesh Rifles and the Bangladesh army fought each other.

Ulfa, however, has appealed to Dhaka to reveal the whereabouts of Sasha and Chitrabon, even hinting that Indian agents may have abducted the duo.

More juicy details at
http://telegraphindia.com/1091106/jsp/n ... 706418.jsp

But the chini connection to ulfa shop should not surprise anyone who has watched the arms drop case. Subir Bhowmik also hints that ulfa-yunan connection is a long-standing one that GoI has failed to bring about except for chai-biskoot sessions. So it is not like GoI is not aware of the chini oiseaule-ry. It is just that it is not clear to aam aadmi as to what the GoI's response/planned response is. Certainly re-opening the Khampa axis is not beyond dreams.

[Muppalla]

x posting here...

Here is the table i made with inputs from regular press release, bsf release and home ministry reports

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... utput=html

wrt bangla border, So as of march 09, of the sanctioned 3437 kms for fencing, we had fenced 2650 kms. I dont have data for april, may 2009 (but the overall data by month should be released in 2010 in the annual report). So in June, july, august, sep and oct, the table has details for roads, fencing and fencing in the rehaul. Apart from the usual fencing, some fencing (861 kms) has to be re-done. Of this rehaul until march 2009, 367 kms of fencing was done. And again i could not get data for april, may. For june until oct the table has data for rehaul fencing.

So as of march 2009, basically 3437-2650 = 787 fencing needed. Of the rehaul 861-367 = 494 needed. But rehaul is just relay, the fences are still intact. So of the 787, in the last 6 months they have covered approx more than 100 kms.

So at this pace (the pace is improving if you look at this table), they should be done soon. I hope most of the work is being done on the west bengal border, since they have most deficit.

Next, numbers on illegal immigration are always disputable. I have a copy of Gen AK Sinha's report in 1998 where he sayd there are 10 million as of that day by his estimate (if you read his report you will also find that of the 10 million 75 lakhs are hindu bangla refugees). But he started warning the givt right from then. Now in 10 years here is my take (completely subjective and baseless). Even if there are 500 people every day who come in illegally the net migration in the 10 years would be 365*500*10 approx 2 million. I dont go by reports which report 6000 people entering every day (totally incomprehensible).

Anyway i dont have much hope of deporting those who have come in. But as of now, just looking at the numbers alone, one can easily say that the GOI is doing good at fencing the border fast. Of course the current GOI wont go gaga about this for obvious reasons.

[Philip]

I think that the Govt. of B'Desh has seen the carnage in Pak and the massive inroads that terrorism has made within that country and fear the same thing happening at home,if they continue to allow a motley lot of anti-Indian groups to enjoy base facilties in BD.These very same groups could tie up with similar Taliban like forces and strike at the BD govt as has happened in Pak.The Hasina govt. too is far more pro-India than credit is given for it and have huge economic matters on their plate which can be alleviated to some extent with good relations with India.A good beginning,let's hope that further anti-terror cooperation between India and BD is firmed up and that the ISI and its agents are given the boot in BD.

[shyamd]

Indian mission in Dhaka was another target

[Stan_Savljevic]

An old post on the politics of BD, a good read even if not actually current affairs-y....

The August 15 divide, bipartisanism and national consensus ---- N.M. Harun

THE prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, observed in a sombre mood the National Day of Mourning on August 15, marking the 34th anniversary of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The same day, on August 15, the leader of the opposition, Begum Khaleda Zia, celebrated with gaiety her 65th birthday. The leader of the opposition does not recognise the National Day of Mourning; the question of her participating in the programme does not arise. The prime minister does not recognise August 15 as the birthday of Khaleda; the question of her wishing a Happy Birthday to Khaleda does not arise.

Though the personal chemistry between Hasina and Khaleda is bad, there is hardly anything personal in their conduct on August 15. The fashionable penchant for maligning them as 'two quarrelsome ladies' serves to trivialise politics and divert the attention of the people from the grim realities of the post-1975 Bangladesh.

Hasina has been the president of the Awami League since 1981 and Khaleda the chairperson of the BNP since 1984. The two between them have almost a complete domination over the political arena of the country for about three decades of less than four decades of independent Bangladesh. Hasina has been leading the political trend that claims its origin in and inspiration from the historical struggle of the Bengali people and the War of Independence of 1971. Khaleda has been leading the political trend that claims its origin in and inspiration from the historical development of the Bengali Muslims and the coup of August 15, 1975. Plainly, Hasina did not initiate or establish the pre-1975 secular-socialist-Bengali polity, nor did Khaleda initiate or establish the post-1975 Islam-pasand Bangladeshi polity. The conflict between the two polities is embedded in the post-'75 political realities of the country. The conflict between Hasina and Khaleda is in-built in the politics of the country as was, in two different phases, the conflict between Sheikh Mujib and Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed, and the conflict between General Ziaur Rahman and Col. Abu Taher. These two pairs did not have the bad reputation of being 'quarrelsome'. Moshtaque was regarded as a close confidante of Mujib but it was Moshtaque who was at the centre of the conspiracy in which Mujib, along with almost all of his family, was murdered on August 15, 1975. Again, it was Col. Taher who freed General Zia from military captivity on November 7, 1975 and yet it was Zia who got Taher hanged by the neck by a kangaroo court on July 21, 1976. It is the nature of politics and not the individual idiosyncrasies of the leaders that determine the course of politics.

The conflictual nature of post-'75 politics is brought out dramatically by the diametrically opposite nature of the observance of August 15. To the protagonists of the Islam-pasand Bangladeshi polity, August 15 is not a day of mourning, rather it is a day of deliverance. The Awami League has been politically observing August 15 as a day of mourning since 1976. During the 1996-2001 Awami League government, the day was officially observed as a National Day of Mourning and no sooner had the BNP-Jamaat government come to power in 2001 than they abolished this official programme. With the Awami League back into power, the day is now again being observed, officially, as a National Day of Mourning. On the other hand, the BNP has been observing August 15 as the birthday of Khaleda Zia since she formed her first government in 1991 though earlier documents do not show August 15 as her birthday nor was there any precedent of public observance of her birthday prior to 1991. The Awami League maintains that Khaleda designated August 15 as her birthday and BNP celebrates the day as such to show disrespect to the memory of Mujib and support to the August 15 coup. Thus, paraphrasing Rudyard Kipling, the August 15 of the National Day of Mourning and the August 15 of birthday shall never meet.

This symbolism apart, the buzzword of bipartisanism is apparently inapplicable in the context of present-day Bangladesh. The government has announced that the hearing of the Bangabandhu Murder Case will begin in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court within this month and expects the execution of the verdict in the case to be completed within this year. The preparations for the trial of the war criminals, according to the law minister, are in the final stage. The government has already let the Appellate Division know that it would not pursue the appeal the immediate past BNP-Jamaat government had preferred against the 2005 judgement of the High Court Division which declared the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution unconstitutional and favoured the revival of the original 1972 Constitution with suitable changes. Besides, the government is committed to restore the 1972 Constitution. It is absurd to think that the Awami League-led government and the BNP-led opposition can or will cooperate in the implementation of this package of programmes. The implementation of these programmes will take away the ground from under the BNP, Jamaat and other Islam-pasand parties and forces. The government apparently knows it will have to go it alone with its political and ideological reforms programme and the opposition that it can by no means stop the reforms juggernaut in the parliament. Hence, there is a streak of authoritarian haughtiness in the government and a sign of nervousness and desperation in the opposition camp.

This is so because the nation is ideologically divided and there are disputes among the political parties which are irreconcilable. There is, however, a persistent call from quarters at home and abroad to the political parties -- and to the Awami League and the BNP in particular -- to rise above the ideological and political divide and devote themselves to the task of nation-building in a bipartisan spirit. Bipartisanism works best when the issue of governance is the primary concern of the nation. The issues of governance covers the whole gamut of the statecraft including law and order, economy and finance, administration, education, culture, foreign affairs etc. For such a bipartisan spirit to flourish a national consensus is needed on the fundamental principles of the state. A national consensus on the fundamental principles of the state did emerge through the War of Independence and Liberation and was codified by the 1972 Constitution. That consensus was destroyed by the August 15 conspiracy. The Islam-pasand Bangladeshi nationalism hangs as an albatross around the neck of the nation. A fresh national consensus will evolve only when the August 15 conspiracy will be defeated, legally as well as politically. Till then the call of developing a bipartisan spirit between the government and the opposition will remain more a wishful thinking than a practical guide to nation-building.

The by-line of all this mess between day of mourning vs deliverance is that August 15 was chosen for a peculiar reason by what the Sh. Mujib trials claims now to be Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed & co. It was chosen to send a message to Yindia that 1971 was a fluke and could not be repeated again. The message seems to have not been lost by folks who matter, but the armchair hoi polloi never seem to have had enough hunger to even know what runs our neighborhood. But we should blame them at our own peril for they have better things to worry about like roti kapda makaan etc.
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2 ... 76376.html

[Stan_Savljevic]

Dhaka to follow pushback formula --- Bangladesh to detain, not arrest
http://telegraphindia.com/1091109/jsp/n ... 715344.jsp

Pushback fuels hope of more surrenders
http://telegraphindia.com/1091109/jsp/n ... 715124.jsp

Sasha, Chitraban arrest severe blow to ULFA
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... v0909/at07

BSF gives list of 97 NE militant hideouts to BDR
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... ov0909/ne6

Blow to ULFA
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... v0909/edit

It is apparent that Sasha Choudhury and Chitraban Hazarika were picked up by Bangladesh security forces before they were handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and the possibility of more such arrests before the proposed visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister to India in December cannot be ruled out. The ULFA Commander in Chief, Paresh Baruah is also not in a position to stay in Bangladesh as he has been named as an accused in the arms haul case of 2004, while, it is reported that the ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa is also under scanner in the neighbouring country.

Dhaka, Thimphu ink trade deal, talk climate
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=146429&cid=2

Well, this should go in the baki bakwaas thread, but anyway just one more line, for comic relief, ensoi.
Latif admits cheating at Multan
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113299

[Singha]

Bangladesh – India Marine Border Dispute Presented To The United Nations

Last Updated: 2009-11-10T11:48:57+05:30

Bangladesh has registered its objection with the UN to India's claim over certain areas in the Bay of Bengal, three months after a similar missive was filed against Myanmar's claim.

The three nations have not clearly demarcated their maritime boundaries and are moving the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a UN body to deal with the law of the seas.

The disputes require urgent solution because of the race for the hydrocarbons in the Bay of Bengal.

Dhaka had a stand-off with Myanmar in November last year and with India earlier this year when survey ships from the neighbourhood, accompanied by naval vessels, marked their presence in territory that Bangladesh claims as its own.

"We have submitted our objection to the maritime commission of the UN on Oct 29," Bangladesh's permanent representative to the UN M.A. Momen told New Age newspaper over the phone on Monday.

India submitted its claim on maritime boundary to the CLCS in May 2009, one month ahead of its deadline.

Bangladesh lodged its objection to Myanmar's claim this July.

Dhaka's disputes over territorial waters in the bay with both New Delhi and Yangon are in two areas - that of natural prolongation of the continental shelf and the baseline.

India argues that the course of the natural prolongation of continental shelf is from east to west while Bangladesh says it is from north to south.

Bangladesh and India have some overlapping claims on baselines.

According to the UN, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009 and Myanmar by May 21, 2009.

As per the UN provision, claims submitted by any country would not be taken for final consideration before settling the objection raised by a neighbouring country which might have overlapping claims.

Dhaka opted to go for negotiations as India and Myanmar recently opposed Bangladesh's offshore block biddings for exploration of oil and gas.

Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the issue of 'starting point' on how to mark the coastlines from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that has apparently overlapped claims of the three neighbouring countries due to the shape of the Bay of Bengal.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Prime Minister's visit to Bhutan
New vista opens in ties with Thimphu

In a world confronted with newer crises nearly every day, the importance of regional cooperation, be it at bilateral or multilateral level, cannot be denied. Which brings us to the role SAARC has been playing in South Asia since the mid-1980s. Perhaps the potential that was once noted about the organization has not quite been realised to the extent one would have expected, but the fact remains that the body has brought the countries of this region together in remarkable ways. The recent visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bhutan underscores this reality. The three-day trip has now thrown up certain new opportunities for Dhaka and Thimphu to explore.

List among these opportunities the matter of energy cooperation. With Bangladesh currently in need of energy to meet domestic requirements, the good news is that Bhutan with its hydro-electricity reserves can bail it out. Indeed, the two countries have reached a deal on the subject, which should be seen as quite a breather for Bangladesh. Bhutan has also waived all duties on Bangladeshi goods imported by it. That has been reciprocated in the way bilateralism should work. The Bangladesh leader has decided to reduce tariff on 18 Bhutanese items from 15 per cent to zero per cent. Now, all of these are a happy augury for the future and are clearly steps that will boost cooperation in trade. And then comes the question of land connectivity between the two countries. The operative term here is an exploration of the possibility of such connectivity actually taking place. Obviously, it will involve the Indian authorities, who in their turn should respond in light of the cooperative process that has been going on in South Asia.

Overall, the prime minister's visit to Bhutan should be seen not only as giving a spurt to bilateral cooperation in the region but also as a hint of how cooperation among SAARC nations can be expanded, substantively and purposefully, in the times ahead. Difficulties, of course, are always there. But it is the spirit, which again is a reflection of changing times, that matters. In Thimphu, the cooperative spirit was served rather well.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113526
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113528

Bhutan lies to the north of Bangladesh and is separated by 30 km of Indian territory. It was the second country to recognise Bangladesh -- on December 7, 1971 -- after India's recognition on December 6, 1971.
....
The issues that reportedly dominated the talks were increasing trade, opening more transit land points between Bangladesh and Bhutan including direct bus service, transit rights for Bhutan's use of Bangladesh's sea ports, combating effects of climate change, and export of hydro-power. Both sides reportedly agreed to take steps in these matters. A trade agreement was signed between the two countries, updating the 1980 agreement, during the visit. The Bangladesh prime minister handed over some earthquake relief materials to her counterpart on November 7. On September 21, Bhutan was hit by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in which at least 10 people died, monasteries were damaged and homes collapsed.
....
Last October, Bhutan proposed signing of a free trade agreement with Bangladesh. In fiscal 2007-08, Bangladesh imported goods worth $13.73 million from Bhutan while its exports to Bhutan amounted to only $1.35 million. {Wow, I never saw BD complain about the trade deficit with Bhutan like they do with India.} Bangladesh imports from Bhutan mainly boulders, dolomite, gypsum, dust coal, slate, graphite, timber and fruit products, and exports to Bhutan include consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, jute products, newsprint, chemicals, detergents and light machinery. Bhutan's Seed Corporation signed an agreement in February 2000 with a non-government organisation (Brac) in Bangladesh to supply onion and radish seeds.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113571

PM's India Visit Next Month
Dhaka to propose rail link, second submarine cable

Building Agartala-Akhaura railway line and a submarine cable linking Khulna and Chennai are among the priority projects to be placed with the Indian government during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming India visit. The PM, who is going to visit India next month, directed the ministries concerned yesterday to finalise strategy papers on the bilateral and regional development projects in time for her tour.

He said the premier asked for finalising, "on priority basis," the paper documents of the projects on Agartala-Akhaura rail link, establishment of open alternative submarine cable link between Khulna and Chennai, construction of rail-cum-road bridge over Karnaphuli river at Kalurghat, support for post-harvest technology and agro-processing, and value addition to fruits and vegetables. The meeting discussed in detail the probable agenda from Bangladesh side to be discussed during the India tour. The agenda include regional and bilateral cooperation on maritime boundary issues, trade and economy, road and rail link, power sector, media and telecommunications, environment and climate change, agriculture, education and use of common rivers.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113564
Attack on Taposh ---- Army probing a few officers' alleged link ----- Media urged not to carry unconfirmed info

[Stan_Savljevic]

Back and forth mud-slinging between the daily star and BNP and J-e-I combine continues, bring it on, makes for one good timepass.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113753
Snippet

2. At the outset, you have described the rejoinder as "rhetorical". This is a judgement that should have best been left to the reader to make.

2. You said we should have left it to our readers to judge whether your rejoinder was "rhetorical" or not. Fair enough. You termed our report "concocted", "libellous", "malicious propaganda", "far-fetched", "fanciful", "heinous fiction", etc. Shouldn't you have left it to the readers to judge as well?

Seems like I wrote it.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113890
If you did nt read, this is the first of the exchange
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=112196

Back to useful news,
Bangabandhu trial: Final verdict on Nov 19

Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, one of the lawyers of the state panel, said: "I will be waiting for the Nov 19 verdict along with the nation." Taposh is the son of Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, who was also killed on Aug 15, 1975.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=35&id=146782&hb=2
Army officer grilled in 10-truck arms case
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=146718&cid=3

Major general Enamur Rahman Chowdhury appeared at the CID office at Dampara at around 10am. An investigation team led by the senior assistant superintendent of police Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, also the investigation officer of the case, began quizzing him from 11am. It ran into afternoon. CID's SSP for Chittagong region Mohammad Muslim told bdnews24.com, "We are done with questioning Enamur Rahman for today. We might call him later, if needed. "We are questioning him about whether the report submitted by the government probe committee was biased or whether there was pressure from the then government's top level." Gen Enam was a member of five-strong probe committee, headed by former home secretary Omar Faruq, that former BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami government formed to investigate the case. He had directed national spy outfit National Security Intelligence with the rank of brigadier general when police seized 10 truckloads of weapons and ammunition on the night of April 1, 2004 from the restricted jetty of CUFL. Former NSI chief retired major general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who also sat on the government probe committee, is now in prison. CID has already quizzed three other committee members-Omar Faruq, former DIG Farrukh Ahmed and former DIG (special branch) Shamsul Islam.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=113864

Ctg grenades used in all attacks ------ Babar tells CID interrogators

The grenades that went missing from the Chittagong 10-truck arms cache in 2004 were used in all grenade attacks including the one on August 21 Awami League rally, detained former BNP state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar has told interrogators. The grenades were used in attacks on Shah AMS Kibria, former British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury, AL leader Suranjit Sengupta and Sylhet City Mayor Badruddin Ahmed Kamran, Babar told Criminal Investigation Department officials during interrogation in the August 21 grenade attack case. The former state minister said three days after the August 21 incident Harris Chowdhury asked him to go to Hawa Bhaban where former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu was also present.

Both Harris and Pintu had threatened Babar to strip him of ministerial post when he refused hiding the truth and saving the perpetrators, Babar said. The two also told him not to show any curiosity about the sources of the grenades. Babar mentioned that all grenade attacks were made in the country after the arms haul at Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Jetty on April 2, 2004 when a huge number of grenades and arms went missing, CID sources said. Meanwhile, detained Harkatul Jihad al Islam leader Abdul Majid admitted that he received the grenades from Laskar-e-Taiba leader Moulana Tajuddin, also brother of Pintu, for carrying out attack on the AL rally. But he was not sure from where Tajuddin collected them, said sources.

CID sources said Babar however denied his involvement in supplying the grenades saying he came to know about it after the attack. Babar also said he didn't know then the number of missing grenades as intelligence agency personnel did not give him any information about it. Meanwhile, Huji founder Moulana Sheikh Abdus Salam divulged that the plan to assassinate Sheikh Hasina was finalised after the masterminds received some of the missing grenades. Tajuddin collected the grenades from them, he added. CID interrogated Babar, Salam and Majid together to crosscheck information. Babar would be produced before the court today as his remand for third phase ended yesterday.

Indian foreign secretary arrives Saturday

India's foreign secretary Nirupama Rao arrives Saturday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes has said. Rao was coming to prepare the ground for prime minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit from Dec 19, Quayes told bdnews24.com at his office Thursday. The foreign secretary said his Indian counterpart would meet the prime minister, and foreign minister during her visit. A spokesperson of the foreign minister's external publicity wing told bdnews24.com Thursday that Rao would also meet leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia.

Transit deal on cards, Teesta on back burner

Dhaka, Nov 12 (bdnews24.com)—Dhaka and New Delhi will finalise deals on mutual transit facilities during prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India from December 19, foreign minister Dipu Moni has said. The foreign minister, however, could not say whether the two governments would be able to reach a crucial agreement on Teesta water sharing during the three-day visit. "The prime minister leaves for Delhi on December 19," Dipu Moni told bdnews24.com at the foreign ministry Thursday. "She will operationalise deals with India to get transit facilities to Bhutan and Nepal," she said.

The foreign minister said Dhaka and Delhi would also "operationalise" the agreement on allowing India to use Ashuganj as a transit point under an existing Water Protocol between the two countries. Foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes defined the word "operationalise" to bdnews24.com Thursday at his office. "Operationalisation means removing the policy barriers and reaffirming commitments," said Quayes.

He said both Bangladesh and India needed some necessary preparations to make existing transit agreements effective. "For instance, we cannot make Ashuganj a port of call overnight. The roads must be widened for that purpose," said Quayes. During Dipu Moni's visit to India on September 7, Delhi agreed giving Bangladesh transit facilities to reach Bhutan and Nepal through Indian territory. In return, Bangladesh agreed to allow Delhi to use Ashuganj for carrying heavy machinery for setting up a power plant in India's North East. However, the foreign minister did not make it clear whether the government would allow India to use Ashuganj as a multi-modal transit point under the Water Protocol.

Foreign ministry officials have told bdnews24.com that if India gets transit under Section 11 of the Protocol, signed in 1972, Delhi will not be able to carry goods by Bangladesh roads. But Indian trucks will be able to carry goods from Ashuganj, unloaded from Indian ships, if Delhi gets transit under Section 23 of the same Protocol. Dipu Moni and her Indian counterpart SM Krishna in September also agreed to form a technical team with a view to signing a deal on water sharing of the common Teesta river on which Bangladesh has its largest irrigation project.

"I think we need time to sign the deal on sharing Teesta water," Dipu Moni told bdnews24.com Thursday. India has a barrage in Gazaldoba on the Teesta upstream from Bangladesh for its irrigation projects. The Indian water withdrawal during lean periods makes the Teesta almost dry, water development board officials say. Bangladesh's Teesta barrage (first phase) in the rice-producing Rangpur region covers irrigation projects on 750,000 hectares of land, according to the board officials. Water shortage in the Teesta very often disrupts irrigation in the vast tracts of land of the greater Rangpur district and puts Bangladesh's agriculture in trouble. As many as 54 rivers enter Bangladesh from India and the only water sharing deal was signed in 1996 to share water of the common river Ganges.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=146826&hb=1

[Stan_Savljevic]

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... v1509/at02

Paresh Baruah controlling ULFA

GUWAHATI, Nov 14 – Senior United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leaders Sasha Choudhury and Chitraban Hazarika have claimed that the commander-in-chief of the outfit Paresh Baruah was the main person running the affairs of it at present. Moreover, the action of Bangladesh security forces baffled the security forces as another hardcore ULFA man picked up in Dhaka on the day Choudhury and Hazarika were picked up, was not handed over to India.

Police sources told The Assam Tribune that a hardcore ULFA man, Dehagra Sarania, who is known to be close to Paresh Baruah, was picked up on the same day by the security forces of Bangladesh and though Sasha and Chitraban were handed over to India, Sarania was sent to jail. The reasons behind such an action by the security forces of Bangladesh created confusion and there was no apparent reason for keeping a lower level cadre of the outfit while handing over two senior members to India.

Meanwhile, sources admitted that Sasha and Chitraban are yet to disclose any major fact regarding the activities of the outfit. “The revelations made by the arrested ULFA leaders so far would not help the police and security forces in launching operations against the outfit,” sources admitted. Sources disclosed that during questioning by the police and officials of the Central forces and agencies, the arrested ULFA leaders claimed that Paresh Baruah is the main person running the outfit. They claimed that Baruah keeps shifting in countries like China, Myanmar and Thailand and he still has strong contacts in China. Interestingly, both the arrested ULFA men reportedly claimed that they were not in close touch with the C-in-C as “they claimed that they were not in the good books of Baruah as most of the other top leaders including themselves favoured peace talks for political solution of the problems.”

Though Chitraban is the finance secretary of the ULFA, he is yet to divulge any detail of the financial health of the outfit. Police sources said that during questioning, he admitted that the ULFA has substantial amount of funds but at the same time, he claimed that it was the C-in-C who manages the funds. Sources said that the police and security agencies are still not ready to buy the claims of the arrested ULFA men as “sometimes it seemed that they had decided earlier what to say.” Sources said that as both Sasha and Chitraban are important members of the ULFA it is hard to believe that they are not in close touch with Paresh Baruah as they claimed. “Even if we look at the background of the arrested persons, both of them, particularly Sasha Choudhury is a key member of the outfit. Being the Foreign Secretary of the outfit, Sasha was instrumental in maintaining foreign links of the ULFA and he even visited UN a few times to propagate the cause of the ULFA. In 1995, Sasha was arrested near Mizoram border when he was leading a team of about a hundred militants to launch major offensive. {But he escaped from prison after that } It is difficult to believe that such an important person for the outfit is kept out of the scheme of things by the C-in-C,” sources pointed out.

Police also expressed apprehension that if Sasha and Chitraban are kept in jail along with other arrested ULFA leaders after their police custody period ends, the possibility of all the arrested leaders getting together to try and revive the outfit cannot be ruled out.

B'desh to come with proposal for new Agartala-Akhaura Rly line

Agartala, 13 November : Dhaka is keen to come up with the proposal of a new railway line and other communication links ahead of the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India. Building Agartala-Akhaura railway line and a submarine cable linking Khulna and Chennai are among the priority projects to be placed before the Indian government during Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit. Agartala-based influential Bangla daily The Jagaran reported this Friday.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114094

India 'positive' on rail transit to Nepal
2 foreign secys finalise issues for PMs' Dec 19 meeting in Delhi; 3 deals to be signed; Dhaka focuses on Teesta water sharing agreement

India gave an upbeat response to giving Bangladesh railway transit to transport goods to Nepal, said Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes yesterday. Three important agreements will be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's three-day visit to India from December 19. Dhaka will also emphasise striking a deal on sharing the Teesta water, said the foreign secretary. Mijarul, after meeting his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, told journalists at the foreign ministry, “We want to remove cobwebs on different issues and understand each other's position in a transparent manner so we can make joint efforts to resolve the problems.”

Nirupama came to Dhaka on Saturday ahead of Hasina's visit to India to prepare the ground for it. Bangladesh's connectivity to Bhutan through India, sharing of power, resolution of outstanding border issues, transfer of enclaves, cooperation in river dredging to restore navigability and upgrading Bangladesh railway would be on the agenda of Hasina's first visit to India since her return to power in January. The agreements to be signed are on mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, transfer of sentenced persons, and combating international terrorism, organised crimes and illegal drug trafficking. {So we wont get Anup chetia, but we may get other small-picks, paresh borua forget it, there are too many loose ends in the paresh borua story.}

Quayes said India agreed to allow railway transit to Nepal through three bordering points -- Birol-Radhikapur, Rahanpur-Singhabad and Chilahati-Haldibari. Earlier in September, New Delhi agreed to provide Nepal-Bangladesh and Bhutan-Bangladesh connectivity. Besides meeting Quayes, Nirupama also called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia. During the discussions, the two sides reviewed issues concerning bilateral ties and implementation of Bangladesh-India agreements reached during Dipu Moni's visit to India in September.

In a major development in bilateral relationship, India then agreed to give Bangladesh transit to Nepal and Bhutan, provide at least 100MW power on a priority basis, expand trade and communication and resolve other outstanding issues. On the other hand, Bangladesh discussed allowing India to use Chittagong Port and designating Ashuganj as a new port of call under the Inland Water Transit and Trade Agreement. Both sides agreed to resolve issues relating to Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves and Tin Bigha Corridor, according to a joint statement in New Delhi during Dipu Moni's visit.

The two countries also recognised the need to finalise the Teesta water-sharing agreement and agreed to begin Joint Hydrological Observations on the river immediately. Mijarul said a technical team will meet this month and a draft accord on the sharing of Teesta waters will be sent to India before the prime minister's visit. "This is a significant visit. We discussed different issues ahead of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India," Nirupama told journalists after bilateral talks with Mijarul at the state guesthouse Padma. She said New Delhi attached highest importance to its ties with Dhaka. Mijarul said India praised Bangladesh for its steps against terrorists, adding that he and his Indian counterpart stressed the need for resolving the outstanding border problems including killings on bordering areas as soon as possible. {something is a-cooking, hold on}

Bangladesh, as per the joint statement, would allow India to carry machinery to its north-eastern part to set up a power plant. He said India would sell 250 megawatts of electricity produced in the power plant in Palatana. Replying to a question whether Bangladesh would give India multi-modal transit facilities via Ashkuganj the foreign secretary said, "There was no mention of declaring Ashuganj as a port of call in the joint statement." He, however, said any development could take place during the highest political level visits (prime ministers level visit). {to be read as some bargaining is going on in the background}

In the afternoon, Nirupama called on Hasina at her official residence where they discussed in details the forthcoming visit by the Bangladesh premier to India. Hasina will fly to New Delhi after attending the climate change summit in Copenhagen. She will hold official meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 19.

TALK WITH KHALEDA

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia expressed her concern over the frequent killings of Bangladeshis by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) when Nirupama Rao called on her at her Gulshan office. She urged her to take steps to stop such killings immediately. “They discussed bilateral issues. The opposition leader said her party wants to maintain a friendly relation with New Delhi,” Khaleda's foreign Affairs Adviser Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters after the talk. About India's planned Tipaimukh Dam, she hoped that India would not do anything that would harm Bangladesh. In this regard, Khaleda referred to her proposal to carry out an impact assessment survey of the dam. The Indian foreign minister, in reply, assured that interests of both the countries should be safeguarded first before something is done. {It is the foreign secretary, our FM is in SL now, duh!}

But bdnews reports this.... There is a big difference between "agreeing" and "responding positively". I will not trust unless the MEA puts up something conclusive on this, lest it be called a sell-out and what not.
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=146984&cid=2&aoth=1

Quayes told reporters after his meeting with Rao that India had "responded positively" to giving Bangladesh railway passage through Indian territory to carry its products to Nepal. He told a briefing at the foreign ministry, "The India side has responded positively to giving us railway transit through three bordering points (Birol-Radhikapur, Rahanpur-Singhabad and Chilahati-Haldibari)."

But it agrees on the other three....

Dhaka and New Delhi are set to sign three agreements, including one on prisoner exchange, during prime minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to India, foreign secretary Md Mijarul Quayes said on Saturday. The other two are for mutual legal assistance on criminal matters and one on combating international terrorism, organised crimes and illegal drug trafficking.

Is this the proverbial tit for tat for ulfa folks handing over, we can all guess.

Top outlaw killed by rivals in India

One of the top leaders of outlawed Gono Bahini Obaidul Islam alias Obaidul Haq alias Lal Bhai was shot dead in India by his rival cadres Friday night. Leader of the rival faction Azibor alias Azibor chairman claimed responsibility for the killing over telephone. Both Azibor and Obaidul were hiding in West Bengal.

Ok, one more bullshite statement from BKZ before closing... Just for comic relief after all the serious news so far .

As the greater neighbouring country, India should take the initiative in strengthening bilateral ties with Bangladesh, the opposition leader Khaleda Zia said on Saturday.

[Sanjay M]

Scientists Find Reason for Arsenic in Bangla Drinking Water

[Stan_Savljevic]

BR proposes 'best' rail route to Nepal
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=147153&hb=1

Power talks with India tomorrow
Power secy leads team to Delhi to talk power import, grid interconnectivity
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114409

Embassy Attack Plot --- 3 Pakistanis remanded for 4 more days

A Dhaka court yesterday placed the three Pakistani nationals, held for suspected link with a plot to attack the US embassy and Indian high commission in Dhaka, on a four-day remand each.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114413

Hasina's Delhi visit may win greater market access for Dhaka
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114341

India is set to unveil a package of unilateral concessions to give greater market access to Bangladesh products during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit here. Officials here said Sunday that India is likely to prune the negative list of goods as far as import from Bangladesh is concerned as well as cut duties on certain importables from that country. India may announce an increase in the quantum of garments to be imported from Bangladesh from 0.8 million pieces a year, as agreed upon earlier.

The concessions on the trade front is going to be the most important development from the point of view of Bangladesh which has over the years been insisting on narrowing the trade imbalance titled heavily in favour of India. The goods India proposes to take off its negative list for Bangladesh and the duty cuts to be offered are being negotiated by the two countries and they will be without any condition of reciprocity from Bangladesh, Delhi officials say. The orders for trade concessions as also India's decision to grant transit to Bangladesh's trade with Nepal and Bhutan are understood to have come from the highest quarters in India as officials believe it is for the first time that while Congress is in power in India and Awami League rules Bangladesh at the same time. {heh, how about 1972-75?!}

There is realisation in the Indian government that given the close contacts between Congress and Awami League since long, this is the proper time that relations between the two countries now ruled by them should be taken to a new height through mutual accommodation. The imprint of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist of international repute, on the tone and tenor of relations with Bangladesh will be clear particularly with regard to India's unilateral concessions as he has been a passionate votary of India's neighbourhood diplomacy through economics.

I just hope none of these shite is unilateral and following the Gujral doktrine. Hope MMS has a long plan to digest the Islamists in BD by coercing them into the economic stranglehold, I cant think of any other logical explanation for this unilateralism, esp given that Indian unilateralism has no bearing on the next elections. Never did, never will. Its an oscillatory exercise between bnp and bal as long as both of em are corrupt, so what this unilateralism could do is to be put in the wait and watch list.

BNP plans major changes in party constitution

Dhaka, 14 November : BNP is planning to bring massive changes to the party constitution bolstering the chairperson’s authority, in light of its experience during the immediate past emergency regime when it almost split. The amendment proposals also include one for electing the secretary general through the national council, and another for expansion of the central executive committee. The party’s constitution and declaration amendment sub-committee that had been formed as a part of the preparations for the national council scheduled for 8 December, came up with the proposals, after collecting reform proposals from workers and leaders of all levels. Now the streamlined proposals will be submitted to the chairperson for discussion in the standing committee which will finalise those for submission to the national council. Permission of immediate supervisory committees will become mandatory for all units to use portraits of party founder also late president Ziaur Rahman, Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and their son Tarique Rahman in posters or leaflets. The sub-committee led by former minister Tariqul Islam is expected to meet today to finalise the proposals for submission to the chairperson.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Now Majid's Kashmiri identity unearthed
He was linked to Aug 21 attack 11 months into his arrest with small arms

After over 11 months of his arrest, Abdul Majid has been identified as an Indian national and a senior leader of Kashmir-based militant organisation Hizbul Mujahedin, a front organisation of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, which works in Kashmir. Majid's real name is Yusuf Butt who had been staying in the country for years using fake identity to carry out militant activities. Meanwhile, Yusuf Butt alias Majid was placed on a four-day remand yesterday after he was taken on five days' remand from November 12 in August 21 grenade attack case. Earlier on November 11 a Dhaka court placed Majid on a five-day remand.

During the interrogation in August 21 grenade attack case, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigators have come to know his real and his links to Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Moulana Tajuddin, brother of detained former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, and leaders of banned Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji). Additional ASP Abdul Kahar Akand of CID, also the investigation officer of the grenade attack case, told The Daily Star that Yusuf Butt hails from Terigaon village under Kulgaon Police Station of Islamabad district in Kashmir of Indian part.

"Yusuf Butt had been staying in the country using fake name Abdul Majid and carrying out militant activities, supplying arms and grenades from Kashmir to the Bangladeshi militants," the CID investigator said. Replying to a query Kahar Akand said Yusuf Butt went to Pakistan and India several times from Bangladesh. CID sources said Yusuf is a close friend of fugitive accused Moulana Tajuddin and they had been collecting grenades and arms from Kashmir. Uttara police arrested Yusuf on January this year in an arms case as a Bangladeshi terrorist and on November 10 he was shown arrested in the grenade attack case following a confessional statement of Huji founder Moulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, also chief of Islamic Democratic Party.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114518

6 courts set up to try BDR mutineers

Dhaka, 16 November : The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has set up six special courts - two in Dhaka and four outside the capital to try hundreds of mutineers who killed 74 people in February. BDR chief director general, Brig. Mohammed Mainul Islam, will chair the three-member courts being constituted under the Bangladesh Rifles Order 1972, New Age newspaper reported. The two other members on each of the six special courts will be a lieutenant colonel and a major, who are from the army and deputed to the border guards. Representatives of the attorney general will assist the special courts. The BDR chief Sunday told New Age : "The procedure for the trial of the BDR mutiny has started with the institution of the special courts." The six special courts will only try the BDR troopers accused of mutiny they staged 25-26 February, posing the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government that had taken office four weeks earlier.

UN body defers Myanmar's sea border hearing
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=147235&cid=2&aoth=1
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/n ... nid=114513

5 death row convicts under 'close watch'

With less than 48 hours to go before Thursday's final verdict in the Bangabandhu murder case, the five death row convicts in the condemned cells of Dhaka Central Jail are being kept under intense watch. The five, appealing their death sentences in the case, are Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, Mohiuddin Ahmed and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed. Extra vigil is being kept against suicide, while security has been beefed up at all levels in view of the politically sensitive nature of the long-awaited verdict.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=147248&cid=2&aoth=1